Volume 29 | Issue 3 Article 8

1967 Veterinary Education John S. McKibben Iowa State University

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Recommended Citation McKibben, John S. (1967) "Veterinary Education," Iowa State University Veterinarian: Vol. 29 : Iss. 3 , Article 8. Available at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/iowastate_veterinarian/vol29/iss3/8

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Iowa State University Veterinarian by an authorized editor of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Veterinary Education

John S. McKibben, B.S., D.V.M., M.S.

VETERINARY EDUCATION In the first quarter of the twentieth cen­ tury, three-year programs were generally Veterinary educators are faced with the required in college veterinary curricula. critical decision of when and how we De-emphasis of the horse and cooperation should teach the increasing amount of in more complex studies of all domestic pertinent knowledge demanded by our animals and factors related to disease profession. Expansion in clinical areas commenced. has condensed the time devoted in the The. public image of the veterinarian as basic areas. Can we relieve some pres­ a horse doctor persisted resulting in the sures on the professional curriculum lack of financial appropriations for the through the preveterinary, graduate, or dying profession. Progress was stymied post-graduate programs? Is our objective in all areas of veterinary education. It to graduate better qualified veterinarians was emphasized that research and educa­ in all areas or should we specialize? Are tion must be depended upon to keep the we still stereotyped by the past? veterinary profession from lagging behind its sister profession.21 Knowledge had in­ The Evolving Curriculum creased faster than it was possible to change curricula to meet the newer needs Historical trends in our profession4•5•19 have influenced some of our present an­ of graduates.lo swers to these questions. The first veter­ During the 1930's, few students could inary school established in Lyons, France, afford college. Nevertheless, great strides in 1761, emphasized one animal, the were undertaken to improve the curricula horse, and particularly its anatomy. Sim­ to prepare the students in various fields of ilar emphasis was noted at the first state veterinary medicine. Screening students supported College of Veterinary Medicine and requiring one year of pre-veterinary in the United States established in 1879 training was instituted. at the institution now designated Iow~ By the middle of the twentieth century State University. Between 1852 and 1948 according to Arrnistead,2 the curricula of some thirty-four, mostly private, veteri: veterinary schools fitted by habit, provin­ nary schools were initiated and closed in cialism and conservatism, were stereo­ the United States and Canada. Many oc­ typed patterns which had not changed sig­ cupied livery stables where the emphasis nificantly in fifty years. Curricula were was on learning by doing. Matriculation overcrowded as expansion of knowledge requirements usually included an ele­ increased without provision for increased mentary or grade school diploma. The learning time. This is still our situation course typically consisted of two sessions today. of four months each. Objectives and Methods

From the I!epartment.o.f Veterinary Anatomy. Col­ In addition to more sophisticated teach­ lege of VeterInary Medlcme. Iowa State University Ames, Iowa. ' ing methods,8.9 pre-veterinary, graduate,

152 Iowa State University Veterinarian or post-graduate programs should be fur­ mold into a more homogeneous whole. ther developed to present increased knowl­ Perhaps then we can eliminate national edge. A longer pre-professional training and state board examinations. period has been proposed.13.14 This appar­ The present author agrees with Armi­ ently is occurring naturally because of the stead and Clarkson that specialization in increasing competition for admission into veterinary practice is not only inevitable, a relatively static profession numerically. but is desirable3 and is a symptom of Since 1949, all veterinary schools in the growth.a Programs designed for further United States have required two years of experience and specialization in human pre-veterinary training. In 1965,22 860 of medicine21 are in existence in veterinary 1,388 first-year veterinary students in the medicine. These include preceptorships, United States had completed more than post-graduate training, and graduate edu­ the required two years of pre-veterinary cation. training. This period has been generally Preceptorships or precepteeships involve regarded as a time when students broaden undergraduate third and fourth year vet­ their education. It has become, however, erinary students who are sent singly or in a period with little flexibility, with elective pairs for variable periods of time with a courses quite limited. Required courses in practicing veterinarian. The last precep­ mathematics, chemistry, physics, and En­ torship program in the dental profession glish need to be, but are in all too few in­ will be dropped this year and only 20 of stances, adequately covered in high school. the ·86 medical schools had preceptorships This allows more time for more broaden­ in 1962.16 ing electives in the pre-veterinary curricu­ Some feel that this program at the Au­ lum. burn School of Veterinary Medicine is very Blocks of time are continually shifting beneficial,7·11 Three months of the senior within the framework of the four-year pro­ year is spent with selected practitioners fessional curriculum. The efficiency of the under this program. The present author traditional four-year curriculum has been finds conflict between the need for more challenged.2.15.2o The trimester program time to present material and the prema­ now in effect since 1963 at the Texas A ture entrance into practice. & M College of Veterinary Medicine pro­ Postgraduate training by symposiums, vides additional student contact hours and seminars, workshops, and short courses reduces the total investment by students offered by universities, clinics, and vet­ in time and money.15 Students graduate erinary organizations offers an excellent after nine continuous terms or three years though limited means of reaching practi­ under this system. The Michigan State tioners. It serves primarily as a refresher program includes eleven quarters of eleven program or as a means for informing prac­ weeks each.2 A three-year program de­ titioners of new developments or tech­ signed for the Iowa State Veterinary Col­ niques. Not enough practitioners partici­ lege20 has not been instituted. Various pate unfortunately. methods have been employed to ensure Graduate programs include internships, adequate coverage of basic material and residencies, and degree programs. Intern­ still allow clinical experience before grad­ ships immediately follow graduation from uation. None has been successful in pro­ veterinary school and consist of one or ducing veterinarians proficient in all two years of supervised practice in medi­ phases of veterinary medicine upon grad­ cine with continued instruction in the sci­ uation. Instead, hopefully, we. have pro­ ence and art of medicine. The intern vided each student with basic information learns by doing and by association with upon which he can build his proficiency by experienced clinicians.12 Residencies in­ further study and experience. As our pro­ clude education and training following the fession matures, the now heterogeneously internship which provides preparation for emphasized facets of the curricula charac­ the practice of a specialty. Three or more terizing each veterinary school should years are generally served. Graduate pro-

Issue, No.3, 1967 153 grams leading to the degrees Master of evolved from the status of technician to Science or Doctor of Philosophy are gen­ more deductive and inductive veterinari­ erally preserved for academic or industrial ans. To continue our self improvement futures rather than to improve ones prac­ speCialization seems inevitable. This can­ tice skills and knowledge. not replace the basic core of material ob­ The present author agrees with Pritch­ tained in the professional curriculum, but ard17 that graduate programs are the must be built upon this framework. weakest link in the chain of veterinary Greater .responsibilities must also be as­ medical education today. Compulsory sumed by the high schools, thus allowing graduate programs are in existence in better utilization of the prime time in the many foreign countries including India, pre-veterinary curriculum. We are still Germany, Holland, and Scotland. Some stereotyped after the past, but with inno­ indicate that internships should be the re­ vation and insight we can convert the sponsibility of the licensing authorities in influences of the past into assets in the the state where the applicant seeks to future. practice.I,IS Graduate programs at univer­ sities generally have the advantage of a REFERENCES better staff and facilities; however, insti­ 1. Archibald. James. Internship training in veter­ inary medicine. Excerpts from Symposium on tuting internships at universities on a Veterinary clinical education. June. 1965. at Athens, Georgia. J.A.V.M.A. 147:436. 1965. large scale would require the allocation of 2. Annistead, W. W. A fresh approach to curricu. lum design. J.A.V.M.A. 144:1093-1104. 1964. further funds which probably would not 3. Armistead, W. W. Educating tomorrow's veter­ inarians. J.A.V~.A. 146:931-936. 1965. gain priority in the legislatures. Presently, 4. ,Christensen, G. C. With honor to the past. The Iowa State College Veterinarian, 83. Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to 5. Christensen, G. C. Veterinary medical education Animals, several veterinary schools, and a rapid revolution. In J. F. Smithcors, Ed. The American Veterinary Profession. pp. 641-665. scattered group practices provide a lim­ Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa. 1963. 6. Clarkson, M. R. The A.V.M.A. looks at specializa­ ited number of internships in small ani­ tion. l.A.V.M.A. 146:492-496. 1965. 7. Few, . Department of Veterinary Anatomy, Col­ mal medicine. Far more applicants are lege of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State Univer­ sity, Ames, Iowa: Personal Communications. turned away than accepted, however. This 1966. . 8. Getty, R. Possible solutions to some educational author would encourage an expansion of problems in veterinary medicine. Veterinary Medicine/Small Animal Clinician 61:1036-1037. the former and latter programs to better 1966. meet the demands in this area. Far fewer 9. Getty, Robert. The multi·media approach to vet­ erinary education. J.A.V.M.A. 150:74-80, 1967. internships are offered in large animal 10. Hayes, F. M. Education and re~earch in veter­ inary medicine. J.A.V.M.A. 67:773-779. 1925. medicine. This author believes this will 11. Holloway, C. Department of Anatomy and Histol­ ogy, School of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn Uni­ change within the next ten years, as the versity, Auburn, Alabama. On leave at the De­ partment of Veterinary Anatomy. Collelte of Vet­ advantages of group practices are more erinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames. Iowa: Personal Communications. 1967. fully appreciated. Specialization within 12. Intern's Manual. Angell Memorial Hospital of these clinics will ensue and further de­ the Massachusetts S.P.C.A. 1962. 13. Kniselv, W. H. The role of veterinary medicine mands will be made on universities for in M.S.U.'s new institute of biology and medi­ cine. Am. J. Vet. Res. 26:499-502. 1965. residency programs. Presently some uni­ 14. McGowan. 1Ilaine. Scientifically oriented prepro­ fessional curriculum. Excerpts from Symposium versities and S.P.C.A. organizations em­ on preprofessional veterinary education. June 16-17. 1966. East Lansing. Michigan, J.A.V.M.A. ploy residency programs. 149:823-824. 1966. 15. Price, A. A. A trimester proe:ram for veterinary medicine. Am. J. Vet. Res. 26:444-449. 1965. 16. Price. D. A. Interns, Externs, Preceptees. J.A.­ SUMMARY V.M.A. 141:728-730. 1962. 17. Pritchard. W. R. A proposal for a chan~e in veterinary education to better meet the needs of The veterinary curriculum has changed a cham:ing profession. J.A.V.M.A. 140:1298- 1303. 1962. over the past century in the United States. 18. Railsback, L. T. The correlation of veterinary medical education with the practice of veterinary Eras which concentrated on the health of medicine. Excerpts from Symposium on veter­ inary clinical education. .Tune. 1965, at Athens, one animal or group of animals have been Georgia. J.A.V.M.A. 147:434. 1965. expanded to include not only the health of 19. Riser. W. H. Your future in veterinarv medicine. 1st ed. New York 10, New York. Richard Rosen all our domestic animals, but emphasis on Press. Inc. 1962. 20. Sis, Raymond. Three-year professional curricu. public health, laboratory animals, and lum. Iowa State University Veterinarian 25:75- 78. 1962-63. various research projects. The problems 21. Stantte. C. H. The address of the President. J.A.V.M.A. 65:689-694. 1924. of public image and lack of financial sup­ 22. U.S. and Canadian veterinarv student enroll· ment continues to climb. J.A.V.M.A. 147:1703- port are still not entirely solved. We have 1704. 1965.

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