Teaching of Veterinary Parasitology Based on the Use of Living Organisms and Tools of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Abstract

Parasites are organisms that live inside other living organisms or on them to get nutrients without providing any compensation in return. In medical and veterinary science, generally, only eukaryotes to metazoans are accepted as a “parasite”, that is, protzoa, helminths and arthropods. Some include arthropod-borne bacteria, the rickettsia. The teaching of this discipline has emphasized on the taxonomic components of organisms and has neglected aspects of understanding of the relation host-parasite, the comprehension of ecological interactions and wild cycles, co-evolution in the niches that support the possible selection of resistant animals to parasites and the arguments regarding population genetics, which allow the understanding of the problems of development of parasite resistance. This article shows teaching experiences from the Veterinary Parasitology Program, in which, although specimens in alcohol and formalin are still being used to demonstrate parasitary structures, increasingly more living organisms are being used as the basis of teaching and learning, along with information and communication technologies (ICTs) to facilitate the understanding of parasitic processes in natural tropical conditions.