Pass it on: Mentor a Veterinary Student

October 20, 2010 — AASV Staff

The AASV Foundation is pleased to announce the third year of the National Pork Industry Foundation's funding to provide $3,300 each for six US veterinary students to participate in a one-month mentorship with a swine practitioner in the United States. The program targets students with an interest but limited experience in swine medicine. The goal is to attract additional veterinary students into swine medicine and to provide interested students with some exposure to the life of a swine veterinarian.

The AASV Student Recruitment Committee (AASV-SRC) developed the program to link each selected first- or second-year veterinary student with a practitioner mentor for 1 year. During the summer, the student is required to spend 1 month under the practitioner's guidance in the field. The $3300 stipend is meant to defer costs of travel, lodging and compensation for the 1-month period. In addition, the student is encouraged to attend both the AASV Annual Meeting and the Leman Conference.

The AASV-SRC is seeking six US swine practitioners to be mentors for these students. Commitments include answering one student's questions regarding the industry throughout the year and hosting the student for a minimum of 1 month in the summer. If you are interested in being a practitioner mentor, please contact Dr Amanda Ness at amanda.ness@boehringer-ingelheim.com.

The practitioners who served as mentors for the 2009-10 NPIF interns included veterinarians in a variety of practice situations, including mixed practice, corporate practice, and single- and multi-person swine practices. After hosting Emily Gordon (Purdue, class of 2012) at his practice, Dr. Paul Armbrecht reported, "It was refreshing to have a young person visit us and to provide us with a perspective that there are people who do want to go into a mixed practice setting." Dr. Nathan Winkelman, who hosted intern Timothy Krebs (Cornell, class of 2013), said "Overall, I enjoyed being a mentor, trying to pass on my enthusiasm for my career choice and the swine industry."

The AASV is grateful to all who served as NPIF mentors this past year. They included Drs. Dyneah Augsburger, Scanlon Daniels, Gene Nemechek, and Brandon Whitt, in addition to Armbrecht and Winkelman.

The student interns were very appreciative of the opportunities provided by their mentors. Lincoln Montgomery-Rodgers (Virginia-Maryland Regional CVM class of 2012) noted, "This internship exceeded my expectations. Dr. Whitt and the entire veterinary team at Cargill Pork were very good at involving me in their weekly conference calls and keeping me informed about the health issues they were dealing with long before I even met them." Emily Gordon said, "Not only was I able to do all of the things I expected, but I was able to do a lot more. Dr. Armbrecht was such a great mentor and he allowed me to gain a lot of hands-on experience."

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AASV staff contributed to or researched this story. For more information about the AASV, please visit http://www.aasv.org/.