WSU Veterinary College Hosts Annual Conference and Centennial Gala

PULLMAN, Wash. — Beginning Thursday, the Washington State University College of
Veterinary Medicine will celebrate its first century with the help of some 500 alumni and friends.
The returning veterinarians and veterinary technicians will also earn continuing education
credits.
WSU is the fifth oldest veterinary college in the U.S. and the sixth oldest in North America.
In November of 1895, the regents allowed university President Enoch A. Bryan $60 to build a
small shed near the armory that was to serve as the veterinary department.
The official birth of today’s veterinary medicine program occurred in September 1899 when
the School of Veterinary Science was made a major division and admitted its first class of three
students to the program. It was the first school to require a high school diploma for admission,
and in 1905 it was the first to develop a four-year curriculum.
In 1917, the growing importance of outreach was seen in the first continuing education
program for veterinarians held in Pullman. It was sponsored by the college and assisted by a
fledgling state association and Northwest veterinarians. No doubt it was the foundation for the
widely attended spring conferences several decades later.
This week’s Annual Conference for Veterinarians and Veterinary Technicians marks a
continuation of this tradition. To protect consumers and the public’s trust, veterinarians licensed
to practice in Washington must obtain 30 hours of continuing education credits every two years.
The annual conference held at WSU is among the best opportunities for veterinarians from
throughout the West to remain current on procedures and advances, as well as to learn new
techniques in veterinary medicine and surgery.
The program begins 3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 8, at with the college’s most prestigious
award, the John E. McCoy Lectureship. This year’s McCoy lecture will be given by James Moore,
professor and head of the Department of Large Animal Medicine at the University of Georgia’s
College of Veterinary Medicine. Moore’s topic will be “Incorporating computer-based
technologies into instruction in veterinary medicine.” He will deliver his talk in Bustad Hall,
Room 145.
Thursday evening, Ghery Pettit, professor emeritus, WSU Veterinary Clinical Sciences, will
give the College of Veterinary Medicine Centennial Lecture, “Fun Through the Ages — The Life
and Times of WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine.” Pettit’s lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. in Bryan
Hall Auditorium.
Friday is filled with a whole day of continuing education courses for veterinarians and
veterinary technicians followed by the Centennial Gala that evening in the Beasley Coliseum.
The gala will feature a banquet, an awards ceremony and entertainment including music and a
traveling comedy theatre group.
Saturday concludes the conference with another full day of lectures and laboratory
sessions.
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