Vet students bring home national award

Five students from the College of Veterinary Medicine brought home top honors in competition with students from five other veterinary schools in the Student American Veterinary Medical Association Challenge at the University of Illinois.

SAVMA Challenge was part of a symposium involving every college of veterinary medicine in the country. The competition required students to diagnose real clinical case problems and recommend treatments.

"The cases involved anything that the students might see in veterinary practice," said Dr. Tom Day, assistant professor of veterinary medicine and faculty student adviser. "There were real animals and real problems."

He added that there also were problems students might never see. "They were presented with animals ranging from dogs and cats to horses and ferrets. The cases ranged in difficulty from simple conditions to serious medical problems. These were really tough cases," he said.

Fifteen Mississippi State students attended the symposium. They chose five of their peers to represent them in the competition. They were Butch Cargile of Fayette, Ala.; Sean Clemmer of Sturgis; Kristi Gibson of Salt Lake City, Utah; Chris Johnson of Houma, La.; and Patti Santucci of Tupelo.

"These students were successful because they could immediately integrate the information they were given," Day said. "The Mississippi State curriculum is based on cases like these from start to finish, so they are well prepared."

The students will defend their title in competition next year at Oklahoma State University.