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Mark your calendar for Saturday, September 20, 2025!
We’ll gather outside the school for our annual tailgate featuring food, the SVM Alumni Association Awards Ceremony, and the unveiling of Forward Together, the bronze sculpture created by alumnus and artist John Hallett (DVM’90), honoring the educational journey of our veterinary medical students.
The SVMAA meeting will take place from before the tailgate. All SVM graduates are welcome to join this meeting.
- UW School of Veterinary Medicine | Saturday, September 20, 2025 | Wisconsin vs. Maryland (Kickoff time TBD)
Additional details about registration and ticket information will be shared in August.
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OnWard: A New Era at the SVM
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The School of Veterinary Medicine is launching a revised DVM curriculum this fall. Designed to be more clinically relevant, student-centered, and skills-focused, the new curriculum prepares students to be practice-ready from day one.
Developed by faculty members and support staff with input from veterinary professionals, students, and alumni, it retains core content while shifting to a systems-based, integrated approach across four phases. These phases emphasize applied learning, increase self-directed study, and reduce traditional lecture time. Instructional methods include flipped classrooms, online modules, and real-world case scenarios. Supported by new facilities and educational specialists, the curriculum aligns learning with clinical application.
OnWard, as the new curriculum is known, also stresses skill development in areas like communication, ethics, and financial literacy. The name OnWard highlights the advancement of the program and honors UW’s “On, Wisconsin” motto. Faculty have been instrumental in creating and adapting content to support this transformation in veterinary education. More details about OnWard are available in the summer edition of On Call, which will be arriving in mailboxes soon. Read more about OnWard here.
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The SVM was out in force in a series of recent trips to Washington, DC. A delegation from Wisconsin, including SVM students and faculty, met with legislators and their aides on Capitol Hill as part of the AVMA’s “legislative fly-in” to discuss a handful of issues, including improving rural veterinary loan repayment programs.
Dean Jonathan Levine, meanwhile, updated a group of SVM alumni on what’s happening in Madison during the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges’ annual conference, hosted in Washington.
Finally, During the Association of Veterinary Advancement Professionals’ annual conference in our nation’s capital, Heidi Kramer, WFAA senior director of development supporting the SVM, was elected president of the organization.
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Update from the Dean's Office
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We are in the process of completing our five-year strategic plan, which will help us write the next chapter of this great institution. Our incoming class of DVM students will start in August: 100 students (an increase from the prior class of 96) who are the first to engage with our new OnWard DVM curriculum (described above).
The SVM’s commitment to innovation is strong. Through UW-Madison’s RISE initiative, which seeks to address significant challenges facing Wisconsin and the world, we are recruiting exceptional new faculty, including experts in foundational science and AI and a new clinician scientist. These new positions will strengthen our academic community and expand our impact across research, education, and clinical service.
Finally, we continue to monitor developments in the federal funding landscape. While the outlook is ever-evolving, close collaboration with campus partners is helping us navigate uncertainty and advocate for continued investment in the SVM’s mission.
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Wanted: Aging dogs for clinical study
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Pippi, an 11-year-old golden retriever, is the first dog to graduate from our site in the national TRIAD study. Her journey contributes to research on healthy aging in dogs, with possible future applications for humans.
The UW Veterinary Care Clinical Studies department is seeking participants for a study exploring the effectiveness of Rapamycin in increasing the healthspan of companion dogs. Healthspan is how long someone lives without chronic pain, mobility issues, or significant illness. The study will also gauge whether the drug improves cardiac function and other health measures in aging dogs. Cardiac function may correlate with health and longevity so the outcomes of this study may translate to human health.
Participation is free and includes all scheduled exams, including physicals, blood and urine tests, echocardiogram, ECG, blood pressure testing, and the study drug (Rapamycin or placebo).
Eligibility requirements:
- Enrolled in the Dog Aging Project (more info here)
- At least seven years old
- Healthy
- Spayed or neutered
- On heartworm preventatives
- Weigh between 44 lbs (20kg) - 120 lbs (50 kg)
- Comfortable at vet clinics and cooperative for exams without sedation
- Not on disqualifying medications (current medications will be reviewed by veterinarians)
- Dogs are enrolled through the Dog Aging Project so if interested, your first step is to fill out their survey.
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- UWVC’s veterinarian technician training program was recently spotlighted in a video feature by Spectrum News 1. Hospital Director Christopher Snyder and team members Jill Medenwaldt, Melinda Carmody, Lindsey Hernke, and Samantha Flint are all quoted in the story. Watch it here.
- The SVM turned out for a recent episode of WPR’s “The Larry Meiller Show.” Christopher Snyder (associate dean for clinical affairs and director of UW Veterinary Care) discussed caring for pets’ teeth and mouths and Lyric Bartholomay (PhD’04, Department of Pathobiological Sciences) talked ticks.
- Kyle Bartholomew (DVM’17; Department of Surgical Sciences) discusses with DVM 360 the importance of creating “individual protocols” for each patient clinicians see. “While it's easy to create standardized protocols for every patient that you have, make sure to treat your patients individually,” he says. The interview comes after he served as a continuing education instructor on small animal anesthesia at the 2025 North American Veterinary Community SkillShop in Orlando.
- Lauren Trepanier (Department of Medical Sciences) is quoted in Yahoo! Life in a story discussing a potential link between certain lawn treatments and cancer in dogs. Trepanier is also quoted in a Medscape story exploring the role pet dogs are playing in advancing lymphoma breakthroughs.
- Tatiana Ferreira (Department of Surgical Sciences) in DVM360 discusses how inhalant anesthesia can be used for any procedure. The interview comes after she co-presented a lecture on inhalant anesthesia vs. total intravenous anesthesia at the 2025 North American Veterinary Community SkillShop in Orlando.
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Wanted: SVM alumni to complete survey
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UW is part of a study following the career paths of our veterinary alumni and we need your input. This study is enrolling alumni from Kansas State, UW, the University of Missouri, and Mississippi State’s veterinary schools, and we’d love to have you participate. Please share two minutes of your time to fill out this survey.
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Sept. 20, Time TBD
SVM South (2015 Linden Drive)
Sept. 30 – Oct. 3, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Alliant Energy Center, Coliseum booth MC41TT
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