Veterinary faculty noted for their exceptional teaching, outreach

The Student AVMA House of Delegates presented awards during its annual session March 17-19 at Iowa State University.

Dr. J. Claudio Gutierrez, assistant professor of clinical anatomy at the University of California-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, received the SAVMA Teaching Excellence Award. Student nominators cited his ability to encourage problem-solving skills; his ability to engage, motivate, and encourage students; and his efforts to maximize student learning.

Dr. Gutierrez obtained his DVM degree in 1997 from the University of Concepcion in Chile. He received a Fulbright Scholarship to obtain a doctorate, which he did in 2009 from the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. He joined the UC-Davis faculty in 2014 after serving as a faculty instructor of anatomy at Virginia-Maryland. Dr. Gutierrez’s research interests are diabetes, pregnancy and prevention of birth defects, and differing modalities of teaching anatomy and student learning.

The SAVMA Community Outreach Teaching Excellence Award went to Dr. Catherine Anne Muckle, associate professor and clinical bacteriologist at the University of Prince Edward Island Atlantic Veterinary College.

Veronique Savoie-Dufour, a second-year student at the veterinary college who nominated Dr. Muckle, said in a UPEI press release, “She is not only incredibly knowledgeable in bacteriology, but she has an ease of explaining key concepts and their importance. Her upbeat personality makes it a joy to attend each of her classes, and she encourages active learning, requesting students to participate and ask questions.”

Dr. Muckle said in the release that her goal as a teacher is to optimize her students’ learning and to make a difference in their education—to give them a basic understanding of bacterial and fungal disease relevant to veterinary medicine. She is a 1979 graduate of the University of Guelph Ontario Veterinary College.