Thursday, March 10, 2011

ACCREDITED!!!

It just goes to show you how busy the life of a Ross student is that this news is more than two days old. Between my two exams this week and a new foster cat to care for, I have had no time to update with this huge news.

Tuesday morning I arrived on campus and the atmosphere was positively thrumming. I got three steps from the door to the student union when I heard my name called. "We're accredited!" It took a moment to sink in and then I said, quite unprofessionally, "That's fucking amazing!" I couldn't quite believe it so I ran to check my email and sure enough, there was a letter from the dean congratulating us on gaining full AVMA accreditation.

For those that don't know, Ross was not formally an accredited veterinary medical school. That does not mean that it was a "bad" school, simply that Ross students had to pass either the PAVE or the ECFMG exam on top of the national boards that every vet student must take in order to legally practice in the U.S. As of Tuesday, that is no longer true. This means that we are on par with every accredited school in the U.S. and that now Ross students qualify for grants, scholarships and loan forgiveness that we could not previously obtain.

This is a BIG accomplishment for Ross and I am even more proud to call myself a Rossie now!

3 comments:

  1. I'm a bit late since I didn't read blogs all week...BUT THAT'S SO AWESOME! Congratulations!

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  2. Off Topic... I read your 3/1 post about animal nutrition. I assume the standard wisdom is that domesticated animals, like humans, enjoy much better nutrition today than they did throughout much of history. My question is, how do you define "better"? Every creature alive today had ancestors that were successfully nourished - that's a tautology. I suspect the answer to the question involves projecting our values onto the animals, so that any lifestyle standards we create for animals is that which causes the animals to meet our goals for it. A specific example would be extending a dog or cat's lifespan, and the price they pay is a geriatric disease or disability. What do you think?

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  3. DaveG: Why wouldn't you comment on that post, as it's rather off topic on this one? Anyway, I don't believe I talked about domestic animal nutrition being "better" today, so I think maybe you're grinding your own axe at my expense here, but in those terms I suppose could offer a few examples:

    - More regular meals, less incidence of malnourished or starving animals
    - More balanced nutrient intake, less incidence of vitamin, mineral, essential amino acid or fatty acid deficiencies
    - More appropriate food stuffs, less incidence of broken teeth, bacterial infection, bowel obstruction or perforation

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