Cougar Orientation and Leadership Experience (COLE) 2011
The COLE is a training program, designed to promote
leadership skills development and team building. COLE has
been developed at the WSU CVM, and faculty from numerous
stateside and international colleges of veterinary medicine
have subsequently requested training in order to adapt the
COLE format for their student orientation processes.
Various animal health related industries have graciously
provided the support for this event because they believe
that such an orientation provides students with the skills
and a support system to thrive in the first year as well as
in subsequent years of professional training.
Our orientation experience is the culmination of a
great deal of study, the commitment of the dean and
the faculty, and careful program development.
Beginning veterinary school is not merely another
step in an academic journey, it is an entry into a
particularly respected profession; one of influence
and honor. The week of orientation activities,
including the COLE, have been designed to help
students become fully aware of this new reality.
Care has been taken to develop a program that is
safe, fun and builds strong bonds between
classmates, faculty and the administration. By
having this time to get to know each another prior
to the onset of classes, participants are able to
begin the school year in a more relaxed, unified way
that contributes to a positive educational outcome.
A profession differs from other career choices in
that it can be considered a calling that requires
specialized knowledge, long intensive academic
preparation and rigorous standards of professional
behavior and ethical conduct. The veterinary school
environment serves as the incubator of
professionalism. Learning and,
more significantly, integrating this sense of
commitment into all aspects of training and
professional life is as important as assimilating
the vast array of medical knowledge and technology
to which students are exposed.
In addition to competence in their field, veterinary professionals must
strive to retain those humanistic qualities--integrity, respect and
compassion--that constitute the essence of professionalism. Through this
orientation experience, a Success in Veterinary Medicine Course and on-going
leadership training, we seek to weave this crucial thread of professionalism
into DVM training. We decided to follow this course when a vast number of
research studies indicated that graduate veterinarians need this whole
constellation of skill-sets, not just medical and technical competence, to
succeed in the current professional environment. WSU is taking the lead in
the development and integration of these professional skills into the DVM
curriculum and we strongly believe our program will make the four years in
Veterinary School a more rewarding and enriching time of training.
Much of the focus for COLE is to encourage the development of skills, ideas
and attitudes that will assist students in making the transition to this
next level of training. Most veterinary students have probably arrived at
this point in life through an innate drive to always “strive for the top”,
and at COLE we ask them to modify this attribute. We certainly still want
individuals to strive for excellence, but we urge students to begin to see
peers as colleagues, not competitors. All students are working toward the
common purpose of becoming the compassionate professionals this vocation
demands and deserves. It is imperative that we begin our journey together
with a common understanding of these goals. We ask students to give some
time and thought to what type of a class they and their fellow students will
create together.
Additionally, at the COLE we want to have fun and to get to know one
another. We have discovered that the opportunity to gather in a beautiful
setting to relax, challenge ourselves, and to have a good time is the best
way to forge a community before the rigors of class begin. Most past
participants have said they cannot imagine having to start school without
all of the benefits provided by the orientation experience. In addition to
meeting classmates, members of the faculty and the second and third year
classes also participate in COLE events so that students have a chance to
talk with them informally about life in Pullman and in the WSU CVM. All of
these opportunities have been designed to help students prosper in the first
year of veterinary school.
