MSP/Student Experiential Learning: Providing Opportunities for To-Be-Recruited USDA Multicultural Scholars to Acquire Public Health Training

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: There is an immediate and urgent need to build national capacity in research and training in the prevention, surveillance, diagnosis and control of newly emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. This project will help strengthen the public health workforce and alleviate the shortage of trained public health veterinarians who are desperately needed for the Nation's biosecurity.

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APPROACH: This program will support the educational experiences of MSP scholars who are pursuing careers in the area of public health, food safety, and agrosecurity. Scholars will be identified during their first two years in the DVM program. The funding requested will provide scholarship support and experiential learning opportunities that will provide the training for the DVM/MPH combined degree program. Students who pursue this training will graduate prepared to enter areas currently underserved by the veterinary profession: agrosecurity, zoonotic disease surveillance and prevention, biomedical research in infectious diseases, and food safety and water quality preservation. Graduates of the program will be followed through their careers to demonstrate the impact of the program on animal and public health.
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PROGRESS: 2007/01 TO 2008/01<BR>
The College of Veterinary Medicine plans to enhance its efforts in educating young people about the opportunities in veterinary medicine through outreach programs. Our efforts will target young under-represented minority students through recruiting programs at minority serving institutions. We will encourage and facilitate these students through the application process for the DVM program. Once enrolled, these students will be provided scholarship support, faculty mentoring, and upperclassmen peer advising to ensure a positive educational experience. Using mechanisms such as the Veterinary Medical Scientist Training Program (combined DVM/PhD), combined DVM/MPH program, Certificate in International Medicine, and the emphasis in Population Health, we will provide opportunities for underrepresented students to gain experience and pursue training in areas important to agriculture. The College of Veterinary Medicine will help these students become knowledgeable in the fields of food safety and public health during their curricular and extra-curricular experiences. <p>The College and the faculty mentors will help these students pursue post graduate training opportunities or attain positions so that they can have productive careers through which they will serve as role models for future aspiring veterinarians. Currently 4 veterinary students have been awarded scholarships. The awardees were African-American and/or Caucasian/American and all seek veterinary training in food animal or public/corporate practice medicine. All the students began their veterinary training in the fall of 2006 or 2007. Two have been accepted to the DVM/MPH combined program, another is applying this spring to the DVM/MPH program and plans to assist an epidemiologist in Brasilia, Brazil with research this summer. One of our third year students is looking forward to participate in a Foreign Animal Disease course at Plum Island, New York as part of her clinical rotation. Another was enrolled in the DVM/PhD program and engaged in avian influenza research but resigned for personal reasons. Through internal funding at the College and funding by USDA, we have established a formal diversity program, and the College of Veterinary Medicine is committed to this effort. Our minority faculty members have attended recruiting fairs and have established contacts with cultural diversity recruiters at the USDA. These efforts have aided us in successfully identifying and recruiting competitive candidates within our region. <BR>PRODUCTS: This project is designed to 1) to promote awareness among under-represented minority students about the broad range of opportunities in veterinary medicine,
2) to increase the number of applications to the DVM program among groups currently under-represented in veterinary medicine,
3) to enroll and ultimately graduate more students from under-represented minority groups, and
4) to foster an interest among these students as well as the general student population in pursuing careers in food safety, public health, bioterrorism and agroterrorism prevention, biomedical research, and rural practice, which are areas currently under-served in the veterinary profession . We have successfully fulfilled objective 2 and expect to successfully graduate the scholars supported on this grant. <BR>OUTCOMES: We have successfully recruited four students who are supported by scholarships from this USDA MSP grant. These students are under-represented minorities and/or have identified Food Animal Medicine, Population Health or Public/Corporate practice as their areas of emphasis. These scholars are expected to significantly contribute to the agriculture workforce upon graduation. <BR>DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: HBCU Connection: We have visited 6 HBCUs in Georgia which colleges possess Pre-Vet programs. We have also attended Graduate Fair Day at UGA, South Carolina State, Claflin University, Emory in order disseminate information about agriculture-related veterinary careers. By building a relationship with the Office of Career Services and Natural Science departments we feel that we can create a pipeline of students from these institutions. <BR>FUTURE INITIATIVES: HBCU Connection We plan to visit HBCU (contract states and those that have Pre-Vet programs) Graduate Fair Day (or just to talk with the Biology, Zoology, and Pre-Vet programs). By building a relationship with the Office of Career Services and Natural Science departments we feel that we can capitalize on interested students from these institutions. CDC Vet Student Day We have registered 12 students and 1 faculty for the annual CDC Vet Student Day on January 28, 2008 at the CDC Headquarters in Atlanta, GA. This conference is designed to introduce students to the CDC mission of prevention and preparedness, and to the exciting fields of public health and epidemiology, so that students might consider public health as a career choice. Speakers from CDC and other organizations will provide their perspectives on the following topics:
1.) Global health: challenges and strategies,
2.) Emerging infectious diseases,
3.) Migration and health,
4.) Environmental health,
5.) Bioterrorism,
6.) Career opportunities,
7.) Epidemiology in action. <p>
IMPACT: 2007/01 TO 2008/01<BR>
We intend to increase the number of URM students who apply to UGA-CVM and who are considered for admission to the University through pre-application events, partnerships with minority serving institutions (MSIs) such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), partnerships with UGA and summer programs for students.