As I mentioned in my post last week, my recent visit to the U.S. included an opportunity to visit Hill’s Pet Nutrition in Topeka, Kansas.
In 2008, the Ontario Veterinary College and Hill’s Pet Nutrition Inc. began to collaborate on creating the Hill’s Pet Nutrition Primary Healthcare Centre (Hill’s PHC) to educate the next generation of veterinarians in order to equip them with exceptional skills in delivering preventive and wellness healthcare to companion animals. The facility opened in 2010. Our College is committed to creating a model for companion animal primary healthcare that sets the standard of care for veterinary graduates here and elsewhere.
I was joined on this visit by Dr. Peter Conlon, Director, Hill’s Pet Nutrition Primary Healthcare Centre and OVC Associate Dean, Students, Dr. Deep Khosa, Assistant Director, Hill’s Pet Nutrition Primary Healthcare Centre and OVC Assistant Professor, and Cynthia Kinnunen, Stewardship Engagement Manager, OVC. This visit provided an opportunity for Hill’s and OVC to review progress to date in meeting our mutual objectives and set goals for the coming year. The OVC delegation shared our annual report from the Hill’s PHC, which shows steady year-over-year growth in case numbers and learning opportunities for our students and the veterinary community as a whole.
Our visit to the Hill’s Pet Nutrition Centre in Topeka was hosted by Dr. Ellen Lowery, Director, US Professional Veterinary Affairs, Dr. Jolle Kirpensteijn, Chief Professional Relations Officer, Dr. Marina Debernardi, Worldwide Director, Global Professional and Veterinary Affairs, Dr. Karen Shenoy, Senior. Manager, Academic Affairs, and Joe Giles, General Manager, Hill’s Canada.
The tour of the facilities was very worthwhile. One cannot help but be impressed by the degree of investment in world-class talent and facilities that provide the data for Hill’s to base their diet development on sound science. Hill’s is a significant employer of veterinarians and this company has placed value on its relationship with the profession since the outset, as exemplified by their continued interest in the education of our new graduates.
As a college, we have enjoyed particularly productive relationships with pet food companies such as Hill’s and Royal Canin. We have entered a new era of corporate partnership in education, where universities and companies such as these apply care and thoughtfulness to their relationship and partner to provide learning opportunities that otherwise would not be available, thereby broadly improving the standard of care of animals entrusted to our care.
Photo: Dr. Ellen Lowery, Dr. Deep Khosa, Cynthia Kinnunen, Dean Jeffrey Wichtel, Dr. Peter Conlon, Dr. Marina Debernardi, Dr. Jolle Kirpensteijn and Joe Giles.