Savma

[shortnsweet]

Hey guys,

So as some of you may know, Glasgow (Dublin, RVC, and Edinburgh) are all AVMA accredited, but we are, as of now, not allowed to have SAVMA chapters. If we gain enough interest over here though, we would like to try and start our own respective clubs, as the opportunities would be plentiful, and it may begin to bridge the gap between American and international schools' students.

I was just wondering how many of you are members of SAVMA, how has your chapter benefited you, what sorts of things does you chapter do every year, or any other information regarding SAVMA/SCAVMA you would like to share!!!

Any little bit helps!!

Thanks so much!!

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[sumstorm]

I'm a SAVMA member. I don't know if I would be if it wasn't required to join other clubs here. My understanding is the main benefit is that SAVMA provides funding to clubs. But I kind of feel like the biggest effort is to fundraise among students and redistribute funds, and there are certainly clubs that I don't care about, so mixed feelings on that. However, they do operate a gift shop (inlcuding online) that supports the clubs and they organize sales at other locations (fairs, conferences) that support the clubs, and they operate 2 large silent auctions and a live auction each year to generate funds. I also understand that they provide funding to students for travel and such (again, I'm not sure how I feel about redistribution of funds to benefit individuals.)

I also admit that in the first silent auction, I arranged for some expensive hand-cast porcelain items (from artists friends) that were really lovely; both were broken before getting to the auction, and that also left me feeling like folks were somewhat careless, particularly since I discovered the breakage by realizing they weren't at the auction (ie no one thought to tell me that these items, which the artists spent a lot of time on, and other folks I knew had asked me to place bids for them, had been damaged and disposed of.)

Here they also sponsor things like volley ball tourneys, bar parties, etc. Unfortunatly, most of those things occur on Thursday, when I have classes for 10-12 hours solid and don't have the energy to do anything other than crash. I have attended the picnic each year, but can't afford to attend the ball.

So I guess I have mixed feelings because I believe the combined power to support club activities like wetlabs and conferences is valuable, but I'm not sure I like redistributing funds that I could use in my pocket (via soliciting students, fees, and donation requests) for others to drink or travel, particularly when the schedule is consistently set up in such a way that a focus area of our school is excluded, and in such a way that lack of personal funding will exclude a decent portion of the student body (even if I could afford proper attire for a ball, The $50/person ticket is more than a weeks worth of groceries in my household.) So I feel there is a lot of funding moving towards a portion of the school that has nothing to do with academics, or skills sets, or improving our ability as DVM's that I feel should come out of the attending individuals pockets rather than out of a common pocket.

 

[elefante7]

I am also a member of SAVMA (I think that most people are). Again, it is required at our school if you want to participate in any clubs. Here, I don't feel as much like it is just a redistribution of funds exactly. Most of our SCAVMA chapter's money comes from the pet food store (where major pet food companies give us food really cheap to free and we can sell it to the students and faculty for cheap but still turning a profit). I also feel like I have gotten way more back from SAVMA than I have put in either monetarily or in time volunteering. I have gone to dozens of club talks with free lunches where I have learned a ton plus wet labs, conferences, etc. Wisconsin hosted the SAVMA symposium last year, and from my albeit biased view, I think it was a huge success.

 

[sumstorm]

I do agree the funds going to clubs/wetlabs/talks are valuable. just not sure I think funds should go to social parties/booze/balls (I'm even good with the idea of it going towards intramural sports) I tend to feel like indivuals who participate in those activities should foot the bill for themselves and the SAVMA funds should be used toward DVM related activities. We do have the food programs as well. Our clubs do a lot of their own fundraising to cover a lot of the lunches and such, so I don't know that SAVMA covers those costs very often at this school. However, the vast majority of the funding is still coming from within the student body. Which means that for students on loans, the cost will be ~150-300% or more of the actual cost being paid now. Personally, I think shelling out money for social events now that I will be paying back with interest later isn't a good use of my funds. Definitly not saying everything is negative, just feel like it is a very mixed bag (and I have no issues with funds going to DVM related activities that I will never participate in like a wetlab on joint injections on horses.) I do feel a disproportionate amount of funding is focused on 1/3 of the student body that can afford to cover the difference to attend conferences, balls, parties (and/or can afford to take the time for those activities.) And 1/3 attendance is the published numbers from our SAVMA for attendance to the major events.