PVM Veterinary Nursing Team Earns Honors at AVTE Conference

August 23, 2019

Veterinary Nursing team members gather for a group photo at the 2019 AVTE annual conference: (front row, left-right) Purdue Veterinary Nursing Program Director Bianca Zenor, Courtney Waxman, Josh Clark, and Shelly Opperman; (back row, left-right) Paige Allen, Jennifer Smith, Jordan Williams, Liane Shaw and Pam Phegley.

The Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Veterinary Nursing team recently attended the Association of Veterinary Technician Educators (AVTE) annual conference and received national recognition. The conference was held at the end of July in New Orleans, La.

Congratulations to Purdue Veterinary Nursing Distance Learning Instructional Technologists Courtney Waxman, CVT, RVT, VTS (ECC) and Josh Clark, MS, RVT, who received national awards. Courtney received the AVTE/Wiley-Blackwell Award, which was established to honor new educators who are recognized by their students and colleagues as already making an extraordinary contribution to veterinary technology and who have been teaching for less than three years. Josh won a $2,500 AVTE Active Member Scholarship, which he will use to attend an upcoming FRANK Communication Workshop at Colorado State University and then incorporate what he learns into the Purdue Veterinary Nursing program. He also will have the opportunity to present at an upcoming AVTE conference.

Assistant Director for Academic Advising and Recruiting Paige Allen, MS, RVT, and Academic Advisor Shelly Opperman both served as presenters at this year’s conference. Their presentation focused on the topic: “The Student Road to Success: We Fill the Potholes.” The talk identified current student support services, discussed future services to meet the needs of the changing population and explained the changing attributes of veterinary nursing students.

Also attending the AVTE annual conference from PVM were Veterinary Nursing Program Director Bianca Zenor, DVM; Clinical Rotation/Mentorship Coordinator Pam Phegley, RVT; Instructional Technologist Jen Smith, RVT, RLAT; Senior Instructional Technologist Jordan Williams, RVT, VTS (Anesthesia and Analgesia); and Diagnostic Imaging Instructional Technologist Liane Shaw, RVT. “PVM’s strong showing at this year’s AVTE Conference demonstrates the continued success and growth of the Purdue Veterinary Nursing program as well its commitment to lifelong learning,” said Dr. Zenor.

Writer(s): Kevin Doerr | pvmnews@purdue.edu

Recent Stories

“Paws Up” – brought to you by the PVM Wellness Committee

Behind the scenes, Alicia Williams has been making PVM a kinder, stronger place.

Purdue Veterinary Medicine Computational Biologist Uses Big Data, AI and Math to Find Patterns in Cancer

With recent advances, cancer research now generates vast amounts of information. The data could help researchers detect patterns in cancer cells and stop their growth, but the sheer volume is just too much for the human mind to digest. Enter Nadia Lanman, research associate professor in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology, whose expertise in computational biology helps researchers at Purdue University distill solutions from the sea of numbers.

Purdue to Host Fourth Annual Antimicrobial Conference in February

With leadership by the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, the Fourth Annual Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) will be held at Purdue University West Lafayette February 25–26, 2026. With multidrug-resistant infections on the rise globally, this event brings together experts and practitioners across the spectrum of human, animal, and environmental health to address one of today’s most urgent public health challenges.

PVM Well-represented by Humans and Animals During Annual Homecoming Celebrations

Every fall, Boilermakers from near and far return to the campus in West Lafayette for the annual ritual known as Homecoming. And Purdue’s Homecoming events also attract plenty of non-alumni who are Purdue fans, patrons, prospective students, or clients of the Purdue University Veterinary Hospital. During this year’s Homecoming weekend October 24-25, Purdue Veterinary Medicine engaged with attendees in multiple ways, with the help of some furry companions.

Purdue University and Akston Biosciences Bring “First Dose of Hope” in New Cancer Immunotherapy Trial for Dogs with Urinary Bladder Cancer

The Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, in partnership with Akston Biosciences Corporation, has initiated the enrollment of dogs with urinary bladder cancer in a clinical trial of a pioneering immunotherapy. The strategic partnership between Purdue and Akston was announced in August after the underlying technology was developed at the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research (PICR).

“Paws Up” – brought to you by the PVM Wellness Committee

Today we share appreciation for Beth Laffoon, MS, RVT, and Holly McCalip, BS, RVT, who are both instructional technologists in the Veterinary Nursing Program.

MMAS Symposium Brings Participants Face to Face with Specialists and Species from Parrots to Pocket Pets

Thanks to Purdue Veterinary Medicine’s Exotic Animal Club and dedicated faculty, staff and students, nearly 100 in-person and on-line participants got a chance recently to gain valuable knowledge and insight about the Medicine of Mammalian and Avian Species. The two-day educational event known as the MMAS Symposium is a biennial conference, and the 2024 edition held in Lynn Hall November 9 and 10 featured an impressive program that included 22 lectures and several hands-on labs, organized into two tracks focusing on avian and mammalian species.

Veterinary Boilermakers Take Part in Purdue One Health Alumni Reunion

Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine faculty, staff and students turned out for Purdue University’s first One Health Alumni Reunion, which was held on the West Lafayette campus November 14-16. They joined more than 150 Boilermakers from a variety of medical professions who came together to network and participate in timely discussions with Purdue President Mung Chiang, First Lady Kei Hui and fellow alumni.