Encouraging Students to Pursue Life-long Careers as Swine Veterinarians at the Annual Meeting

March 4, 2024 — Abbey Canon

The American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) encourages veterinary students to attend the AASV annual meeting and offers a variety of activities for student participation during the conference to help fulfill part of AASV's mission: "mentor students, encouraging life-long careers as swine veterinarians."

Once again, the AASV Annual Meeting offered excellent opportunities for students to learn about swine medicine, network with each other, connect with swine faculty, and meet veterinarians and mentors.

Registration to the Annual Meeting is free for student members and includes access to all educational sessions and activities, including the preconference seminars on Saturday and Sunday. As usual, AASV's Student Engagement committee offered several conference activities designed specifically for veterinary students, including the Swine Medicine for Students preconference seminar, a vet hunt, speed networking, and the Swine Student Trivia event.

Preconference Seminar: Swine Medicine for Students

An always popular preconference seminar was designed especially for new and soon-to-be veterinarians. Veterinary students and 2022 and 2023 veterinarian graduates received free registration. Attendees learned about diagnostics, including sample selection, sample collection, test selection, cost, and result interpretation.

Vet Hunt

The Vet Hunt encouraged veterinary students to network with veterinarians. Students introduced themselves to and visited with at least ten veterinarians who voluntarily participated in the Vet Hunt for a chance to win swine swag or other prizes, sponsored by Merck Animal Health. Thank you to the 65 veterinarians that participated in the Vet Hunt and welcomed students to the Annual Meeting.

Speed Networking

Speed networking during the Annual Meeting provided a fun way to meet swine-savvy students and mentors, future interns, or even potential new employees or employers. Seventeen veterinary students met with twenty veterinarians, spending three minutes to visit with each other in speed-dating style.

Students made meaningful connections and appreciated the opportunity to practice their interviewing and networking skills even if participating veterinarians were not hiring. In addition to helping students become more proficient at discussions with potential employers, veterinarians also used the opportunity to screen potential candidates for jobs or preceptorships.

Student Trivia

Merck Animal Health hosted and sponsored prizes for a "pub-style" trivia event. Students (55) from 9 veterinary schools participated in the friendly competition. AASV student delegates Alexis Berte and Mallory Wilhelm coordinated the sign-ups, Dr. Megan Inskeep welcomed the students, reviewed the benefits of AASV student membership, and emceed the event. While only student teams were eligible to participate, anyone attending the Annual Meeting was welcome to observe and cheer on the teams . Prizes were awarded for the top three teams. The first-place team (Erin Larsen, Sarah Albers, Mallory Wilhelm, Elizabeth Oney, Madelyn Harrison, and Zachary Meyer) received tumblers, 3-in-1 chargers, beanies, hats, and CML notebooks. The second-place team (Chelsea Harris, Erin Russell, Elizabeth Porteus, Carly Bates, and Megan Thomas) received hats and CML notebooks. The third-place team (Bailey Ward, Austin Janssen, Coral Njus, Emma Mannery, and Alek Goll) received hats.

Podcasts

AASV provided an opportunity for students to earn a $200 stipend by conducting a recorded interview of an AASV speaker for podcasting. Twenty-seven students from ten universities participated. Students selected a speaker, prepared questions in advance, and interviewed speakers during the Annual Meeting. The end products are 5 to 15-minute MP3 audio recordings available to members in the AASV Podcast Library at https://aasv.org/podcast/.

Student Reception

Always a favorite, the Student Reception, sponsored by Merck Animal Health, drew a large crowd on Sunday evening. Students, veterinarians, researchers, faculty members, and industry representatives spent the evening interacting with each other in an informal setting.

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Abbey Canon is the AASV Director of Public Health and Communications