SAVMA Symposium Registration Extended!

It's not too late! If you've thought about attending but haven't registered yet, it's not too late! The registration deadline for SAVMA Symposium 2011 at UC Davis has been extended to February 1st. Until then, you can still register for the low low price of $75. That's a cheap price for an amazing Spring Break in beautiful California! After that date, prices go up with registration closing on March 1st. You can register at http://savmasymposium2011.com/registration-2/

Some of the activities planned include a trip to Sacramento for a kickball tourney, dinner, DJ and a performance by CSU's own Bog Spavin! The next night you'll stay in Davis for the famous Farmer's Market (http://www.davisfarmersmarket.org/) and a show by the locally renowned 80's cover band, Tainted Love (http://www.taintedlove.com/). The last night we'll head back up to Old Sacramento for a fancy evening of wine tasting, dinner and art with Dr. Marty Becker (http://www.petconnection.com/about.php) at the Crocker Art Museum (http://www.crockerartmuseum.org/).

Aside from all these exciting nighttime activities there is a whole line-up of lectures, wet labs, athletic and academic competitions and of course, the exhibit hall full of free stuff!

So talk with your classmates and figure out your plans! Check out the SAVMA Symposium Website at http://savmasymposium2011.com/

Best Advice Essay Contest Winner

Earlier this year SAVMA's Education, Licensure and Professional Development Committee held a contest where you sent in the best advice you have received on how to get through vet school. Below we have the entry by the winner of the contest. Just remember the advice she received as the first round of spring midterms comes around the corner.

"Your Career is Not Your Life"

By: Heather Burrowes

Cornell University, Class of 2012

I clearly remember that summer before my senior year of college—peak vet school application season. I was working in overdrive, trying desperately to impress admissions committees in the final stretch before applications were due. By day I spent hours writing essays and collecting transcripts; by night I immersed myself in veterinary life, moonlighting as an assistant at a nearby emergency clinic. I was convinced that there was some magic formula to get into vet school and I was going to ensure that every variable reached its maximum potential before plugging it in to the great VMCAS application machine.

Weeks went by and I finally got around to requesting the all-important Letters of Recommendation from assorted doctors and professors. Signed, sealed and shipped off to the appropriate address, most of the letters were fairly straightforward, except for one.

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Bridgett

By: Rachael Reith

Mississippi State University, Class of 2011

Pencil Drawing

India Travels

By: Carrie Wang

Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Class of 2012

Here are some photos from Carrie's trip with classmates to India for a 6 week Infectious Disease Externship. What better way to subsidize your travel than by making it a study experience?

Lessons for Life

By: Tiffany Beck

Mississippi State University, Class of 2013

I stood off to the side, feeling very out-of-place.  I wished I could melt into the floor, or at least surreptitiously run out the door and vanish for a couple hours.  The still form of a dog lay on the radiography table, surrounded by the almost equally still forms of the technicians and doctors.  After a sudden illness and a frustrating diagnosis, this pet had finally lost the fight.  I can still see as clear as day in my mind's eye the doctor who had worked the case, my internship mentor, leaning against the wall, his eyes bright with tears, frustration hardening the lines of his face.  He had just lost a patient...and he did not know why.

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