Committee Presents New Curriculum During College Hour
A tremendous amount of work has taken place at the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM) to establish the new curricular framework and prepare for first-year DVM students this semester, and the Curriculum Review & Planning team shared the details of that work at College Hour on Friday morning, Aug. 18.
The team presented the faculty’s work and the overarching plan in moving forward to faculty, staff, and administrators in the Veterinary & Biomedical Education Complex (VBEC).
The plan includes action items defined from stakeholder feedback; a broad-based, cutting-edge educational research; and consultation with experts in the field.
“The dedicated faculty who teach in the DVM program have once again demonstrated their commitment to excellence,” said Dr. Karen Cornell, CVM associate dean for professional programs. “They have worked very hard to update our curriculum so that we can best prepare our veterinary graduates to meet the rigorous demands and changing needs of our profession.”
One quote that puts the College Hour presentation into perspective came from Dr. Kenita Rogers, CVM executive associate dean.
“For the last few days, you all may have seen 142 new first year veterinary students roaming around. I had the honor yesterday of facilitating one of those mentor groups. It reminded me what a privilege it is that we all get to participate collectively in this entire arc of learning,” she said. “Everybody in this room participates in that learning—everything from critical thinking to problem solving, delivering foundational knowledge, integration, and application.
“Probably most importantly right now is what we do individually. Each of us has the opportunity—and I think has the obligation—to create an environment in the classroom that’s really respectful,” she continued. “I can assure you with the new curriculum, there’s going to be some challenges. It may not be pretty all the time. Sometimes it’s going to be scary, and sometimes it’s even going to be frustrating.
“But how we do that, how we work in the face of that, will make all the difference. We are a team. We should be helping each other. We should be deciding together how to move forward because in the end, it’s simply not about us. It’s about them; it’s about the students. And we must never forget that.”
