Month: August 2015

Dean’s Perspective: Empathic Listening a Key to Success

“When you show deep empathy toward others, their defensive energy goes down, and positive energy replaces it. That’s when you can get more creative in solving problems.” – Stephen Covey

20479275890_69d027c102_kLast week we welcomed the Class of 2019 into our school, the 68th class to begin their careers as veterinarians with us. I had the privilege of greeting them across the stage at our White Coat Ceremony and then engaging with a group of our new students in facilitating a problem-based learning exercise focused on effective client communications. A common theme throughout the orientation week and in early classes offered for our new students is relationship-centered, empathic listening as a key to client communications and positive animal-patient outcomes. During this important introduction to our school, Dr. Jim Clark, staff teams, and faculty facilitators effectively encouraged, guided, and inspired the first year students throughout the Prologue week and into their first week of classes.

Dean’s Perspective: Collaboration to Solve Global Health Challenges

Dean Lairmore getting a few moments to chat with Nobel Laureate Peter Doherty.

Dean Lairmore getting a few moments to chat with Nobel Laureate Peter Doherty.

“I get a lot of credit for work a whole group of people do. The collaborative research happening now is really being driven by young people.” – Peter Doherty, DVM, PhD, Nobel Laureate, at the Merial-NIH National Veterinary Scholar Symposium held at UC Davis, July 30-August 2, 2015

This past weekend, I could not have been more proud of our team in the Office of Research and Graduate Education and the many volunteer faculty, staff, and students from our school, who worked very hard to plan and execute the Merial-NIH National Veterinary Scholars Symposium.

Staff volunteers at the symposium.

The Symposium brought together over 600 veterinary students and their mentors from across the nation. The event was highly organized and provided an outstanding forum to allow students to network with fellow students and scientists from many different disciplines and fields of study. A palpable excitement permeated the conference held in the Mondavi Center for the Arts, the UC Davis Conference Center and the Walter A. Buehler Alumni Center.

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