A brief synopsis of some of the TUSVM's continuing education and outreach activities for the period from 1995 to 1999 is presented below.
* The Annual Veterinary Medical Symposium: The Annual Veterinary Medical Symposium is held during the spring of each year and has been held continuously for the last 35 years. Each symposium affords the alumni and regional veterinarians an opportunity for lifelong learning. TUSVM faculty and invited speakers present lectures, and workshops on pertinent topics. Registered veterinarians received 2.0 CEU's. The average attendance is 500 registrants and includes veterinarians, faculty and students.
* Annual Small Ruminant Medicine Seminar For Veterinarians: This seminar is co-sponsored by the TUSVM and the American Association of Small Ruminant Practitioners. Faculty and invited speakers at the 1997, 1998 and 1999 seminars presented topics pertinent to Caprine and Llama health. Over 100 veterinarians, small ruminant producers, faculty and students have attended each conference.
* Equine Veterinarian Workshop: Capitalizing on their geographic proximity, TUSVM and Auburn University College of veterinary medicine have jointly sponsored five equine continuing education programs. TUSVM faculty were both program planners and participants. The 1995 Alabama Farrier/Veterinarian workshop on equine lameness and hoof care was held in collaboration with the American Farrier's Association. Sessions were held on both campuses. Over 224 farriers, veterinarians, veterinary medical students and horse owners attended. Veterinary registrants received 11CE credits. The 1996 workshop on Equine Dentistry was held on the Auburn University campus. The 1997 Equine Reproduction Workshop, held at TUSVM, had 80 registrants. The Equine Lameness Workshop of 1998, held at Auburn, had 75 registrants. Seventy-five registrants were at the 1999 Equine Colic Symposium held at TUSVM.
* Preventing Alcohol And Other Drug Problems: This conference was presented jointly by TUSVM and Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine on June 16, 1995. The goal of this national conference was to ensure that veterinarians and veterinary medical students at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels of training acquired the knowledge, attitudes and skills to prevent alcohol and drug problems in veterinary practice and to play leadership roles in preventative community efforts.
* Computational Programs: Realizing the strategic importance that information technology holds in advancing biomedical education, TUSVMís faculty and staff continued to offer the following programs:
* Annual Biomedical Scholar Computer Training Workshop: Throughout June and July of each year (1995 to 1999) , Biomedical Information Systems (BIMS), CVMNAH, offered hands-on workshops on the fundamentals of Macintosh and windows operating systems, Word processing (WordPerfect, Microsoft Word), spreadsheets (Excel) and presentation software (Powerpoint). The 1999 attendees were faculty, staff, TUSVM'S participants in the Educational Commission for Foreign Veterinary Graduates (ECFVG) program and summer students.
*Advances In Epidemiology Forum: TUSVM'S epidemiologists conducted this forum on April 21,1995, to examine and discuss computational epidemiology and other recent advances in epidemiology. The 50 registrants were epidemiologists from other universities and organizations, faculty and students.
* Veterinarians, Disabled Clients, and Assistance Dogs: TUSVM and the William Snyder Foundation for Animals of Baltimore, Maryland, jointly sponsored this lecture each year since 1995 to educate veterinarians and veterinary medical students about the needs of disabled people who are dependent on hearing guide or service dogs. The invited speakers are Dr. and Mrs. Ed Eames and their guide dogs, Echo and Escort.
* Outreach Programs: During the past five years, the School of Veterinary Medicine continued to use its faculty and students to reach out to the community by providing information and services. The general goals of the TUSVM's outreach programs are to ensure that the people of Alabama acquire knowledge skills and attitudes to prevent animal and human diseases, promote animal wellness and to increase animal food production. Some of the major outreach programs provided are described below.
* Annual Horse Health Fair: TUSVM and the Student Chapter of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) jointly sponsor The Fair. Faculty and students work in concert one day each March to educate clients and provide their horses with preventive healthcare that includes complimentary physical examinations, fecal and blood tests, and nutrition and general horse healthcare information. For a fee, patients receive vaccinations, deworming treatment, hoof trimming, and testing for other diseases.
* Food Animal Conferences: TUSVM provided affordable herd health management and veterinary public health information at group meetings with small farmers (members of the Tuskegee Cooperative Programs and members of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, Macon County Livestock producers) and also at the Alabama Food Animal Conferences in Shelby County. The 1997 Tuskegee University Food Safety Workshops introduced 15 small animal producers to information relating to new food safety regulations. The TUSVMís faculty continued to provide lectures and workshops at the Tuskegee Universityís Annual Goat Day Conferences.
Small Animal Ambulatory Programs (SAAP)
Rabies Clinic: On an annual basis, TUSVM faculty and students travel to the Poarch Band of Creek Indian Reservation in Atmore, Alabama, to vaccinate dogs against rabies and to educate the Indians about the need of a comprehensive rabies-prevention program. The clinic is part of the School's on-going effort to prevent rabies in pets and livestock. In 1999 a total of 254 animals were vaccinated.
SAAP for the Senior Citizens and People with Disabilities: This SAAP was started in 1998 for pet owners in Macon county. Approximately 30 animals receive preventative medical care each month.
SAAP for Montgomery and Lee County Humane Society: In order to facilitate pet adoption, TUSVM started a biweekly, non-emergency medical and surgical care program in 1998 for the Humane Societies of Montgomery and Lee counties.
SAAP for Bird Dog Kennels in Alabama: This unique comprehensive health care program was started in 1999 to promote wellness in the sporting bird-dog population. To date, 200 dogs have entered the program.
Annual Small Animal Health Fair: This Health Fair provides dogs and cats with complimentary physical and fecal examinations, heartworm examinations, and medical advice to pet owners. For a fee, patients received vaccinations for rabies, distemper, parvovirus, feline leukemia, and other preventable diseases. A total of 132 patients were examined in April 12, 1999, at the 6th annual fair.
Spay Day USA: Pet owners were encouraged to have their dogs and cats spayed/neutered on February 27,1998. Clients received a 25 percent discount of the regular price for spaying/neutering. All received a complimentary physical examination. Spay day was sponsored by the Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association (SCAVMA) and the TUSVM.
Veterinary Medicine Career Promoting Programs: TUSVM continued to promote Veterinary Medicine as a career choice through the use of the following programs.
* Annual Open House: In March of each year, this program afforded students, teachers, counselors, parents and the public, an opportunity to talk with veterinary medical students and faculty, receive a behind-the-scenes tour of TUSVM facilities and learn more about veterinary medicine at Tuskegee University. Approximately 300 students, parents, teachers, and counselors attended the Open House in 1999.
* Biomedical Sciences Symposium: The College of Veterinary Medicine Nursing and Allied Health faculty and staff continued each year to accompany over thirty high school students from Alabama and college students from Tuskegee University to the Annual Symposium on Career Opportunities in Biomedical Sciences.
* National Pet Week Local Poster Competition: Each May, TUSVM and the Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association (SCAVMA) sponsor a poster contest in honor of National Pet Week. The competition is open to all fourth grade students at Washington Public Elementary School in Tuskegee. The top three winners of 1999 received individual prizes as well as prizes for the entire Class including a $100 cash award for supplies. The first Place winner then had the opportunity to advance to the state and national competitions held during the summer. This year's local theme was "Friends For Life."
* Annual Entrepreneurial Workshop: To create awareness of the varied clinical and non-clinical employment opportunities in veterinary medicine, TUSVM has sponsored four Veterinary Entrepreneurial Workshops. The first workshop was held on July 1, 1997. Workshops were held at the Kellogg Conference Center during the Annual Veterinary Medical Symposium. The 1999 guest speakers included five alumni who described their professional activities and employment opportunities in their respective specialties of private practice, federal regulatory work, industrial medicine and research.
* Human-Animal Bond Programs: TUSVM continued to promote human health and well being through the following programs:
* HIV/AIDS and Pet Ownership: The Office of External Affairs distributed its brochure titled "HIV/AIDS and Pet Ownership" to physicians, veterinarians, nurses, other health care providers, AIDS-support groups, animal shelters, and people living with HIV/AIDS.
* Pet-Facilitated Therapy: TUSVM students, faculty, and staff continued to take their behavior-tested and health-screened pets to visit patients in the nursing home at the Tuskegee Veterans Affairs Medical Center twice per month.
Technology Showcase: To promote the use of electronic technology by the campus and Macon County community, the CVMNAH sponsored a Technology Showcase entitled "Networking with the World: Tuskegee University Provides the Link," on November 14-15, 1997, at the University's Kellogg Conference Center. TUSVMís Biomedical Information Management Systems displayed a variety of digital technology resources, such as: the electronic kiosk (a digital system which facilitates access to a comprehensive college-wide information system), network resources (i.e., e-mail, Internet, and audio/video conferencing), hypermedia resources (multimedia), computer modeling (i.e., research in computational epidemiology), and databases (information systems), to name a few.
