Tradition Continues at Cornell Vet School

Photo courtesy of Cornell University

Graduates of this year’s class of the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine uphold a long-standing tradition of blowing up palpation sleeves as balloons and waving them during commencement. The plastic sleeves can be seen with the students in the rear. A total of 95 students graduated this year after their years of studying the care of both small and large animals. The palpation sleeves are long plastic sleeves that vets wear on their arms for internal examinations of large animals such as dairy cattle. The sleeves also are worn during artificial insemination procedures.

Veterinarian Francis Fox Dies

Longtime well-known veterinarian Francis Fox has died.

Go to http://obits.syracuse.com/obituaries/syracuse/obituary.aspx?n=francis-h-fox&pid=174396242&fhid=7263 to read the obituary.

Here is a story from Cornell about Dr. Fox at http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2015/03/iconic-veterinary-professor-francis-h-fox-dies-92

Cornell Veterinarian was Master at Multi-Tasking

A nice read.

Thanks to Rebecca Schuelke Staehr for sharing http://www.pressconnects.com/article/CB/20131019/NEWS01/310190052/A-Life-Lived-Cornell-veterinarian-master-multi-tasking  on Facebook.

 

Cornell Vet School Beginning Construction Project

News from Cornell University:

The College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell will begin a $63 million capital project to upgrade and expand its infrastructure and teaching facilities to accommodate increasing the pre-clinical (first three years of study) class sizes from 102 to 120 students.

 

Plans call for demolishing 68,000 square feet of existing space, replacing it with 65,000 square feet of new space, and renovating 33,000 square feet. 

Construction is scheduled to start next summer with completion in fall 2017.

 

Cornell currently has the smallest class size among top-tier veterinary schools, due in part to facilities that lack lecture halls and other spaces capable of supporting more than 102 students. The fourth-year class size is now 120 students; an additional 18 students, many from Caribbean schools, complete their clinical training during their final year at Cornell in the college’s veterinary teaching hospital, which already has capacity for the additional students.

 

Additionally, the project will support the growing needs of an annual veterinary conference held at the college that attracts about 700 people. Along with practicing veterinarians and students, the conference is attended by veterinary technicians who will have access to Cornell’s new facilities to augment their programs with experiential learning.

 

“The facility enhancements made as part of this project will enable the college to match the admission size of our veterinary student intake with the capacity of our hospital, thereby achieving the maximum benefit from our extraordinary teaching hospital,” said Michael Kotlikoff, the Austin O. Hooey Dean of Veterinary Medicine.

 

“The program will also benefit regional veterinary technician programs, who need greater hands-on opportunities," he said.. "Having access to Cornell’s facilities will empower the State University of New York and other veterinary technician training programs to attract the most promising students to their programs, provide them with the most effective training and facilitate their ongoing success in practice.”

 

While uniting major teaching, clinical and research spaces of the college, the project enhances the sense of community and collaboration opportunities among students, faculty and staff.

 

The design includes creating a public auditorium; larger classrooms to expand pre-clinical education, including two additional tiered lecture halls; a dining facility closer to the hospital; renovating existing anatomy, tutorial and student surgery areas; and developing meeting and event spaces, an e-learning center and study spaces as well as a central student locker area.

 

Construction plans also include replacing James Law Auditorium with a new three-story structure: The first floor will house the Flower-Sprecher Veterinary Library, which is central to the teaching and research mission of the college. The second-floor will contain the modular resource center and E-learning Center, where students and others can access innovative learning tools. The third floor will be used for administrative offices.

 

The project is predominantly funded by New York state with the remainder coming from gifts and other college resources.

 

See a Live Calf Birth at the New Dairy Birthing Center at the New York State Fair

Cow awaits giving birth in the birthing center birth pen.

The miracle of birth is there for all to see in the new Dairy Birthing Center at the New York State Fair.

The fair opens its 12-day run Thursday Aug. 22. The Dairy Birthing Center is located at the back of the fairgrounds behind the Talent Showcase and in between the 4-H and FFA buildings.

The birthing center has been a longtime dream of Jessica Ziehm, executive director of the New York Animal Agriculture Coalition. The coalition is a farmer founded and funded organization that strives to enhance the public’s understanding of and appreciation for animal agriculture and modern farm practices, according to its website.

Ziehm said other state fairs, such as Minnesota, Virginia and Iowa, have run birthing centers in the past and she thought it would be a great idea for the New York fair.

"This is one of the amazing miracles we see on the farm every day," said Ziehm, who was raised on a dairy farm and now lives with her husband Stuart on the family dairy farm in Washington County north of Albany.

Hoard is a famous dairyman born in Madison County, NY

There will be six cows at the birthing center at one time and they will stay for two-day stints. Ziehm said if all goes as planned, three will give birth each day of the fair.

The cows have been induced, which Ziehm said is safe and common in the dairy industry. "It works very effectively in cattle because we know exactly when the cows are due," she said. This is because the cows are artificially inseminated, so exactly nine months after the insemination, the cows are ready to calve.

Ziehm said all the cows being brought in for the birthing center exhibit have given birth before and all are having only one calf. Veterinarians in private practice and those from the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine will be on hand for all the births.

There are bleachers set up on both sides of the birthing pen for the public to use while watching. 

Dale Mattoon, a Cayuga County dairy farmer and chairman of the New York Animal Agriculture Coalition, brought the first batch of cows in for the birthing center. 

"If you plan to be in the dairy business for the long haul, you need the public to understand why we do what we do," he said. "This is a great way to talk to the public about that."

The public is encouraged to ask questions of either the farmers or the vets while they are in the birthing center.

For youngsters, in the corner of the birthing center is a storytime site called "From Moo to You," which tells the story of today's dairy farmers.

Ziehm said the birthing center took six months to plan and "we're really excited to add it to the great New York State Fair."

"It all starts here folks," she said. "The production of milk wouldn't take place without the birth of baby calves."

Other farms donating cows for the birthing center are from Aurelius and Scipio Springs in Cayuga County, Odessa in Schuyler County, Lansing in Tompkins County and Skaneateles in Onondaga County. 

To watch cameras in the birthing center while you're not at the fair or at the birthing center, go to www.vet.cornell.edu/news/NYSFair.