News Topics
ALPACA VETERINARY TRAINING GOES VIRTUAL!
www.vet.k-state.edu/CE/camelid/camelid.htm
Educators in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University were just awarded a $20,000 gift from the Mid-America Alpaca Foundation to provide necessary funding for a Distance Continuing Education Program on the Veterinary Care of Camelids. This “virtual training” program will allow veterinarians from any where in the world to gain access to critical training information at any time day-or-night. After all, it’s always 5 O’clock somewhere!
One of the biggest obstacles for veterinarians in practice is that time and money are precious commodities. Veterinarians often can not afford to spend critical time and resources attending in-depth CE programs dedicated to llamas and alpacas. Also, these veterinarians may need immediate access to information in order to better care for or diagnose life-threatening conditions in llamas or alpacas. This Distance CE program will allow them immediate access at their convenience and will allow them to obtain training in short or long periods of time at their discretion.
By establishing the MAAF Continuing Education Fund, the Mid-America Alpaca Foundation is forging new ground in veterinary training in alpacas. No program of this type exists anywhere in the world at this time. The unique collaboration between MAAF and Kansas State University will bear fruit in ways that traditional continuing education programs can not.
David Anderson, Professor and Head of Agricultural Practices says, “The MAAF is a vital partner in our ability to provide up-to-date, accurate informational to a global community that is growing. This will enable us to better serve the citizens of Kansas and to promote Kansas State University and the MAAF as leaders in education innovation.”
Pete Caffrey, President of the MAAF, commented that, “This program will launch Phase II of the Foundation’s Design for Education. Alpaca owners in every state will benefit because large and small animal veterinarians will be able access the information necessary to provide care for the nation’s alpaca herd.”
Meredyth Jones, Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Alpacas on Campus program at K-State said, “The $20,000 gift will provide base funding for the development of the alpaca education program for a period of 5 years, set to run through the end of 2013."