Department Mission Statement and Goals

The Department of Biomedical Sciences (DBS) is one of three departments in the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM). The remaining departments are the Department of Clinical Sciences and the Department of Pathobiology.

The DBS is comprised of thirteen full time faculty members and two staff members. This includes four full professors, three associate professors, six assistant professors, one laboratory manager and one administrative assistant.

The DBS serves the CVM by providing three tasks: (1) creating new knowledge (research), (2) disseminating knowledge (teaching) and (3) assisting in the various departmental / college tasks required to advance the college and / or the University at large (service).

The core mission of the DBS is to provide the professional i.e. veterinary students during the first two years of their education i.e. pre-clinical years with the most current basic biomedical knowledge in four specific areas, veterinary anatomy, veterinary microanatomy, veterinary physiology and veterinary pharmacology necessary to build their career background to (A) ensure their successful advancement into the clinical curriculum and (B) to warrant their passing the National American Veterinary Licensing Examination (NAVLE).

We accomplish this mission by hiring well-qualified individuals who demonstrated, through teaching, attracting extramural funding and publication, their ability to (A) generate new knowledge (through research), especially in areas such as cancer biology, drug discovery, reproductive physiology and control of food intake, and communicating this knowledge (through teaching) to our students. Five faculty members in the DBS hold DVM, PhD degrees, one faculty member hold MD, PhD degrees, two faculty members hold DVM and MS degrees and five faculty members hold a PhD degree.

The goals of the DBS are:

(A) Provide the most current knowledge to our students in the areas of anatomy, microanatomy,

physiology and pharmacology by:

I. Generating new knowledge (research) in the areas above through conducting

i. Research

ii. Attracting extramural funding

iii. Publishing in basic science areas such as cancer biology, drug discovery, reproductive physiology and control of food intake

II. Communicating the new knowledge (teaching) of the areas above to the pre-clinical students through

i. Didactic courses

ii. Practical and wet laboratory settings

iii. Tutoring sessions by both faculty and accomplished students

iv. Invitation of clinical faculty to lecture in the basic science curriculum

v. Invitation of outside speaks in various areas to lecture in the veterinary curriculum vi. invitation of expert speaks to give seminars in the areas above

(B) Insure building a solid background for the preclinical students by

I. Incorporating clinical cases in the basic courses

II. Problem based teaching

III. Inviting clinicians to lecture in the basic science curriculum

IV. Incorporating laboratories with the lectures to demonstrate the clinical importance of the material e.g. electrocardiography laboratory, auscultation laboratory, physical / neurological / lameness examination laboratory

(C) Insure the highest passing rate in the NAVLE by

I. Providing intense review sessions

II. Providing practice examinations

III. Provide small group discussions IV. Provide interaction with other veterinary school programs

V. Provide computer based cases and examinations / scoring

(D) Foster a culture of generating new knowledge / investigation through

I. Summer Research Programs with other research establishments e.g. Merck, Center for Disease Control, other veterinary or medical schools

II. Summer Research Internships

III. Work-Study Students

IV. Laboratory Rotations