UNH Pre Veterinary club - College of Life Sciences and Agriculture

UNH Pre
Veterinary
club
November
Newsletter
2013
IMPORTANT DATES – NOVEMBER
November 4, 2013 (Monday) – Club Meeting
Location: Rudman G89
Time: 8:00pm
Description: This will be the first meeting run by the new officer team! If you are
interested in buying a UNH Pre-Vet Club hoodie, here’s your chance!
Congratulations to Peter Tripp for his winning design (“The best doctor in the
world is a veterinarian. They can’t ask their patients what is the matter. They’ve
got to just know”)! Sweatshirts will be $35 and $30 if you’ve paid dues (look on
the Facebook page for more information). Exact cash is preferred, but a check
can be written to Sarah Walstad. Hope to see you there!
November 5, 2013 (Tuesday) – Club Meeting
Location: Rudman G89
Time: 8:00pm
Description: Come to this meeting for your last chance to buy a sweatshirt! If
you cannot make it to either meeting and would like to buy one, be sure to give
your $35 and sweatshirt size to a friend as the order is going out on Wednesday
morning.
November 16, 2013 (Saturday) – Aquarium Trip
Location: New England Aquarium, Boston, MA
Time: TBA
Description: The UNH Pre-Vet Club is taking their second trip to the (newly
renovated) New England Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts! We will be taking
cars down to save money, and drivers will get a bit of a discount. This trip was
pretty popular last year, so be sure to watch out for the sign up that will be
going out via email in the middle of this week (we are planning on capping the
trip around 20 students).
November 18-22, 2013 - Club Event
Location: TBA
Time: TBA
Description: Keep an eye out for e-mails from the club. We are hoping to be in
contact with one of the vet schools for this event.
A Pre-Vet Experience
Name: Brett Palmer
[email protected]
Where was it?
South Africa
Was it a Job, Internship, or Volunteer position?
It was through Ecolife: Vets in the Wild, a summer abroad program worth 8 credits that can count
toward the BMS major.
How long were you/have you been there?
Three weeks
What did you do there?
We did many different things there. We traveled around most of Northeast South Africa and visited
many different reserves including Kruger National Park. We worked at a non-profit small animal
clinic doing small animal surgeries and mobile clinic vaccinations; we did wildlife tracking and
viewing at several different reserves, visited a wildlife rehabilitation center, lion rescue, elephant
sanctuary, and a reptile rehabilitation center. We also spent five days working with a wildlife vet
relocating different types of antelope such as sable, nyala, roan, and midnight impala.
What species did you work with?
We saw most the major species of South Africa such as hippo, lion, cheetah, elephant, rhino,
giraffe, python, baboons, impala, kudu, water and bush buck, and buffalo. We worked/interacted
with domestic dogs, lions, cheetah, elephants, impala, nyala, sable, roan, and snakes.
What did you enjoy most about the experience?
There were a few things that I really enjoyed about my time in South Africa. The first was all
the hands on experience. While at the non-profit small animal clinic the students were involved
in everything. We gave vaccines at the mobile clinic and prepped animals for surgery. Because
there are fewer regulations down there in veterinary medicine it is easier to gain more
experience. While working with the wildlife vet we practiced using the dart guns and even got
to shoot at a moving target from a chopper. Several of us, including myself, got to actually
dart an animal for relocation. One of the most fun things we did with the wildlife vet was
capturing the midnight impala. The vet would dart them from a helicopter and then we’d have
to chase them down once they were sedated. It was such an awesome experience running
through the bush trying to catch the impala.
I also really enjoyed the amount of animal interaction we had while there. The very first day we
got to play with lion cubs and interact with a cheetah. We spent a day at an elephant
sanctuary where we interacted with the elephants and got to ride them at the end. At the
reptile rehabilitation center we worked with a few different snakes including the black mamba,
the boomslang, and the king cobra. This was especially neat because those three snakes are
all very venomous. At the other rehabilitation center we interacted with several types of large
birds as well as a blind baby monkey.
Overall my favorite thing about the trip was being immersed in the South African culture. It is a
completely different lifestyle down there and the program does a great job of getting you right
into it. You work with all different kinds of people and really get to see all the different aspects
of South Africa from the 1st world cities and towns to the third world villages. There were
several locations where we camped right in the middle of the bush with no fence around us.
Most people would be scared at the thought of this but it was incredible. It is really a lifechanging experience.
Any additional comments?
Going on the Ecolife: Vets in the Wild trip was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. Even
if you’re not interested in wildlife medicine or even South Africa, you’ll learn so much on this
trip and have a great time. I made many new friends and experienced new things. This is
especially a good alternative for those of you who aren’t able to study abroad during the
semester because you receive 8 credits through this program. It counts as an ecology course
and a wildlife conservation course which will count towards a biomedical science major.
Anybody with more questions can email me or visit their website, http://www.ecolife.co.za
Current Events
Veterinary Schools Work across International Borders
The mission of the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE) is to bridge
the gap between scientific knowledge and skill in developed countries and that in
less developed countries by engaging veterinary colleges. In July, they announced
their first project. The University Of Minnesota College Of Veterinary Medicine is
going to participate in the inaugural Veterinary Education Twinning project with
Chiang Mai University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Thailand. The OIE says
this program involves “creating and supporting a link that facilitates the exchange
of knowledge, ideas, and experience between two veterinary education
establishments.” The long term goals of this twinning program is to open up
opportunities for less developed countries to develop modern educational facilities
and methods based on the international standard. Therefore, more centers of
excellence of veterinary education can be present across the globe. In this
scenario, both ends benefit from working together for they can learn from each
other and consequently enhance the capacity of their graduates to support the
control of Trans boundary diseases and zoonosis and the general veterinary
services in both countries.
Study Shows Virus Spread Through Bird Migration
US Geological Survey researches have conducted a study on the spread of
foreign animal disease and have found that they can enter North America through
an area of Alaska where waterfowl migration converges. Starting in 2006, USGS
researchers spent three years testing for avian influenza in wild birds in the YukonKuskokwim Delta of western Alaska. This is a main convergence spot for birds
coming from the Pacific side of the Americas, Central Pacific, and East AsianAustralasian flyways. During the study, 90 low-pathogenic avian influenza isolates
from 11 different species of waterfowl species were characterized. Of these, 35
isolates has one to four gene segments of Eurasian origin. This observation is
evidence that avian influenza viruses found in Alaska have a higher incidence of
having Eurasian genes that do such viruses found in the contiguous US.
Utah State University School of
Veterinary Medicine
Place: This school of veterinary medicine is located in Logan, Utah. This city is located in
the beautiful cache valley only just a short distance from Salt Lake City and Yellowstone
national park. Holding a population of 48,174, this city is full of outdoor activities
including: camping, fishing, mountain biking, hiking and much more. It is also popular for
several events that occur throughout the year like the Festival opera company and the
festival of the American West. This city is a prime located with a historical downtown and
a spectacular view of Bear Lake. It proves its residents with a peaceful, yet exciting region.
Facilities: The school of veterinary medicine at Utah State University is associated with the
college of animal, dairy, and veterinary sciences. This department is responsible for
providing vet students with high quality teachings, research, and access to the many
species of animals needed to expose their students with a well-rounded curriculum. The
Laboratory Animal Research Center and The Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory are also
available to USU students. Also this program operates under the Washington State
University College of veterinary medicine program, which allows the USU students to have
access to the WSU campus and all the Facilities they offer for their students. This
partnership allows the students to send their first two years that the Utah campus and then
spend their next two years at the Washington state campus. This was set up to provide the
USU students with the facilities of one of the best equipped teaching hospitals and to
allow the student to not only experience the USU campus but the WSU campus as well.
Admission: This program has a very limited amount of seating, accepting a total number
of 30 students, 20 being in state and 10 being out of state. When evaluating applicants
for admission, the program considers academic and non- academic qualities. They look
at both cumulative GPA and Science GPA. The average GPA of accepted student for last
year was 3.5. Other prerequisites for this program include GRE, clinical experience,
workload; animals care hours, and employment experience
Climate: The weather in Utah is very similar to what we experience here in Durham. The
winter is cold ranging from temperatures between 12F and 48F. The summer brings a
nice break from the cold with temperatures ranging from 60F to 90F.
For more information check out the link: http://vetmed.usu.edu/
October
Events
H
What You Ought To Know
Animal Behavior – ZOOL 713
It’s that time of year again where you have to get ready
to register for spring semester classes. Where did the
time go?! Make sure to set up an appointment with your
advisor to receive your RAC time and number as well as
to discuss classes you need to take. This class I am
about to discuss is one you can consider taking next year
once you are able to start choosing major elective
courses.
Animal Behavior, under the biomedical system
electives category, is a major elective class offered in the
fall semester that consists of a lecture and a lab. Taught
by Leslie Curren, this class introduces that naturalistic
study of animal behaviors while focusing on the evolution,
development, physiology and ecology of their behavior.
In lab you go into further detail of certain species