Vet Cetera magazine 2015

REGENTS DISTINGUISHED TEACHING AWARD
2015: Lyndi Gilliam, DVM, Ph.D.
Lyndi Gilliam, DVM, Ph.D., DACVIM-Large Animal and associate
professor of equine internal medicine at OSU’s Veterinary Medical
Hospital, is the Center for Veterinary Health Science’s 2015 Regents
Distinguished Teaching Award recipient.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Gilliam says.
“The Regents award was something
that I thought would be amazing
someday but I didn’t have it in my
sights at this point. Dr. Michael
Lorenz encouraged me to submit
my application to the college.
The college then chooses who they
want to send forward to the main
campus. One recipient from each
college is then selected.”
The application process
includes submitting a current vitae,
teaching evaluations, and letters
of recommendation from current
and past students, colleagues, the
department head, and the dean of
the college. Applicants also have to
submit a statement on their teaching
philosophy. Gilliam’s philosophy
statement makes it clear she
practices what she writes.
Gilliam says she strives to bring
clinical medicine to the students as
early as possible.
“I work to integrate myself in
teaching in all four years of the
curriculum. I remember how easy
it was in veterinary school to lose
sight of that final goal during the
first three years of coursework.”
Being a veterinarian is a passion
that many students have harbored
since childhood.
“I strive to keep that passion
alive and take students from having
a dream of making animals
well, to having a drive to understand
the pathophysiology of the
diseases affecting animals,” she
says. “I encourage them to explore
new horizons, discover new diseases,
and new cures for diseases.
Their knowledge of health and
disease will impact not only animals
but humans as well. Whether
they choose to enter private practice
in rural Oklahoma or work at
the National Institutes of Health,
the knowledge they will possess
is invaluable.”
Gilliam keeps students passionate
about veterinary medicine by
demonstrating that passion herself.
She shares her private practice
experiences with her students.
Working in the clinic also gives her
real-life examples to show students
how she uses what she is teaching
in the classroom.
“I am very open and not afraid
to share my mistakes or learning
experiences. I want my students to
see me as a real person and to see
how I grew as a veterinarian and
how I continue to grow, as medicine
is a profession where an individual
never stops learning.”
And Gilliam constantly critiques
herself to ensure she is presenting
the material in the best
possible way.
32 Center for Veterinary Health Sciences