The AASV Student Engagement Committee is pleased to announce the selection of Alexis Berte, a second-year veterinary student at Iowa State University (ISU), as the incoming alternate student delegate to the AASV Board of Directors.
Alexis has been dedicated to swine production and health from her beginnings on her family’s 4800-head wean-to-finish farm in northern Iowa. During her undergraduate and veterinary studies at ISU, she has participated in swine research, completed several swine internships, and has held a variety of leadership positions in swine and agriculture youth organizations. She is currently the ISU AASV Chapter vice president and will be presenting a poster in the veterinary student poster competition at the 2023 AASV Annual Meeting.
She understands the importance of producing safe, high-quality foods and advocating for production animal medicine. In her role as alternate student delegate, she hopes to advocate for swine medicine by building relationships and sharing opportunities offered to AASV student members across the country.
“I am excited to network with fellow students and future colleagues as well as promote AASV. I am very grateful to have been given the opportunity to serve the AASV over the next two years!” said Alexis.
Alexis will assume her duties as alternate student delegate during the 2023 AASV Annual Meeting. The current alternate delegate, Hunter Everett (NCSU, 2024), will assume the delegate position currently held by Sydney Simmons (NCSU, 2023), who will rotate off the board. Hunter and Alexis will represent student interests within AASV as nonvoting members of the Board of Directors and the Student Engagement Committee. Please join us in welcoming Alexis to the AASV Board of Directors and thanking Sydney for her service!
Be a learner: AASV conference proceedings online
AASV members may access ALL of the proceedings papers for the 2023 AASV Annual Meeting (including the papers for the preconference seminars) at aasv.org/annmtg/proceedings. Current 2023 membership dues-paid status is required to access the files.
As in the past, the papers are available as follows:
- The “big book” of all the regular session papers in a single PDF file with a linked table of contents
- Seminar booklets are PDF collections of the papers for each seminar
- An individual paper for each presentation is available in the Swine Information Library: aasv.org/library/swineinfo
Early-career swine vet program under way; participants announced
The new AASV Participant-led, Early-career Swine Veterinarian Development Program wasted no time getting started after receiving a $202,548 Education, Extension, and Training grant from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Veterinary Service Grants Program (VSGP) in September. The program began accepting applications in October, the participants were selected in November, and the initial meeting to introduce participants to the program and each other took place in early December.
Applicant interest was strong, and the 25 available seats filled quickly. Per the program requirements, all participants are AASV members with 1 to 5 years of experience and employed in swine veterinary practice with a primary practice area in the United States. Preference was given to applicants who are current or previous recipients of a USDA Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program award or who serve in a USDA-designated veterinary shortage area.
The participant group met virtually in early December to begin networking with each other and to prioritize topics for the curriculum, as dictated by the participant-led nature of this unique program. Five in-person educational modules will be held quarterly between April 2023 and June 2024, followed by a half-day early-career conference in fall 2024.
The goals of the program are to provide early-career swine veterinarians with resources needed to encourage and ensure successful and lifelong careers as swine veterinarians and to cultivate new leaders in swine veterinary medicine. In a step towards the leadership goal, each participant has already joined at least one AASV committee.
The initial participant meeting was moderated by Dr Clayton Johnson, a practicing veterinarian at Carthage Veterinary Service Ltd. Dr Johnson serves as program coordinator and will be responsible for facilitating each module, including developing the agenda, confirming meeting logistics, and moderating the in-person gatherings. He will also be creating pre- and post-module examinations to validate knowledge transfer to all participants.
The AASV Participant-led, Early-career Swine Development Program is the brainchild of the AASV Early Career Committee. The committee identified a need for additional nondegree educational coursework and training for swine veterinarians early in their careers and applied for an Education, Extension, and Training grant from the USDA NIFA VSGP. The resulting award was one of 20 intended to help mitigate food-animal veterinary service shortages in the United States.
A subcommittee of the Early Career Committee, including Brandi Burton (chair), Claire LeFevre (vice chair), T’Lee Girard, Brittney Scales, Emily Byers Taylor, and AASV Board of Directors member Sara Hough, provided guidance on the participant application and selection process. Moving forward, the subcommittee will provide input on the list of suggested topics, help identify speakers, prepare and review evaluations, and review all reports and metrics.
The AASV is pleased to announce the following cohort of individuals selected for the program:
Kimberlee Baker Alyssa Betlach Megan Bloemer Daniel Brown Brandi Burton Kayla Castevens Brian Cerrito Bryant Chapman Will Crum Matt Finch Daniel Gascho Trey Gellert Kayla Henness Megan Hood Henry Johnson Erin Kettelkamp Allison Knox Claire LeFevre Jamie Madigan Lauren Nagel Elizabeth Noblett Brent Sexton Rachel Stika Jensen Ryan Strobel Abby Vennekotter