Vet Gazette

Alex Rowell had a busy year as the first-ever counselor and wellness coordinator for the College of Veterinary Medicine. He lectured in the third-year Practice Management class, coordinated three guest lectures, served on a PVMA wellness panel, had private appointments with dozens of DVM students, and gave a presentation to hospital staff on compassion fatigue.

In addition to providing in-person counseling to faculty, staff and students, Rowell also focused on making a long-term impact on the CVM culture in general. One step he is taking toward a culture shift is the dissemination of information on good nutrition. “I don’t think I would have been very popular if, right off the bat, I took everyone’s Red Bulls and iced coffee [out of the vending machines],” he says “Mainly, I just want to bring awareness to healthy decision-making and awareness of certain non-healthy food and drink options. For example, an 11-ounce Red Bull energy drink has 48.5 grams of sugar in it when the recommend sugar intake for adults is about 25 grams per day.”

Rowell also writes a Wednesday Wellness email to share the latest research and useful information on topics like getting enough sleep, finding time to exercise, and treating yourself with kindness. His online survey revealed that a large majority of the college found these emails helpful.

All this hard work is not without rewards. “When I arrived last August, I was not sure what this position would look like, but I have really enjoyed meeting with faculty, staff and students who are so passionate about their work and education.” He has been assisting some of the students throughout the entire year and really enjoys that. “To see them grow, not just as professionals, but as people is truly amazing,” he says. “I am amazed at how brilliant, motivated, empathic, loving, and funny our students are.”

With a program that is so new, Rowell is on the lookout for ways to keep improving it. “One thing I got from the surveys I have done is that yoga is really popular here at the college, so I want to bring that back.” He is looking for a certified yoga instructor who can conduct onsite classes next school year. He also wants to provide more flexible office hours. “This positon was created to meet the needs of the students, so if someone can only meet for 15 or 30 minutes that it totally fine.” He also would like to collaborate with faculty at the college. “The faculty I have met have been very nice and welcoming, but as a mental health profession in a veterinary medicine world, sometimes I feel like a fish out of water.”

Dean Susan Tornquist worked with OSU Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) to create Rowell’s position. “Having Alex on our staff adds important support for students in maintaining their emotional, mental and physical health,” she says. “The feedback we’ve gotten, after Alex being here almost one year, is that he is serving an important role in the College and students very much appreciate the attention we are giving to their well-being.”

The Veterinary Teaching Hospital at Oregon State University has a new state-of-the-art scope for diagnosing upper airway disorders in horses.

The portable Optomed dynamic endoscope allows veterinarians to see a horse’s airway under a variety of conditions, in any environment. The custom-made scope is so new there are only a few currently being used in this country.

“The endoscope will allow us to examine the upper airway of client horses in real time during their normal activity,” says Dr. Erica McKenzie, specialist in equine internal medicine and sport horses. “It is especially useful with horses where we cannot duplicate their specific exercise on the treadmill, or when they cannot be safely trained to the treadmill.”

The dynamic scope is inserted into the horse’s nostril and, once it is properly placed, locked securely into place by a special nose band that fits comfortably over or under the bridle. A specially-designed saddle pad that houses the recording device is then placed on the horse’s back. A saddle or sulky harness easily fits over the pad. Once all the equipment is in place, the horse can follow its regular exercise routine. A real-time video of the horse’s airways can be watched on a mobile screen. The video can also be recorded on a flash drive for viewing later.

The dynamic endoscope allows the airway to be observed during all types of exercise and movement, including ridden horses. It will help veterinarians diagnose previously unidentified upper airway disorders such as noisy breathing during exercise and exercise intolerance. It was purchased, in part, with a donation from the Willard L. and Ruth P. Eccles Foundation.

Cats with feline injection-site sarcoma (FISS) often have noncancerous tissue removed with their tumors as a precaution. This can have detrimental effects on felines, so Dr. Milan Milovancev, professor of small animal surgery, is studying ways to be more precise in determining which tissues are noncancerous.

“Older studies showed that if you had bigger margins, cats would live longer,” Milovancev said. “The previous margin guidelines of 2 to 3 centimeters had been found to be inadequate, and the new guidelines were 5, which seemed like a big jump, and in some of these cats may cause a lot of unnecessary suffering.

“The net take-home is that yes, 2 to 3 centimeters is indeed inadequate, but we didn’t find any tumors getting close to 5 centimeters. We can reduce morbidity by surgically removing what we need to take out, and leaving what doesn’t need to be taken out.”

Read more.

Shelley Brown makes a quality check on the instrument washer.

Every Certified Veterinary Technician is trained to properly clean surgical instruments, but Shelley Brown and Ruth Mandsager take it to the next level.

Shelley Brown has worked in the Central Sterile department of the hospital for six years. She is solely responsible for cleaning and sterilizing all the dirty equipment that is generated daily by a very busy hospital. If that sounds fairly simple, it’s not. The job requires her to be a combination of mechanic, plumber, quality manager, chemical tester, and neat freak.

The Central Sterile department processes drapes, scrubs, towels, instruments, hardware, tubing, cannulas, and all the delicate electronic instruments used in minimally invasive surgeries. Brown handles every piece three to five times. Some things need more cleaning than others; some even need to be inspected under a microscope for wear and damage. Most things go through an ultrasonic cleaner and the instrument washer; but scopes cameras and drills must all be handwashed.

“Engineers have designed all these cool devices, but can they be cleaned?” says Brown. “They have to be sterilized so they can be used again and again.” That’s why the hospital doesn’t buy their orthopedic drills at Home Depot.  “I’ve got to be able to sterilize it at 270 degrees for ten minutes. What electronic equipment likes that?” she says.

With their narrow, six-foot long tubes, light and computer cables, and camera at the end, endoscopes are especially tricky to sterilize.  “The camera is immersible and autoclavable, but it is still delicate,” says Brown. “If you accidentally put something in the wrong machine, you can destroy a $5,000 scope.”

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Each incoming class of veterinary students has it’s own unique ‘personality’. Among other things, the Class of 2021 will be remembered for being the first with 69 members, rather than 56. They are part of a new growth initiative that will include expansion of Magruder Hall (see previous story).

The Class of 2021 was selected from an applicant pool of 970, and includes 36 Oregon residents. Fifty-eight  students in the class identify as female, and ten as male. They have a overall incoming GPA of 3.61, and 28% are age twenty-five years or older. They come to Corvallis from across the U.S. and many already have experience as veterinary technicians, wildlife center volunteers, zookeepers, farm hands, and university researchers.

As in past years, a significant number (26%) showed their tenacity and passion for becoming a veterinarian by applying to CVM more than once.

The Oregon State International Veterinary Student’s Association (IVSA) will be traveling to Ometepe, Nicaragua in August for their annual veterinary service trip. This group of dedicated veterinary students will be conducting six days of free clinics on an island that has no regular veterinary care for their animals. The clinics include physical exams, de-worming, vaccinations, spays, neuters, and public health education.

Ometepe Island is home to an estimated 10,000 rural people and approximately 50,000 animals, many of them under-nourished. The community relies on its pigs, cows, donkeys, horses and chickens for food, transport and work.  In addition, there is a large population of stray dogs on the island which can spread disease and causes a public health concern.

OSU students, under the supervision of volunteer veterinarians, spay and neuter hundreds of dogs and cats on Ometepe every summer. Now in its tenth year, the program has made a visible impact on the over-population of strays. “We now see many dogs that come to the clinic and only need preventive care, since so many have been spayed and neutered.,” says Dr. Sue Tornquist, Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, and long-time volunteer on the trip.

OSU veterinary students plan, organize and fund the trip independently from the college or any other organization. In addition to funding their own travel costs, students must also raise money to purchase medical supplies needed for the trip, such as vaccines, needles, syringes, gauze, and sutures. The total averages about $1,500 per student.

You can help support the students by adopting a Nicaraguan animal for only $20. “In exchange, you will receive a photo and story about the animal that was in our care, including a description of the type of care provided for the animal,“ says Kristin Wineinger, IVSA co-chair. For more information about the service trip, or to donate, visit http://stuorgs.oregonstate.edu/ivsa/donate.