Veterinary Pathobiology (VPTH)
VPTH 5500 One Health Study Design Seminar
This seminar course will introduce students to One Health approaches that address critical local, regional and global health problems. Students will work in interdisciplinary teams to review case studies and analyze past and current literature where One Health approaches have been applied. The course is specifically designed to foster the development of skills that allow students to think and communicate across professional disciplines. It will also help students develop transdisciplinary connections that might serve them in their professional futures. Students will be assigned a transdisciplinary team. Grading will be based on team-led presentations and analysis of literature, participation in discussion, and a final capstone project (One Health in Practice Plan) in the form of both a paper and presentation.
Also Offered As: VPTH 6500
6 Credit Hours
VPTH 6320 Topics in One Health: An Interdisciplinary One Health Seminar Course
This seminar series is designed as an introductory survey of topics relevant to human health, animal health, the environment, and interactions between the three, with the goal of cultivating interest in and understanding of how human, animal, and environmental wellbeing are interdependent. The course will provide students with an overview of the concept of and relevant topics in One Health, as well as the opportunity to make connections with each other and Penn faculty across Penn’s graduate and professional programs. Each week will consist of both didactic lectures and small group discussion, facilitating connection between students and faculty members. This course is designed to be relevant for students from diverse backgrounds and those with or without prior One Health experience. For students who have taken the One Health Foundations course, this seminar will build upon concepts introduced in the course and provide an opportunity to learn about One Health in action. The Foundations course is not a necessary prerequisite. Additionally, each lecturer will begin class with a brief description of their career trajectory and describe how they have incorporated One Health into their field. The aim is for students to build awareness of how to integrate One Health into their own career paths. Please note this course currency equivalency: 6 CR = 1 CU
Mutually Exclusive: PUBH 5320
6 Credit Hours
VPTH 6340 Microbial Pathogenesis
The goal of this course is to provide the student with a conceptual framework regarding the mechanisms of microbial pathogenesis. A range of host-microbe interactions will be studied to illustrate how different microbes breach host lines of defense and lead to infections. Transmission, etiological diagnosis, as well as prophylactic and therapeutic approaches against infectious agents will be discussed with examples related to viral and bacterial pathogens, including zoonotic and Category A select agents.
2 Credit Hours
VPTH 6350 Introduction to Fish Diseases
This course is intended to introduce veterinary students to the biology and medicine of teleost fish. The first few lectures will provide a foundation in the classification, gross anatomy and immunology of fish, including practical laboratory classes. The remainder of the course will be more clinically oriented, and will present the most prevalent diseases of fish, emphasizing both the pathology and etiology of the diseases. In addition, the course will also focus on health maintenance through the control of water quality and treatment of diseases in fish. This part of the course will include some practical laboratory demonstrations. Grades will be determined on the basis of class participation and a 5-6 page research paper on a topic of the students choice.
2 Credit Hours
VPTH 6360 Rodent Welfare in Biomedical Research
Investigations of disease and therapeutics continue to necessitate modeling in comparative animal species to advance scientific knowledge for animals and humans alike. Rodents, particularly mice and rats, are the predominant species in which preliminary assessments are made, and as such, their welfare throughout experimental phases is a priority. It is necessary to balance regulatory requirements for working with animals against scientific objectives, while considering the experience of animals with respect to environmental impacts, behavior, clinical health, diagnostic interventions and humane endpoints. This course will review aspects of oversight of research rodent species and apply aspects of the 3 Realms and federal regulations (the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals) in consideration of sustainable and refined animal welfare. The overarching welfare goal for rodents used in biomedical research is to improve their functioning, feelings and natural behaviors in ways that promise to bolster data outcomes and advance translational applications. Prerequisites: Open to any student accepted for enrollment in the Animal Welfare Master's program; preference for those with a research background or interest.
6 Credit Hours
VPTH 6370 Capstone Proseminar in Animal Welfare and Behavior
This semester long (6 credit) online course for students enrolled in the MSc in Animal Welfare and Behavior is designed to guide students in their development of their capstone Master's project. It will provide students with the skills to refine and communicate their research questions and goals, engage in scholarly discussion in an interdisciplinary setting and the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of cutting edge research in their area of interest. Through structured synchronous meetings with mentors and peers and opportunities to attend virtual seminars across campuses, the Proseminar course also exposes students to a network of future mentors and colleagues who may play important roles in their career development. The course culminates in a written proposal describing a research question and hypothesis with a scholarly introduction to the topic and an annotated bibliography.
6 Credit Hours
VPTH 6380 One Health and Climate Change
One Health is the concept that human, animal, and environmental health are inextricably linked. It provides a framework to inspire interdisciplinary problem solving to complex health problems. Climate change threatens to alter many aspects of the earth and in doing so will harm the health of human, animals, and the environment in a variety of ways. In this course we will first explore how climate change will affect One Health from disruption of agricultural systems, impacts of extreme weather events, the spread of zoonotic diseases, to the direct impacts of living on a warmer planet. We will then investigate the leading approaches to solve these impacts and learn how public health professionals, veterinarians, scientists, architects, physicians, engineers, and others are working to mitigate the negative health outcomes. Finally, students will be asked to contemplate what they can do in their own fields to address the impact of the climate crisis using a One Health framework.
6 Credit Hours
VPTH 6390 Foundations of One Health
This asynchronous online course serves as the foundational course within the “One Campus, One Health” One Health Certificate program, originally supported by the Draw Down the Lightning Grant. This course is one of four required courses for the certificate and the only foundational course that every certificate student completes. It provides critical core information in a true One Health format through multidisciplinary experts, students, and staff across campus and our community. During this course, students are also introduced to their capstone projects and are able to make connections across campus particularly focused in the One Health space.
6 Credit Hours
VPTH 6410 Laboratory Animal Medicine
This course is encouraged as a prerequisite for VPTH 789 ULAR - Laboratory Animal Medicine Clinical Service. This course is designed to provide further information about laboratory animal medicine to those students with a potential interest in the field. Animal models, anesthesia and analgesia, husbandry, regulatory oversight, and procedures involving species commonly used in research are discussed. Students will also be introduced to the mechanism of an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Grades will be determined by class participation, assigned online trainings and a short essay relevant to laboratory animal medicine.
2 Credit Hours
VPTH 6500 One Health Study Design Seminar
This seminar course will introduce students to One Health approaches that address critical local, regional and global health problems. Students will work in interdisciplinary teams to review case studies and analyze past and current literature where One Health approaches have been applied. The course is specifically designed to foster the development of skills that allow students to think and communicate across professional disciplines. It will also help students develop transdisciplinary connections that might serve them in their professional futures. Students will be assigned a transdisciplinary team. Grading will be based on team-led presentations and analysis of literature, participation in discussion, and a final capstone project (One Health in Practice Plan) in the form of both a paper and presentation.
Also Offered As: VPTH 5500
6 Credit Hours
VPTH 7005 Diagnostic Services
This rotation consists of exposure to the Diagnostic Services of MUR-VHUP and this provided by the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System (PADLS) at New Bolton Center - namely clinical pathology, anatomic pathology (necropsy service), parasitology, and microbiology. The rotation is focused on development of clinical pathology and necropsy skills and will include a practicum of necropsy technique. A portion of the rotation is also focused on biopsy, parasitology and microbiology.
9 Credit Hours
VPTH 7805 Poultry Production Medicine-NBC
This course is designed to provide students with a working knowledge of the management and production of poultry from hatchery to processing. The course will involve multiple field trips to a hatchery, grow out pullet house, layer house, breeder house, processing plant and a feed mill. There will also conduct necropsies on cases submitted to the diagnostic laboratory and learn the diagnostic procedures such as serology, virology and PCR testing.
8 Credit Hours
VPTH 7895 Lab Animal/Comparative Medicine
This rotation will provide an opportunity to work with the wide variety of animal species used in biomedical research at the University of Pennsylvania, including nonhuman primates, small rodents, guinea pigs, rabbits, dogs, cats, pigs, and sheep. The students will participate in all aspects of the care and treatment of these animals across the facilities at the University of Pennsylvania. Participation may include handling, husbandry, diagnosis, treatment, anesthesia, and assistance with surgery. Students will perform daily rounds with the clinical veterinarians and other staff members. The student may have the opportunity to observe on-going interdisciplinary research programs including cardiopulmonary bypass, organ transplantation, gene therapy, device implantations, and metabolic disease progression. Students will participate in clinical rounds, didactic training classes, and related seminars and journal clubs as scheduled. Participation in necropsies of clinical cases, sentinel animals, and study animals is expected. A brief assignment on aspects of lab animal medicine will be required prior to completion of the rotation. Depending upon scheduling, the students will have an opportunity to attend a meeting of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. A recent (within 6 months) negative skin test against tuberculosis is required by the first day of the rotation.
8 Credit Hours