Vet Up! Prep is the name of a new four-week component of Purdue Veterinary Medicine’s federally funded program to provide opportunities and support for equity-minded individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds to enter the veterinary profession and serve society by advancing public health, ensuring food safety, or serving rural areas. Launched this past summer, Vet Up! Prep focuses on new students’ readiness for the challenges involved in starting the DVM degree program.
Vet Up! Prep was conceived as part of the renewed $3.2 million federal grant that the college received from the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Sciences, that continues funding for Vet Up! – the National Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) Academy for Veterinary Medicine. PVM’s comprehensive Vet Up! initiative also includes: Vet Up! Champions, which prepares high school and undergraduate students as well as working adults to pursue a path toward a veterinary medical degree; Vet Up! College, which is a summer immersion program to prepare undergraduate students to competitively apply to a veterinary medical degree (DVM) program; and Vet UP! DVM Scholars, which supports Purdue veterinary students throughout their professional degree program and prepares them for careers in veterinary shortage areas.
The Vet Up! Prep program provided Vet Up! DVM Scholars in the incoming DVM Class of 2028 with a wide range of skills and knowledge about Purdue University, the West Lafayette community, the veterinary curriculum, study strategies, financial literacy, and medical math, as they also participated in various activities all with the goal of helping to prepare them for their veterinary studies.
Marsha Baker, assistant dean for inclusive excellence, together with former PVM employee Cory Sanchez designed the pre-matriculation Vet Up! Prep program. To do so, they learned about, and met with people involved in human health pre-matriculation programs, attended discussion forums, and met with current Vet Up! DVM Scholars and with PVM faculty and staff.
The three-week Vet Up! Prep curriculum incorporates content supporting six themes, or “buckets:”
- Academic skills – includes study strategies, development of a growth mindset, time management, critical thinking, and learning about Anki (a free, open-source flashcard program), One Note (digital notetaking), and library resources.
- Medical Science Knowledge – includes an Introduction to anatomy and PVM’s Veterinary Skills and Competencies (VSAC) courses, case studies, basic medical terms, and foundations of veterinary education.
- Professional /Social – includes learning about financial literacy and how to cultivate learning opportunities in vet school, such as study abroad experiences.
- Community/Culture – includes a tour of Greater Lafayette, an introduction to Purdue Infinity Centers, and community involvement including visiting the Columbian Park Zoo and engaging with Purdue components of the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis.
- One Health/Research – introduction to the concepts of Health Equity and One Health.
- Wellness – participate in PVM’s Wellness Wednesday, journaling, wellness walks; and learn about overcoming obstacles.
Special activities during the inaugural Vet Up! Prep session this year included an opportunity for the Vet Up! DVM Scholars to hear a presentation by the 20th U.S. Surgeon General and prior member of the President’s Coronavirus Taskforce, Jerome Adams, MD, MPH, FASA. Dr. Adams now is a Purdue Presidential Fellow, Executive Director of the Center for Community Health Enhancement and Learning (HEAL), and Distinguished Professor of Practice. Dr. Adams shared with the DVM Scholars about his experiences as a patient with the U.S. healthcare system and factors affecting health equities. He also took the time after his talk to visit with students and autographed copies of his book, Crisis and Chaos: Lessons from the Front Lines of the War Against COVID-19” for them.
Through Vet Up! Prep, the DVM Scholars also had the opportunity to participate in a research project led by Dr. Wendy Beauvais, assistant professor of epidemiology and public health, who is conducting a study that focuses on utilizing Indiana’s 4-H program as a means of delivering education and information to 4-H members, their families and the public about One Health and zoonotic diseases, including infectious diseases, zoonoses, and antimicrobial resistance.
Then, during week four of Vet Up! Prep, the participants joined the rest of the students in the Class of 2028 for the college’s week-long onboarding program called Launch! DVM 2028, to complete the process of preparing for the start of their first-year classes.
