Horse receives honorary veterinary degree from UC Davis

Image courtesy of University of California, Davis.

This spring the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine (UC Davis) not only conferred DVM degrees on more than 100 veterinary students, but they also awarded an honorary degree to a special equine patient, a 19-year-old thoroughbred named Teddy, according to a university release. 

"Dr. Teddy" helped students learn equine health through more than two dozen appointments ranging from the routine, like vaccinations and deworming, to the more complex, such as stem cell treatments and a neurological disorder, over a yearlong stay at the university's teaching hospital. 

Image courtesy of University of California, Davis.

"Signing up for your first patient is quite a nerve-racking experience as you try to figure out how to go through the motions of being a fourth-year student and integrating all of the medicine you have learned up to that point," says 2016 DVM graduate Carin Stevens in the release. "Teddy was the perfect patient." 

Teddy consistently led students through various lessons in equine medicine including lameness evaluation, medication administration, behavioral and postural assessment, grooming, hand walking and much more, the release states. He received recognition for his comfort and cheerfulness soon after his yearlong stay ended, becoming the first equine to "graduate" from UC Davis. 

"Teddy provided an exceptional educational experience for staff, students, residents and faculty from many hospital services," says Larry Galuppo, DVM, DACVS, chief of the Equine Surgery and Lameness Service at the university. "His care truly touched so many."