Sheats Wins Equine Group’s Distinguished Educator Award

The American Association of Equine Practitioners has chosen Dr. Katie Sheats, associate dean and director of professional education and admissions at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine, to receive its Distinguished Educator Award for 2024.

The award recognizes educators who have demonstrated a significant impact on the development and training of equine practitioners.

“Dr. Sheats has been integral in developing and advancing our approaches to training equine practitioners,” says Dr. Kate Meurs, the Randall B. Terry Jr. dean at NC State. “She is an amazing asset to our community, and it is wonderful to see her contributions recognized nationally. Dr. Sheats’ efforts will have a long-standing positive effect on the care of horses.”

Sheats, who received her DVM at NC State in 2005, was an associate professor of equine primary care before being promoted to associate dean in December. She was instrumental in the development of the new veterinary student curriculum that launched this fall after a five-year collaboration among faculty, staff and clinicians. 

“I am very honored, excited and grateful to receive this award and want to recognize the team effort and collaborative interest in elevating equine student training here at NC State,” Sheats says. “I’m really proud that NC State is so committed and invested in the training of future equine veterinarians. It’s a real need not only in North Carolina’s community but across the U.S. to ensure that horses and horse owners have excellent veterinary care in the future.”

Sheats, a native North Carolinian, also received her bachelor’s, equine internal medicine residency training and Ph.D. in comparative biomedical sciences with a focus in cell biology at NC State. She began her faculty career in 2014 as an assistant research professor, studying the innate immune system and the role neutrophils play in host defense and host injury. She also has conducted educational studies on the best ways to communicate information to students and to track their competency.

Dr. Anthony Blikslager, associate dean and director of Veterinary Medical Services, nominated Sheats for the award. 

“Dr. Sheats is an innovator and master educator whose research and work in veterinary education and curricular development have and will continue to shape the way that we train equine veterinarians at NC State,” Blikslager said in his nomination letter. “Additionally, her research in the fields of equine asthma and sepsis have provided excellent training opportunities for students and have had positive impacts on horse health and welfare. Given these accomplishments, I am confident that Dr. Sheats is the top candidate for this special award recognition.”

Sheats has had extensive experience maximizing the student experience at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine. As coordinator of the Equine Primary Care Program, she works with equine private practice veterinarians to establish best practices for training equine-focused students. This fall, she was instrumental in launching the new Equine Scholars Program, which recruits undergraduate students with a demonstrated interest in horse health from partner universities to join NC State’s DVM program to strengthen the pipeline of future equine veterinarians.

On the national level, Sheats is a volunteer accreditation site visitor for the AVMA Council on Education, assessing veterinary colleges undergoing accreditation to ensure they are meeting educational standards. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Academy of Veterinary Educators.

“I love being an educator and seeing students grow and be so excited with their new knowledge or their new skills and what that means for their future,” Sheats says. “It is a great feeling that I get to play a role in that. Another thing that’s really great about teaching is that I get to stay a learner forever, because we never stop learning how to be better educators. And for me, that’s really motivating and keeps me excited about my work.”