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VOLUME 1, NUMBER 1
FALL-WINTER 1975
VETERINARY MEDICINE IN 1990
How would you envision the ideal future for
Veterinary Medicine? How would you convert that Utopia to reality? These questions,
as they apply to Purdue's School of Veterinary Medicine, are currently under discussion by its faculty.
It all started last spring when the department chairmen asked for a fifteen-year
blueprint for development of the School of
Veterinary Medicine. In appointing a
committee to develop the basic plan, Dean
Stockton asked that practicality be imposed
by using 1980 and 1985 as steps in the
development of the 1990 plan (sounds like
the Russian's Five-Year Plan, doesn't it?).
A committee of six spent approximately
40 hours during the summer in developing a
basic plan covering the next 15 years. This
plan was then passed through the appropri
ate key committees and faculty. As this goes
to press, the committee's work is
undergoing extensive discussion in the
faculty and plans are being made for a
faculty retreat where final details can be
worked out and consensus agreement
reached on the major points.
We hope, in the spring issue, to share with
you the faculty's vision of our corner of the
world in 1990. We have had a lot of fun
developing the plan and it has stimulated
our awareness and understanding of the
complex program of the school (in fact, the
committee decided to refer to the school as
"The Veterinary Medical Complex"). Please
feel free to buttonhole any member of the
faculty and tell him or her how you see the
world in 1990. We will welcome your ideas
about the future of Veterinary Medicine.
Dr. Hooper
STUDENTS, UNDER THE DIRECTION  OF  DR. WALTER WEIRICH, IN NEW SMALL ANIMAL SURGERY LABORATORY.
MULTIUSE SURGERY LAB IN USE
A welcome addition to the physical facilities of the School of Veterinary Medicine
was completed during Spring semester,
1975. The unimproved basement below the
small animal clinic was converted to a surgery laboratory for small animals. This new
facility adds almost 5000 square feet for the
laboratory, over 1200 square feet for animal
holding, and additional space for storage
and mechanical equipment.
The surgical laboratory area is designed
on a modular concept providing relative
isolation of cubicles each with two
operating tables. Each of six cubicles is
equipped with a scrub sink, tables, cabinets,
oxygen, vacuum, and anesthetic machines.
The modular design permits a single
instructor close observation and assistance
to four tables, and permits communication
with the whole class when necessary.
The new laboratory is a multiple-use facility. Although primarily constructed to relieve overcrowding in the small animal
special surgery course, it is also used for instruction in general surgery to juniors, clinical practice for freshmen, optional surgical
practice for seniors, experimental procedures in support of research, and nursing
techniques and procedures for the veterinary technician program. Dr. Knecht
•
SCHOOL   OF   VETERINARY   MEDICINE'S   NEW   TABLE-
MODEL SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE.
NEW SCANNING
ELECTRON
MICROSCOPE
Recently the School of Veterinary Medicine
was awarded funds to purchase and install a
table-model scanning electron microscope.
This instrument has a "working" magnification range of 30 to 75,000 diameters with a
resolution capability of 100 angstroms. It is
relatively simple to operate and the tissue
processing time is minimal compared to
other tissue preparation techniques. The
principal use of the instrument is to depict
surface microtopography. Thus three-
dimensional visualization of structures, such
as a renal glomerulus (see below), is easily
accomplished as is the complexity of the
podocytes and their processes (previously
known as the visceral layer of Bowman's
Capsule). The instrument has been used to
scan articular surfaces, equine synovial
membranes, secondary centers of
ossification, and will soon be interfaced with
a television monitor for video-taping for
classroom use. Who says basic medical
biology can't be dynamic?        Dr. Van Sickle