Receiving one award at OVC Convocation is a significant achievement. Receiving three at the same ceremony is a rare and remarkable reflection of the impact one educator can have on generations of veterinary students.
Dr. Janet Beeler-Marfisi, associate professor in the Department of Pathobiology at the Ontario Veterinary College, was recognized with three awards at this year’s OVC Convocation ceremony, celebrating her excellence in clinical teaching, commitment to student well-being and lasting influence as an educator and mentor.
Beeler-Marfisi received the Boehringer Ingelheim Award of Excellence in Clinical Teaching, the K. M. Bhatnagar Memorial Humanitarian Award and the Ontario Veterinary College “Year 68” Award for Teaching Excellence. Together, the awards recognize not only her strength as a teacher, but also the care, creativity and compassion she brings to her work with students.
For Beeler-Marfisi, the recognition was both surprising and deeply meaningful.
“I was very surprised and grateful to the students, and I cried,” she says. “It’s always a bit staggering to even get one, so three is really surprising and overwhelming, but it’s also very nice to know that my efforts in Universal Design for Learning are resonating with students and that they are finding the additional things I do helpful.”
The Boehringer Ingelheim Award of Excellence in Clinical Teaching is awarded to a clinician who demonstrates outstanding skills in clinical teaching of senior veterinary students, based on nominations and rankings by the graduating class. The K. M. Bhatnagar Memorial Humanitarian Award, presented by third-year students, recognizes an OVC faculty member who supports students outside the classroom and demonstrates genuine concern for their well-being. The Ontario Veterinary College “Year 68” Award for Teaching Excellence recognizes a faculty member identified by the class as exemplary in teaching and supporting students throughout their four years at OVC.
Dr. Brandon Lillie, Chair of the Department of Pathobiology, asserts that this recognition of Beeler-Marfisi reflects the depth of her commitment to students.
“I think the biggest thing that makes Janet such a valued educator, mentor and colleague is how much she genuinely cares about people, and the veterinary students see this and hugely appreciate it,” says Lillie. “Janet is someone they know they can go to with questions, and she’ll always take the time to help them through whatever issue they’re working through, be it academic or non-academic.”
This student-centered approach is central to Beeler-Marfisi’s teaching philosophy. Clinical pathology can be a challenging subject, but she is known for finding clear, creative and memorable ways to help students build confidence with complex material.
“My approach to teaching starts with clarity,” she says. “I am constantly looking for the simplest way to explain a concept, so that students can build solid understanding rather than just memorizing details.”
Beeler-Marfisi often uses unconventional teaching methods to make difficult concepts more approachable. She may use movable pieces of paper to help students visualize where the coagulation cascade is disrupted based on test results or act out how bacteria move in a urine sample to help students distinguish true microorganisms from random debris.
“Learning sticks when it is engaging and a little unconventional,” she says. “One of my own professors was delightfully eccentric, and her teaching was so memorable that I barely had to study her material–so I tell my students, ‘the quirkier I am, the more you’ll remember.’”
Her teaching is strongly informed by Universal Design for Learning, an educational approach that encourages students to engage with and understand material. For Beeler-Marfisi, this means creating different entry points into challenging concepts so that every student has an opportunity to connect with the material in a way that feels natural to them.
Lillie says this willingness to go beyond traditional teaching is one of the reasons students value her so deeply. “She also goes beyond just teaching in helping the veterinary students learn,” he says. “Janet develops things like videos and mnemonic devices and has a YouTube channel all designed to help the DVM students learn and remember the material in many different ways.”
Her YouTube channel, Vet School Learning Jamboree, focuses on long-term retention and recall, including strategies such as the Method of Loci and mind mapping. The channel grew from her desire to help students move beyond passive studying and develop more sustainable ways to organize, understand and remember complex veterinary content.
“I think a lot of us arrive at vet school without having learned how to learn, me included,” says Beeler-Marfisi. “Strategies that seemed effective in high school or undergrad can give the appearance of meaningful engagement, but they break down when you’re faced with complex concepts and an overwhelming volume of information.”
Her impact, however, extends beyond academic instruction. Beeler-Marfisi is intentional about creating a learning environment where students feel safe asking questions, making mistakes and seeking support.
For Beeler-Marfisi, supporting students as people is just as important as supporting them as learners. “I think students feel that there are so many of them that they are anonymous,” she says. “The sense of being part of a herd can feel safe, but it can also be isolating. So, I try to emphasize to them that they are seen and appreciated for who they are as people.” This connection with students was also reflected in another honour from the graduating class: Beeler-Marfisi was voted honorary class president by the Phase 4 class.
She describes teaching veterinary students as a privilege, noting the intelligence, motivation, humour and humanity students bring to the learning environment. Their curiosity and changing learning needs have also shaped her as an educator.
“Teaching the generations who have grown up with instant knowledge has inspired me to create more things for them to interact with to encourage them to engage with material more deeply,” she says.
Looking ahead, Beeler-Marfisi remains motivated by the hope that students who may not see themselves reflected in most of their professors can still feel that they belong in veterinary medicine and academia.
“If my comportment in the classroom and in small-group teaching helps make the environment safe and welcoming enough for them to follow a similar path into academia and teach the next generation, then I’ll feel I’ve done something meaningful,” she says. “So that eventually, any child can imagine themselves as a veterinarian and belonging in the profession.”
For Lillie, the fact that several of these honours are student-selected makes the recognition especially meaningful. “The impact Janet has had on the students she teaches is really exemplified by the fact that many of the teaching awards she was awarded are voted on by the students themselves, which makes these awards the ultimate indicator of teaching excellence,” he says.
As OVC celebrates Beeler-Marfisi’s rare triple recognition, the awards stand as a testament to the power of student-centered teaching and the lasting difference one educator can make. Through her clarity as a teacher, creativity as an educator and care as a mentor, Beeler-Marfisi has helped shape not only how students understand clinical pathology, but how they see themselves as future veterinarians.
All photos courtesy of Grant Martin.
