AASV News

AASV student abstracts due September 14

The American Association of Swine Veterinarians announces an opportunity for veterinary students to make a scientific presentation at the AASV Annual Meeting in Aurora (Denver), Colorado on Sunday, March 5, 2023. Interested students are invited to submit a one-page abstract of a research paper, clinical case study, or literature review for consideration. The submitting student must be a current (2022-2023) student member of the AASV at the time of submission and must not have graduated from veterinary school prior to March 5, 2023. Submissions are limited to 1 abstract per student.

Abstracts and supporting information must be submitted online at cmt3.research.microsoft.com/AASV2023. Submissions must be completed before 11:59 pm Central Daylight Time on Wednesday, September 14, 2022 (firm deadline). Late submissions will not be considered. Students will receive an email confirmation of their submission. If they do not receive the confirmation email, they must contact Dr Andrew Bowman (bowman.214@osu.edu) by Friday, September 16, 2022 with supporting evidence that the submission was made in time; otherwise the abstract will not be considered for judging.

The abstracts will be reviewed by an unbiased, professional panel consisting of private practitioners, academicians, and industry veterinarians. Fifteen abstracts will be selected for oral presentation in the Student Seminar at the AASV Annual Meeting. Students will be notified of the review results by October 15, 2022, and those selected to participate will be expected to provide the complete paper or abstract, reformatted for publication in the conference proceedings, by November 15, 2022.

Student Seminar

The Zoetis Foundation has provided a grant for a total of $20,000 for awards and the top student presenter scholarship. The grant will go towards a $750 award for the student presenter of each paper selected for oral presentation when they present at the meeting. These students also compete for one of several scholarships awarded through the AASV Foundation. The oral presentations will be judged to determine the amount of the scholarship awarded. As part of the Zoetis Foundation grant, the AASV Foundation will award a $5000 scholarship for the student whose paper, oral presentation, and supporting information are judged best overall.

Elanco Animal Health provides $20,000 in additional funding, enabling the AASV Foundation to award scholarships of $2500 each for 2nd through 5th place, $1500 each for 6th through 10th place, and $500 each for 11th through 15th place.

Student Poster Session

Abstracts that are not selected for oral presentation in the Student Seminar will be considered for presentation in a poster session at the Annual Meeting. The Zoetis Foundation grant, combined with direct support from AASV, will provide each student poster presenter at the meeting with a $250 award. Students selected to make a poster presentation will be expected to supply a brief paper, formatted for publication in the conference proceedings, by November 15. The guidelines for preparing posters for the display are available at aasv.org/annmtg/2023/posters.php.

Veterinary Student Poster Competition

The presenters of the top fifteen poster abstracts compete for scholarship awards ranging from $200 to $500 in the Veterinary Student Poster Competition, sponsored by United Animal Health. See aasv.org/annmtg/2023/postercomp for poster judging details.

In all cases, the student presenter is required to attend the meeting in person to make the presentation. Recorded/virtual presentations will not be accepted unless the meeting converts to an entirely virtual event.

Complete information for preparing and submitting abstracts is available at aasv.org/annmtg/2023/studentseminar. The rules for submission should be followed carefully. For more information, contact the AASV office by phone, 515-465-5255, or email, aasv@aasv.org.

Call for submissions - Industrial Partners

The American Association of Swine Veterinarians is making plans for the 2023 AASV Annual Meeting, to be held March 4-7, 2023 in Aurora (Denver), Colorado.

The AASV invites submissions for the Industrial Partners oral and poster sessions at the 54th AASV Annual Meeting. This is an opportunity for commercial companies to make brief presentations of a technical, educational nature to members of the AASV.

The oral sessions consist of a series of 15-minute presentations scheduled from 1:00 to 5:00 pm on Sunday, March 5. A poster session takes place the same day. Poster authors will be required to be stationed with their poster from noon until 1:00 pm, and the posters will remain on display throughout the afternoon and the following day for viewing.

SUBMISSION PREREQUISITE: All companies submitting topics for presentation during the Industrial Partners sessions must register to participate in the AASV Technical Tables Exhibit before September 30.

SUBMISSION LIMIT: Restricted program space necessitates a limit on the number of presentations per company. Companies that are a member of the Journal of Swine Health and Production Industry Support Council and sponsor the AASV e-Letter may submit 3 topics for oral presentation. Companies that are either a member of the JSHAP Industry Support Council or sponsor the AASV e-Letter may submit up to 2 topics. All other companies may submit 1 topic for oral presentation. In addition, every company may submit 1 topic for poster presentation, but the topic must not duplicate the oral presentation. All topics must represent information not previously presented at the AASV Annual Meeting or published in the meeting proceedings.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: To participate, send the following information to aasv@aasv.org by September 30, 2022: 1) Company name 2) Presentation title 3) Brief description of the presentation content 4) Presenter name (one only) and contact details (mailing address, telephone number, and email address) 5) Whether the submission is intended for oral or poster presentation

Receipt of submissions will be confirmed by email. Presenters will be notified of their acceptance by October 15 and must submit a paper by November 15 for publication in the meeting proceedings. Failure to submit the paper in a timely manner will jeopardize the company’s future participation in these sessions.

The presenting author is required to register for and attend the meeting in person to make the presentation. Recorded/virtual presentations will not be accepted unless the meeting converts to an entirely virtual event.

Presenters may register for the meeting either as a Tech Table representative, or as an individual registrant (nonmember oral and poster presenters are eligible to register at the AASV regular member rate). The AASV does not provide a speaking stipend or travel reimbursement to Industrial Partners presenters.

Who you gonna nominate? (for an AASV award)

Do you know an AASV member whose dedication to the association and the swine industry is worthy of recognition? A practitioner who goes above and beyond in providing service to clients? A young swine vet who is already leading the way? An academic whose teaching and research is making a difference? Now is the time to speak up! The AASV Awards Committee requests nominations for six awards to be presented at the 54th AASV Annual Meeting.

See aasv.org/aasv/awards for a list of previous recipients of the following awards and submit your nomination(s) now for 2023.

Howard Dunne Memorial Award – Given annually to an AASV member who has made a significant contribution and rendered outstanding service to the AASV and the swine industry.

Meritorious Service Award – Given annually to an individual who has consistently given time and effort to the association in the area of service to AASV members, officers, and staff.

Swine Practitioner of the Year – Given annually to the swine practitioner (AASV member) who has demonstrated an unusual degree of proficiency in the delivery of veterinary service to his or her clients.

Technical Services/Allied Industry Veterinarian of the Year – Given annually to the technical services or allied industry veterinarian who has demonstrated an unusual degree of proficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of veterinary service to his or her company and its clients as well as given tirelessly in service to the AASV and the swine industry.

Outstanding Swine Academic of the Year – Given annually to an AASV member employed in academia who has demonstrated excellence in teaching, research, and service to the swine veterinary profession. Faculty members, graduate students, and researchers are eligible to receive this award.

Young Swine Veterinarian of the Year – Given annually to a swine veterinarian who is an AASV member, 5 years or less post graduation, who has demonstrated the ideals of exemplary service and proficiency early in their career.

Nominations are due December 15.

The nomination letter should specify the award and cite the qualifications of the candidate for the award. Submit to AASV by mail, 830 26th Street, Perry, Iowa 50220, or by email, aasv@aasv.org.

AASV publishes Animal Depopulation Resiliency Debriefing Tool

The American Association of Swine Veterinarians received funding from the US Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service through their National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program in 2021 to develop resources to build and improve capabilities and capacities for responding to emergency events that require animal depopulation. Those resources are available at aasv.org/Resources/welfare/.  

Animal depopulation is associated with distressing psychological impacts on people. These impacts can affect all stakeholders including veterinarians, producers, public health officials, and others who make decisions about and carry out depopulation. As part of this project, AASV collaborated with Dr Elizabeth Strand, clinical associate professor and director of Veterinary Social Work at University of Tennessee Colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Social Work, to develop an Animal Depopulation Resiliency Debrief Tool (ADRDT). Questions used in the ADRDT have been developed as a debrief in a veterinary clinical setting over the last 20 years through the University of Tennessee Veterinary Social Work Program, and the ADRDT has been adapted specifically for animal depopulation. 

The goals of using the ADRDT are to:

  • reduce psychological distress that may result from depopulation,
  • promote social support and coping among those engaged in the process, and
  • identify individuals who may need further mental health support and refer them for the appropriate level of care.

The five-item resiliency debrief tool can be used by veterinarians and other animal-related professionals who are preparing for, participating in, and recovering from depopulation. This tool is not species specific and can be used in any animal depopulation event by an individual or with a team.

The ADRDT is available in two formats: 1) a long form with background on how to use the tool and rationale for each of the 5 questions, available at aasv.org/Resources/welfare/depopulation_debrief.pdf and 2) an abbreviated worksheet version available at aasv.org/Resources/welfare/depopulation_debriefwksht.pdf. Both are available on the AASV veterinarian wellbeing and animal welfare webpages.