Elected officially
Friday was the last meeting of the Student Chapter of the American Holistic Veterinary Medicine Club (or rather SCAHVMA) featuring a wonderful Q&A Session with the CVM’s clinical nutritionist, Dr. Zoran. There was also officer elections for next year… and somehow I ended up as president of the organization.
Not that I mind.
Certainly, of the three clubs I joined back in August, it has by far been my favorite. Mainly for the people, which were mostly 3VMs who are now departing the academic side of vet medicine and moving on to fourth year, and secondly because the speakers, barring the first one by a crazy governmental conspiracy lady, were all quite interesting. We only had one wetlab and there’s only about 30 members, but the smallness and freedom to discuss practically anything (because after all, what doesn’t fall into complimentary medicine these days?) are what most strongly appeal to me. My vice president is a really smart, hard working person, and two my classmates are also in it with me (they are also a lot smarter and more hard working than myself). It should be an interesting experience, if not valuable, to say the least.
The other two organizations of school of which I am a member are the Behavior Club and Sheltering Vets. I joined the behavior club because of my strong interest in animal behavior, but that club has suffered under lack of sponsorship and also a small member base. There were really only two meetings I remember going to this entire school year - the one where Beau’s trainer from Puppy Love, Dr. Stephens, came and spoke with us and another by Dr. Beaver on managing behavioral problems in the home. She’s speaking again next week, so of course I will go, because Dr. Beaver is one of my favorite speakers at school. I joined sheltering vets as well because it too was a small club (I didn’t join any of the major clubs like ZEW or AEEP/BP/SRP/SFT) and for a time I had an interest in maybe doing some shelter medicine. However, the officers of that club came off as a bit elitist to me, and they failed to cultivate an interest from the first years in the club. During the wetlab, my classmates were relegated to grunt duties and not really given an opportunity to get their hands wet (the sole purpose of the wetlab) - the main reason I did not waste my time in going. Instead, I will be volunteering on my own time at the BVAS after finals are over, during their rabies vaccination clinic, because they will let me do things and get some practice.
I hope that as president of the SCAHVMA I will be able to culture interest from the incoming class and maintain interest within the soon-to-be third years and get some more of my own classmates to join. I think “holistic” is a scary word to a lot of people down here in Texas - it’s too reminiscent of hippies and being a liberal and open-mindedness for them. But what I have discovered about this club is that we rarely talk about anything that doesn’t have scientific basis - acupuncture, rehabilitation therapy, chiropractics, nutrition - the main focuses of this year’s meetings (and most likely next year’s), all have solid bases in true science and could hardly be labeled as quackery or crackpot.
I also have some good ideas about speakers I would like to solicit and bring to speak if the funding is available (luckily we are sponsored by the company I work for, Natura Pet Products), including the people behind Through a Dog’s Ear. I’m not sure yet what I will do about wet labs - maybe the vet in the Woodlands would like to see us again. And I’m definitely planning on getting Dave to have more Rehab Rounds over lunch once a month, because that kind of thing is an invaluable learning experience.
Admittedly, I have never been the president of a club before - let alone actually been in a club or participated in a officer position - so this might be an interesting experience. But I think I can do it, and I’ve got all summer to prepare since I won’t be working much when I get back from Germany.
I just hope the whole thing doesn’t fall apart in my hands… although I am already thinking madly about recruitment of first years at orientation, freebies for BBQ and finding time to pick up dog food for everyone in the feeding program. Second year is going to be a busy year, that’s for sure.
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