North American Veterinary Conference 2012

Posted January 16, 2012
Written by Donald F. Smith, DVM, Cornell University

The North American Veterinary Conference (NAVC) opened last Saturday in Orlando, FL. Traditionally the first major veterinary conference of the year, this is one of the two largest continuing education programs in the world for veterinarians, veterinary technicians, practice managers and other veterinary health professionals.

The location in central Florida makes the NAVC a popular site for northeastern and upper midwestern veterinarians to bring their families to escape the grip of winter and also enjoy Disney attractions. Attendees come from all over the U.S. and many foreign countries to update their knowledge and learn about the latest medical advances from over 350 speakers. The massive exhibition area also allows veterinarians to see and purchase the latest products from pharmaceutical and pet food companies, from diagnostic testing services, medical appliance companies, publishing companies and numerous other vendors.

The conference is also a place for friends and former classmates to gather and rekindle friendships. This intermingling is facilitated by alumni receptions that veterinary colleges host where they also share updates of their latest activities. Grandparents even come to Forida, taking their grandkids to Disney while Mom or Dad attends meetings.

Approximately 750 veterinary students also participate. Living on frugal budgets, they scour the internet for the least expensive flights to Florida, then squeeze into small hotel rooms and attend stimulating lectures from people whose textbooks they have been reading back home. Banfield Pet Hospital even sponsors a competition for veterinary students for bragging rights for their home institution.


Dr. Laurel Kaddatz, Hospital Director
of the Pound Ridge Veterinary Center (NY),
 2012 president of the NAVC
Photo by the author

 Barely 30 years old, this conference has grown from humble roots in the early 1980s. Like its counterpart, the Western Veterinary Conference (held every February in Las Vegas), the NAVC has eclipsed and often replaced many of the smaller state and college continuing education programs. The sheer magnitude of the conference and the quality and variety of programs (over a dozen daily lecture tracks, including the largest exotic animal medical program in the world), as well as the nightly entertainment and local central Florida attractions have catapulted the NAVC into its current prominence with approximately 14,000 professional attendees this year.

A non-profit educational venture, the NAVC is administered by a board, many of whom are veterinary practitioners. Laurel Kaddatz DVM (U. Minn '77) serves as 2012 president of the NAVC. He is a companion animal practitioner from Pound Ridge, NY, and past president of the New York State Veterinary Medical Society. He and his wife, Jacqueline hosted Saturday evening's President's reception at the Gaylord Palms Resort. A veritable who's who of veterinarians attended, including the AVMA president and most of the Executive Board, numerous veterinary college deans, and leaders from industry.

Dr. Smith invites comments at dfs6@cornell.edu

Tuskegee University's Distinctive School of Veterinary Medicine

Posted January 13, 2012 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)

Donald F. Smith, Cornell University

This historical blog is in recognition of the 150th anniversary 
of the American Veterinary Medical Association (1863-2013).

The first and only veterinary school at an historic Black college was established in the post WWII period at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. From its humble beginnings under the inspiration of Frederick Douglass Patterson, veterinarian and third president of Tuskegee, the school has had a distinguished history of educating young African-Americans and others for the past seven decades.

Patterson was orphaned at an early age and separated from his family except for an older sister who raised and supported him though his early life and schooling. He had the good fortune to attend Iowa State University, where he received his DVM in 1923 and his M.S. three years later. He then joined the faculty of Tuskegee Institute at a time when the South was transitioning from plantation living where the principal crop was cotton, to livestock production. The need for veterinarians became more acute as farmers were poorly equipped to raise cattle and other livestock.



Tuskegee University veterinary students
examine a dog (above) and assist during
operation of canine patient (below).
Photos provided by Tuskegee University
School of Veterinary Medicine

Though some of the northern veterinary colleges, in particular, Kansas State and Ohio State Universities, Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania, had educated African-American students before 1940, the numbers were small (fewer than 70). The southern veterinary colleges, where most of the aspiring Black students lived, were segregated. As the northern colleges became more pressed to admit students from their states, there were few places for African-Americans students to receive the DVM degree.

Dr. Patterson was sent to Cornell for further graduate training. Shortly after returning with his PhD, he was named the third president of Tuskegee.

A bold and visionary leader, President Patterson lobbied successfully from the state of Alabama for a new program in veterinary medicine. Using that modest public support as well as student labor, the college opened in 1945 with the expectation that it would become a regional center where Blacks could study veterinary medicine.

Patterson’s early faculty were led by Dr. Edward B. Evans, who became the founding dean. Several faculty traveled to northern schools like Cornell and Iowa State University for graduate degrees in their early years. This was essential to establish credible teaching and research programs and to eventually achieve accreditation by the American Veterinary Medical Association.

President Patterson's legacy extended to other fields as he encouraged African-Americans to pursue higher education. Historically, he is best known as the leader who established the United Negro College Fund. He also supported the establishment of the famed Tuskegee Airmen program .

Tuskegee’s School of Veterinary Medicine currently enrolls approximately 70 DVM students in each class. Two of the current deans of other U.S. veterinary colleges are Tuskegee graduates: Willie Reed '78 (Purdue University) and Phillip Nelson '79 (Western University of the Health Sciences). Dr. Michael Blackwell '75 served as chief of staff for the surgeon general of the U.S. (1999-2000) and also dean of the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine (2000-2008).

Tsegaye Habtemariam, DVM, MPVM, PhD
Dean, Tuskegee University 
College of Veterinary Medicine,
Nursing and Allied Health 
All photos provided by Tuskegee University

Most Tuskegee graduates practice east of the Mississippi, though only 7% live in Alabama. Fifty percent reside in states adjacent to Alabama (Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Kentucky); and another 10% practice in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Other notable Tuskegee veterinary graduates include Dr. Harold Davis '76, past president of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists and former VP, Amgen, Inc., and Dr. Matthew Jenkins '57, former practitioner in California and former member of Tuskegee’s Board of Trustees. Dr. and Mrs. Roberta Jenkins are generous supporters of Tuskegee’s School of Veterinary Medicine.

Dr. Smith invites comments at dfs6@cornell.edu