Return to Newsletter Home

Grand Opening Celebrates New Veterinary Facilities

Students at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM) are learning the fundamentals of veterinary medicine in a new, 30,000-square-foot educational building that represents the next chapter in the life of the college—and the profession.

The Veterinary Medicine Instruction Addition, which opened this fall, includes a state-of-the-art clinical techniques laboratory for second- and third-year veterinary students as well as new faculty offices, student seminar space, and small conference areas.

“Veterinarians are the leaders of companion animal practice, the human-animal bond, and the ‘one health’ movement. We are the only professionals trained in comparative, cross-species medicine, and we play an expanding role in a number of exciting fields, from zoonotic disease prevention to food safety and security,” said Dr. Gerhardt Schurig, VMRCVM dean, at the new building’s grand opening. “The completion of the Veterinary Medicine Instruction Addition ensures that we continue to expose our students and faculty to cutting-edge research and practices of veterinary medicine.”

The building’s 7,400-square-foot surgical space includes a dedicated holding area for patients, a separate induction and patient prep area, and automatic doors that separate the sterile and non-sterile areas in addition to a modern surgical suite. This makes a big difference for faculty members like Dr. Otto Lanz, associate professor of surgery in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences.

“All these advances represent the higher standard of care now expected from owners for the care and treatment of their pets, considered by most a family member,” Lanz said. “This investment will enrich the quality of education current veterinary students receive at the VMRCVM. It will also attract future students, so that they too may one day be able to practice quality veterinary medicine by providing them an extraordinary veterinary education.”

Construction crews broke ground on the $14.1 million addition in the summer of 2011 and finished before the Class of 2016—the largest in the veterinary college’s history—arrived on campus in August. Since the new building’s completion, the veterinary college now greets visitors with Hokie Stone, the iconic limestone found throughout Virginia Tech’s campus.

The grand opening also celebrated the completion of the $10.5 million, 16,000-sqare-foot Infectious Disease Research Facility, which opened November 2011, and renovations of other classroom and laboratory spaces. The event included remarks from Dr. Bill Tyrrell, a 1992 VMRCVM alumnus and past president of the Virginia Veterinary Medical Association; Tom Rogers-Cotrone, a third-year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine student and president of the Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association; Dr. Siba Samal, associate dean and chairman of the University of Maryland Department of Veterinary Medicine; and Virginia Tech President Charles Steger.

Share This Article

Click on the icons above to share this article with your social networks.

Important Links from this article

Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine