Veterinary Student Travel Awards available for USAHA/AAVLD Annual Meeting

August 8, 2012 — 

To promote student interest in careers in public veterinary practice and diagnostic veterinary medicine, the Veterinary Student Travel Awards program is soliciting applications for veterinary student attendance at the 2012 joint United States Animal Health Association (USAHA) and the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD) meeting. Ten competitive $500 Travel Awards will be granted to students to offset travel expenses to the annual joint USAHA/AAVLD Meeting on October 17-24, 2012 in Greensboro, NC. One additional award funded by the Western States Livestock Health Association will go to a student from one of the western veterinary colleges. The AAVLD and USAHA have agreed to waive registration fees for veterinary students attending the meeting. Veterinary students from all U.S. colleges of veterinary medicine are eligible to apply.

USAHA's 1200 members are state and Federal animal health officials, national allied organizations, and individual members. The organization works with state and Federal governments, universities, research scientists, veterinarians, and others to protect animal and public health, and control livestock diseases in United States and globally. AAVLD consists of more than 1200 members from 35 different countries and seeks to disseminate information relating to the diagnosis of animal diseases, including establishing, improving, and developing new diagnostic techniques.

To apply for an award, veterinary students must submit: 1) a one page essay explaining their interests and experience in diagnostic veterinary medicine or veterinary public practice, their career aspirations, and what they hope to gain by attending the USAHA/AAVLD Annual Meeting; 2) a CV or résumé; and 3) a letter of recommendation from a university faculty member or a veterinarian working in diagnostic veterinary medicine or veterinary public practice.

The Veterinary Student Travel Awards program was developed under a memorandum of understanding between USAHA/AAVLD and the Center for Public and Corporate Veterinary Medicine at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. The deadline for applications for the Annual USAHA/AAVLD Meeting is September 4, 2012. All application materials must be emailed to: Dr. Gary Vroegindewey. For questions, contact Dr. Vroegindewey (gvroeg@umd.edu) or 301-314-6821.