In 2023, Colorado State University's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences announced that it will expand its veterinary education facilities to meet the growing demand for veterinarians in the United States and help alleviate the current shortage of veterinarians.
A new bill, HB24-1231, introduced in the Colorado General Assembly would give CSU $50 million toward a new veterinary health education complex.
Although CSU's School of Veterinary Medicine ranks second in the nation, veterinary students want more modern equipment and updated teaching methods to keep up with the evolving field.
“This is a truly innovative project, upgrading an old facility and also adding a primary care clinic that will provide both training and service to the community. We're updating a curriculum that hasn't been updated in decades to match what we think is the case.'' –Sue VandeWoude, Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
“I love our program, but there are always ways to improve it,” veterinary student Rebecca Williamson said. She said, “A lot of schools are starting to use virtual technology, simulation systems like virtual reality, so it would be great to incorporate new technologies that are coming out.”
Williamson explained that most students have no experience working with live animals at the start of the program, so having access to the latest technology allows them to introduce hands-on learning into the program earlier.
This project will do just that by revamping the curriculum to enable more hands-on learning, collaborative learning, and more modern technology in education.
“This is a truly innovative project, upgrading an old facility and also adding a primary care clinic that will provide both training and community service,” said Sue, Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Vandewoude said. “We are updating a curriculum that has not been updated in decades to align with what other professional programs have determined is the best fit for education.”
In addition to curriculum updates, the complex expansion will allow the university to increase class sizes by up to 20% to fill gaps in the veterinary field.
“We have probably more applications than any other veterinary school in the world, so there's no concern that we won't be able to (increase class size),” Vandewoude said. “You can get 3,000 to 4,000.” The number of applications per year is approximately 140. This allows him to grow to nearly 170 students per class. ”
The gaps in veterinary care that CSU aims to fill are primarily in rural areas. This is because there is a lack of facilities and experts in the area.
“We have spent a lot of time looking at rural areas,” Vandewoude said. “We haven't done anything yet because we're studying what we can do to specifically address the shortage of people coming into rural areas, where there's a really serious shortage of human resources.” Scarcity is needed.”
Although current CSU School of Veterinary Medicine students will not be able to experience the benefits of this project and expansion, the potential for funding provided by the proposed bill is important because of how it will impact the future of veterinary medicine. I'm still excited about sex.
“I think in general, providing more veterinarians and having more access to care is a benefit for the majority of the population,” veterinary student Katie Croker said. “Of course, as a student, I probably won't be able to experience the new facilities personally, but I think it's important for the university and for future students to have more resources, more laboratories, more classroom space (and “I think it's a great idea to be able to see more patients.” ”
CSU aims to complete a new veterinary education facility and implement a new curriculum in 2026.
“People have spent thousands of hours on this, and now we have this recent bill. I'm really thankful that our administration pushed it to the states, and also the states for the bipartisan support.” VandeWood said.
Contact Laila Shekarchian at news@collegian.com or on Twitter. @csucollegian.
