Western College of Veterinary Medicine Pharmhouse Summer Student Swine Experience Program to be expanded
By Bruce Cochrane, Farmscape
A program launched by the Western College of Veterinary Medicine two years ago to provide summer work experience to veterinary students could be expanded to other veterinary colleges. The Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) is recruiting students for the third year of its WCVM Pharmhouse Summer Student Swine Experience Program.
Dr. John Harding, a professor in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, said interviewing is expected to continue until the middle of October with placement planned for the summer of 2023.
"The program is a 12-week work placement similar to a coop placement in other universities, targeted at first and second year WCVM students regardless of their past experience in the industry or in agriculture for that matter. The overarching goal is to expose students to pigs and the swine industry and the swine veterinary profession and really it's an introduction that we hope will lead to recruitment of swine veterinarians in Canada and it is really meant for those who have a bit of experience in agriculture or really those who don't have any experience at all in agriculture. It started in 2021 so we've just completed our second year of the program and have received positive comments from the hosts and the students across the board so we're really pleased about that,” said Dr. John Harding from the Western College of Veterinary College.
“I'm really excited that we are working on a plan to expand the program to involve other Canadian veterinary colleges. So potentially for the summer of 2023 we could have students from other universities that are placed in their home provinces and all being part of this Pharmhouse summer student program, so really excited and hope to see this go on a national scale,” added Dr. Harding.
To learn about the Pharmhouse Summer Student Swine Experience Program, contact the Western College of Veterinary Medicine.
For more visit farmscape.ca.