Welcome to SCVECCS
SCVECCS would like to extend a big thank you to Dr. Sara Salmon and Dr. Bill Pierson for speaking at our annual Lisa Tedora Memorial Lecture Series this April 2009.
The talk featured Dr. Salmon's natural disaster emergency medical experiences in hurricane Katrina. Dr. Pierson continued with a presentation on the ongoing development of the community and state Animal Response Teams here in Virginia.
About the Club
Since its inception in 1996, the main goal of the VMRCVM Student Chapter of the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society (SCVECCS) has been to supplement the curriculum with educational opportunities specific to the field of veterinary emergency and critical care medicine. Initially, the club provided an avenue for students to volunteer in the veterinary teaching hospital small animal intensive care unit. While continuing to provide this opportunity, SCVECCS also hosts monthly lectures and each semester facilitates wet labs for hands-on student learning. The club currently consists of nearly sixty members, represented by all four classes. SCVECCS hopes to continue to offer students an opportunity to broaden their veterinary education.
Volunteering in the ICU/SA Hospital
The small animal ICU volunteer program is the oldest activity coordinated by SCVECCS. This program offers students the opportunity to get valuable hands-on experience in the SA-ICU prior to senior year. Additionally, this program offers a formal gateway for first, second, and third year students become familiarized with the veterinary teaching hospital as a whole. For more information about volunteering in SA-ICU, check out our Small Animal ICU page.
SCVECCS Monthly Meetings
Monthly meetings are held once a month and generally fall on a Tuesday. Some meetings require attention to club business like voting, wet labs, and fund raising, but mostly SCVECCS monthly meetings offer students the chance to hear supplemental lectures on various veterinary emergency and critical care topics. Lecture topics in the past have included ophthalmic emergencies, treatment of gastric dilatation volvulus (GDV), laboratory and pocket pet emergencies, endocrine emergencies, and spinal fracture emergencies.
SCVECCS Wet Labs
SCVECCS wet labs offer club members the opportunity to learn skills that are either not offered in the curriculum or deemed valuable for veterinary emergency and critical care medicine. Wet lab topics have included suture techniques, peripheral and intra-osseous catheter placement, and bandaging techniques. For more information, check out our Wet Labs page.
SCVECCS Fund Raisers
In addition to the $10.00 yearly dues per member, SCVECCS generates money by holding various fundraisers. Each club member is asked to help out with these events, such as bake sales.
What The Officers Do
SCVECCS Officers are elected during the last meeting of second semester but do not take office until the end of the calendar year. This gives officers-elect a chance to shadow the current officers in order to "learn the ropes." Responsibilities run for a full calendar year and include:
- President: In addition to overseeing all the activities of the club, the president runs monthly meetings, coordinates wet-lab activities, oversees the ICU volunteer program with the ICU coordinator, coordinates SCVECCS's participation in open house, facilitates yearly elections, and coordinates the Lisa Tedora Memorial Lecture Series.
- Vice President: In addition to helping the president with the above responsibilities, the VP schedules/runs executive board meetings (made up of the officers, freshman rep(s), and faculty advisor) and schedules monthly lecture topics.
- Treasurer: The treasurer oversees the finances (checking & savings accounts), collects yearly dues from members, and facilitates fund raising activities.
- Secretary: The secretary oversees the club shadow box, takes minutes of the executive board meetings, and disseminates information to club members.
- Historian/Webmaster : The historian/webmaster takes pictures of SCVECCS events and maintains the SCVECCS website.
- ICU Coordinator: The ICU coordinator posts the monthly sign-up schedule for ICU, relays the finalized schedule to the Small Animal Supervisor, and informs the ICU manager of any schedule changes during the month via email.
- First Year Rep: The first year representative functions to make sure information is effectively delivered to the first year class.
- * All officers must attend montly executive board members.
Questions about the SCVECCS website?
Please contact our webmaster:
Lisa Caplis
lcaplis@vt.edu
