Vet Gazette

The video team at OSU Productions interviewed faculty and students, and filmed areas of the hospital that clients typically don’t see, to create a 3 minute video of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. The video is posted on the hospital website where veterinarians, clients, and future clients can take a quick look behind the scenes.

Dr. Elizabeth Collar, Ph.D candidate in diagnostic imaging, was recently selected for OSU’s MacVicar Scholar Award for her work on Carpal Bone Fracture in race horses. Her research demonstrated a connection between fractures and focal subchondral bone porosity. The MacVicar Award is given for quality research that impacts animal health.

Dr. Collar will give a presentation on her research on Thursday, June 1 at 3:00 pm in Magruder room 102.

At the CVM Awards Ceremony on May 24th, a stellar group of faculty received teaching and research awards.

The Zoetis Distinguished Teacher Award was given to Dr. Dan Rockey, a professor in Biomedical Sciences where he teaches Veterinary Bacteriology and Mycology.  Dr. Rockey applies strategies both old and new to the teaching of infectious disease, always with a focus on integrating contemporary basic knowledge into the real-world needs of future veterinarians.

Students who nominated him say:

• “He deeply cares that his students learn the material and succeed.”
• “Dr. Rockey was an excellent professor for Bacteriology! He made difficult things easy to understand, made class fun with stories, examples, and different ways to think about how to remember certain aspects of the bacteria. I thoroughly enjoyed his class and think that he is well deserving of this award!”
• “Dr. Rockey is excited about the subject he teaches, and it shows!”

Dr. Milan Milovancev, professor of small animal surgery, received the New Investigator Award. Dr. Milovancev’s research focuses on surgical treatment of locally invasive cancers. Dean Sue Tornquist commended Dr. Milovancev as an “active and innovative researcher, with over 30 publications in a relatively short veterinary career at OSU. In addition to strong primary efforts, Dr. Milovancev has established an excellent record as a collaborator with members of both CVM departments, across campus, with Oregon Humane Society, and among veterinary institutions. These collaborations and this productivity have generated national acclaim for Dr. Milovancev and for OSU, and represent the stellar start to a career as a clinical scientist.”

The Zoetis Research Excellence Award recognizes outstanding research effort and productivity, and this year it was awarded to Dr. Hong Moulton for her research in the treatment of genetic abnormalities using anti-sense nucleotides. Recently, Dr. Moulton participated in the discovery of a newly-approved therapy for Duchene muscular dystrophy.

Excellence in Teaching awards were given to the following faculty who were nominated by students:

• Kate Scollan
• Fikru Nigussie
• Joe Klopfenstein
• Jana Gordon
• Hadi Mansouri
• Jennifer Warnock

The Bricco Family presented Ben Ulrich and Michelle Flores with the Debbi Bricco Memorial Scholarship.

The CVM Student Awards Ceremony is an opportunity to recognize the many dedicated, high-working students who attend the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine. It is also a great way for the students to meet and thank the generous donors who provide their scholarships.

This year, CVM advisory board member Rebecca Camden created her third scholarship for the college in honor of her beloved dachshund Maude. The scholarship goes to a student who has demonstrated an interest in shelter medicine and Dina Regev received the award this year.

Also new this year is the Debbi Bricco Memorial Scholarship in Shelter Medicine. Debbi (Class of 2018) will be remembered for her joyful spirit and positive attitude. She created this award to help students who share her passion for shelter medicine. This year the Bricco family presented the award to Ben Ulrich and Michelle Flores.

In addition to awards presentation, the event provides an opportunity for long-time friends of the college to gather and visit with students and faculty at a reception following the ceremony.

Carole Bradford and Dr. Mike Huber present the Carolina Cabaret scholarship to Laura Sahlfeld.

Jim and Carole Bradford created one of the first scholarships for the college; it honors a beloved race horse and the Veterinary Teaching Hospital teams who have cared for many of their horses over the years. She and her old friend, Dr. Mike Huber, presented the award to Laura Sahlfeld for her interest in equine medicine and dedication to compassionate care for both owners and animals.

Members of the Linn County Kennel Club stopped by again this year to present two long-standing awards to three students with an interest in small animal medicine: Sarah Montoya Yamada, Melanie MacClanathan, and Meredith Bleuer.

Dr. Keith Sides traveled from Bend, as he has done for nearly twenty years, to present the Shane Brown Memorial Scholarship and offer inspirational words to the students in the audience. He presented this year’s award to Dan Hansen for his interest in large animal medicine.

In the United States, the average veterinary student graduates with about $150,000 of debt. Scholarships are critical to helping alleviate some of that burden. A big ‘Thank You’ to all our scholarship donors!

Slideshow of all award recipients:

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Steve Lehto adds a ramp to the animal lift he built for the hospital.

How do you examine the belly of a mini-horse? You either crawl around on the ground, or elevate the animal somehow.

Dr. Jacob Mecham, CVM’s mobile equine veterinarian, faces this problem often. He investigated commercial animal lifts and found they cost several thousand dollars, and still weren’t well-suited to his needs. So he asked Steve Lehto for help.

Lehto has been the jack-of-all trades at CVM since 2004 (official title: Trades/Maintenance 2). Prior to that he worked for Pacific North Industrial and Oregon Metallurgical. But he learned most of his diverse range of handy-dandy skills from his dad.

In a typical week, Lehto tackles everything from basic plumbing and electrical, to janitorial. In the past, he has helped plumb the swimming pool in the rehab area, and built the ramp leading up to it; he added new lights to the pharmacy; and he welded a bar on the squeeze chute in the food animal area to keep incoming bulls from turning around. So when Dr. Mecham approached him with the horse lift problem, he was able to draw on years of experience to solve it.

Lehto started with a $500 hydraulic motorcycle lift. Then he customized the heck out of it, right down to the orange and black paint job.

He added a chute to the top of the lift that is built from square metal tubing; all but the lowest bars are removable, so the veterinarian has easy access to the animal. Lehto built the chute with gates at both ends and he welded rings along the sides so the veterinarian can add ropes if needed.

The motorcycle lift came with a ramp at one end. Lehto added a ramp at the other end so the animal can walk off the lift going forward; much easier than trying to back them off. The ramps are built to swing out of the way while the veterinarian is working, so he can get closer to the animal.

There are two pedals on the side of the lift, one to pump the lift up, and one to release it. “I loaded Cory, Matt Weist, and a small student onto the lift to test it,” says Lehto. “That was 500 pounds of pure fun. It took 73 pumps to lift it as high as it will go – thirty-one inches.”

He also tested the wheels by rolling the lift out to the barn. He discovered that the small metal wheels made it difficult to move. Dr. Mecham pointed out another problem: the corral hung over the lift on one end, making it easy to tip. “So I customized some new wheels,” says Lehto. “These are bigger and heavier so it won’t tip anymore, and it’s easier to roll around the hospital. I also made a T-handle to pull it.”

The lift now resides in a stall in large animal hospital and is available for anyone to use. “They can use it with sheep, pigs, goats, whatever,” says Lehto.