Texas A&M courts $1 million for rural outreach

LAS VEGAS — Texas A&M's College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) and Center for Executive Leadership in Veterinary Medicine seek a $1-million grant to fund educational outreach to middle school students in rural areas.

During the next five years, Texas A&M leaders want to develop, evaluate and disseminate materials aimed at exposing students to biomedical and veterinary medical careers. News of the bid for a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Science Education Partnership Award was revealed during a February meeting with the Center for Executive Leadership in Veterinary Medicine's advisory board. The broad group of influential stakeholders in industry, education, pharmaceuticals, and organized and corporate veterinary medicine gathers regularly to initiate and guide leadership directives for students in the profession.

The outreach program, conducted by veterinarians, initially will target 311,000 students in Texas public schools with 66 percent minority enrollment. More than 95 percent of rural public school teachers want veterinarians to make such presentations, says Dr. E. Dean Gage, the center's executive director. Participating DVMs will earn continuing education credits, he adds.

In the works

Also highlighted during the meeting were other Texas A&M programs that facilitate the advisory board's initiatives to promote student leadership opportunities in all career fields. This summer, Banfield, The Pet Hospital plans to send four Texas A&M faculty members to a communication and training workshop at the Institute for Healthcare Communication in New Haven, Conn.

Funding by Merial, NIH and the Texas Veterinary Medical Association (TVMA) also will provide leadership opportunities in research for 20 CVM students who must seek a faculty mentor and write a research proposal. Those selected will present a paper and oral presentation of their work.

TVMA also is providing sessions pairing practicing veterinarians and first-year students to present, discuss and make decisions on six real-world clinical and client situations, requiring students to make ethical and leadership decisions.

The American Animal Hospital Association has invited Dr. Deborah Kochevar, Texas A&M associate dean for Professional Programs, to attend the group's program "The Art of Veterinary Practice: Success for Life."

And Nestle Purina is providing funding for a three-year residency in small animal internal medicine.

"It's an array of accomplishments; I'm amazed at how far it's gone," says Advisory Board member Dr. Glen Hoffsis, director of veterinary services for the Iams Co. and former dean of The Ohio State University's veterinary program.

The next Center for Executive Leadership in Veterinary Medicine Advisory Council meeting tentatively is scheduled for this spring.