Videoconferencing in a veterinary curriculum

Videoconferencing is a powerful and versatile method for distance learning. Videoconferencing incorporates real-time video and audio into connections with distant sites and, when combined with simultaneous Internet transmission of high-resolution images, enables veterinary educators to expand the classroom to include students and faculty from remote sites. The University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine (UTCVM) has used videoconferencing to deliver and receive entire courses, virtual rounds, seminars, journal clubs, and small meetings and for in-house transmission from one area of the campus to another. Responses from faculty and students at UTCVM indicate that videoconferencing technology will be a permanent part of the academic mission of the college for years to come. This article describes a number of veterinary school applications using distance-learning approaches that the authors hope will serve as examples upon which others can build.