Bender honored with national award

AMES, IOWA — Dr. Holly Bender, associate professor of veterinary pathology at Iowa State University (ISU) received the 2004 National Carl J. Norden-Pfizer Distinguished Teacher Award.

Dr. Holly Bender

The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges selects an annual recipient for contributions to the profession and advancement of veterinary medicine through character, dedication and leadership.

Bender was the lead researcher in developing the Diagnostic Pathfinder, a clinical software tool that helps students decipher laboratory results. The software targets the methodologies for diagnostic reasoning and instructs students on ways to gather and analyze laboratory data before making a diagnosis.

"The software doesn't do the thinking for the students," Bender says. "But it helps them understand and approach analyzing lab results then put the pieces together."

Research on the software and its feasibility for the classroom was funded in part by an education grant, Bender says. The Veterinary Information Network (VIN), one of the grant partners, discussed the software and concluded the program was useful in the diagnostic process.

"The software is used in the class I teach at the university," Bender says. "But 10 faculty members have already approached me about developing similar software for their discipline."

Eventually, the program will enter other forms of veterinary medicine, such as oncology and pathology, but interest is already growing in areas of business, math and pathology.

"There has been tremendous student enthusiasm and support for this software," Bender says. "Test scores prove its usefulness, with an average of a jump in a letter grade from before and after using the software."

The software is being used at four veterinary medical colleges in addition to ISU.

"I was surprised to have received the award," Bender says. "I have been with the university for three years now, and I am very happy here. The administration is supportive and the students are fabulous. I am very honored."

Bender accepted the award at the American Veterinary Medical Association meeting in Minneapolis.