Animal Science Partnership Nabs National Symposium

Attracting a prestigious national event to campus takes hard work and months or more of preparation — and the Department of Animal Science and the College of Veterinary Medicine did it again in March, partnering to woo the American Pre-Veterinary Medical Association (APVMA) Symposium back to campus for the fifth time.

About 600 pre-veterinary students and 30 advisors from 77 colleges and universities across the United States attended, traveling from as far away as Oregon and Puerto Rico to engage in hands-on labs and lectures on current veterinary topics. Even more livestreamed the lectures from locations as far away as Fairbanks, Alaska, and Guelph, Canada.

“The energy was alive throughout the day,” said symposium chair Shweta Trivedi, who is a teaching associate professor in the Department of Animal Science and director of the Veterinary Professions Advising Center.

The annual event is designed to expose pre-veterinary students to the diversity of the profession and provide networking opportunities. Representatives from various local and international colleges of veterinary medicine attended the symposium to familiarize students with their schools and educate students of career opportunities within veterinary medicine.

Planning for this year’s symposium began as soon as the 2016 event hosted by Purdue University ended. It was at that event that animal science major Alexandra Fitton and biological sciences major Christy Pujianto presented NC State’s winning bid to host the 2017 event. The two served as co-chairs of the 2017 APVMA planning committee. The event gave students the opportunity to develop leadership skills and network with faculty and professionals from around the world. Over 100 other undergraduate and DVM students volunteered to facilitate.

With lectures and labs led by experts in the field, students were exposed to common practices and advanced techniques in the veterinary profession. Among the CALS representatives were William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor Billy Flowers, who instructed students on piglet care and jugular blood draws, and Professor of Animal Science Vivek Fellner, who presented a lecture on bovine nutrition and diseases.

Other speakers included New York Times bestselling author and Dognition founder Brian Hare, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Chief Veterinarian Dan Dombrowski and other experts in small animal, exotic animal, lab animal, food animal, wildlife and conservation, military and academic areas of veterinary medicine.

“CALS and CVM worked together to make this happen, through the leadership of VetPAC,” said Trivedi. “I am extremely proud of the pre-vet students and our two colleges who helped make it a reality.”