Symposium information and updates
GENERAL INFO: This year’s American Pre-Veterinary Medical Association’s National Symposium will be held on March 11-13, 2022 at Kansas State University. We are planning to travel via passenger vans. Since this is an official university activity, this will be considered a University Approved Excuse under AOP 12.09. If you are interested in attending, please email Darby at msupvcsymposium@gmail.com with a statement indicating your intent to attend and state whether you would like to attend in-person or virtually. If you are interested in running for an APVMA National Officer position, please indicate that in your email as well. We would love to be able to have representation on the National Board!
SCHEDULE: The tentative schedule is as follows: Travel to Manhattan, Kansas, on Thursday/Friday. Arrive at 2:00-3:00pm Friday 11th for registration, events, keynote speaker, and dinner. Saturday 12th will include lectures, labs, tours of the facilities, and exhibitors. Symposium typically concludes on Saturday night with a banquet dinner and this year KSU is hosting a dance and bowling event! We will travel home on Sunday (just in time for spring break week!).
HIGHLIGHTS: The keynote speakers for this year’s Symposium will be Dr. Temple Grandin and Dr. David R. Franz. The lecture topics vary from year-to-year but typically include tips for applying to vet school, financial aspects of vet school, owning a veterinary practice, special species (exotics, wildlife, large animals, etc.), different careers in vet med (general practice, specialties, research, etc.) and more. This year’s lab topic options include 3 different anatomy labs, dissection of the eye, minimally invasive urinary procedures, suture labs, animal behavior scoring session, small animal dentistry, avian and exotics handling lab, fistulated cows, bovine obstetrics, parasitology/ticks/fleas, poisonous plants and toxicities, neurologic examination of the dog, common household toxins/pet emergencies, histology, and a radiology lab. The experience and knowledge you will gain from Symposium are valuable for preparing for vet school as well as during and after vet school. You will be able to meet like-minded pre-vet students from across the country as well as network with clinicians and representatives from various colleges of veterinary medicine from around the world. Students typically come away from this experience feeling empowered and inspired.
COST: The cost to attend Symposium in-person is estimated to be approximately $300-400 per person before sponsorships/fundraising. This total cost includes registration, a t-shirt and swag bag from APVMA, transportation, and hotel. There will be a $50 non-refundable deposit due by January 30th at 5:00pm to reserve a spot. Please email Darby by January 29th if you intend to reserve an in-person spot. There are only 30 in-person spots available so please do not delay contacting Darby (msupvcsymposium@gmail.com) with questions or concerns. If you would like to attend virtually, the $50 deposit will be the only cost associated with Symposium. Our goal is to make this trip as affordable as possible and the officer team has drafted sponsorship letters to department heads, etc. to help reduce the cost associated with Symposium. In addition to this, please feel free to do fundraising on your own to help reduce your personal cost.
COVID CONTINGENCY PLAN: As of now, we are planning to attend Symposium in-person. If COVID prevents us from safely attending in-person, we are able to attend virtually (the cost will just be the $50 non-refundable deposit with no other fees). I will relay more information on this topic as it becomes available from the host school.
Please reach out to Darby at msupvcsymposium@gmail.com or speak with her at the 1/26/22 general body meeting to express your intent to attend (in-person or virtually) or to ask any questions. The link to the 2022 Symposium website is https://www.apvmasymposium2022.com/ if you are interested in reading more.
Cason Brown – Webmaster