CSU track athlete Quinn McConnell finds inspiration all around her, no matter where she’s at in her day. At vet school, she is surrounded by a very driven group of students, all of whom want to become top-flight doctors. The work ethic she sees there isn’t anything new, as the runners she’s around have the same focus, just guided down a different path, sometimes up and down hills.
“There’s a veterinary shortage and this is not just in Colorado. It’s at least nationwide, if not worldwide,” said Rachel Heatley, director of advocacy at Dumb Friends League, part of the Vet Care Coalition. “But in Colorado, it’s particularly odd, because we have one of the top veterinary schools in the world here, and we still don’t have enough veterinarians.”
“CSU has been instrumental in helping increase diagnostic testing in hopes of finding a primary cause of the outbreak,” Gillian Gwartz, a program veterinarian in the State Veterinarian’s Office, said in the news release. “We still don’t have a single conclusive causative agent, but we’re working with select vet clinics to try to get more samples to see if we can find a pattern.”
On Friday, December 15, 2023, Mary Juliet Rathbone Gionfriddo ("Julie") died in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at the age of 69. The only child of John and Lois Rathbone of Denver, Colorado, Julie earned bachelor of science and doctor of veterinary medicine degrees at Colorado State University. She served on the veterinary school faculty for 14 years before retiring as a full professor in 2013.
The pet insurance company Trupanion hosted a virtual Q&A on November 30 featuring a panel of veterinarians who fielded questions and offered their insights into CIRDC. The panelists included CSU professor Dr. Michael Lappin. Colorado, New Hampshire, and Oregon officials are working with state and federal veterinary diagnostic laboratories to determine the underlying cause or causes.
“Because we have the species diversity, it provides the participating CU residents an opportunity to see a different breadth of practice,” said CSU Professor Khursheed Mama, DVM. “It teaches them how to apply what they know about human patients in a wider environment.”
VIDEO: "I would say [there's been] maybe a 50 percent increase in the number of coughing dogs we detect," said Dr. Amanda Cavanagh. "We determine these are contagious dogs. They've had exposure, and they could pass it on to other dogs." She said the virus seems to be spreading at social places for pups, like dog parks and doggy day cares.
For more than 50 years, Elizabeth “Betty” Koster and Dr. Merrill Koster have been dedicated to making an impact in both human and veterinary medicine.
“One of the motivators is to create this enhanced space for research, education and service — service including being a hospital and serving our veterinary patients and their families — and how we really essentially leverage all of those together to advance what we do in veterinary medicine to continually get better,” said Dr. Kelly Hall-Wilke, associate professor of emergency and critical care and chair of the VHEC project planning team.
Torn between a passion for veterinary medicine and an interest in finance, Dr. Sarah McFadden-Palmer built her dream career from scratch so she could pursue both. As a graduate of CSU’s combined Master of Business Administration and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program, the path makes perfect sense.