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CORE Activity Blog

Toronto Zoo – Rebecca McDonald

Posted August 19, 2019

Birds of prey have long captured the attention of animal lovers worldwide. A highly diverse and charismatic group, to us they represent everything from national emblems to beloved Disney characters. Despite this, many of us know very little about the avian species that we can find right here in North America.

CPHAZ Symposium - Kaitlin Doering

Posted August 19, 2019

My experience with Ontario Veterinary College’s CORE program this summer has been an amazing whirlwind of learning experiences, knowledge gained, personal growth and overall refinement of my interests and future ambitions. Through the program, I had the opportunity to attend the Centre For Public Health and Zoonoses (CPHAZ) Symposium and expand my knowledge on the topic of One Health - which I came to understand as the intersection of human health, veterinary medicine and the environment.

Ontario Small Ruminant Veterinary Conference – Mikayla Ringelberg

Posted August 19, 2019

On June 17, 2019, I had the opportunity to attend the first of a three-day Ontario Small Ruminant Veterinary Conference held at the University of Guelph. Researchers, industry experts, producers, students, and of course veterinarians from all around the world came to participate in these share their knowledge on current issues surrounding goats and sheep. Topics for keynote speakers include, but are not limited to iceberg diseases, lameness control, kid and lamb survival, udder health and milk quality, and welfare improvements.

Southern Ontario Reproductive Biology (SORB) Annual Meeting - Olivia Johns

Posted August 15, 2019

Thanks to the OVC CORE Program I had the opportunity to attend the Southern Ontario Reproductive Biology Annual Meeting in Toronto this year. I was really excited for this opportunity because I am very interested in the field of reproduction.

Ontario Small Ruminant Veterinary Conference - Megan Acheson

Posted August 15, 2019

On June 18th I had the exciting opportunity to attend the Ontario Small Ruminant Veterinary Conference for the day. Most of the content from the conference was new to me, which allowed me to learn a lot from each speaker. One of the aspects that I really enjoyed was gaining a global perspective on many topics in the industry and comparing them to practices that I recognized as standard in Canada.  There were two examples really stuck with me.

Southern Ontario Reproductive Biology Conference – Akshu Valecha

Posted August 15, 2019

Through the core program, I had the opportunity on June 7th to attend the 47th annual Southern Ontario Reproductive Biology Conference. Since the conference was held at University of Toronto, other students attending the conference carpooled together. The car ride to the conference gave me the opportunity to meet more new people and chat about their research since some of the students were presenting at the conference as well. I learned a lot about how to get involved in the various research opportunities available on campus.

CPHAZ Symposium - Stephen Miltenburg

Posted August 15, 2019

On May 30th, 2019 I had the opportunity to attend the 2019 Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses Annual Symposium (CPHAZ). This is an event aimed at connecting professionals and researchers from a variety of backgrounds to tackle health challenges under a One Health approach. There are many lessons to be learned from other fields, and exchanging knowledge with public health, food safety, and medical professionals can improve veterinary practice.

Toronto Zoo - Kyra Sykes

Posted August 15, 2019

On July 20th I had the wonderful opportunity to go to the Toronto Zoo and receive a behind the scenes tour of the new Wildlife Health Center including a chance to learn more about the conservation the zoo does. A major program I learned about was raising turtles in captivity for a few years until they became bigger in order to increase survival of species that need help, like the wood turtle and the Blanding’s turtle.

ICCI Cancer Research Symposium - Bianca Baldan

Posted August 15, 2019

Attending the ICCI Cancer Research Symposium on May 28 was a fun and exciting way to learn about what is “hot” in oncology research today. Oncology has been an interest of mine for a while, ever since cancer first affected my family. I was especially excited this summer to have the opportunity to do research on canine osteosarcoma and this symposium was a wonderful way for me to get a taste of what my summer would be like.

Toronto Zoo – Connor Bryant

Posted August 15, 2019

This summer the Ontario Veterinary College CORE program provided me the incredible opportunity to go behind-the-scenes at the Toronto Zoo Wildlife Health Centre and spend the morning with a zoo veterinarian. Ever since I was a very young child, I have had an interest in working with zoo animals and this passion has since been fostered into an interest in zoo animal medicine. This Toronto zoo experience through the OVC CORE program provided invaluable experience and insight into this profession and allowed me to hear some fascinating real-life stories.