The MSU College of Veterinary Medicine is now home to the new LeBlanc Clinical Skills Laboratory, thanks to the generosity of Pat and Sally LeBlanc. The Lab, which houses equipment, materials, simulators, and work spaces, provides veterinary medicine and veterinary technology students with access to a space in which to practice and hone their practical clinical skills.
Dr. Pat and Sally LeBlanc provided the funding to support the construction of this new student learning space. In addition to being lifelong fans and supporters of MSU, they have strong ties to the College from which they both graduated. Pat was an MSU cheerleader for three years, a tenured faculty member of the College, and subsequently served as hospital director from 2003 to 2012. Sally worked in the hospital as a licensed veterinary technician for many years. Both were passionate about teaching and thus grateful to contribute to such an innovative clinical skills lab.
“The College of Veterinary Medicine is where our lives as a couple began,” said Dr. LeBlanc. “Our entire family has been blessed with ties to MSU experienced through education, employment and entertainment. We are fortunate for the opportunity to give back to a place that has given us so much,” he said. “Hopefully others will be as positively influenced through an education at the College of Veterinary Medicine as we were.”
The LeBlanc Clinical Skills Laboratory:
- Enhances experiential learning and integrates clinical skills into the new curriculum
- Gives students the opportunity to practice on simulators or models to learn and hone clinical skills before they work with live animals
- Helps students improve their confidence when faced with live animal interactions
“By providing students with accessible tools for hands-on learning and practice, the LeBlanc Clinical Skills Laboratory supports our students’ futures and embraces our new curriculum,” says Birgit Puschner, dean for the College. “When they graduate, our students will be ready for their careers and fully capable of taking the College’s mission with them: to Learn, Discover, Heal, and Protect.”
The Skills Laboratory is an example of the College’s DVM curriculum reinvention in action. This fall, the College launched its new curriculum, which was reimagined as a learner-centered program to prepare career-ready, high-value graduates while being attentive to the learning style for today’s student and College costs.
Support for the Laboratory also was provided by Dr. John R. and Kathryn M. Welser and the James and Lynelle Holden Enhancement Endowment in Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Welser served as dean of the college from 1975-83.
For more information regarding the LeBlanc Clinical Skills Laboratory or support for the College, contact the Office of Development at development@cvm.msu.edu.