Veterinary High School Summer Program

2013 University of Florida Summer Veterinary Academy

Applications are now available for the University of Florida Summer Veterinary Academy (UFSVA). The UFSVA is a one-week long residential program for current high school freshmen (rising sophomores). The program is designed to immerse interested students in the many diverse fields within the veterinary medical sciences. Campers will participate in exciting field trips, labs, lectures, live demonstrations, and will even shadow UF clinicians and faculty in the UF Small and Large Animal Hospitals. Two separate one-week camp programs will be organized allowing 12 students each for a total of 24 attendees. The camps will run Sunday, July 7th – Saturday, July 13, 2013 and Sunday, July 21st – July 27, 2013. The cost of the program will be $1,300.

Applications:

UFCVM Summer Veterinary Academy Application Form

UFCVM Summer Veterinary Academy Teacher Endorsement Form

If you are interested in attending, please complete and submit the above applications no later than April 1, 2013. All applications should be sent to:

University of Florida
College of Veterinary Medicine
Office for Students and Instruction
PO Box 100125
Gainesville, FL 32610
Attn: Terri Weldon

Accepted students will be notified after April 20, 2013. Camp fees for accepted students will be due by June 14, 2013. Please make checks payable to the University of Florida.

Schedule from 2012 Pilot Summer Program

Schedule from the 2012 UFCVM Pilot Summer Program

The above links contain the schedule from the 2012 UFSVM Pilot Summer High School Program. The schedule for 2013 will be similar, but field trip destinations, lectures, and clinical rotations will most certainly change as the program evolves.

Housing

Campers will spend their nights at Beatty Towers on the main University of Florida campus, about a mile from the Vet School. Campers will be immersed in a truly college environment, in the sense that they will be sharing dorms with fellow students in the program. There will be three veterinary students acting as camp counselors and there will be a number of fun and hopefully educational activities during the evenings.

2012 Veterinary High School Summer Program Participants

The first ever Veterinary High School Summer Program at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine (UFCVM) was held from July 21 to July 28, 2012. Twelve high school students from around the state of Florida were selected to attend the week long residential program in Gainesville. The participants were immersed in some of the many diverse fields available to students wishing to puruse a career in veterinary medicine. Activities included field trips,  training, shadowing UF veterinarians at the UFCVM Small and Large Animal Hospitals, and lectures from UFCVM faculty. The field trips included visits to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, Marineland, IFAS Horse Teaching Unit, and Lubee Bat Conservancy. What most viewed as the most exciting and educational activity, however, was the opportunity to shadow UFCVM clinicians as they worked in various clerkships in the Small and Large Animal Hospitals, including Out Patient Care and Dentistry, Equine Medicine, Accupuncture and Rehabilitation, Internal Medicine, Cardiology, Oncology, and Radiology.

Summer Program Pictures and Highlights

2012 Scavenger Hunt Presentations (recorded live)

The twelve 2012 UFCVM High School Summer Camp participants were split into two teams during parts of each day in order to complete a week long scavenger hunt. The teams then used the Education Center at the UFCVM to construct a visual presentation of their findings which they presented on a live video stream to their families and friends watching from home. Please follow the link below to witness the first ever UFCVM Summer Program Scavenger Hunt presentations. We look forward to seeing what the students will do in the Summer of 2013…

Link for Live Broadcast

Link for UFCVM Education Center

Center for Precollegiate Education and Training

The Center for Precollegiate Education and Training (UF-CPET) offers a number of programs for high school students with an interest in math and science. One of those programs, Science Quest, immerses rising 10th grade students in various science disciplines to stimulate interest and appreciation for the range of college and career opportunities available in science. To support these programs, the UFCVM gave preference to those Summer Program applicants who had already enrolled in Science Quest.

CPET offers competitive science and math programs like the Student Science Training Program (SSTP). The UF-SSTP is a seven week residential research program for selected rising juniors and seniors who are considering medicine, math, computer, science, or engineering careers. The program emphasis is research participation with a UF faculty research scientist and his or her research team. Students engage in the on-going research of the faculty-mentor for 28 hours each week, attend a lecture series on current research topics, and participate in a UF honors seminar class. UF-SSTP alumni have gone on to attend the University of Florida and other prestigious universities such as Harvard, Oxford, Johns Hopkins and Stanford.  In an effort to support the UFCVM, CPET will look favorably upon SSTP applicants that have attended a Veterinary High School Summer Program at the UFCVM.

For more information on any of these programs, please visit the CPET website.