Overseas Travel Grants, British Veterinary Association Congress 2008 - London, UK

Main Category: Veterinary
Article Date: 29 Sep 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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The BVA travel scholarship scheme, instituted in March 1983, awards grants annually to veterinary students to enable them to undertake projects in developing countries.

This year sees the 25th anniversary of the overseas travel grant scheme and, in appreciating how student experience can help shape the views of a profession, the BVA Overseas Group has proudly supported 90 veterinary students undertaking projects in 38 different developing countries during this period.

This year the BVA has awarded three grants of £500 to

- Olivia Avdis (Edinburgh) to study the welfare and health of dogs in Tanzania and investigate the relationship of this to immunological response to rabies vaccination

- Ellie Milnes (Cambridge) to assess the ethical and welfare implications of game capture techniques with the Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism

- Emily Newman (Cambridge) to visit Cameroon to undertake a prevalence survey of Blastocystis hominis and Dientamoeba fragilis in the animals and humans in the Limbe Wildlife Centre to aid an investigation into the epidemiology and potential pathogenicity of these organisms in great apes

An additional travel grant of £500 supported by the World Association of Transport Animal Welfare and Studies (TAWS), in collaboration with the BVA, was awarded to Nichola Robertson (Bristol) to work on a SPANA project in Morocco to study the aetiology and risk factors of eye lesions in working equids, and to assess their welfare impact.

The Donkey Sanctuary was again inspired to link up with the Overseas Group by providing opportunities for undergraduates to visit their overseas sites, this year enabling Anna Borlase (Bristol) and Ellie Milnes (Cambridge) to work on projects in Mexico and Egypt respectively.

1. The BVA travel scholarship scheme, instituted in March 1983, awards grants annually to undergraduates attending a veterinary school in the United Kingdom. Applicants are required to be in their clinical years and should be undertaking a project which includes a strong element of development work. The project should be of benefit both to the student and the country concerned. The work is usually carried out during the summer vacation. Since 1983, grants have been awarded to 90 veterinary students enabling them to undertake projects in 38 different developing countries.

2. The TAWS grants support veterinary undergraduates undertaking projects involving working transport animals or animals used for draught work in developing countries. For further information on the work of TAWS visit http://www.taws.org

3. The Donkey Sanctuary awards grants to support veterinary undergraduates visiting a DS project site in Mexico, Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya or India. For further information on the work of The Donkey Sanctuary visit http://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk

British Veterinary Association