Hi everyone,
As some of you may know, I’ve had my heart set on becoming a veterinarian for a long time now. Seeing as this year is my last year of high school, I figured that it would be wise if I were to do research that is relevant to my life after I leave high school. I quickly thought of science or, more specifically, veterinary science, but seeing as I haven’t yet had the chance to study that topic, I was struggling to think of any good inquiry questions I could ask about it and do research on. I then thought about how my mom, who is a registered veterinary technologist, was complaining a while back about how difficult it was for her to adapt to a new computer software that her work had started using instead of always writing in paper files. This made me think about all the other forms of technology in veterinary medicine that must have changed quite drastically over the years due to new discoveries and evolving technology. I asked her if this is true, and she confirmed my thoughts, adding that much has changed even in her own time working. That is why it’s mandatory for vets and vet techs to repeatedly attend “continuing education” conferences throughout their career. Things are always changing, and they have to be able to adapt.
Therefore, I’ve decided that my inquiry question would be: How has veterinary medicine, technology and education evolved and what has been its impact?
Learning about veterinary medicine, technology and education should prove quite useful and informative for me and anyone else who is interested in animals and science, and who is perhaps considering veterinary medicine as a career path. Furthermore, I think it’s important to know why exactly veterinary medicine is so important, not only for the survival of animals but for human health as well.
Here are the steps in my research that I will likely take:
Research Round 1: History of veterinary medicine – when, where, how and why it started
In my first round of research, I want to look back all the way to the very beginnings of veterinary medicine, how, why, where and when veterinary education and practices first started to appear, and what skills, tools and knowledge veterinarians had access to at the time.
Research Round 2: Breakthroughs and advances in veterinary medicine and technology
In my second round of research, I plan to find out what the most innovative breakthroughs and advances in veterinary medicine have been over the years, going into as much detail as I can for each one and what their uses are.
Research Round 3: Impact on patients, owners, vets and general health of people
In my third round of research, I want to research the impact these discoveries and technological advances have had, on the patients and their owners, the veterinarians and society as a whole.
Potential Resources:
(1) https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/history-of-veterinary-medicine
(2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1680316/
(3) https://vetmed.illinois.edu/pet_column/advances-technology-impact-veterinary-medicine/