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Areas of Focus:

• Educational Methods and Outcomes
• Epidemiological Interpretations of Health and Disease
• Clinical/Applied Veterinary Medical Research

Student Involvement:

As developing scientists, students are expected to actively engage and participate in research during their tenure at WesternU-CVM. This participation will manifest differently in students depending on their interests, career goals and motivations; examples of this participation include the Independent Research with Thesis option, Junior Presentations and Senior Presentations. Faculty are available to students as research project coordinators and mentors to help develop the drive toward scientific inquiry in all veterinary graduates.

CVM 8999: Independent Research with Thesis

Students will be actively encouraged to conduct scholarly research and submit a thesis during their four-year curriculum. The thesis should explore an original question relating to the basic sciences, a clinical problem, or a public or environmental health issue involving veterinary medicine. Students will be supervised by faculty members from CVM or jointly with faculty from other institutions.

This will offer an opportunity for collaborative research with other units of WesternU. Funds to support this research could be sought from external funding agencies such as the Geraldine Dodge Foundation. Alternatively, students may wish to work with a faculty member who has an ongoing externally funded research program. International opportunities also would be very suitable for thesis research. Ideally, the thesis should be completed prior to the beginning of the Phase III (4^th year) of the curriculum. Students would be required to submit a publication from their thesis, either in a peer-reviewed journal, or in a local publication such as the California Veterinarian or Pulse. Students who successfully complete a thesis would be acknowledged at graduation, and their achievements recorded in their permanent academic records.

CVM 7090: Junior Presentation

During their 3^rd year, each student will be required to make an oral presentation with a formal written report of a case, series of cases, or a herd/flock problem with which they have been involved during Phase I and Phase II. The approach to presentation should follow the dictums of "Evidence Based Medicine" defined as "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions with regard to either the care of individual animals or a group of animals". For example, the accuracy and precision of diagnostic test, power of prognostic markers and the efficacy and safety of the therapeutic or preventive regimens should be investigated. This implies that students, in preparing their case presentations, must carry out a thorough literature search and evaluate the strengths of relevant published materials as it may apply to their case(s). Presentations, both oral and written, will be evaluated by faculty using formal criteria, but students will be encouraged to be both critical and analytical in their reports, recognizing that practical circumstances may often preclude the practicing of optimal medical care.

CVM 8090: Senior Presentation

Students, in preparing their case presentations, must carry out a thorough literature search and evaluate the strengths of relevant published materials as it may apply to their case(s). Presentations, both oral and written, will be evaluated by faculty using formal criteria, but students will be encouraged to be both critical and analytical in their reports, recognizing that practical circumstances may often preclude the practicing of optimal medical care.