Pfizer Animal Health Student Scholarship Program

Pfizer Animal Health and American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF) are pleased to announce the second annual Pfizer Animal Health Student Scholarship Program for 2011!  The initial program, launched in the fall of 2010, was a huge success with 222 students each receiving scholarships in the amount of $2500 for a total of over $500,000 in scholarship grants.

This program is open to current 2nd and 3rd year students at the veterinary colleges in the United States as well as students at Ross, St. George’s and St. Matthews Universities. Details on the scholarships as well as the applications can be found at www.vetstudentconnect.com and at www.avmf.org/pfizer

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Washington D.C. and you

As our profession continues to evolve, the veterinarians role in the political arena becomes increasingly important. How can you best prepare yourself for emerging issues facing veterinary medicine?

The 3rd annual Veterinary Student Legislative Day seeks to initiate your participation in the legislative process! Spending February 7-8, 2011 in Washington D.C., you will learn about current public policy topics, spend time on Capitol Hill visiting with legislators, and have the opportunity to explore D.C.!

If you are interested in learning more about how legislation works and what role you can play, I suggest you consider this opportunity. I attended a couple years ago and had a great experience. You get to meet like-minded students from across the country, talk with legislators about current veterinary issues and learn how to be effective with those communications. And who knows, you might even get a glimpse of someone famous!

Interested students should get in touch with the SAVMA delegate at their school for more information about attending. Registration ends November 1st, so hurry up!

Help Host an International Student Exchange!

On behalf of the SAVMA International Veterinary Exchange Committee, we would like to take this opportunity to invite you to participate in a national contest. Currently, the International Veterinary Exchange Committee is trying to update its database of potential U.S. Veterinarian Hosts – those veterinarians who would be interested in hosting an international veterinary student at their clinic.

We would like to involve all schools and IVSA Chapters in increasing the database for the Host Program

and are offering two monetary gifts for the individual student and overall IVSA Chapter (if there is no

current IVSA Chapter funds at the winning school, the SCAVMA Chapter will be awarded the funds) who

provide the most names of potential Host Veterinarians. The individual student who obtains the most

veterinarians for the database will receive a $125 scholarship and the overall IVSA chapter that provides

the most veterinarians to the database will receive a $125 scholarship.

As your fellow students prepare for internships, externships, and mentorships, it would be a perfect

time to encourage all members of IVSA chapters, along with the general student body, to invite

veterinarians to participate in the Host Program.

The process is easy! Contact your SAVMA delegate for more information and to get the forms to provide to interested veterinarians. Those interested veterinarians should fill out the forms completely and send

them back to the International Exchange Officer by email, fax or post.

All names are due to the International Exchange Officer and even though names will be continuously

added to the Host List, the contest will cease on July 1, 2011.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact the International Veterinary Exchange Committee

or the International Exchange Officer. You can find more information at http://www.avma.org/savma/ieo/get-involved.asp.

Education and Professional Development Fall Grant

Interested in an aspect of veterinary medicine not addressed in your school’s veterinary curriculum? Looking for funding for a unique wet lab or lecture topic?

The Education and Professional Development Committee is offering a grant to veterinary student organizations to provide funding for wet labs or lectures supplementing their college’s curriculum.  Our vision for this grant is for student organizations or clubs to design either a lecture and/or wet lab for a topic to which students would not otherwise be exposed.  Three $250 dollar grants will be offered, and winners will be chosen by the committee in mid November.

All submissions can be for an upcoming event or for reimbursement of the event, depending on the date of the proposed event. Applications must be submitted by a student who is a member in good standing with SAVMA.

Please stay within the word limits that are imposed and provide all required information.  Events must not provide alcohol at the events and funding must not be used for gifts to speakers.  Applications that fail to stay within these limits or to provide all required information will NOT be considered for funding at this time. Grant Application due by: Monday, November 1^st, 2010.

The application should include: Student Group Name, Veterinary School, Student Contact Name, Contact E-mail Address, Name of Event, Date of Event, Estimated Number of Students Attending, Description of Event (Limit 150 words), Reason for Request (Please specifically state how this topic is not addressed in your current curriculum, Limit 100 words), Itemized Budget for Event (Please disclose funding already received) 

Winners of this grant must acknowledge SAVMA and the Education and Licensure Grant at the event, in addition to submitting a quick statement for The Vet Gazette about the event and how the grant assisted your event.

Animal Welfare Judging & Assessment Competition

The 10th Animal Welfare Judging & Assessment Competition (AWJAC) is quickly approaching!

Michigan State University (MSU) will once again host this fun and educational event on November 21^st and 22^nd in East Lansing, MI.  The competition is split into three divisions: undergraduate, graduate and veterinary students. Students may compete as individuals or on teams comprised of 3-5 students.  This year competitors will be assessing giraffes (as the exotic species), working dogs (as the companion animal species), broiler chickens (as 1 of the agricultural animal species) and the on-farm assessment will pertain to beef cattle.

The following Web site will help provide you with information on the competition:http://animalwelfare.msu.edu/animalwelfare/contest 

Entries are due on October 15^th.  Entry forms and the rules/guidelines for the competition can be found on the MSU Web site.  For more information or questions about the competition please contact Cami Heleski heleski@msu.edu . 

AVMA is pleased to offer assistance with travel expenses (transportation, lodging, meals) for veterinary students of AVMA Council on Education-accredited colleges/schools of veterinary medicine who choose to participate in the competition.  Travel assistance is made possible by an animal welfare activities grant to our Animal Welfare Division from GSK.  Up to $500 per veterinary student for up to 20 students will be provided, and advance application must be made using the form found at http://www.avma.org/issues/animal_welfare/intercollegiate.asp. Travel grant applications should be directed to:     

Dr. Gail C. Golab
Director, Animal Welfare Division
American Veterinary Medical Association
1931 North Meacham Rd, Suite 100
Schaumburg, Illinois 60173
ggolab@avma.org