Several up-and-coming swine practioners were recognized with scholarships during the recent American Association of Swine Veterinarians Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Ga. The 51^st annual meeting was themed "2020: A Vision for the Future" and was held March 7-10.

David A. Schoneweis scholarship
Karissa Frealy, a second-year student at Oklahoma State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, was awarded the inaugural David A. Schoneweis scholarship.

The children of the late David Schoneweis established a scholarship in his memory to benefit swine-interested students from Kansas State University and Oklahoma State University. The $1,000 scholarship is awarded to a student or students from KSU or OSU who participate in the student oral or poster presentations during the meeting, based upon a selection rubric prepared with the oversight and approval of the Schoneweis family.

Frealy presented her research poster, "Evaluating the use of processing fluids for sow herd monitoring of porcine circovirus type 2," during the Veterinary Student Poster Session March 8 and 9. She was one of 39 students presenting a poster, and the only student from KSU or OSU participating in the student presentation sessions.

Thankful for the scholarship, Frealy said, "I am so very excited and honored to be receiving the first David A. Schoneweis Scholarship. I am deeply appreciative to the family of Dr. Schoneweis for generously providing this award, and I feel privileged to receive it. To the family of Dr. Schoneweis, thank you."

Student Debt Relief scholarship
Laura Carroll, a 2016 graduate of North Carolina State University's College of Veterinary Medicine and continuous member of the AASV since joining as a student, received the AASV Member Student Debt Relief Scholarship.

The purpose of the $5,000 scholarship is to help relieve the student debt of recent veterinary graduates engaged in swine practice who still have significant debt burden. Qualified applicants must have been engaged in private practice with at least 50% of their time devoted to swine, providing on-farm service directly to independent pork producers.

For the last four years, Carroll has been a veterinarian at Four Star Veterinary Service in Elizabethtown, Pa., where she dedicates her entire time in practice to swine medicine. She oversees health on sow farms, grow-finish sites and farrow-to-finish farms. Passionate about keeping small family farms alive and profitable, she serves a diverse clientele including niche-market farms, show pigs and pet pigs. She enjoys spending time on farms and developing strong relationships with clients.

As an early career swine veterinarian, Carroll regards AASV as a valuable resource. Opportunities for student and professional development, veterinary information, peer support and mentorship offered through AASV have helped to increase her knowledge base and effectiveness as a practitioner.

The scholarship was initiated with a generous $110,000 contribution to the foundation by the Conrad Schmidt and Family Endowment. Schmidt, a charter member of AASV, explained, "Together, Judy and I noticed that many new DVM graduates interested in swine medicine begin their professional life with heavy educational debt obligations. As a long-time AASV member and animal industry supporter, it was our desire to help AASV members who have dedicated their professional skills to swine herd health and production. We hope that this endowment will grow over time to assist in reducing the educational debt load of AASV members as they begin their professional journeys."

This is the second year this scholarship has been awarded to an AASV member veterinarian.

Student Poster Competition scholarships
AASV provided an opportunity for 15 veterinary students to compete for awards in the Veterinary Student Poster Competition. United Animal Health sponsored the competition, offering awards totaling $4,000.

Based on scores received in the original judging of abstracts submitted for the AASV Student Seminar, the top 15 abstracts not selected for oral presentation at the annual meeting were eligible to compete in the poster competition. A panel of three AASV practitioners interviewed the competing students and scored their posters to determine the scholarship awards.

United Animal Health announced the following awards during the AASV Luncheon:

In addition to the poster competition awards, each student poster participant received a $250 travel stipend from Zoetis and the AASV.

Student Seminar scholarships
The AASV Foundation awarded Student Seminar scholarships totaling $25,000 to 15 veterinary students.

Nathan Fanzone, University of Pennsylvania, received the $5000 scholarship for top student presentation. His presentation was titled "Causes of lameness in sows euthanized for lameness." Zoetis provided the financial support for the Top Student Presenter Award.

Additional scholarships totaling $20,000 were funded by Elanco Animal Health.

Fifty-six veterinary students from 13 universities submitted abstracts for consideration. From those submissions, 15 students were selected to present during the annual meeting. Zoetis, sponsor of the Student Seminar, provided a $750 travel stipend to each student selected to participate.

Source: American Association of Swine Veterinarians, which is solely responsible for the information provided, and wholly owns the information. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.