A novel educational approach: Using sheep as a model in teaching veterinary pathology

Veterinary undergraduates, after completion of five academic years, need to have developed a set of skills for working as veterinary practitioners. Sheep as an educational model in veterinary pathology offers to students the opportunity to study with an easily handled animal species, which shows various diseases. In the present model, sheep are treated as individual patients; a thorough individual examination is made with all laboratory tests that are considered necessary. Undergraduates can study main sheep diseases, but also disorders occurring less often and carry out an individual animal investigation as it is normally done in companion animals. Final diagnosis is confirmed by pathological examination, so they can check if there is agreement or disagreement between clinical and pathological diagnosis. The opinion of students about this teaching model was obtained from a questionnaire and it provided an encouraging and valuable information and feedback. Moreover, information collected from monitoring, clinical examination and pathological examination of animals is directly transferred to the farmers and this has obvious benefits in terms of flock health management and disease surveillance.