Two Oklahoma veterinary students attend Canine Conference
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Oklahoma State University veterinary students Brandy Lawrence and Liza Marhanka recently attended the 2019 National Parent Club Canine Health Conference held in St. Louis, Missouri. Both students received a grant to help pay for conference related expenses.
“The conference focused on different research funded by the AKC Canine Health Foundation,” said Lawrence, a second-year veterinary student. “Speakers covered several topics including GI diseases in dogs, hemangiosarcoma and maintaining genetic diversity within a breed population. I enjoyed the new research being done for dogs with GI diseases as one of my dogs was recently diagnosed with IBD (inflammatory bowel disease).”
Lawrence applied for the grant because she is actively involved in dog sports and dog shows.
“I am also very interested in theriogenology (reproduction),” added Lawrence. “I wanted the opportunity to network with veterinarians with similar interests. We met many wonderful veterinarians, AKC staff and breeders from the national parent clubs. It was a great learning opportunity and nice to see what AKC is doing to promote canine health.”
One of the veterinarians the duo met was Dr. John Hamil of Laguna Beach, California. Hamil earned his DVM degree from Oklahoma State University in 1968 and is a 2004 Distinguished Alumnus of the veterinary college.
“We met Dr. John Hamil, who attended the conference as an Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) guest,” added Marhanka, a third-year veterinary student. “OFA hosted a breakout session for veterinary students. Dr. Hamil is a retired California veterinarian who had many breeders as clients. This conference interested me because of the lecture topics and ability to network with veterinarians who perform advanced reproductive medicine and have breeders as clients. The lectures expanded what we learned in first and second years of school and gave us the most current research findings on important canine health topics such as nutritional intervention with probiotic use, inherited and congenital diseases of purebred dogs and more. We were among 30 other veterinary students sponsored by the OFA.”
As part of the grant, each student is required to organize and deliver a conference summary to their fellow students. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals will give each student a $200 stipend to cover any costs associated with delivering their conference summary.
MEDIA CONTACT: Taylor Bacon | Public Relations and Marketing Coordinator | 405-744-6728 | taylor.bacon@okstate.edu