The Use of Information Technology in Large Animal Veterinary Education

To facilitate large animal veterinary education, information technology has to connect the classroom to the farm. Technology needs to be portable, durable, and cost-effective. Dairy production medicine was one of the first areas in veterinary medicine to use computers to manage large sets of milk production-related data. Now equine practice has embraced technology in almost every diagnostic imaging methodology. The personal desktop assistant (PDA) has allowed students to take large volumes of information with them during clinical rotations. The technology is advancing so quickly that it is difficult to keep up with new software and hardware developments, let alone purchase the most current versions. This article reviews information technology as it is used in large animal practice and, consequently, in large animal veterinary education.