AVC Vet Camp Attracts Junior High Students from across North America
Beginning the week of July 11, 156 12- to 14-year-olds will attend the Atlantic Veterinary College's (AVC) Vet Camp 2005. Throughout July, campers will gain veterinary experience that will include learning to properly handle exotic animals like an albino gopher snake, perform first aid on a dog, as well as go on rounds in the AVC Veterinary Teaching Hospital, observe surgeries and read animal x-rays.
Interest has grown steadily in the seven-year history of AVC Vet Camp. In fact, it has grown so popular that the College holds a lottery each spring to see who gets to attend. Since 1999, AVC has provided more than 600 junior high students from Australia to PEI with the opportunity to attend the first and only veterinary camp in Canada. This year, campers from as far away as the Czech Republic and British Columbia will attend the three, one-week long Vet Camp sessions.
AVC Vet Camp provides aspiring veterinarians with a once in a lifetime opportunity to gain hands-on experience at the College's renowned learning centres, laboratories and Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
"Many veterinarians have dreamed of becoming a veterinarian since they were a child," says Dr. Tim Ogilvie, Dean of AVC and founder of the AVC Vet Camp program. "And our Vet Camp gives junior high students a real window into the day-to-day life of a veterinarian at a time when they begin to make critical choices that will impact where they want to be in 10 years."
"We are very excited to kick off Vet Camp 2005 and introduce our first campers to AVC," says Debbie Musgrave, a second year doctor of veterinary medicine student at AVC and Coordinator of Vet Camp. "We have worked hard to provide our campers with amazing experiences that will open their eyes to the exciting world of veterinary medicine."
Located on the University of Prince Edward Island campus in Charlottetown, PEI, AVC is an Atlantic Canadian institution and the youngest of Canada's four veterinary colleges. AVC is committed to excellence in teaching, animal and human research, and client services ranging from diagnostic testing to specialized animal care. AVC is gearing up to break ground this fall for an expansion and renovation project that will take $32 million and two years to complete. A fundraising campaign is currently underway with a goal of raising $7.5 million toward the AVC expansion and renovation project. Construction highlights include; a new four-level 57,000 square-foot research complex, an expansion of the aquatic area, a new learning commons, an expansion and update of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, as well as various upgrades to laboratories and services.
Please visit www.upei.ca/avc/camp for more information on AVC Vet Camp 2005.
