Equine Health Research Fund

During the mid-1970s, you could count the number of equine veterinary specialists and researchers who were living and working in Western Canada on the fingers of one hand. Things have dramatically changed in three decades. Today, the region has a thriving population of equine specialists — and much of the credit for that growth goes to the Equine Health Research Fund's research fellowship program.

Nearly three dozen graduate students at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine have taken on the honoured title of EHRF Research Fellow since the first student was selected for the role in 1977. Each year, the Fund selects one or two graduate veterinarians for the fellowship program, then pays for their annual salaries and provides grants for their research projects.

With the Fund's support, former EHRF Research Fellows have gone on to work in or to establish their own equine practices in Western Canada. Others have joined the faculties of veterinary institutions across North America, while some have excelled in research, industry or in the public service.

The Western College of Veterinary Medicine has a solid track record of administering and operating excellent summer research programs for undergraduate students — and the EHRF undergraduate summer student research program serves as an ideal example of the College's success in this area. Each summer, the Fund selects one first- or second-year veterinary student to work alongside an equine specialist on a horse health research project at WCVM. During the 16-week program, the EHRF summer research student is directly involved in planning and developing a research project, conducting experiments, collecting and summarizing results, then writing and editing a research report.

Continue reading "Undergraduate equine research" »

Nearly three dozen graduate students at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine have served as EHRF Research Fellows in the past three decades. As the following examples illustrate, many of these equine specialists have built on their education and training at WCVM to accomplish great things in the world of horse health care.

Continue reading "EHRF Fellows: where are they now? " »