35672 - Equine Internal Medicine and Therapy

Learning outcomes

The course is aimed at providing the students the knowledge and skills to appropriately accomplish clinical procedures and clinicopathological methods and to critically elaborate the obtained information for carrying out an accurate diagnosis or a complete differential list of diagnosis of horse disease susceptible of medical treatment. Additionally, the students will be able to choose an effective treatment for the diagnosed disorders.

Course contents

The course includes both academic lectures (18h) and practical classes (4x8h)
Lecture topics will be presented by means of clinical cases managed with the problem oriented approach method. They include:

Clinical approach to dyspnea

Clinical apprach to weight loss

Clinical apprach to icterus

Clinical approach to anemia

Clinical apprach to muscle stifness

Clinical apprach to poor performance

Clinical approach to hypertermia

Clinical approach to polyuria/polydipsia

Clinical apprach to colic syndrome in foals

Other main clinical problems may be afforded according with the cases visited over the course of the year.

The diseases of the respiratory system and the cardiovascular system, hematological diseases, hepatopathies, myopathies, genetic diseases, neurologic diseases and systemic syndromes (DIC and SIRS) will be presented with a systematic approach.

Some topics will be presented as monographic issue: the role of vets in buying and selling horse; Equine sports medicine and doping issue; clinical-pathology in horse.

Practical classes

Practical classes will include two sessions of clinical training on horses with particular emphasis on cardiovascular examination and how to perform an electrocardiogram and respiratory examination, bronchoscopy, tracheal and bronchoalveolar wash, cytological evaluation of cytocentrifuged lavage fluids.

Furthermore, one session will be held in the multimedial room and it will be dedicated to prescriptions for equids, equids identification, non food-producing and food-producing Equidae

The last session will be held on the practical room and it will deal with equine clinical-pathology. In particular students will stain a BAL cytocentrifuged on a smear using either tha romanowsky or Gram stains, will carry out a maior-minor assay

Readings/Bibliography

Bradford P. Smith - Large Animal Internal Medicine, 4edition

Stephen M. Reed, , Warwick M. Bayly, Debra C. Sellon - Equine Internal Medicine, 3edition

Teaching methods

The topics of the academic lectures will be presented by means of the presentation of clinical cases according with the problem oriented approach. Lectures will be held in lecture rooms using slide presentations and multimedia tools as videos and images as well as online pools software. The list of problems, the action to be taken, the the differential diagnosis re-evaluation and refinement will be colletively and interactively discussed with the students also using online polls to immediately verify the comprehension of the topic.

Practical classes include four topics. Practical classes will be held in laboratory or in visiting rooms with animals or in multimedia rooms. The students will be divided in four groups each one attending four different 2-hours practical classes.

The aims of the practical classes are 1) to gain professional skills in the examination of some body systems, as well as in ancillary methods and therapeutics 2) to favour the students ability to recognize, elaborate and integrate signs and symptoms as well as ancillary data to make a differential diagnosis list and a therapy.

During practical classes the teacher will exploit group working and problem solving as leading methods.

Assessment methods

The principal learning outcomes that will be assessed are:
- knowledge of the most relevant diseases of horse susceptible of medical treatment and how to collect and analyse signs, symptoms and ancillary findings.
- ability to critically elaborate and integrate signalment, history, physical examination findings and clinicopathological data to make a diagnosis or to make a differential diagnosis list or a list of problems
- ability to communicate, formulate judgements, have the learning skills to allow them to continue to study: the students are able to solve actual or simulated clinical cases, to effectively communicate with other students while working in group, to exploit all the resources available in the School to address the proposed issues.
The learning outcomes will be assessed through a final written examination which will be held together with the course of “Patologia, clinica e terapia chirurgica del cavallo”  and through a practical survey carried out during the monthly practical training.

The written examination is composed by multiple choice questions, open answer question and free text of about 500 words addressing a particular topic for a total of 20 pts. The course is intended to be passed whenever a student attains at least 12 pts in the final examination. The pts (1 pt for each survey) obtained during the other examinations could be further added and used to reach the threshold of 12 pts.

Just for the first exam which is held immediately after the course, it will consist of a POA test based on a real clinical case. The clinical case will be presented using multimedia videos and photographs. After that the student is requested to deal step by step with the clinical case by following and answering the questions made by the teacher. The students will be requested to join an online platform throughout a owned pc or smartphone, to log in with an ID and to anonymously anser the questions.

The examination of the practical activities are afforded during the monthly practical training and may include as examples: the writing of a medical records, the formulation of a differential diagnosis list based upon e particular finding or list of problems, the performing of clinical or collateral procedures.

The final score of the integrated course is weighted upon the number of ECTS of each course.

Teaching tools

During the course the teaching activities will be supported by: simulated or actual clinical cases, computer room, Portale Didattico Veterinario (PDV), animals visited at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, biological samples examined at the Clinico-Pathological lab

Office hours

See the website of Fabio Gentilini