Communicating

Communicating with clients, students, veterinarians, other scientists, & the public

Continuing Education program presents first farmed deer conference, among other new trends

by Elizabeth Janecka

This year, the Continuing Education Office of the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM) held a conference focusing on "Veterinary Opportunities with Farmed Deer." This is the first time this topic has been highlighted in continuing education efforts in any veterinary college across the nation. Attendees arrived from all over the country to learn how they can diversify their veterinary medical practice and improve their bottom line.

The conference resulted from a collaboration between the Texas Deer Association (TDA) and the Continuing Education Office and provided education for veterinarians about the growing farmed deer population and the implications for this new growth area on the veterinary industry. Since its formation in 1999, TDA has seen a huge growth in whitetail breeders in Texas from 350 to 1200 today. In a 2007 study, agricultural economists from Texas A&M discovered that farmed whitetails ranked sixth in agricultural products bringing in $652 million to the Texas economy. The national economic impact is in excess of $3 billion.

With growth brings the opportunity to expand veterinary medical practices to fulfill the demand for large animal specialization, especially as the farmed deer industry continues to seek veterinary expertise and support. The conference focused on practices, health issues, regulations, treatments, and discussions for the farmed deer industry, as well as how these may be incorporated into large animal veterinary practice. The overall message, however, was very clear-the opportunity to add a valuable client base to established large animal clinics is a way to keep practices growing in difficult economic times.

In addition to the deer conference, the Continuing Education Office offers a wide variety of learning topics throughout the year.

"We want the Continuing Education Office of the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences to be the premiere learning experience for veterinarians who need to receive their continuing education," said Beth Johnson, coordinator of continuing education. "We offer world renowned faculty and state of the art equipment to help teach the courses. We have also worked really hard to provide topics and content that will accommodate most, if not every, veterinarian. While some topics are offered every year with a different focus, we try our best to offer new conferences to best feature the latest trends in veterinary medicine."

"Last year, there were 859 individuals from all over the country who attended our conferences," explained Johnson. "We awarded 310 continuing education hours to veterinarians. Each veterinarian is required to have 17 hours a year from the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners, while a registered veterinarian technician is required to have five hours. We keep all of their contact information and continuing education hours in a database so that at anytime an attendee can call and get that information verified. We try to provide a supportive environment so that we can be as helpful as possible to the attendees."

Please refer to the CE website (vetmed.tamu.edu/ce) and the Continuing Education Calendar on page 5 for upcoming events and new conference dates.

CVM Reaches Out to Youth and Teachers Across Texas through PEER Program

By Elizabeth Janecka

Science, and the ability to understand the scientific process, is an increasingly important skill. For this reason, it has become imperative to find new ways to engage middle school children with scientific concepts. The Partnership for Environmental Education and Rural Health (PEER) at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM) is reaching across the state of Texas to educate teachers to teach science using a different approach that children in middle school can get excited about.

"The Veterinarian's Black Bag" is one program through PEER that enhances the understanding of grade school students, sixth through eighth grade, about the world of science and discovery. This program is in its third year of a five-year grant that is funded by a Science Education Partnership Award from the National Center for Research Resources at the National Institutes of Health. The program encourages veterinarians all over the state to visit local rural schools and teach science through the use of animals. The veterinarians receive free lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, and other relevant information to help present science in a different light. The corresponding lesson materials are already broken down for use in a middle school classroom to better promote student understanding. The teacher is then able to follow up with free curriculum available through the PEER website.

"We not only want to increase students' interest, but ignite a sincere passion for science," said Dr. Larry Johnson, professor of veterinary medicine-anatomy and founder of PEER. "It truly is a wonderful opportunity for youth to gain experience and understanding in science and for our undergraduate, graduate, and professional students to hone their communication skills."

Johnson explains that "The Veterinarian's Black Bag" is a team effort. Dr. Dan Posey, director of special programs and clinical associate professor; Dr. Bill Klemm, professor of neuroscience and of veterinary integrative biosciences; Michele Ward, research associate and teacher; Tammy Fernandez, research associate and teacher; Vince Hardy, research assistant; veterinary medical students; graduate students; and undergraduate students all combine efforts to make the program a success.

Less than a year ago, Michele Ward and Tammy Fernandez joined the PEER team. They are former middle school teachers who were brought on board to take the information from the veterinarians and alter the content into "teacher-friendly language" as well as to update the curriculum so it is compliant with TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) standards. "Teachers are looking for something they can grab on to, tweak just a little bit and immediately bring into the classroom," said Fernandez. "This is a program to be added to a teacher's bag of tricks, helping them enhance their classroom. It gives them a tool to make a topic more interesting and more engaging than maybe it was the previous year."

PEER also puts on workshops during the summer months throughout the state of Texas to teach different techniques and to provide curriculum for teachers. This summer, teachers signed up for workshop classes in College Station, Huntsville, Lubbock, San Antonio, El Paso, and Amarillo.

The PEER program has generated huge success and has made teachers more excited than ever to put new techniques into practice. Since its inception three years ago, the program has grown from 116 attendees to the 414 attendees who signed up for the workshops this summer. Johnson explained that one of the teachers said she had never been so excited to get back into the classroom to teach her students and her summer vacation had just begun.

"Using the animals in the classroom is beneficial because children love animals," said Ward. "The focus of the class is on animals, but the students are really learning about themselves. Providing appropriate lesson plans is an important part of helping teachers achieve this accomplishment in the classroom."

PEER continues to devise innovative programs to reach young students across the state of Texas. The goal of PEER is to ignite a passion for science in youth so they will want to learn and discover about the world around them for the rest of their lives.

"We can use (children's) love for animals to stimulate people's knowledge about their environment and surroundings," Johnson said.

Through a combined effort of the CVM team, local veterinarians, and teachers, the PEER program is able to continue developing new ways to reach out to youth and to help the next generation of scientists discover a new found passion.