Greetings from Chicago!

Hello from the 2013 AVMA Convention in Chicago, Illinois! Keep checking back for new photos and remember to follow @studentAVMA on Twitter for continual updates throughout our SAVMA House of Delegate meetings! Use #studentAVMA to join the coversation and follow along.

"Iron Lion Zion"

Entry, Creative Corner
Caitlin Majeczky, UC Davis

Acrylic painting

SAVMA's Underserved Areas Stipend in Action

SAVMA's Public Health and Community Outreach Committee offers eight awards of $500 each year to help veterinary students on externships in underserved areas. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and can be found here. Read on for how Alison Morgera from Penn spent her time in Haiti.

As a member of the Pou Sante: Amar Haiti team, I recently traveled to Thibeau, Haiti, to demonstrate the importance of the veterinary profession in all aspects of human, animal, and environmental health. Showing little Rood how to listen to the “ka” (heart)It is Pou Sante’s mission to establish a long-lasting partnership with the main goat farmers of Thibeau. Our goal is to provide these farmers with the knowledge necessary to maximize animal agriculture and empower them to become animal health leaders within their community. Through this cooperative, we then hope to implement sustainable farming practices for the future in order to improve both human and animal health alike.

The small, rural community of Thibeau lies within one of the most impoverished countries in the world. Haiti is a place where jobs are at a premium and farming is the sole source of livelihood for many of its inhabitants. Its animals are a fundamental source of nutrition and trade and as such, play an integral role in human survival. In such a society, where animals are an exclusive source of nutrition and yet veterinary care is scarce, there is an overwhelming need for public health education and sustainable farming practices. Our two weeks in Thibeau proved to be just the first step in what hopefully will be an extended partnership between PennVet and the people of Haiti.

“We had a cat, but we ate it.” This was the reply I received when I polled a group of Haitian children about what types of animals they owned.

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Cutaneous Mass: A Case Report

Honorable Mention, Cases/Abstracts
Jacquelyn Horner, University of Georgia

1. Subjective:

Chance

4 YO male neutered boxer

Wt: 29 kg

Resides in Georgia

Chance is a blood donor for the UGA CVM Teaching Hospital. He undergoes yearly health screenings, which include physical examination, vaccination, and parasite testing. He is presenting today for his annual visit. He is bright, alert, and responsive. There are no abnormalities noted on physical exam, with the exception of a small, cutaneous mass on the lateral right hind leg. He has a BCS of 4/9. His lungs are clear and his heart is loud and strong. The owner states that the mass has been present for at least one year and has not changed in size during that time. It does not seem to bother Chance. The owner has noticed that upon manipulation, the mass undergoes temporary changes such as swelling and redness.

Chance was previously seen for routine bloodwork to be evaluated as a canine blood donor candidate approximately 6 months ago. A series of blood/diagnostic tests were run including: CBC, chemistry, urinalysis, tick panel, parasite smear, fecal flotation, heartworm test, and blood typing. There were no abnormalities found. The superficial mass was noted in the records at that time, but was not further evaluated.

Due to the patient history, breed, and physical exam findings, a fine needle aspirate was taken from the cutaneous mass.

Objective:

Chance has a cutaneous mass measuring 1cm X 1cm on his right lateral stifle. The fine needle aspirate cytology (Wright’s stain) revealed large numbers of round cells with purple intracytoplasmic granules:

Fine needle aspirate was attempted at the regional popliteal lymph node as well, but it was unsuccessful.

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From Conservation to Cancer

Honorable mention, Life as a Vet Student
Briana Hallman, University of Minnesota

Marine mammal trainer, zookeeper, and wildlife biologist were all careers in which I had a strong interest before I even considered veterinary medicine. While interning at a wolf research center during the summer before senior year of my undergraduate education, I realized my love of wildlife was matched by my interest in medicine. My senior year was dedicated to last-minute courses that fulfilled admission requirements for veterinary school, and I accepted my admission offer for a spot in the class of 2013 from the University of Minnesota. I intended to become a wildlife veterinarian and involve myself in the One Health Initiative through animal conservation. Once beginning veterinary school, I took advantage of extra wetlabs and lectures in wild animal and exotic medicine, volunteered with the local wildlife rehabilitation center, and even traveled to South Africa for a hands-on course in conservation medicine. I was building a resume that would make me stand out in the wildlife medical field, and I was fully prepared to move anywhere in the world to find a job in this extremely competitive area of veterinary medicine.

One day in the second semester of my second year, I was introduced to the field of veterinary oncology when I spent two hours with Minnesota’s oncology service as part of our clinical skills course. I was immediately drawn to the unexpectedly pleasant environment in the oncology office, where canine day-patients receiving treatment get to play with other patients rather than sitting in a kennel all day. The office was filled with notes, plaques, and photos from clients thanking the clinicians for the time they were given with their beloved pets. My view of the oncology service as a sad, depressing, hopeless place was extinguished, and I began to take an interest in the overall biology of cancer and the science of its therapy. This interest grew during my third year, when my official course in oncology began. Diagnosing my first mast cell tumor as a third year student on a service trip to a nearby Native American reservation gave me confidence in my clinical knowledge and increased my curiosity about neoplasms in animals. I remained passionate about animal conservation, however, so pursuing wildlife medicine persisted as my career goal, and I lined up several senior externships in that field.

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