Part of a Great History

The only thing that gets Dr. Susan Little more amped than talking about parasites is talking about how much she loves teaching.

“It’s incredibly rewarding,” says Little, who won OSU’s 2010 Pfizer Distinguished Teacher Award. An expert in everything from ticks to parasitic worms, she adds that she recently received an email from a former student of more than a decade ago exclaiming he still uses his notes from her introductory parasitology course.

“And he told me so do his classmates,” she says. “I like the fact that I teach something they’re going to use daily, and they’re aware they’re using it, too.”

Each year vet college faculty and students vote for the best teacher in the college, and the results determine who wins the prize. For Little, the award is just the latest accomplishment in a stellar career at OSU, where last year she started the National Center for Veterinary Parasitology.

In addition to running the center, she teaches second-year veterinary students’ clinical parasitology, a class that is often students’ first experience thinking as clinicians. She works with them at critical points in their careers as they begin learning about parasites, the diseases they cause, and how to treat animals.

“It’s an exciting moment. Parasites in particular are threats to the health of all kinds of animals. Veterinarians spend a huge amount of time managing animals for intestinal parasites, fleas, ticks, heart worms and other parasitic organisms.”

Little came to Stillwater in 2005 after nearly a decade teaching at the University of Georgia in Athens. At OSU, she is the Krull-Ewing Endowed Chair of Veterinary Parasitology, a position of some prestige due in part to the college’s many renowned parasitologists, including Drs. Wendell Krull and Sidney Ewing. In addition, the college has a rich history of great instructors in a variety of disciplines, a fact that humbles her more today when she thinks about this achievement.

“To receive the highest teaching award that the veterinary college bestows is incredibly humbling, even more so because of the caliber of faculty members who have been recognized with this award in the past.”

The Lancaster, Ky., native holds a doctoral degree in parasitology from the University of Georgia, a veterinary medicine degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Cornell University.

Author of more than 100 publications, Little’s work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, Bayer Animal Health, the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis and Pfizer. She is on the editorial boards of Veterinary Parasitology and Veterinary Therapeutics.

MATT ELLIOTT

Dr. James Breazile received the 2009 Regents Distinguished Teaching Award. A professor in the physiological sciences department, he teaches physiology to first-year veterinary students.

“Dr. Breazile has dedicated his life to the training of veterinary students and serves as a mentor for both students and faculty,” says Dr. Carey Pope, department head.

One of his students, Desiree Poore, says Breazile goes beyond what one would normally expect of a teacher.

“Not only does Dr. Breazile introduce students to basic physiological mechanisms that will serve as the base of their future professional skills, he goes out of his way to encourage students to come by his office and get to know him as ‘another family member,’” says Poore, class of 2010.

“During a recent telethon to raise funds for the veterinary center, I spoke with many alumni. The fact that alumni 20 years later ask about Dr. Breazile and can still recount stories he told to drive home teaching points stands alone as a testament to his impact on students.”

A native of Missouri, Breazile earned his bachelor’s degree in agriculture and DVM degree from the University of Missouri. He went on to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in adult education from Loyola University in New Orleans, La.

Breazile’s research interests focus on neurophysiology; neuroanatomy; cardiovascular, respiratory and renal physiology; and humane euthanasia.

According to the former dean of the veterinary college, Dr. Patrick Morgan, “Breazile is the only professor I know who can teach any course in the basic science curriculum and teach it very well. He runs a very tight classroom. The men don’t wear hats, and both men and women pay attention or they leave. And the students are not resentful of him.”

But there is more to this man than just teaching. He has served as mayor of Pilot Grove, Mo., filled in for a city judge, served as an ordained Roman Catholic deacon and referees basketball games. In spite of having had four heart attacks, he keeps on going — teaching the next generation of OSU veterinarians.

DERINDA BLAKENEY

Dogy had an enjery

“We anticipate nearly $1.2 million budget reductions in FY2011. Increases in health insurance and other areas will add $350,000 to our budget causing a gap of $1.5 million. We have few alternatives to fund the gap other than not filling open faculty and staff positions, increasing enrollment in years two and three and increasing tuition ….”

— MICHAEL D.

Inspiration can take on a life of its own, as 7-year-old Jacob Dobson of Wichita, Kan., clearly demonstrates. While those who planned and presented the 2010 Grandparent University certainly hoped to inspire their attendees, no one anticipated young Dobson’s unbridled enthusiasm.

He and his grandmother, Barbara Dobson, university mailing services employee, were among the 36 OSU alumni and their grandchildren, ages 7 to 11, who came to the center to learn more about the world of veterinary medicine.

Under the direction of faculty and staff, the attendees performed a sonogram on a stuffed dog in theriogenology, surgically repaired lacerations on stuffed animals in teddy bear surgery, learned about heart health in cardiology, identified specific bones in anatomy and studied radiographs.

They looked through microscopes at various parasites, examined cultures of swabs from everyday things such as a sneeze, a water faucet and a soccer ball, and they conducted a hand washing exercise to emphasize the importance of thoroughly washing away germs and bacteria.

Seven-year-old Jacob Dobson , left, posts his fees on his bedroom door, below. While he may wish to become a veterinarian, the reduction in public funding will require OSU to raise tuition rates, pushing a veterinary education farther out of reach for many. For others, the rising costs will impose a financial burden for future veterinarians like Dobson — despite his plan to start charging fees early in his career.

Dobson closely attended the lessons and carefully applied them when he returned home.

In fact, he hung his shingle on his bedroom door along with his posted fee, and wearing a white jacket and his surgery gear from Grandparent University, he went to work. He borrowed a needle and thread from his mother and sewed up a stuffed pet’s leg, wrapped it in an Ace bandage and wrote out a prescription.

On his handmade chart, he noted the “dogy had an enjery.”

OSU’s veterinary center welcomed 36 attendees, alumni and their grandchildren, ages 7 to 11, to the 2010 Grandparent University

Congratulations, Class of 2010

The Center for Veterinary Health Sciences’ class of 2010 joins the proud tradition of OSU Cowboy veterinarians. They begin their careers as practice-ready veterinarians dedicated to the wellness and clinical care of animals and as biomedical researchers committed to the control and eradication of emerging infectious diseases. “We graduated 75 new Cowboy veterinarians. They are an impressive group performing very well on national board examinations and headed to jobs all over the world.” – MICHAEL LORENZ,

DEAN .

Meet the Class of 2014

Eighty-two students, 13 males and 69 females, comprise the class of 2014. The center chose 58 Oklahoma residents and 24 nonresidents from a pool of 478 applicants to begin the 2010 fall semester. The core and cumulative grade point averages for these students are 3.593 and 3.575 respectively. Their average grade GRE scores are 501 verbal, 622 quantitative and 591 biology. This is the first class to include Early Admit Program (EAP) students (3 residents and 1 nonresident). The Early Admit Program strives to aid academically talented, committed students in their veterinary medical career development.

To be eligible for the EAP, seniors in high school must have an ACT score of 27 or higher and be enrolled in a comprehensive university in Oklahoma. Students can be admitted to the program during the first year of their undergraduate education. Early Admit Scholars must maintain a 3.5 GPA each academic year while completing their bachelor’s degree and the pre-veterinary course requirements.

During this time, students team with veterinary college faculty to provide guidance and mentorship. Drs. Robert Bahr, Ken Clinkenbeard, Lyndi Gilliam and Mark Rochat mentored these students. These clinicians took extra time with these students, and we applaud their dedication to the future of veterinary medicine.

EAP students in the class of 2014 had an average core GPA of 3.987 and an average cumulative GPA of 3.993