Veterinary college to present Annual Open House

The Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine will hold its Annual Open House on Saturday, April 5 from 10 a.m. to 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 thirty-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 children will also be featured. Demonstrations and informational sessions on radiology, endoscopy, ultrasound, equine thermography, and other topics will also be presented throughout the day.

The day will feature a lecture at 10:30 a.m. entitled, “Salmonella: What’s in your peanut butter?” by Dr. Kevin Pelzer, an associate professor in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences.

Presentations on how to prepare a competitive application for veterinary college will be made at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.; presentations on equine colic will be featured at 10:30 a.m. and 12 p.m.

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. to 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.

• For more information, contact Lynn Young, director of alumni relations and student affairs.

The Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine 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 college 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. Virginia Tech, the most comprehensive university in Virginia, is dedicated to quality, innovation, and results to the commonwealth, the nation, and the world.