Enacting Positive Change in Veterinary Medicine

Like most veterinarians, Ruthanne Chun DVM’91 knew she wanted to be a veterinarian from childhood.

“You know the cliche of ‘I’ve always loved animals.’ As a kid, I wanted to be a veterinarian, and when I grew, I realized that I could do just that,” she says.

Chun has gone above and beyond in her dream. At the UW School of Veterinary Medicine, she serves as chief of large animal services, section head and clinical professor of medical oncology, and co-chair of the professional development curriculum working group. Chun is also president of the American Association of Veterinary Clinicians and, last December, finished a three-year term as president of the oncology specialty within the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

Despite her early convictions, Chun almost went down a different professional path. She attended UW–Madison for her undergraduate degree, first pursuing preschool and kindergarten education.

“I didn’t think I could do the science and math for veterinary medicine,” she says. After an advisor pushed her to follow her passion and take pre-veterinary classes, she made the jump. “I took chemistry and I passed,” she recalls, and she then switched her major to meat and animal sciences.

Chun continued her education at UW–Madison, earning a DVM degree. After graduation, an internship at Cornell University and a residency at Purdue University cemented an interest in oncology, the study and treatment of cancer.

Reflecting on her chosen specialty, Chun says, “You get to work with clients who want to do what they can for their animals and want to be educated. They recognize that sometimes you can’t cure their animal. It’s a whole reframe of what success is. There’s also the comparative aspect, where what we learn about cancer care in animals can be translated back into people, and what we learn in people can be translated into animals.”

A subsequent role at Kansas State University developing a new veterinary oncology program showed Chun the impact veterinarians can have outside of directly helping animals. “I started to realize there were ways you could affect positive change that would impact an organization. There’s a lot you can do at a system level to try and make things better,” she says.

When Chun joined the UW School of Veterinary Medicine faculty in 2005, she used her passion and experience to help build the school’s oncology service. Then, in 2010, she became associate dean for clinical affairs, a position she held for 11 years.

Over the years, Chun has become more involved in local and national veterinary medicine administrative affairs. Most recently, she led an American Association of Veterinary Clinicians Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity (DEI) working group.

Chun convened veter inarians from throughout the nation, plus American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges staff, to explore the limited diversity of the veterinary medical profession. The working group published their findings and recommendations in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association this past December.

The team outlined ways to improve the representation of historically marginalized communities within post-DVM clinical training programs and veterinary academic faculty, noting that improved diversity in human healthcare is known to improve patient health outcomes, patient-to-provider communication, and patient satisfaction.

Few people of color in DVM programs currently go on to academic careers or advanced clinical training internships. The team led by Chun identified opportunities for progress in recruiting and retaining students of color into academic veterinary medical careers and creating more inclusive and welcoming environments. The group also analyzed barriers in this transition, including in the application and interview process. And they provided suggestions to improve diversity and decrease implicit bias (the unconscious stereotypes or assumptions made about others) in intern and resident selection.

Locally, one aspect of Chun’s work that she finds most rewarding is her co-founding of Wisconsin Companion Animal Resources, Education, and Social Services, or WisCARES, and her continued leadership with the clinic. WisCARES provides subsidized veterinary medical care, housing support and advocacy, and other social services to Dane County pet owners who are low-income or experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity.

A Message to DVM Alumni

Chun, who in March received a UW–Madison Outstanding Women of Color Award, notes that understanding others’ perspectives is at the heart of this access-to-care initiative. “What we teach and model at WisCARES is selfreflection and the understanding that this is how I see the world, but somebody’s coming to me with their animal because they want help,” she says. “What is their world like? How can we help them in the best way that honors and respects where that person’s coming from?”

Chun remains a veterinarian and professor at heart. She coordinates or coleads three courses across all four years of the curriculum, providing students an introduction to the teaching hospital and instruction in clinical communication. She also sees patients through UW Veterinary Care’s Oncology service.

“When you work with a client one-on-one with their animal, it’s really about recognizing what that animal means to this person and how you can help,” she says. “What I love is teaching others to be able to do that. And trying to help enact systemic positive change.”

Each year accredited schools of veterinary medicine submit an interim report documenting activity since the school’s most recent self-study and site visit relative to the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Council on Education accreditation standards. As I reviewed our recent submission, I was struck by the significant investments the school has made in our students over the last five years.

Since 2018, our expenditures on instruction, academic support, and student services have increased by 46 percent. This number did not surprise me as I considered the strategic decisions the school has made to invest in education and student support. We have more instructors, more support to adapt instructional content to today’s learners, and we continue expanding our offerings in the clinical skills lab. We have staff dedicated to student services and career development and two full-time student counselors at the school.

Chun hopes to continue to build trainees’ clinical experience, professional communication skills, compassion, and understanding. “There’s always going to be something else that needs to be done,” she says. “I like to look at it as a glass half full. Your job is never done.”

Britta Wellenstein

In Memoriam

The UW School of Veterinary Medicine regrets to announce the loss of an alumna.

Jennifer Berg DVM’97 passed away in November 2022. Berg was a veterinarian in Manhattan, New York, eventually founding her own practice, Tribeca Veterinary Wellness. Veterinary medicine was not just a job for Berg. It was her passion and she excelled at it with a mission to care for her patients and teach owners how to appreciate and care for their beloved pets.

As we note in our strategic plan, the “academic, professional, and personal success of our students defines our success as a school of veterinary medicine.”

While the accreditation standards certainly guide many decisions for our DVM program, feedback from you is also critical. Every year we survey graduates one, three, and five years out from graduation to understand how well our program prepared students for veterinary practice. We seek out feedback from the employers of our graduates. And we have an open invitation for you to reach out and share your insights and perspectives.

Investing in our students — your future colleagues — is critical to their success. Whether it be instructional staff, career advising, scholarship support, networking opportunities, or mentorship, we are committed to training and preparing exceptional graduates who are ready to join your amazing profession.

Kristi V. Thorson Associate Dean for Advancement and Administration

A Stent for Jet Brings New Knowledge for Vets

UW School of Veterinary Medicine cardiologists are learning a new, lifesaving technique thanks to support from UW Veterinary Care client Jerry Falci .

Falci found out his labradoodle, Jet, had severe pulmonic stenosis after he got him as a puppy in 2018. This common heart defect among dogs is caused by a narrowing of the pulmonary valve, which impedes blood flow from the heart to the lungs.

Following the diagnosis, Falci brought Jet to the school’s teaching hospital, UW Veterinary Care, where Jet had two procedures to improve blood flow and decrease stress on his heart. From these operations in 2019 and 2020, Jet saw some improvements.

“He is very active,” Falci says. “He’s a beautiful dog, family-oriented.”

However, in August 2022, Jet collapsed at home due to his heart defect. “He was panting and all of a sudden, he’s lying on his side and lets out a howl. It was terrible,” Falci recalls.

After this collapse, Jet’s veterinarians suggested more advanced care, specifically a transpulmonic stent. In this procedure, a stent is placed across the pulmonary valve to improve blood flow. Transpulmonic stents have been performed in human medicine for some time but are just starting to be completed in dogs, so limited veterinary medical institutions specialize in the procedure.

Because of this limited availability, Falci was told he may have to travel elsewhere for Jet to receive such a stent. Learning this, Falci was inspired to share a gift to the UW

School of Veterinary Medicine that allowed the school to bring a veterinarian with expertise in transpulmonic stents to UW Veterinary Care to perform the procedure and teach others at the school.

In December of 2022, Lauren Markovic, a veterinary cardiologist from the University of Georgia and former UW Veterinary Care Cardiology resident, traveled to UW to lead the procedure alongside Sonja Tjostheim, clinical assistant professor of cardiology at the UW School of Veterinary Medicine. Current Cardiology residents Kelly Flynn and Graham Rossi were also part of the surgical team.

The procedure proved immensely beneficial for Jet, with the stent allowing for improved blood flow across his pulmonary valve. Although it will be a long road to recovery, Jet has been improving since the operation.

“He is getting better as we go along,” Falci says. “I consider the staff at the SVM his second parents almost. They’ve gotten to know him quite well. I am thankful for everything.”

With Falci’s support, Tjostheim also attended a course on the procedure this winter and will work with Colorado State University’s cardiology team to learn more about it. She will bring her new expertise back to the UW School of Veterinary Medicine and share and apply the knowledge to help more dogs like Jet in the Midwest and beyond.

“There are other pets who will need this procedure,” Falci says. “I really thought it was something they should learn.”

Britta Wellenstein