Dr. Katie Sheats Receives AAEP’s Distinguished Educator–Educational Award – The Horse

Katie Sheats, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, FHEA, affiliate professor of equine main care at North Carolina State College’s School of Veterinary Medication, in Raleigh, obtained the American Affiliation of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) 2024 Distinguished Educator–Educational Award for her revolutionary management that’s remodeling the training and coaching of veterinary college students. 

The Distinguished Educator–Educational Award acknowledges a person who by her or his actions and dedication has demonstrated a big influence on the event and coaching of equine practitioners. Sheats accepted her award Dec. 10 in the course of the President’s Luncheon on the 70^th Annual AAEP Conference, held in Orlando, Florida.

Sheats obtained her veterinary diploma in 2005 from North Carolina State College, the place she subsequently accomplished a rotating equine internship, equine inside drugs residency, and PhD in comparative biomedical science. She joined the college school as assistant professor of equine main care in 2014. Along with her instructing duties, she runs a profitable lab and has served as main advisor and committee member for quite a few graduate college students. 

As chief of the Equine Major Care rotation, Sheats developed the varsity’s first formal distributive medical training program. She partnered with native and regional practices to create an introductory “boot camp” to make sure collaborating college students are ready for what they’ll encounter within the discipline upon commencement, and she or he developed coaching and analysis supplies to assist the companion practices in offering instructional alternatives and suggestions to the scholars. 

As co-coordinator for the third-year Equine Medication and Surgical procedure Course, Sheats has up to date quite a few lectures to focus extra on equine main care and launched energetic studying strategies to encourage in-person class attendance. Sheats has additionally created two new equine programs, one in all which teaches distinctive facets of husbandry and vitamin for much less acquainted species equivalent to horses. 

Sheats can be coordinator for a brand new third-year preceptorship that gives a four-week expertise in a veterinary apply or office setting to offer college students added medical and real-world expertise that reinforces core medical and surgical programs and prepares college students for clinics and future careers. As well as, she teaches quite a few lunch classes on equine veterinary matters, and she or he usually engages college students with moist labs by taking first-, second-, and third-year college students on weekend farm requires genuine experiential studying in equine main care. 

“Dr. Sheats is an innovator and grasp educator whose analysis and work in veterinary training and curricular growth has and can proceed to form the best way that we practice equine veterinarians at NC State,” mentioned her nominator, Anthony Blikslager, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVS, AGAF.