Filled with hands-on activities including a teddy bear surgery, Texas A&M’s Veterinary School Open House can be crucial for those considering a career caring for animals.
The open house will be held on March 30 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at A&M’s College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences Education Complex. This event has a large assortment of activities such as tours of the small and large animal hospitals at the complex as well as lectures on how to get into Vet School.
Hunter Enderle is a third year Veterinary student and co-director of the open house, tasked with overseeing all the committees of the event. Enderle said he looks forward to opening up the vet school and giving everyone some insight on the career he loves.
“When I was looking at where I wanted to go for my undergrad I went to this open house at A&M and I just remember everything about it,” Enderle said. “I went to all the lectures and got to pet some exotic bird. That memory really stuck with me and that’s why I’ve come all the around and am a director of this great event that almost inspired me to go to vet school in the first place.”
Tori Chambers is a second year Veterinary student and junior director of the open house. She is tasked with assisting the other directors with organization and logistical issues. The open house caters for about six to eight thousand people annually by providing food trucks and holding tours that can be signed up for in advance or the day of. Chambers said the open house is led fully by passionate student volunteers.
“We have some really neat exhibits and demonstrations,” Chambers said. “Last year we had search and rescue dogs come out and give a demonstration of the training they go through for their job. We also have an exotics room that’s usually a big hit. In the past we cooked all the food ourselves but we made the transition to food trucks recently for the people in attendance.”
Victoria Grimsley is a third year Veterinary student and is the co-director of the vet school’s open house. According to Grimsley, the open house has something for everyone, such as a teddy bear surgery where children dress up and practice performing surgery with the vet students.
“The goal of the event is to bring awareness to the general public about veterinary medicine and shed a light on what vet med is,” Grimsley said. “Many people think it’s just fixing dogs and cats but there’s a lot that encompasses vet medicine including the large animal side and vet pathologists and vet public health workers and then ideally, to inspire the future generation of youngsters who want to be veterinarians one day.”