Education

Educational Opportunities & Engagement

Beagle Run

In collaboration with the Virginia Tech School of Architecture, specifically Building and Construction graduate students, CENTAUR and VAMD veterinary students were awarded a university grant to design a new “Beagle Run” for the pack of research beagle living at the vet school. This run is designed to provide the best outdoor experience for the beagle and their handlers while maintaining a bio-inclusive and sanitary design.

BioBuild

CENTAUR faculty participated in co-teaching a “Bio-Build” graduate course focused on learning about and integrating the needs of living things, like plants and animals, into the built environment for the benefit of people and animals. This course is intended to expose graduate student in the College of Architecture to design challenges and modifications that assist in integrating elements of the living world into the built environment. The particular focus this fall was aimed at creating environments that accommodated animals,  and supported animal-human relationships.

Animal-Human Relationships Course

In the spirit of interdisciplinary collaboration, CENTAUR program director Dr. Virginia Maxwell created a new elective course for third-year veterinary students called “Topics in Animal Human Relationships”, centered on fostering an interdisciplinary perspective on a veterinarian’s role in providing health services to animals while being mindful of the anima;-human relationship. This course brought together professors and speakers from many disciplines, including psychologists, attorneys, animal behaviorists and architects from across Virginia Tech and beyond to provide VAMD vet students with unique insights into the complexities of the animal-human relationship and how to become well-rounded veterinarians. Students in the MPH as well as undergraduate seniors and graduate students in departments across campus are also welcomed to enroll or audit. 

Companion Animal Behavior & Socialization Course

Dr. Virginia Maxwell, a professor and specialist in large animal internal medicine and certified in shelter medicine, and Dr. Erica Feuerbacher, associate professor of animal science and welfare in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), together coordinate the new Companion Animal Behavior and Socialization course. This elective course is offered to third-year students at the veterinary college, along with students in the master of public health program, and seniors and graduate students in animal behavior science through CALS. The course consists of eight live or recorded lecture sessions, five laboratory sessions working with Animal Care for Education (ACE) dogs, and two student presentation sessions. The ACE dogs come from regional shelters, fostered by the veterinary college from August to mid-October, before being adopted into homes. A major objective of the course is for students to learn how to recognize and understand behavioral cues that could indicate more serious physical problems in companion animals.

Journal Club

CENTAUR hosts a monthly journal club for affiliated faculty, graduate students, and cross-campus professionals to attend. Journal Club is an informal discussion of current literature on topics determined by the monthly presenter. This interdisciplinary group consists of graduate students, professors, and professionals from many colleges and departments, including Psychology, Human Development, Architecture, Engineering, and Animal Science.

Clerkships, Student Projects & Student Scholars

Public-Corporate Clerkships 

CENTAUR faculty serve as preceptors for public corporate (PC) clerkships that permit students to develop an understanding the veterinarian’s role in assisting non-profit organizations such as shelters, and service dog providers. These experiences are often arranged with non-profits that have an on-going relationship with CENTAUR but may also be established at a new facility that can provide students a unique perspective on the Animal Human Health relationships. 

PC Clerkship Students, Clerkship Expereince Descriptions & Deliverables

Masters of Public Health (MPH) Practicum 

CENTAUR faculty also act as preceptors for Masters of Public Health (MPH) Public Health Practice Experience (PHPE), an individual experiential learning opportunity that serves as a bridge between a student’s academic training and applied public health practice. The student will develop products that demonstrate attainment of program foundational and concentration-specific competencies and are useful to the PHPE site organization. PHPE sites include domestic and international governmental, non-governmental, non-profit, industrial, for-profit settings, appropriate university-affiliated settings. The program works with the student to develop a PHPE that is aligned with their academic goals and potential future public health career plans. 

MPH PHPE Project Descriptions & Deliverables

Summer DVM Student Scholars 

CENTAUR faculty and affiliate faculty are proud to work with students participating in the Summer Veterinary Student Research Program (SVSRP) program. The objective of the SVASP program is to expose veterinary students to research and the diverse opportunities for a biomedical research career. Veterinarians with a biomedical research background are in demand and this career path provides many opportunities in academic, federal, biotech and pharmaceutical institutions. To achieve our  objective we have identified four key success factors:

• Close interaction of high-quality students who show an interest in research with enthusiastic competent scientists as mentors•
• Educational activities that support a fundamental learning experience in biomedical research
• Exposure to DVM scientists in federal governmental agencies, academia (medical and veterinary school), and industry who have chosen to pursue a biomedical research career

Current DVM Scholars Opportunities:

• Opportunities will be anncounced here when available