NAVC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Meghan R. Costigan, 352-375-5672 ext. 731


5003 SW 41 st Blvd. , Gainesville, FL 32608
January 13-17, 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The vast growth and recent educational endeavors of the NAVC has given birth to an exciting new sponsorship opportunity for companies to join as an NAVC Education Partner. Embracing the mission to provide world-class continuing education to all members of the veterinary healthcare team, NAVC prides itself on a variety of learning formats to meet every educational need.

The annual NAVC Conference began in 1984 and is one of the largest veterinary meetings in the world with more than 15,000 attendees from over 60 countries. In 1999, NAVC introduced the NAVC Institute, an all inclusive-in residence, hands-on and interactive week-long meeting with small class sizes focusing on a single discipline. To meet the demands of veterinarians across North America, the NAVC Regional began holding intensive weekend courses in 2003, in various cities throughout North America. Identifying a hunger for education in Latin America and the difficulty in securing a visa for veterinarians wishing to travel to the NAVC Conference, in 2005 the NAVC launched the LAVC del NAVC in Lima, Peru. The Spanish Small Animal Veterinary Association (AVEPA) and NAVC look forward to the inaugural Southern European Veterinary Conference in October 2007.

As the future of veterinary medicine, students are a major focus for the NAVC. The student scholarship program celebrates 18 years of bringing a student representative from every North American veterinary school to the annual NAVC Conference. To help with gaps in veterinary curriculum, the student representative program has evolved into NAVC On Campus, where a taste of NAVC comes to the students. Each school picks a topic they would like more exposure to, be it dentistry, exotic medicine, emergency and critical care medicine, etc., and an expert NAVC speaker gives a brief lecture. The goal is to reach all campuses within a three year period.

“Money is the only true obstacle we face in running these programs,” said NAVC Executive Director Colin Burrows. “For many students, who will graduate with tens of thousands of dollars in student loans and for our Latin American colleagues with little income and economic instability, any effort we make to defray costs and expenses is appreciated,” said Burrows.

Enter the NAVC Education Partner program, a level of sponsorship in which the funds will help support NAVC On Campus, the NAVC Institute and the NAVC Regional. The founding NAVC Education Partners include Fort Dodge Animal Health, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Lilly Companion Animals, Merial and Novartis Animal Health.

“We are grateful for the tangible contributions of these companies,” said Burrows, “and we are excited to watch the intangible results it will generate for the entire veterinary healthcare team as they participate in these NAVC programs. This is truly a new and mutually beneficial relationship for all involved.”

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