Bursaries offer veterinary students more experience in the field
Press release
12 May 2009
Ten final year Bachelor of Veterinary Science students from the University of Melbourne will be heading off to far-flung parts of the country, and across the globe, thanks to the generosity of long term clients of the University of Melbourne's Veterinary Clinic and Hospital.
Each of the students received a $1000 Sayner Travel Bursary to help cover accommodation and travel costs associated with undertaking their final semester veterinary rotations.
The bursaries are provided by Hoppers Crossing couple Dale and Lynette Sayner. The Sayners have been taking their pet dogs and cats to the Veterinary Hospital, based in Werribee, for the past 15 years and began making substantial donations four years ago.
The Sayners provided the bursaries so that students could have the opportunity to work with new animals in environments that they may not otherwise experience.
One of the recipients, Matt Pascall, is using the bursary to travel to the Katherine Veterinary Clinic in the Northern Territory, and is looking forward to a unique, hands-on experience.
"The clinic provides veterinary care to remote Aboriginal communities. I'll be working with export cattle and becoming more familiar with diseases seen in northern Australia," said Mr Pascall.
Another recipient, Kirsty Hughes, is staying a little closer to home. Kirsty secured a placement at Healesville Sanctuary earlier in the year, however when her family lost their house in St Andrews in the Black Saturday bushfires she was left with nowhere to stay during her placement. With the help of the bursary, Kirsty has been able to find accommodation in Healesville.
The placement will provide Kirsty with rare experience in the emergency treatment and veterinary care of many species of birds.
"I definitely want to specialise in avian medicine," said Ms Hughes.
"At Healesville Sanctuary I'll be exposed to a wide variety of conditions and critical injuries that would rarely be encountered in veterinary practice, with a greater diversity of cases than at a specialist avian veterinary clinic."
International students Carol Lim and Yonathan Buks are using the funds to travel to the US for small animal medicine externships. Carol is headed to Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania, while Yonatan is off to Tufts University, Massachusetts. The experience will benefit both students' career aspirations of specialising in small animal surgery.
Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Science, Professor Ken Hinchcliff said: "Through the generosity of Dale and Lynette Sayner, final year students of the University of Melbourne are able to enhance their training in veterinary science through work experience at other world class institutions and veterinary practices.
"The Sayner travel bursary is yet another example of how supporters of the Veterinary Hospital and the Faculty of Veterinary Science can enhance the future care of animals by providing veterinary students with the opportunity to pursue additional training."
For more information about Faculty of Veterinary Science scholarships and bursaries visit www.vet.unimelb.edu.au
For further information please contact Lauren O'Connor, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Melbourne, Tel: 8344 7844 or email: oconnor@unimelb.edu.au