Introduction to Veterinary Medicine

What is Veterinary Medicine? Veterinary Medicine is the medical treatment of animals.

How is it different from a Doctor? Must be familiar with many different species. Must know many areas such as internal medicine, pediatrics,

obstetrics, surgery, etc. Can’t talk to the patient

Pets, livestock, lab animals, zoo animals, wildlife

What animals do Veterinarians treat?

Wanted:Job Description•Diagnose, prevent, and treat a variety of animal illnesses and diseases. Administer tests, observe conditions in animals, perform surgery, and prescribemedication and/or therapy.

Work environment• Private clinics, animal hospitals, on the road.• Veterinarians who treat small domestic animals work

indoors in an office and clinic environment. • Veterinarians who treat large livestock, such as cattle,

horses, pigs, goats, etc. will work outside at a farm or ranch.

• Veterinarians supervise Veterinarian Technicians who usually assist with medical tests and treat, emergency procedures, and other duties.

• Veterinarians may also be employed at animal control facilities, humane societies, biomedical facilities, diagnostic laboratories, wildlife facilities, drug & food manufacturing companies, military, and food safety inspection

What is the History of Vet Med?• Veterinary Medicine developed alongside human

medical advancements.• Recorded references as early as 9000 bc in the Middle

Eastern shepherding cultures.• Hieroglyphs in Egypt refer to placing stones in a

female camel’s uterus to prevent pregnancy.

• In American West a veterinarian would find themselves treating animals and people alike because of their skills in many areas.

What is the History of Vet Med?

What are the Career options in Vet Med?

Veterinarian Small Animal Large Animal Exotic Zoological Specialist

Veterinary Technologist Veterinary Assistant Clinical Pathologist Academia Research

What education is needed for Veterinary Medicine?

A DVM needs 8 years of post secondary education. To gain acceptance to a doctorate program, students must

have taken pre-vet courses such as Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Physiology, Genetics and Statistics. A bachelors degree in ^ or Animal Science.

There are only 30 schools of veterinary medicine in the country = very competitive!

https://www.avma.org/ProfessionalDevelopment/Education/Accreditation/Colleges/Documents/colleges_accredited.pdf

Education A Vet Tech needs 4 years of post secondary education. A Vet assistant can have 2-4 years of post secondary

education. A pathologist will need 4-6 years of post secondary

education

Duties in Veterinary Medicine Nutrition Grooming Training General husbandry (care) Vaccination Spay/neuter

Treat illness/injury Health screening Treat parasites Provide referrals Humane euthanasia Answer concerns of

owner

How does someone in Vet Med contribute to society?

By promoting animal health and welfare. By combating zoonotic diseases. By inspecting livestock and food-

processing procedures to ensure safety of food supply.

By preserving and conserving wildlife. By conducting scientific research that

impacts the food we eat, the medicine we take, etc.

Veterinary Medical Terminology

On the body: Dorsal - toward the ceiling or back Ventral - toward the floor or belly Cranial/anterior - toward the head Caudal/posterior - toward the butt rear Lateral - toward the side Medial - toward the midline

On the limbs:

Proximal - toward the body Distal - away from the body Palmar - the front foot pads Plantar - the rear foot pads

Movement:

• Flexion - decreasing a joint’s angle • Extension - increasing a joint’s angle

On the head: Rostral – toward the nose Caudal – toward the tail/rear

Suffixes

• …ectomy – to remove ______• …itis – inflammation of ______• …ose – sugar• …ase – enzyme• …gen – producing• …tomy – incision• …emia – blood• …oid - resemble

Suffixes cont.

• … oma – tumor/swelling• …osis/iasis – abnormal• …sclerosis – hardening• …plegia – paralysis• …rrhea – discharge• …rrhage – burst forth• …ptosis – prolapse/falling out• …spasm - contraction

Prefixes

• Hema/o… - having to do with the blood• Hyper… - increased levels/activity of ______• Hypo… - decreased levels/activity of _______• Hetero… - different• Homo… - the same• Psuedo… - false• Anti… - against• Peri… - around

Prefixes cont.

• Tachy… - fast• Mega/macro… - large• Micro… - small• Poly… - many• Pan… - all• Hap/mono… - one• Di… - two• A… - none/not

Prim… - first Iso… - equal Ambi… - both Laevo… - left Dextro… - right Trans… - through Ex/o… - out End/o… - in

Prefixes cont.

• Brachy… - short• Steno… - narrow• Ortho… - straight• Leuk/o… - white• Cirrh/o… - yellow• Chlor/o… - green• Melan… - black• Glauc/o… - grey

Misc terms

• Malignant – cancerous• Benign – non-cancerous• Local – in one specific location• General – all over or in many locations• Acute – rapid onset• Palpate – to feel by hand• Feces/fecal – excrement• Triage – to collect information and assess the

situation

Misc Terms

• Infectious – can be spread• Diagnosis – to determine a cause for symptoms• Prognosis – how it will turn out• Congenital – with/upon/before birth• Appendages – arms or legs• Digits – fingers or toes• Vestigial – non-functional• Phalanges – fingers/toes