May 2014

Meet Mr. Bear: One of thousands of patients that has been helped because of MRI

After noticing an odd lump on his dog’s head in the spring of 2013, Joel Greenhalgh of British Columbia, Canada, took Mr. Bear, a then 11-year-old Australian Sheppard-Rottweiler mix, to his local veterinarian. At first the advice was to watch and see, but when it didn’t go away, his veterinarian took a biopsy. Mr. Bear had cancer.

WSU veterinary student Beryl Swanson (’14 DVM) with Mr. Bear after surgery

The WSU Clinical Simulation Center

In a large room filled with a half dozen tables, groups of students are following what might appear to be sewing instructions with stich names such as “cruciate” and “simple interrupted.” At the top of the sheet it reads: Practice Made Perfect. For the WSU veterinary students who are actually learning basic surgical suturing skills, this kind of practice gives them the confidence they need to perform surgeries later in the program.

Veterinarian Julie Cary with veterinary student Amy Berry.

A WSU small animal intern gets specialized critical care training

After earning a DVM from the University of Montreal, Marie-Lou Gauthier was thrilled to be accepted as an intern at the WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital to further her education and gain more hands-on experience. So she felt very fortunate when she and other WSU interns were given the opportunity to spend two weeks at Animal Critical Care and Emergency Services (ACCES) in Seattle.

Mary Lou as an intern, in the Teaching Hospital lobby.