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NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: Journalists are welcome to attend selected lectures and workshops at the symposium. For a schedule, contact symposium co-chairs Dawn Tandus, (765) 743-4137, or Kurt Strueh, (765) 523-3513.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- More than 1,000 veterinary students from across the country will spend three days at Purdue University gaining hands-on experience in caring for pets and horses, performing medical procedures for food animals, and caring for injured wild birds.
Purdue is the site for the 27th annual Student American Veterinary Medical Association Symposium, to be held March 13-15.
Among the hands-on workshops: bandaging small animals; testing the quality of cow's milk and determining protein and fat levels; determining the sex of a reptile; using ultrasound to view the reproductive tract of a live horse; evaluating the condition of a horse as it walks on a treadmill; and bandaging the wing of an injured wild bird.
Students also will attend lectures dealing with small animals, food animals such as swine, cattle and ratites (ostriches), equine medicine, exotic animals, and professional development. Topics include cancer in pets, marine mammal medicine, reproduction and health maintenance of herd animals, cardiac surgery in pets, animal well-being, racehorse medicine, and emergency medicine.
Students also will meet professional veterinarians and attend meetings to discuss professional opportunities, the future of veterinary medicine and the roles of private and corporate veterinary practice.
"This is a great educational experience for veterinary students to be exposed to the professionals who teach us," said Dawn Tandus, a junior in veterinary medicine and one of the organizers of the symposium. "It also gives us a chance to show off the new facilities in our school."
A $33.4 million, 65,000-square-foot addition to Purdue's School of Veterinary Medicine was dedicated in the fall of 1995. The veterinary school is one of 27 in the United States and the only one in Indiana.
Purdue was the site of the first student symposium 27 years ago, but has not held one since, Tandus said. Purdue's School of Veterinary Medicine enrolls 252 vet med undergraduate students; 90 graduate students, residents and interns; and 56 veterinary technology students.
In addition to lectures and workshops, students at the symposium also will participate in a variety of academic contests, such as a spelling bee for various medical terms and a "Jeopardy"-like game based on veterinary medicine. Tours and trips are scheduled to Wolf Park in Battle Ground and the Indianapolis Zoo, as well as Purdue's Animal Science Research Farms, the Animal Disease and Diagnostic Laboratory and the Veterinary Hospital.
The keynote speaker at an awards banquet on Saturday (3/15) will be Purdue alumnus Dr. Mary Beth Leininger, the first woman president of the American Veterinary Medical Association.
CONTACTS: Dawn Tandus, (765) 743-4137; e-mail, tandusd@vet.purdue.edu
Kurt Strueh, co-chair, (765) 523-3513
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Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu