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Journal IVSA STAYING
CONNECTED
Standing Committees & Working Group Updates London Vet Show IVSA Moments 146th WHO Executive Board Meeting
68th IVSA Symposium in Morocco IVSA Excellence Award Winner
MO Corner: IVSA Glasgow, IVSA Rampur, IVSA South Africa, IVSA Taiwan
Hey there!
EDITORS' MESSAGE Hello and welcome to the Spring 2020 Edition of the IVSA Journal! Looking back on the past 8 months with the PR team, I must say it has been a crazy journey! Especially through working on this journal I have learned so much about graphic design and journal creation. I have also developed an even greater appreciation for working in a group as supporting, helpful and fun as this one. Nita and Iina not only always have great inputs and suggestions, but we can also exchange stories and experiences from our daily lives - letting us stay connected even in times like these. I hope you enjoy reading this journal just as much as we did creating it. And as always, stay safe and healthy IVSA!
Julia Nebes Secretary 2019-2020
I’ve been working in th for a while now and i experience. I’ve gotten to w with the other IVSA Offici lot about working in inte much can be achieved eve school. During these special difficult to cope with the friends and extremely inde on the IVSA Journal this sp the much needed activity, and Julia has helped with working really well as a tea the results when you read we all have our own style, w a very uniform design toget safe and healthy and enjoy
Se
he Public Relations of IVSA it has been an amazing work on interesting projects ials and it has taught me a ernational teams and how en though we’re all still in
circumstances, it’s been e lack of lectures, missing ependent studies. Working pring has provided me with and connecting with Nita the isolation. I think we’re am, and this can be seen in d the journal. Even though we have managed to create ther. I hope you are staying reading the journal.
Iina Airasmaa ecretary 2019-2020
Hello reader! We’re happy to present the Spring 2020 Edition of the IVSA Journal: “Staying Connected”. In these trying times, it’s more important than ever to stay connected and updated. That is exactly what we aim to do with the IVSA Journal. In this journal, you’ll find reports of events we attended the past few months, as well as current COVID-19 projects we’re running to support veterinary students all over the world in facing the pandemic. The Public Relations team as well as contributors have worked hard to make sure that the beneficial information contained is presented to you interestingly. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it and perhaps it may even lead you to amazing new opportunities :)
Cahyani Fortunitawanli Public Relations Coordinator 2019-2020
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT Dear members of IVSA, Welcome to this edition of the IVSA Journal, in which you can find the awesome things that your fellow IVSA members have been up to. As everyone is well aware, the world right now is facing a huge challenge in the form of a pandemic of a novel disease called COVID-19. As I write this, the disease is affecting a lot of countries, and thus IVSA members around the globe, and my heart goes out to all of you.
It warms my heart to see all the great initiatives IVSA members have come with to stay in touch, study and keep morale high even without being able to physically see each other. To quote an exchange from the Lord of the Rings: “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” We all did not wish for this to happen in our time, where we have so many plans that cannot happen now because of this situation, but I see and know that the people from IVSA will be able to decide to do the right things in this time. So enjoy this edition of the IVSA journal and let it inspire you for many great things to come from you and the rest of this organization!
Elwin van Oldenborgh President 2019-2020
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT-ELECT I’m writing this whilst being quarantined at home with my parents due to the current Corona crisis we’ve all been facing for the past weeks. Especially now, it’s been difficult having my IVSA friends so far away. However, in times like these, I am grateful for the digital world we live in - for me to be able to video chat my friends, to read their status updates and see they’re pulling through even though the times are rough. Now more than ever, IVSA has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to unite people and to provide support from miles away. It has shown me that IVSA’s true strength lies in the harmony of its members. It may take a while for times like these to pass, but in the end, they surely do pass. Therefore once this is all over, I hope you will all take some time to truly enjoy the small things in life that have been temporarily taken from us laughing with your friends, visiting your family, being able to hug and kiss those you love. Most of all, I hope you will all get back to your normal life, your lectures, your clinical
Merel Knoops President-Elect 2020
rotations, and of course: your IVSA exchanges & events. I hope you will enjoy reading about everything we’ve been up to, as much as I did reading what you have been up to in the MO bulletin. Honestly guys, I’m amazed at how many wonderful things you organise all around the world on a daily basis. I could not be more proud to be a part of such an inspiring organisation, and I cannot wait to be your President next year! I might not see or meet you guys for some time, so until the Covid-19 dust settles: Stay safe, stay sane, and stay loving IVSA.
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LONDON VET SHOW By Merel Knoops
From left: Laura (DAD), Elwin (President), Merel (ERO)
The London Vet Show, hosted November 14th-15th 2019 in London, UK, is one of Europe’s biggest CPD (Continuing Professional Development) events. It features many lectures and a large exposition hall, where all kinds of veterinary companies and organisations have booths and hand out useful – and sometimes not so useful, but still fun - goodies. This was the first year we’ve attended the London Vet Show as IVSA, and it was also the first run of the volunteering program that was set up. 10 IVSA members, including Elwin and I, were given the chance to attend with free registration. I was mainly on theatre duty, meaning I had to scan people’s name tags and guide them to their seats.
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In between lectures, we were able to have a look at some of the booths and talk to the exhibitors. Elwin and I went to talk to almost all companies that could be potential sponsors or partners, and we managed to get a couple of names to contact. Unfortunately, everyone we talked to was either a local or a regional manager, and we often need people higher up to talk to about the partnerships we are looking for. We did manage to talk to someone from BEVA about starting up a volunteering program at their congress and they were super enthusiastic. A couple of follow up emails later, we can be proud to say we have successfully set up a BEVA stewardship program through IVSA. To conclude, it was a great experience for the both of us and we sure didn’t leave empty handed (literally: my bag was filed to the brim with goodies).
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If you’re interested in attending the London Vet Show, keep an eye on our Facebook and website to make sure you don’t miss out on the chance of applying!
Article and photos provided by Merel Knoops
The volunteers also had time for sightseeing and meeting old IVSA friends! 8
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In between lectures, we were able to have a look at some of the booths and talk to the exhibitors. Elwin and I went to talk to almost all companies that could be potential sponsors or partners, and we managed to get a couple of names to contact. Unfortunately, everyone we talked to was either a local or a regional manager, and we often need people higher up to talk to about the partnerships we are looking for. We did manage to talk to someone from BEVA about starting up a volunteering program at their congress and they were super enthusiastic. A couple of follow up emails later, we can be proud to say we have successfully set up a BEVA stewardship program through IVSA. To conclude, it was a great experience for the both of us and we sure didn’t leave empty handed (literally: my bag was filed to the brim with goodies).
If you’re interested in attending the London Vet Show, keep an eye on our Facebook and website to make sure you don’t miss out on the chance of applying!
IMPLEMENTATION OF ONE HEALTH IN UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES Article and photos provided by Merel Knoops
By Ania Ciećkiewicz
Doctors, dentists, pharmacists and veterinarians working together from curricula to practice. The event was hosted by the Polish In December 2019 I participated in the 2nd debate about the implementation of Chamber of Physicians and Dentists and brought together more than 50 the One Health concept in undergraduate participants from the Czech Republic, education. I have attended the event on Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. behalf of IVSA together with Vidhi Manghnani, representative of IVSA The European organisations are hosting regular meetings in different European Hungary, by invitation of FVE (Federation Regions in order to promote of Veterinarians). interdisciplinary collaboration and The debate took place in Warsaw, Poland advocate for implementing it in and it was held by European organizations undergraduate education. The aim is to representing human doctors, dentists, enhance a discussion, exchange opinions, pharmacists and veterinarians and their raise awareness importance of students' organizations. was and The volunteers also had timeThe for event sightseeing meeting oldabout IVSAthe friends! 9
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One Health concept not only in academia but also in practice. Topics discussed during the debate included antimicrobial resistance, opportunities for students to collaborate and learn together and education models in different universities in Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Check Republic. Student events and campaigns addressing the One Health concept were mentioned and activities of IVSA Slovakia were recognized. Seeing how meaningful youth participation is in health decision making I was honoured to be the voice of veterinary students from Poland and all around the world during the debate. The representatives of the four countries agreed that cooperation of students and professionals of different disciplines is fundamental to enhance any change at university level.
Article and pictures provided by Ania Ciećkiewicz
Read the FVE press release: bit.ly/fve-onehealth-report
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THE 146 WHO EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING In the not so cold February 2020, I took a trip to Geneva, Switzerland to attend the 146th Executive Board Meeting of the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a delegate for the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA). The event took place from the 3rd to the 8th of February. I represented the IFMSA delegation together with 9 other medical students and one dentistry student from different regions of the world. Six of us stayed all together in an AirBnB south of the city center.
By Simon KrĂźckemeier
Our task was to advertise and strengthen youth involvement in public health decisions. As IFMSA is an official Non-State Actor, we also had the chance to deliver statements to relevant agenda items corresponding to our work and focus. To write those statements beforehand, the delegation was split into four advocacy working groups several weeks before the event as follows: Universal Health Coverage, Communicable Diseases (CDs), NonCommunicable Diseases and Global Health & Governance Issues. I worked on a statement as part of the CDs group.
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The first day started with really sad news, as one of the big figures of the WHO, Peter Salama, passed away a few days before the 146th Executive Board meeting. Among other responsibilities, he was the first head of the Health Emergencies Programme from 2016, and then took over the lead of WHO’s Universal Health Coverage. Member States expressed their condolences and sadness for this great loss. Australia held a very emotional speech and expressed how proud they were about his achievements. Then it was the turn of Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to make the opening presentation, after also having expressed his condolences and his sadness about the loss of Dr. Salama and all the people in duty who passed away this year. This was followed by the Report of the Programme, Budget and Administration Committee and subsequently the regional committees. After the opening speeches, the different items on the agenda were discussed one by one. First the 34 member states who constituted the executive board made their statements and were allowed to discuss. Then, other member states and NSAs (NonState Actors) made statements. The IFMSA delegation could speak out 3 of our 10 statements, some of which are supported and co-written by IVSA. All were put on public record, thus can be found on the WHO website, but also on the IFMSA page. The COVID-19 outbreak had become more alarming at that time, so extra updates and information sessions were organized. Next to the main program, I had the opportunity to have a meeting with the director of the department of neglected tropical diseases, with whom my predecessor Charlotte built up contact. She is very motivated to support IVSA and the involvement of young veterinarians in the WHO’s work.
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Simon at the Geneva Headquarters
IFMSA delegation meeting for a briefing
After closing the session for the day
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Enjoying traditional Swiss fondue
The Executive Board Meeting
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I also participated in two events coorganized by IFMSA. The first was the “Launch of the Report on Youth and Decent Work in the Health Social Care Sector” prepared by the Youth Hub of WHO’s Global Health Workforce Network. The second was an NGO consultation of the Alliance for Health Promotion on the topic “Working with youth, through youth, for youth as a key population”. These two events were also really inspiring on how IVSA members could get more involved as young healthcare workers in the public health field. Of course we also had the time for some activities during our stay in Geneva. We explored the city on several occasions, had cooking sessions in the evening, and naturally couldn’t miss the opportunity to try the delicious traditional cheese fondue. All in all, participating at the 146th Executive Board Meeting was a really interesting experience for me. It was inspiring to have an inside view of the complex functioning of this important organization. I also met and heard speeches from really inspiring people, realizing that there is a lot of progress in the public health sector. Seeing how countries and actors work together and know which parts of the population must be focused on gives hope that the goal of a universal health coverage can be achieved one day.
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FECAVA COUNCIL MEETING By Merel Knoops Every year, the FECAVA (Federation of European Companion Animal Veterinary Associations) Council Meeting takes place in one of their member’s countries and is attended by one delegate from each member association. This year, it took place in Antwerp, hosted by SAVAB (Small Animal Veterinary Association Belgium), from the 4th until the 7th of March 2020. It was my first time attending an event like this, and in all honesty, at first I was slightly overwhelmed by all of these successful adults surrounding me. That feeling went away once I talked to most of them, as they were all incredibly friendly and interested in what IVSA has been up to. On Saturday, the real meeting began. During the meeting, there was a Wellness workshop: we were divided into smaller groups and had to discuss some questions about the main wellness issues in the veterinary profession and how & what we could do to solve them. We also had a lecture on wolves’ appearances in Belgium, which was very interesting. On Friday, there were multiple workshops and working groups scheduled. I attended the Working Group on Animal Wellbeing, as Animal Welfare is an issue close to my heart. We discussed how to go about making fact cards regarding the impact of fireworks on small animals and a plan was set in motion. Starting at FECAVA's next Council Meeting in September, IVSA will even be given a 10 minute speaking slot to give a bit of an introduction and update on what we’ve been up to!
All in all, it was a great way for me to get to know some interesting people, learn more about FECAVA as an organisation and I definitely look forward to attending their Congress in September. Article and photos provided by Merel Knoops
WSAVA/FECAVA 2020 will take place on the 23 - 26 September in Warsaw, Poland 19
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IVSA EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNER: Sushil Neupane, IVSA Paklihawa I vividly remember the day my name was announced for the epic title - IVSA Excellence Award every IVSAians would dream of. The moment was one of the golden part of life and was cherished so well by everyone belong to me. Yeah of course, I hoped for the title but everyone once at a time would be shocked as it is great one and my reaction 20
was the same. This literally brought tears of happiness in my gloomy face. First of all I want to thanks IVSA for the opportune I got today and my colleagues, fellow members, seniors, juniors, everyone who had have believe on me to take up the rank with respect to my preceders. Regarding my experience in IVSA: I have started my journey here in 2016 as a
Sushil Neupane received the IVSA Excellence Award during the 68th IVSA Symposium in Morocco.
“This literally brought tears of happiness in my gloomy face.�
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IVSA; I have started my journey here since 2016 as general member of the local chapter, IVSA Paklihawa under IVSA Nepal. I got many to learn from my seniors and the day I pronounced as the general member of IVSA in it’s local chapter; I had think of leaving no stone unturned which I have learnt from seniors and passed to my juniors as well. Then I got chance to be the treasurer of IVSA Paklihawa 2017/18. We have conducted many programs in Paklihawa representing IVSA such as Free Rabies Vaccinations campaign and awareness programs, FMD awareness campaign, Poster Presentation on World Poultry Day etc. Moreover, these programs are now scheduled program of IVSA Paklihawa and my juniors are creating a lot of programs to further improve for example in
Paklihawa this year first Agro-Vet Exhibition was held successfully. I was really proud at that moment. I am very grateful to the one who believed me that I could further continue my service in IVSA not only in local chapters but also in IVSA Nepal. I was elected as General Secretary of IVSA Nepal 2018/19.
"I want to express my gratitude promising to everyone who has entrusted me to the title" The most successful program of the time which I felt proud of was Symposium held in Rampur. I want to express my gratitude to all the one who took part in it and the program was so great in itself with the poster
presentation competition held simultaneously with it. To boot I was so gratified when I was entitled in the international level as in IVSA DAD Scholarship Task Force 2019/20. Addition with now I am currently working as Secretary/Webmaster of SCOH 2019/20. I have learnt many from IVSA and proud to be the part of it. I pledge to give continuity to work with it. I am so blessed to get such wonderful platform it provided and honored to be capacitate each and every frame it has given me till date. To sum up I want to express my gratitude promising to everyone who has entrusted me to the title; who thought me as deserving one for the IVSA Excellence Award that there trust will never go in vain. I was am and for sure will be for IVSA and everyone belonging to it and who have faith in it. Thank You.
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COMMITTEE COMMITTEE & & WORKING WORKING GROUP GROUP UPDATES UPDATES
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STANDING COMMITTEE ON WELLNESS Hey all, this is your Wellness Chair Katerina writing! When I was asked to have my committee prepare something for this journal, I was perplexed. Not because we’ve ran out of things to write, or articles to share, or challenges to challenge people to. You can find all of these online, in our toolkit, on our Facebook Page and on Instagram. No, it was because I felt that what really matters are the people creating this positive atmosphere, the people that work every day to bring just a little more sunshine to this world and to the hearts of vets and vet students. So, instead of presenting articles you may as well find online, I chose to dedicate this article to them and the work they do behind the aesthetically pleasing social media posts. This is going to be the Wellness Committee tour you never asked for. To begin, the committee consists of ten members in total. The Chair (moi), one Secretary, two Project Managers, two
Mentor-Mentee Project Managers, two Wellness Toolkit Editors and finally two Graphic Designers. And as all of them are going to speak to you about their respective positions, I might as well tell you one or two words about mine: My job in the committee actually consists of one simple rule. Do as little actual committee work as possible. I can almost hear people yelling LAZY GREEKS in the background. Hakuna your tatas. Let me rephrase; I exist simply to coordinate, give feedback, listen to troubles and complains, chip in when needed. For me the position of chair has been very much like the oil in any cogged machine. Not the person who does the bulk of work, but the person who makes sure everyone -and everything- else is working smoothly, but most importantly the one that absolutely makes sure that everyone stays motivated and happy. And at the end of the day I have discovered that this actually takes a tremendous amount of workload and it’s all worth it.
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Secretary Hey all, I’m Eriya, the Secretary of IVSA Wellness! As secretary of SCOW it is my first and foremost responsibility to attend to every meeting to take minutes. SCOW general meetings are usually scheduled once a month or more often if there is a big event coming up. Those meetings usually take thirty minutes to an hour and a half and before each meeting Katerina sends out the meeting agenda so we know the flow of the meeting. Minutes are posted in our chat group and our shared online file storage so we can access them at any time, especially for those that did not get to attend the meeting or just want to refresh their memories on what was talked about in the last meeting, refer to action points etc. Other than general meetings there are also smaller meetings held involving each division of the committee which I also take part in as much as I can. My other responsibility as secretary also includes being the social media manager of the SCOW Facebook and Instagram accounts. That entails answering to every message that comes through and controlling what is posted on both accounts. We keep a schedule of what we want to post on social media which includes important dates of global wellness related celebrations. Our posts mostly consist of promotional material, holiday celebration posts, and useful wellness articles. Social media plays a big role in our committee. It is the best way to share our wellness content, as it can reach vet students in a global scale. Creating captions for each social media post is also my responsibility. I also try to lend a hand as much as I can with extra work for other divisions. For
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example, I sometimes help out by creating graphic designs for our promotional posts. Being a secretary essentially means I am Katerina’s right-hand man and I could not ask for a better position in SCOW.
Project Managers Hello! My name is Naveesha Kaur Shergill from IVSA Selangor, Malaysia. As one of the Project Managers in the Standing Committee on Wellness, my first project was the Vet Recipe Book (VRB). I decided to work on this particular project because as a student, I was in dire need of healthy food and not the same oily and nonnutritious meals being served every day at my faculty’s cafeteria. After discussing it with the rest of the team, I learnt that it was happening in their respective faculties too. I went on to create a Google form and circulated it via our Instagram profile and Facebook page. Unfortunately, the response was very poor so our next step was to attract more attention to the VRB by creating an incentive. Therefore, we decided to award the person who
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submitted the most unique and creative recipe a small financial reward. On top of that, their recipe will be featured on a special section of the book. To further promote the VRB, I selected a few recipes and with the help of one of the Graphic Designers, created an enticing poster to share on our social media. My second project was to launch a Sports Day in hopes to relieve students (and members of the staff) of stress and indirectly strengthen bonds between one another. However, after much discussion my other Project Manager, Shimthi Singh, we decided to merge the Sports Day with a project that she had been working on, Solidarity Week as one of the activities to be held during the event. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Solidarity Week was forced to be postponed until further notice as universities were being shut down. Next is Wellness Week! This is a project that both Shimthi and I were working on. We found ourselves in a bit of a pickle as the aforementioned pandemic resulted in Wellness Week being potentially cancelled but after a meeting with the team, we
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decided to go online! Shimthi and I thought it would be a great idea to have an online version of Wellness Week as it was the safer and easier option. Furthermore, people were already doing all sorts of challenges on Instagram and Tik Tok. We came up with seven activities to be done within the span of one week (6th to 12th April 2020). Those activities include amovie marathon, workout week, cooking challenge, music challenge, journal challenge, daily meditation and declutter challenge. Last but not least, I volunteered to write an article on the Psychological Benefits of Music which should be up on our website soon so stay tuned!
Good day, I am Shimthi Singh from South Africa. I'm the second project manager on the Standing Committee on Wellness. Over the past couple of months, I have been working with quite a handful of projects. My first idea was to have a "Solidarity Week" which was meant to begin on Sunday, the 26th of April (World Veterinarian Day) and end on Saturday the 2nd May. The goal was to raise awareness and solidarity with those who have been struggling with their mental health or have lost their lives due to mental illnesses in the veterinary profession. Each day would highlight a different mental health issue
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ending on the Saturday with a Sports Day (Naveesha's - my co-project manager idea). Within this idea I also hoped to run a photo competition and a pledge wall as well and encourage people to wear green -the colour for mental health awareness. Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 pandemic we had to cancel the event for this year. However, I am in the process of creating a detailed memo on Solidarity Week, in the hope that the 2021 committee will be able to have the event. I have also worked with Naveesha on making our Wellness Week ideas capable of being done exclusively online. The result was 7 challenges that people can participate in individually in their homes. The events I am now working on consist of firstly to create a very detailed Pinterest account for our website and toolkit that will have ideas on everything from recipes, workouts and challenges for every type of individual. The second is to create a YouTube playlist with high-quality self-help videos from various YouTubers. This is so that people can discover the self-help YouTuber that they mostly identify with. Lastly, I am working on our newest ideas "Language and Culture Corner" and "Vet Privilege" (ideas by Nabeelah Rajah, SCOH) which are social media run initiatives to connect our members and discuss privileges respectively. The "Vet privilege" initiative is to discuss the meaning of privilege, what you're privileged to have, and what you plan to do with your privilege. Language and culture corner plans to share and educate vet students across the globe, encouraging them to share traditions etc. of their country from their perspective.
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Mentor-Mentee Project Managers
Hi everyone! My name is Natasha and this is my third year as a committee member of SCOW! I’ve spent the past year working on our Mentor Mentee project with Sierra to improve it. This involved analysing the feedback we received from the survey we sent out to participants, who gave many helpful suggestions and recommendations on how to make the programme better for everyone! The Mentor Mentee project was first started in 2017, with the aim of pairing up a veterinarian student alongside a practicing veterinarian or a student in a higher year, thus allowing for both parties to benefit from each other. A short survey was formed and is available throughout the year, wherein students or veterinarians can choose if they would like to be a mentor or mentee. The questions are designed to help us to match up each mentor and mentee according to certain characteristics or aspects such as their interests, availabilities, and what they hope to achieve from joining this programme. Some of our adjustments to the MentorMentee project include sending out weekly or monthly reminders to encourage communication, along with a discussion
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point that should spark a conversation. Additionally, we have formed a guideline for both mentors and mentees, stating the steps they should take in order to get the most out of this programme. This year has flown by so quickly and I’ve loved every part of it; if you’re interested in signing up please contact any of us and we’ll help you out!
Hey, I’m Sierra one of the MentorMentee project managers! The Mentor-Mentee programme is a project set up a couple of years ago with the aim of matching current veterinary students with a practicing veterinarian or a student in a higher year to act as a mentor. To do so, the committee has created a matching service by curating surveys for mentors and mentees to complete. Once enough responses have been collected the two chairs, aka me and Tasha will match the individuals based on survey responses. Various media have been created by members of the graphic design team to promote this initiative. Additionally, the committee has collaborated with the IVSA Working Group on Alumni to expand our reach and allow for more newly graduate vets to take part. Together, our committees
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have created content to send out to the mentor-mentee pairs after matching occurs to ensure successful communication between the two individuals. This includes a monthly discussion point revolving around a range of subjects, from veterinary medicine to related questions that would help to spark a conversation. We are also working on creating a blog page to further detail the mentor-mentee project to help ensure its success in the coming years. This will include testimonials of current mentormentee pairs and general information. An FAQ page to assist mentors and mentees will be added to ensure the two groups benefit maximally from the partnership. Due to recent developments of COVID-19, the team plans to push the project as social quarantine begins to act as a form of support and guidance to students from current professionals.
Wellness Toolkit Editor Hiii, I am Aleksandra, one of the Wellness Toolkit’s Editors! Our goal as the Standing Committee on Wellness is to raise veterinary student awareness of the mental and physical wellbeing. To achieve it, we work on many projects, for example, the Wellness Toolkit that contains useful advice on how to make small positive life changes, such as increasing time spent on sports activities or hobbies, to reduce or even avoid stress completely. On these grounds, my work as Wellness Toolkit Editor focuses on providing useful articles and wellness tips. So far, I've written an article about good habits and how to create them and found an amazing article about the importance of hydration. I am also planning to show in another article how to take care of
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need for a design arises. Since there is not much to say about designing besides "I make stuff whenever people need it", I thought it would be nice to provide you with a little insight in the miraculous start of a design’s existence. It all starts with making that first contact: someone sending me a text "can you make a design for me?". Before I can get any further, I need to know everything about anything concerning the underlying project. providing a proper amount of water in daily life. What is more, to encourage people to move at least a bit, during pandemic, I've created a 3 days training plan that could be repeated in a cycle to release tension caused by mostly sitting posture. Because we all work together as a team and everyone is more than welcome to participate in every ongoing project, I have written also a handbook for Wellness Week that contains some ideas on how to participate for those, who need inspiration. Being a member of the Committee turned to be totally different than I'd imagined before but in a very positive way. Everyone in the team is kind, understanding and help each other whenever needed. Because of that, even if sometimes it feels like one can't deal with tasks and deadlines, combined with studies, we can always talk, ask for advice and most importantly nobody needs to be stressed, because psychical comfort is in first place as it should be.
Graphics Designers My name is Aletta and I am one of the Committee’s Graphic Designers! As a graphic designer of SCOW, I (obviously) make designs for (and with) my fellow committee members, whenever the
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After that, my interest piques and I start thinking about it every moment of the day, when I'm on my bike, in the shower, walking with a patient,losing attention in class (sorry professors...), etc. All these thoughts are then collected and a first image comes into my mind; by now sparks are flying and it’s time to get to the next phase, so I open my software and start working. No smooth sailing from this point though, as the first butterflies calm down a bit and that first excitement fades away, not everything works out as you would want it to be. Some pieces do not work together as you would want them to, but in the end, you always find a solution and commit to that one design. After mom (aka our wonderful chair) approves the choices I make, a new design has been born and is ready for the
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world. It might not take nine months (thankfully), but in the end every design feels like a little kid of mine and I’m proud to see it set foot in the world (or social media, you could say it’s almost the same right?).
Hey! I'm Eveliina, a 4th year student from Estonia and the Wellness Toolkit's Graphics' Designer. Creating visual content is one of the most important ways to express myself. Photographing came along far before veterinary school. It's an essential way to decrease my stress levels, when school pressure builds up too high (sounds like procrastination, but in reality works like therapy!). Graphic designing I discovered few years back and I think it's an amazing tool to pass my message across to the
audience. I’ve been working a lot with promotional material for SCOW, but even more with the toolkit itself. We decided to start from scratch and create a brand new, even more functional toolkit! We wanted to make it easier to use, which means; a clear template, where topics are easily found and a beautiful outfit which attracts the reader. The updated toolkit will include a variety of different tools to maintain or improve your well-being. My dear SCOW cocommittee members have done a lot of brainstorming to create the content, from the playlists to exercise plans; and your recipes from the Vet Recipe Book are also included. My job is to modify the content into a suitable outfit for the toolkit. Despite my amateur-photographer background, I use a lot of stock pictures to bring the toolkit alive. With the toolkit as my tool, I want to reach, not just the veterinary community, but a wider audience still, make them feel welcomed and at home too! For that reason, it’s amazing to work with SCOW, which gives you the opportunity to expand your thoughts and prospects. Each new person discovering the toolkit makes the hours spent on it so much worth it.
Follow the Standing Committee on Wellness to stay updated on our activities! @ivsawellness @ivsa_wellness For any inquiries, contact the chair of SCOW at scow@ivsa.org 29
COMMITTEES
SPRING 2020
STANDING COMMITTEE ON VETERINARY EDUCATION VET Talks Trust Within Veterinarian-Client Relationships Veterinarians must be able to develop effective relationships with clients in order to successfully do their job. Trust has tangible benefits for both the medical and business aspects of veterinary medicine. It results in increased compliance by clients who are more likely to agree to diagnostics and treatment recommendations as well as follow through with prescribed home care. In this fascinating episode of VET Talks, Dr. Lauren Smith discussed why we need trust in veterinary practice, the physiology of trust, the four fundamentals of trust and how to communicate trust with clients. One Health and Antibiotics Use Dr. Lucas Pantaleon explained antimicrobial stewardship and how future veterinarians (current veterinary students) can adopt antimicrobial stewardship as a means to control antimicrobial resistance in animal and human populations. Potentialities of the Use of Carbon Dioxide Laser and Diode Laser in Soft Tissue Surgery Dr. Maria InĂŞs Santos explored the physics of electromagnetic radiation and laser devices. She explained the principles of carbon dioxide and diode laser devices and their application in soft tissue surgery in animals. The video is quite educative and it is not something that any 21st century vet student should miss, happy watching!
Watch VET Talks: bit.ly/scovevettalks 30
COMMITTEES
SPRING 2020
EDU+ Platform With great pleasure, we announce the addition of four new resource sites to the EDU+ platform!
VetScope
Clinician's Brief
VetScope is a free online educational and communication platform for veterinary professionals/students around the world that offers lectures and procedural videos for free and with subtitles in 9 languages. The goal of VetScope is to help make veterinary knowledge accessible to every professional so that they can be the best veterinarian, vet tech or nurse possible.
Created by a team of practicing veterinarians, Clinician's Brief and Plumb's Veterinary Drugs are designed to simplify clinical practice for veterinary teams around the world. Clinician's Brief, a peerreviewed clinical journal and online CE resource, and Plumb's Veterinary Drugs, the industry's leading digital drug reference, help busy veterinary teams grow their careers and practices, build lasting client relationships, and efficiently deliver high-quality patient care.
Diogo Guerra's Anatomy Lab
www.diogoguerra.com contains visual veterinary anatomy online materials developed by top universities worldwide. Having reliable and high quality visual references is of utmost importance in medical illustrations. Dr Diogo wanted to share these materials with you, whether you are a fellow medical artist, veterinarian or student. The list on the homepage is organised by animal species and includes visual references, from general anatomy to neurology and imaging.
The Runaway Vet
Calling all Veterinary Adventurers! The Runaway Vet blog encourages veterinary professionals and students to embrace opportunities to further their skills by working and volunteering around the world. You'll find interviews with vets working in unique destinations, unbiased reviews and recommendations for low-cost volunteer projects, as well as guides to get you started on your international veterinary journey!
Visit us now: ivsascove.wixsite.com/eduplatform
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COMMITTEES
SPRING 2020
SCoVE Survey SCoVE is currently conducting a survey on health risks for veterinary students with regards to infectious diseases and preventive measures. It takes approximately a minute to fill out.
Please participate by filling the form: bit.ly/VetStudentsHealthRiskSurvey
SCoVE Quiz #1 The winner for the first edition of SCoVE Quiz scored 80 out of 100! It was a tight competition and we can’t wait to have SCoVE Quiz #2 hitting your screen. We deeply appreciate all participants and we hope to have reward for the top three scorers subsequently.
SCoVE Quiz #2 Clinician’s Brief sends out peer reviewed case reports and articles on clinical cases frequently. Questions for the next SCoVE Quiz will be on CB’s clinical newsletters and articles of 1st25th of March and history of veterinary medicine. There will also be a few questions about SCoVE itself. And yes, the winner will get a cool prize from SCoVE! Register on www.cliniciansbrief.com, subscribe to CB’s newsletter and you are closer to winning the next SCoVE Quiz Prize!
Veterinary Profession Map While we prepare an updated career map that will be much easier to access at SCoVE, please check this out from past terms. It is equally helpful.
Check out the map: bit.ly/scovevpm 32
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SPRING 2020
Organising lectures during COVID-19
Watch a video on how to record with PowerPoint: bit.ly/SCoVEPowerPoint 33
COMMITTEES
SPRING 2020
SCoVE FactCards We upload FactCards on our social media every Sunday!
SCoVE Workshop We are proud to present to you, our new workshops on vaccination. If you have a SCoVE Ambassador on your campus, These may be presented physically soon!
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COMMITTEES
SPRING 2020
Recruitment
Abdelrahman Yasser (IVSA Egypt), Official Member
We have recruited four more committee members at SCoVE, please find their name and position below.
Mehdi Armani Souhli (IVSA Morocco), Official Member
Jana Vràbelovà (IVSA Czech Republic), Research Team Diana Teixeira (IVSA Portugal), Ambassador Manager
Become a SCoVE Ambassador
Follow the Standing Committee on Veterinary Education to stay updated on our activities! @thescove @ivsa_scove For any inquiries, contact the chair of SCoVE at scove@ivsa.org 35
COMMITTEES
SPRING 2020
STANDING COMMITTEE ON ONE HEALTH COVID-19 Materials The IVSA SCOH recognises the severity and gravity of the current COVID-19 pandemic and that as stewards of One Health and Public Health, we have a social responsibility to help mitigate the situation. As such, we share with you a file in which you can find many informative materials, from a virology professor to veterinary students and some posters you can use to share the information.
Find more materials: bit.ly/SCOHCovid-19
One Health Conference in Konya, Turkey The event has been postponed to further date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We will inform you soon about the new dates of our event on our social media. We look forward to meeting you in Konya. Stay Safe! @1st.ivsa.oh.conference
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SPRING 2020
SCOH Youtube Channel Check out our new One Health Vox Pop videos about topics like Rabies, Avian Influenza and Tuberculosis.
COMMITTEES
W.H.S.A. Press Release on COVID-19
Read now: bit.ly/pressreleasecovid19
17th Veterinary Public Health Journal
Follow our Youtube Channel: bit.ly/SCOHYoutube
Read now: issuu.com/scoh
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COMMITTEES
SPRING 2020
IVSA OIE Ambassadors Congratulations to our new ambassadors of the 2nd Session!
If your MO doesm't have an ambassador you can contact us at ivsa.oieambassadors@gmail.com 38
COMMITTEES
SPRING 2020
Tuberculosis Challenge Results The SCOH Team is happy to announce that the winner of the Tuberculosis Challenge is Irina Andoni from IVSA Moldova, with the best overall score and entry about Tuberculosis in her country! Below is an excerpt from her entry. "While almost all countries are experiencing this disease, tuberculosis is a pressing problem of developing countries. There is a stereotype that is deep incarnated in people’s mentality: tuberculosis is considered the "disease of the poor" - getting sick with TB is not only awful, but also shameful. In Moldova, however, everyone is at risk for tuberculosis, regardless of income and social status because tuberculosis is a marker of the standard of living and of the situation of the society in general, that is the reason why the level of morbidity in Republic of Moldova (RM) is seven times higher than in the European Union. People often neglect the symptoms and/or refuse the treatment and are responsible for the contamination of another 5-15 people within their life span. According to the criteria of the World Health Organization, "tuberculosis does not present a public danger as long as one million inhabitants have a single bacterial eliminator." The mortality indicator has stabilized and even dropped to 11 per 100,000 people in 2016 in RM. Nevertheless, The Republic of Moldova is among 18 countries of the European Region with a high rate of cases of tuberculosis and among 30 countries with the highest indicators in TB multidrug-resistant (TB MDR).�
We had three IVSA members tied for second place: Bristy Dhar Nandita, IVSA Bangladesh, Ziad Mohammed Al-Shal, IVSA Egypt KFS Chapter and Hamza Jawad, IVSA Bahawalpur, IVSA Pakistan (National chapter). They all had really great answers for the questions, and directed us towards great case-studies on Tuberculosis in their home countries! The IVSA SCOH Team would like to say a huge thank-you to everyone that took part in our Tuberculosis Challenge, and hope you all keep your eyes out for the next one!
Follow the Standing Committee on One Health to stay updated on our activities! @thescoh @ivsa.scoh For any inquiries, contact the chair of SCOH at scoh@ivsa.org 39
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ALUMNI
SPRING 2020
WORKING GROUP ON ALUMNI Alumni Event @ 68th Symposium in Morocco On 19th January 2020, 8 veterinarians embarked on the first Working Group on Alumni (WGA) lead event in parallel to the 68th IVSA Symposium in Morocco. This event saw vets from 6 different countries with a range of experience and working in different sectors come together. Amongst the 8 delegates we had vets who worked in everything from small animal hospitals to rural farm villages to veterinary aquatics! The first day consisted of arrivals, meet & greets and reunions as we explored the first of our grand accommodations (this one even came with a pool) - not even the arctic temperature could stop us from jumping in! That evening we met up with the student program and were treated with a traditional
piano concert and heartfelt reunions from the friends we had made at a range of past congress/symposiums. After this it was to a local bar to catch up over a local beer, just like old IVSA times!
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ALUMNI
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Waking up in our 9 bedroom mansion we were treated to a traditional Moroccan breakfast and tried our hand at traditional tea pouring (it's harder than it looks!). The morning was spent getting updated on some ISA activities at the General Assembly. From here, after some minor car issues where we were exposed first-hand to the friendly nature of the Moroccan people, we headed out with the students to explore some of the sights of Rabat. In the evening we took part in arguably the best part of Symposium: Cultural Evening! In true IVSA style we spent the night tasting, eating and drinking in all the cultures of IVSA. It was a good job that cultural evening was alcohol free in solidarity with Moroccan culture as we awoke early and headed on a road trip to see the city of Fez, happily without having to nurse hangovers. The road trip tunes blared out as we admired the beautiful Moroccan scenery. Our Moroccan riad was another inspiring building tiled from floor to ceiling – we almost didn’t want to leave to explore the city! Getting lost in the souks however was well worth leaving the luxury- there was so much to take in with vendors and street food awakening all of our senses. We had an early start to head to ‘The American Fondouk’, a charity founded in 1927 that provides free veterinary care
to equids of the area. horses and donkeys are key to the livelihoods of many locals, who come from far and wide to treat their companions. After a tour of the well-equipped facilities and meeting some of the in-patients, we were provided with a refresher course on lameness exams by the centre's very own Dr. Kay.
Sightseeing in Fez
Donkeys at 'The American Fondouk'
Lameness exam with Dr. Kay
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INTRODUCING THE PURINA INSTITUTE As part of the world’s largest food and nutrition research organization, the Purina Institute aims to put nutrition at the forefront of pet health discussions. Representing a diverse, global team of more than 500 scientists and pet care experts, the Purina Institute is connecting the most innovative minds in pet health. Because science is more powerful when it’s shared.
ADVANCING SCIENCE FOR PET HEALTH As a pioneer in nutritional science for over a century, Purina breakthroughs have redefined the industry’s standards of pet nutrition. Brain Health First wellness diets to promote cognitive function for dogs and cats First diet to help with the management of canine epilepsy
Longevity 14-year longevity study showed that maintaining a lean body condition from puppyhood onward can extend a dog’s healthy life by nearly two years 9-year study showed a proprietary blend of nutrients can extend a mature cat’s healthy life by up to one year
Gut Heath First probiotic supplement to support immune function and help manage diarrhea in cats and dogs
Cat Allergens Transformational breakthrough in managing Fel d 1, the major cat allergen, at its source, in the cat’s saliva
Proud Sponsor Of The IVSA As a champion of pet nutrition, the Purina Institute will share the company’s latest scientific breakthroughs and provide objective, fact-based information sourced from the wider scientific community on current trending topics across pet and human nutrition.
For our latest discoveries in nutrition science,
visit PurinaInstitute.com.
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IS HYDROLYSED SOY PROTEIN A GOOD CHOICE FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF FOOD ALLERGY AND INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE (IBD)? Diagnosing and managing food allergies and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can be a challenging process; for vets, for owners and often for pets. Food allergies are the result of inappropriate immune response to an allergen in the food, usually a protein. This commonly manifests as pruritus, dermatitis and otitis or gastrointestinal signs such as vomiting and diarrhoea. The most reliable way to diagnose a food allergy is through a diet trial. Success depends Ωon two factors: choosing the right diet that will not cause an allergic reaction and compliance from both pet and owner. The following studies have proven the effectiveness of a hydrolysed soy protein diet in dogs with food allergy and IBD: D SE LY I N E T
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Scientific evaluation of Hydrolysed soy protein administered in Hypoallergenic diets
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Scientific study evaluated the responses obtained after intradermal challenge of hydrolysed soy protein and the beneficious effects of oral administration of hypoallergenic dietary therapy. The main objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of Purina® Pro Plan® Veterinary Diets HA HypoallergenicTM, a commercial hypoallergenic diet, containing hydrolysed soya as the single protein source, for the Ω management of dogs with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other gastrointestinal upsets due to food allergies.
Results
Results showed a 50% reduction in the dermal inflammatory response observed after intradermal challenge •hydrolysed Ωof soy protein . • No signs or reactions appeared after the oral challenge exposure with hydrolysed soy protein diet. Hypoallergenic dietary therapy provided adequate clinical benefit and histologic improvement of duodenal biopsies •at the end of the trial. Mean faecal scores improved after therapy . 8
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Please contact your Purina representative or visit www.purina.com/vetcenter for more information. 1 Puigdemont A, Brazis P, Serra M, Fondati A (2006): Immunologic responses against hydrolysed soy protein in dogs with experimentally induced soy hypersensitivity. AJVR, 67(3): 484-488 2 Marks S, Laflamme DP, McAloose D (2002): Dietary trial using a commercial hypoallergenic diet containing hydrolysed protein for dogs with inflammatory bowel disease. Vet Ther, 3(2): 109-18
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Please contact your Purina representative or visit www.purina.com/vetcenter for more information. 3. Common food allergen sources in dogs and cats, BMC Veterinary Research, 12:9, 1-4 4. Puigdemont A, Brazis P, Serra M, Fondati A (2006): immunologic responses against hydrolysed soy protein in dogs with experimentally induced soy hypersensitivity. AJVR, 67(3), 484-488.
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UPDATES
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IVSA Moments Last Winter, during the exchange between IVSA Thessaly and IVSA Wroclaw, the polish students visited Lake Plastiras. Lake Plastiras apart from being the power source of a hydroelectric plant and the main water source of Thessaly, offers, also, a unique landscape where visitors can enjoy a variety of activities, such as water sports and horse riding!
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As a journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles, we consider ourselves lucky to have met so many wonderful people, through this exchange. We sincerely hope you stay safe and healthy, until the pandemic is over, so we can meet again!
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IVSA Moments Elwin van Oldenborgh, President of IVSA Global 2019-2020 with Merel Knoops, the IVSA Global President-Elect 2020 after the elections at the 68th IVSA Symposium in Morocco.
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Stay updated! Follow IVSA's social media pages @ivsapage @ivsa_global @ivsa_global International Veterinary Students Association
www.ivsa.org
COVID-19 UPDATES ivsa.org/covid-19 A comprehensive page for the latest IVSA announcements and committee projects related to Covid-19.
COMMITTEES' PAGES ivsa.org/committees Stay updated on our Standing Committees and Working Group's projects through our newly updated Committees' pages! 63