Senior Veterinary Technologist Students Celebrate Success with Senior Project Presentations

“Monitoring Canine Diabetes Mellitus: A Comparison of Diagnostic Techniques” was the title of the capstone project poster presented by Hannah Chalmers, RVT.

Senior veterinary technologist students celebrated their program completion by presenting their capstone projects as the spring semester drew to a close. The students had the opportunity to give a lecture style presentation or share their project in a poster session.

The capstone presentation represents the final result of months of planning and preparation.  “Students must pick a topic of interest in the fall semester, find a mentor, and devote 80 clinical hours to learn about their project,” explained Dr. Bianca Zenor, director of the Veterinary Technology Program.  The capstone project is one of the differentiating tasks that separates Bachelor of Science students from Associate in Applied Science students.  “The project requires self-motivation and discipline, enables students to build relationships with mentors, allows them to be subject matter experts in their topic, and builds their communication skills through their presentation,” Dr. Zenor said.

The PowerPoint presentations were held on April 11 and 18.  A poster session was held April 25.  A new aspect this year involved the senior students presenting their projects to second-year students during Grand Rounds.  This is the first year that senior students presented to an audience outside of their assigned class.  “This allowed the opportunity for them to teach and motivate the second-year students on what will be their future project,” Dr. Zenor said.  “Both the PowerPoint and poster sessions were standing room only and drew a large number of faculty and staff from supporting departments.  Seeing the success of these students should make everyone involved in the Veterinary Nursing program very proud of our newest colleagues!”