Clinical Professor and Assistant Dean for Educational Innovation
A 1984 graduate of the University of Liverpool, Dr. Aldridge is an academic clinician, educator and clinical researcher based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He currently serves as Assistant Dean of Educational Innovation in the College of Veterinary Medicine.
Dr. Aldridge has used his passion for teaching and learning to assist in the development and implementation of high impact educational programs around the world. As an educator he is engaged in fostering preprofessional and professional competencies in innovation, problem solving and clinical reasoning. He has helped develop and implement new veterinary and medical school programs at institutions in California, Illinois, South Carolina, the United Kingdom, and south-east Asia. He has received numerous teaching awards and helped reach new learner audiences by creating online pre-professional, professional, graduate, and post-graduate learning communities in the I-Learning Center at U of I. He was also the co-developer of a Massive Open Online Course entitled Sustainable Food Production Through Livestock Health Management which has had over 25,000 participants from 100 countries, over 35% of which have been from developing nations. Dr. Aldridge’s scholarly efforts focus on animal health defense in growing livestock, with a particular interest in colostrum and mucosal immunology, and early disease detection.
A Conversation about the Future of the Veterinary Workforce: Too Many or Not Enough?
As the veterinary profession enters a time of change, differing data tells two stories: an upcoming oversupply of veterinary graduates versus an industry still desperate for more hands. Join Dr. Sandra Faeh (Chief Medical Officer at NVA General Practice, Past President of the American Veterinary Medical Association) and Dr. Brian Aldridge (Clinical Professor and Assistant Dean for Educational Innovation, University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine), two individuals with broad perspectives on the profession, for a candid conversation about the interrelated issues behind these concerns and their impact on the future of veterinary medicine.