Excerpt for College X’s Self-Study
Facilities of the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) are located on the east side of the University campus and comprise four buildings.
The Veterinary Medical Education building, constructed in 1930, houses administrative offices, faculty offices, conference rooms, counseling and wellness offices, classrooms, a large 200-seat auditorium, an anatomy lab and museum, a library, group study rooms, and a small café. Several of the classrooms have been updated with IT capabilities and are equipped for laptop use and multimedia projection. Faculty offices are adequate; however, adjunct and associate professors are required to share offices, with two or three faculty members per office.
The Veterinary Classroom building, constructed in 1980, is the main teaching facility for the college. It comprises of three lecture halls with 200-seat, 150-seat and 100-seat capacities; 20 classrooms that can accommodate up to 40 students each; additional classrooms that can each accommodate 20-30 students; and teaching laboratories. The building also contains a computer lab, and a student lounge and study areas.
The Veterinary Research building, constructed in 2005, houses all the college’s research laboratories (BSL 2 grade) and offices.
The Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH), built in 1990, includes a Large Animal Hospital, a Small Animal Hospital, and supporting services. The Large Animal Hospital includes client receiving; animal receiving, food animal holding and surgery areas, equine holding areas, examination and treatment rooms, equine induction and recovery area, equine surgery suites, a diagnostic imaging unit, and an intensive care unit (ICU). Facilities for the care of animals at the Small Animal Hospital are currently adequate for the existing caseload; however, all space is in use and any expansion of services and teaching will be difficult to accommodate. The Small Animal Hospital consists of staff offices, client reception, examination rooms, treatment rooms, animal housing, an ICU, a pharmacy, an anesthesia induction and recovery area, surgical suites, dental suites, isolation rooms, and student rounds rooms. When not in use, the isolation rooms double as a storage area for hospital supplies. The VTH has extensive diagnostic imaging capabilities, including digital radiography/fluoroscopy, 16-slice CT, MRI, color Doppler ultrasound, digital subtraction angiography, dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, and nuclear scintigraphy.
One licensed pharmacist oversees the pharmacy. The College continues to recruit for an additional licensed pharmacist. Controlled substances are assigned a log number upon arrival to track usage and are stored in a walk-in safe. Audits for controlled substances occur every 12 to 16 months. The pharmacist is also responsible for compounding chemotherapy drugs.
The Occupational Safety, Health, and Biosecurity Committee is responsible for the CVM’s safety plan and for monitoring all aspects of safety including those that pertain to fire, biological hazards, chemical hazards, animal management, emergency management, and radiation exposure. It reviews risks concerning occupational safety, health, and biosecurity to facilitate the college’s compliance with campus, OSHA, and USDA regulations. Protocols and appropriate signage are posted in all laboratories and other high-risk areas. Safety protocols are also published in the student handbook, which is available online. Students undergo safety training in proper safety procedures during their first semester. Several online safety courses are also available. In 2009, formaldehyde monitoring in the anatomy lab was reviewed and revised. Radiation safety is overseen by the University Radiation Safety Officer. The officers monitor students’ radiation exposure by downloading and assessing dose readings from their instadose badges at the end of each rotation.
Instruction of students also occurs at several off-campus sites:
The University Teaching Dairy Barn, located five hours from the main campus, is operated by the Agricultural Department and houses a 200-cow dairy herd.
The University Aqua Research Center provides instruction opportunities for students interested in aquaculture medicine.
The State Wildlife Rehabilitation Center is operated by the State Department of Natural Resources and provides instruction opportunities for students interested in wildlife medicine.
Humane Societies
Additional off-campus facilities include several clinical affiliates which are used for fourth-year student clinical rotations. These consist of small animal clinics and a veterinary specialty clinic.
Renovations were begun last year in response to an increase in class size to 205 students. Renovations are ongoing, adding seats and teaching stations in lecture halls, the anatomy laboratory, and inside the teaching laboratory. Additional renovations are also needed, but state funding concerns have slowed these changes.
The implementation of a new curriculum has expanded the number of students on rotation in the hospital during the fall semester, resulting in overcrowding, especially in rounds rooms. Furniture changes have been implemented and continue to be modified, but this remains a concern.