Analyse van de arbeidssituatie en perceptie van de kwaliteit van de opleiding van dierenartsen afgestudeerd aan de Faculteit Diergeneeskunde van de Universiteit Gent

By means of a survey, the authors attempted to determine the work situation of graduated veterinary students and the perception of the quality of education at the Ghent University. Three veterinarian cohorts were contacted who graduated at different time intervals: between 2002 and 2004, 2009 and 2011 and between 2014 and 2016. Out of 488 completed surveys (47% of the contacted respondents), it became apparent that veterinarians in Flanders work on average 47 hours per week and are relatively happy about their day-to-day tasks. Eighty percent (most recently graduated group) and 68% (longest graduated group) of the respondents work as a veterinary practitioner and 81% of these practitioners work in a group practice. Veterinarians with Belgian nationality are mostly self-employed, while most Dutch veterinarians work on the payroll of someone else. The results of the survey show that the respondents are happy with the theoretic part of the veterinary study, but believe that there is not enough focus on the practicing part, which is too limited. According to the respondents, veterinary training should be more focused on first-line veterinary medicine, on the developing of communication skills with clients and colleagues and on business management

Toepassingen van mesenchymale stamcellen bij het paard: huidige stand van zaken

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are adult stem cells, which are capable of self-renewal and restricted differentiation into multiple organ-specific cell types. The significant therapeutic potential of MSC arises from their ability to promote tissue regeneration, prevent pathological scar formation, modulate immune responses and regulate inflammation. At present, MSC are mainly used in veterinary medicine to treat musculoskeletal injuries. Nevertheless, they may as well play a role in the treatment of several non-orthopedic diseases, such as immune-mediated, ischemic, inflammatory and neurological diseases. The treatment efficiency of MSC therapy can be influenced by the number of MSC which is used to treat the horse, the way the MSC are administered and the timing of the treatment. Moreover, there are advantages as well as disadvantages correlated to the use of autologons versus allogeneic MSC. The use of MSC in the treatment of equine injury has exciting potential. However; more fundamental research and well-designed clinical trials remain mandatory in order to safeguard the optimal routine clinical use of these valuable equine MSC at the patients' benefit

Themadag: Hoe uniek is een ras?

Het doel van de lezingen is om informatie te verschaffen over hoe onderscheidend rassen zijn. In hoeverre zijn rassen genetisch of in uiterlijk verschillend? Onderzoekers geven uitleg over genetische aspecten en een aantal rasverenigingen licht hun fokbeleid toe. De themadag is bedoeld voor iedereen die geïnteresseerd is in de fokkerij en in de genetische achtergrond van zeldzame rassen, in het bijzonder leden en bestuurders van rasverenigingen, stamboeken en speciaalclub

Hemothorax bij een Fries paard : niet altijd een aortaruptuur!

A 16-year-old Friesian gelding was admitted to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (Ghent University) with complaints of exercise intolerance, pale mucous membranes, tachycardia and an irregular heart rate. General examination revealed decreased heart sounds and bronchovesicular sounds in the ventral lung fields, combined with a low hematocrit, which led to the suspected diagnosis of hemothorax. The diagnosis of hemothorax was confirmed by ultrasonographic examination of the thoracic cavity and thoracocentesis. Because it was a Friesian horse, aorto-pulmonary fistulation was suspected, but this was excluded by thorough echocardiographic examination. The electrocardiogram showed that the irregular heart rate was caused by atrial premature contractions. The horse was hospitalized and was treated conservatively with broad spectrum antibiotics. Because both the hematocrit and the ultrasonographic images evolved well, the horse could leave the clinic after 15 days. Re-examination after six weeks showed no more abnormalities

Agenda infectieuze ziekten paard

De agenda infectieuze paardenziekten is mede op verzoek van het ministerie van EL&I geschreven door de Sectorraad Paarden (SRP) voor beleidsmakers van paardensport- en fokkerijorganisaties, hippische ondernemers en de overheid. In deze agenda geeft de SRP haar visie hoe te komen tot de borging van een goede gezondheid bij paarden

De geschiedenis van de veterinaire verloskunde

Extraction, reposition, fetotomy (embryotomy) and even cesarean section have been part of human and animal obstetrics since ancient times. Destructive operations like craniotomy and embryotomy are the oldest type of obstetrical operations. At the end of the 18(th) century the subcutaneous fetotomy was developed. It remained the preferred fetotomy method in farm animals and horses till the beginning of the 20(th) century. Then the tubular fetotome was invented and the subcutaneous fetotomy was replaced by the percutaneous fetotomy. This obstetrical method was easy to learn and its results were excellent. However, the fetus had to be sacrificed. Therefore, after the introduction of antibiotics, the percutaneous fetotomy in cows was replaced by the cesarean section. In horses, the percutaneous fetotomy is still the preferred obstetrical method as foals die rapidly and a partial fetotomy (one or two cuts) is in the majority of cases sufficient to solve the obstetrical problem. Because of its minimal economic importance, obstetrics in small animals did not receive any attention till the end of the 19(th) century. In these animal species, cesarean section is the best solution in cases of serious obstetrical problems