Sixteen veterinary students from across the country were presented scholarships at the 49th Annual Conference of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) in Charlotte, North Carolina, through the AABP Foundation – Zoetis Veterinary Student Scholarship program. The fourth-year veterinary students each received a $5,000 scholarship and travel to the conference.

“The AABP Foundation and Zoetis collaborate to provide students with an opportunity which not only relieves some financial pressure from the cost of their classroom education but also provides them with an opportunity to pursue AABP Annual Conference related networking and educational opportunities,” said M. Gatz Riddell Jr., DVM, executive vice president, AABP. “The combination of financial support and experience gained has an immeasurable impact on the scholarship recipients’ careers.”

The AABP Foundation – Zoetis Veterinary Student Scholarship program, established in 2009, was created to help encourage and support careers in large-animal veterinary medicine as part of the Zoetis Commitment to Veterinarians™ initiative. Scholarship applicants must be entering their senior year of veterinary school and are evaluated on academic performance, essay submission and involvement in bovine medicine and related extracurricular activities.

“We believe the combination of financial, experiential and mentorship support helps shape future veterinary leaders to support producers in raising healthy animals and producing safe food,” said Doug Braun, DVM, veterinary segment manager at Zoetis. “We have a strong veterinary community and know connecting students with these established leaders will continue to strengthen our industry.”