"Ultimately, the quality of the graduate—not the specifics of the courses—provide the measure of the program".

 

Despite Spotlight on Laboratories, Focus Belongs on Students

by Dr. Ted Valli

To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the death of our teaching program have been greatly exaggerated.

Rumors and inaccurate media accounts have spread some pretty far-out stories. In case there’s any doubt among our alumni, let me assure you that our College was not torturing animals. No protest rallies were held here. And we did not lose the effectiveness of the curriculum by capitulating to animal rightists’ demands.

The good news to come out of the past few months is that we’ve instituted positive changes. At last we have a written policy, approved by the faculty, that articulates our position: 
• That our program uses live or dead animals to provide students with essential skills and interactive learning experiences; 
• That protocols involving animals will be reviewed first within the College to ensure appropriateness within the curriculum and then at the campus level to ensure compliance with federal guidelines for the humane treatment of the animals;
• That instructors, when notified before the beginning of the course, will provide alternative learning experiences for students whose beliefs lead them to choose not to participate in instructional laboratories that conclude with the death of animals. 

Most important, the quality of the education we provide is enriched, not diminished, by making choices available to conscientious objecting students. We can assure our students, the veterinarians who will hire them, and the clients they will serve that our graduates will gain the basic science knowledge and the clinical skills and experiences they need to be competent, compassionate practitioners. Ultimately, the quality of the graduate—not the specifics of the courses—provide the measure of the program.

For many years our small animal surgery curriculum has consisted of what other veterinary schools provide as an “alternative.” Namely, students build their surgical dexterity for making incisions and suturing by practicing on inanimate objects, including cloth, raw chicken breasts, and lifelike plastic models. Skills advance to the point that their first surgeries are survival spays and castrations performed on dogs and cats from local humane societies. These animals return to the shelter as more desirable pets (unless, as often happens, they are adopted by the surgeons-in-training!). Studies by our faculty have shown that this approach develops surgical skills equal to those acquired through terminal surgery programs.

Our standard laboratories in large animal surgery currently involve terminal procedures on a small number of goats and ponies. Large animal surgery instructors have routinely made alternative exercises available to students with objections to the terminal exercises. Typically, the options have involved additional work with cadaver material. Stillborn calves have served as instructive, ethically acquired cadavers for these students to practice performing abomasopexies. 

Instructors are exploring other approaches for instituting survival large animal surgeries for students. Some schools, for example, have an arrangement similar to our small animal surgery program, in which local farm owners allow students to castrate ponies.
Meanwhile, the new survival animal experiences that have been proposed for the first-year physiology course will be so attractive that no student will want to miss them. They include hands-on experiences in basic procedures including sedation, intubation, and anesthesia, for which the practical application is immediately apparent. The final laboratory is to be a “wellness clinic” in which the students assess the overall suitability of the dogs for adoption.

The debate over the terminal first-year physiology laboratories at our College has made an impact on the University’s Urbana campus. In response to a request from the College, Dr. Tony Waldrop, the newly appointed vice chancellor for research, has convened an “ad hoc committee to assess how we are using animals in instruction across campus, the extent and appropriateness of such use, the nature and extent of alternatives to the use of live animals, and ways in which the use of animals in instruction (and alternatives) on the campus might be improved.” While Dr. Waldrop notes that “ongoing use of animals is an essential aspect of both research and instruction,” he will assist the College and a consortium of faculty in making the Urbana campus a leader in developing alternative models.

It seems a fitting goal for the University of Illinois, a leader in computing, virtual reality programs, and other aspects of information technology. At our College, Dr. Jo Ann Eurell, associate professor of morphology, has created a computerized simulation of chick embryology that depicts anatomic development in the first 48 hours after fertilization. Students can see any view or slice of the 3D image and can observe and marvel at how a simple tube folds upon itself to become a four-chambered heart. If technology can be so effective in demonstrating anatomic form, surely it can be put to use to demonstrate the physiologic function previously taught in the terminal laboratories.

An all-faculty retreat scheduled for this fall will provide another opportunity for the College to put the focus on student outcomes. The approach we will take is to establish the expected level of competence for our new graduates in four clinical areas: equine, food animal, public practice, and small animal. Then we will work backward through the curriculum to define what skills and knowledge are required from earlier courses to support that level of achievement. Practitioners and others from outside the College will take part in the retreat to bring a real-world perspective to the proceedings. 

As social mores change, as new teaching technologies become available, the approaches used on our teaching program are bound to evolve. What has remained a source of pride to the College are the dedication, quality, and achievements of our students.