Veterinary college to host annual open house April 1

The Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine will hold its annual “Open House” on Saturday, April 1 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Visitors will have the opportunity to take guided tours of the 225,000 square foot complex, glimpse the inside of a dog’s stomach, witness equine acupuncture, and learn about the modern veterinary medical profession, among other things.

At 10 a.m., veterinary students will begin conducting guided tours of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital and other college facilities. Tours last approximately 60 minutes and will depart at 30-minute intervals throughout the day. A new video profiling the college entitled “Breaking New Ground in Veterinary Medicine” will be shown periodically throughout the day.

Children’s stuffed animals can be “surgically repaired” during a “Teddy Bear Repair Clinic” from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and a drawing contest for kids will also be featured. Demonstrations and informational sessions on radiology, endoscopy, ultrasound, equine thermography, electron microscopy and other topics will also be presented throughout the day.

Presentations on how to prepare a competitive application for a veterinary college will be made at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., presentations on equine colic will be featured at 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., and presentations on common eye and vision problems affecting animals will be made at 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and noon.

A silent auction featuring gift certificates and merchandise from local merchants as well as merchandise provided by college clubs and organizations will be held from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

The annual Omega Tau Sigma Service Dog of the Year Award will be presented at 2 p.m. and the St. Francis of Assisi Service Dog Foundation will present a demonstration on how dogs are trained to help the physically-challenged.

The Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM) is a two-state, three-campus professional school operated by the land-grant universities of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg and the University of Maryland at College Park. Its flagship facilities, based at Virginia Tech, include the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, which treats more than 40,000 animals annually. Other campuses include the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg, Va., and the Avrum Gudelsky Veterinary Center at College Park, home of the Center for Government and Corporate Veterinary Medicine. The VMRCVM annually enrolls approximately 500 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and graduate students, is a leading biomedical and clinical research center, and provides professional continuing education services for veterinarians practicing throughout the two states.

For more information about the Open House, go to the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine website.