World AIDS Day

Today is World AIDS Day, an event conceived of in 1987 by Thomas Netter and James Bunn, officers working at the World Health Organization on the Global AIDS Program.  Since 1988, it has been held every year on December 1 to raise global awareness about HIV and AIDS (which affects 33.3 million people world-wide), show support for those living with HIV, and commemorate those who have passed away.  The event provides an opportunity to address topics such as global inequities in access to health care and anti-viral drugs, the stigma and discrimination targeting those with HIV, and the need for continued research funding and education. 

via http://www.aidsandhiv.org/news/why-is-december-1-world-aids-day.html

For veterinarians and veterinary students, being pro-active in learning about HIV and AIDS  is of utmost importance, especially in an era of One Health, One Medicine.  In his excellent must-read article, "HIV/AIDS Education: Still an Important Issue for Veterinarians," Dr. Radford G. Davis, DVM, MPH, DACVPM, summarizes it best:

Veterinarians need to better understand HIV/AIDS for many reasons: to dispel unfounded beliefs; to address discrimination and liability issues; to educate and protect the health of clients and employees; to help those with HIV/AIDS keep their pets; and to meet legal and professional requirements. To do this, veterinarians must become proactive in learning about HIV/AIDS and in reaching out to pet owners living with HIV/AIDS, as well as the physicians of those individuals.

At Tuskegee University School of Veterinary Medicine, the Student LGVMA chapter, the first LGBT group to ever be established at Tuskegee, was able to host a very successful World AIDS Day Event for the second year in a row.   The LGVMA recently awarded their group with the 2011 LGVMA Leadership Award for outstanding leadership and community activism within the veterinary profession.

TUSVM-LGVMA World AIDS Day Poster, Courtesy of Audrey Weaver

I was able to briefly interview Audrey Weaver, a third-year student and Secretary of Broad Spectrum, about their event today.

Sonia Fang: So this was your second year hosting a World AIDS Day event, correct?

Audrey Weaver: Yes ma'am

SF: How did it go?  Did you bring in speakers this year?

AW: It was great. We had an awesome turn out with our HIV testing. We did have a speaker from the Alabama State Department of Public Health. There was food. There were cupcakes!! We raised some money that will be given to AIDS Alabama in Birmingham.

SF: Cool! Who was the speaker and what was their topic of discussion?

AW: The speaker was Lani Thompson and she talked about HIV statistics and practicing healthy sexual relationships.  She's the HIV coordinator for the Department of Public Health.

SF: Awesome! So do you have any tips for other school groups trying to pull off a World AIDS Day event?

AW: Well...hmm...persistence is key. This year was a little frustrating because there were some road blocks, but I think even if there is only one person dedicated to the project, the rest of the school will follow. Incentives seem to work well (food,raffles,etc).  I have to admit that it was frustrating when there wasn't a lot of people at the lunch and learn that we had. But I'm glad that even the small crowd that came received the message and enjoyed the speaker.  I still see it as a success. We had more people this year get tested which is awesome to me.

SF: That's great! WesternU was able to secure free HIV testing two years back, but we've run into problems in recent years. Do you have any tips on approaching people to donate time/resources to HIV testing or did your club fund it?

AW: We contacted Unity Wellness Center which is a part of East Alabama Medical Center in Auburn, AL. They do a lot of HIV awareness programs and work closely with HIV/AIDS patients. They are a nonprofit organization that works closely with the community. This is our second year working with them and it's always at no charge. There are lots of organizations that have trained professionals that will come to a location and administer free testing.  Usually local health departments will help. I don't think that can do large numbers but it probably depends on the area.

SF: Great! Do you have anything else you want to say?

AW: I love cupcakes!! 

SF: Hahah, well congratulations on another successful event! Thanks for agreeing to be interviewed on such short notice

AW: Yay!! Thanks Dr. Fang*!

SF: Thank you for all you do, Dr. Weaver!

Raising awareness at Tuskegee.

Did your school commemorate World AIDS Day?  Send us your stories and photos!

Here are some from WesternU from last year:  Lambda and Friends encouraged everyone to wear red,  distributed free red ribbons, provided pizza, and took a fancy photo at lunch. 

Free pizza.  Always an incentive.

Lambda and Friends, World AIDS Day 2010

More Articles on Veterinarians, HIV/AIDS or World AIDS Day
Leading HIV researcher, veterinarian delivers keynote at CVC Baltimore, DVM 360
World AIDS Day: Look to the Future, Educate Yourself and Watch a Documentary, Autostraddle
'Gay disease' or not, HIV is our responsibility, qnotes
Some Dentists Refuse to Serve People With HIV, The Advocate
Pause Today to Remember Lost Loved Ones..., The Root


*Note: We are not actually doctors.  Yet. 

Successful Events: Schools Celebrating National Coming Out Day!

Tuskegee University

"Tuskegee School of Vet med LGVMA chapter sold cupcakes as a yummy fundraiser for our chapter and gave out nifty rainbow ribbons to our classmates that wanted to show their support as well as talking to the various classes about what the day actually meant. Some of the ribbons had tags attached with quotes like "love is love", "No H8", and some had a space where u could sport the number of months/years "out and proud". We always have tremendous support from our TUSVM family. We're very proud!!!!"

Audrey Weaver, Class of 2013

Photo from Baking Bites Blog
http://bakingbites.com/2009/05/rainbow-cupcakes

From http://onekissworldwide.com/community/?tag=noh8

Purdue University 

"Rain moved Purdue’s National Coming Out Day Celebration indoors but didn’t dampen the spirit. The afternoon was celebrated with booths representing academic units, Purdue organizations, and community organizations. University and community leaders, including the Mayor of West Lafayette, spoke. The keynote speaker for the evening, Katherine Miller, spoke about her experiences as a cadet at West Point under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and her subsequent resignation."

Dr. Sandra Amass, Associate Dean for Engagement

 

 "Purdue Veterinary Medicine Booth at Purdue's National Coming Out Day Celebration!" Dr. Amass

"It was a great day with outstanding speakers!" Dr. Amass

Purdue's NCOD Poster

Western University of Health Sciences

Lambda and Friends distributed these new amazing shirts designed by Cynthia Ting.  We took our annual photo at noon on the lawn.  We also celebrated by going out for food and drinks!  Fun was had.

New shirts! Front.  Photo: S. Fang

Back Photo: S. Fang

Six of us representing four different colleges.  Photo: S.P

Penn 
Penn's LGBTQ Center hosted the "You Are Loved Project," an event for suicide prevention.  A suicide prevention presentation was followed by food and and hot cocoa.  All were invited to mingle.   Participants were encouraged to write positive messages in chalk across campus. The event raised awareness of the hurtful rhetoric used against those of the LGBTQ community, promoted tolerance, as well as an opportunity for students to get to know one another.

From https://www.facebook.com/PennLGBTC

http://chalkmessages.org/

Did your school celebrate National Coming Out Day?  Send us an email about it with photos if you have any, and we'll update this post!  broadspectrumoutreach [at] gmail [dot] com.

Interviews!

Broad Spectrum is very excited to start a recurring feature on our blog:  Interviews!

We are looking for veterinarians who are interested in being interviewed.  The interview would be conducted via email or phone, whichever is more convenient, and would focus on questions that pre-veterinary and veterinary students may have, especially with regards to being out in academia, the job interview process, and the workplace.  We believe this project will be important, not only as a resource to students, but as a means to strengthen a sense of visibility and community within the veterinary field.
If you are interested in participating or if you have questions you’d like to see answered, please email us at broadspectrumoutreach@gmail.com

To kick start this project, our current co-chairs decided to interview each other.  Please note that this will NOT be representative of the interviews we will conduct with veterinarians and other professionals!

And with that, we present:
A Long and Extraordinarily (Perhaps Regrettably) Candid Interview with:

Nikki (Ashley Nicole) Wright, University of Pennsylvania, class of 2014. (Broad Spectrum Intern/Resident Chair) 

Sonia Fang, Western University of Health Sciences, class of 2013 (Broad Spectrum Outreach Co-Chair)

Audrey Weaver, Tuskegee University, class of 2013 (Broad Spectrum Secretary)

William (Liam) Gilles, University of Wisconsin, class of 2013 (Broad Spectrum Outreach Co-Chair)


How it began:

Liam:  did we want to interview ONE OF US?

Sonia: oh shoot we are GREAT RESOURCES- i forgot!! LET US INTERVIEW EACH OTHER!

Liam: [we could] "interview" all of us via a chat and then edit it down to the BEST PARTS

Sonia: hahah you mean it'll be me typing LOL the entire time. SURE.

Nikki: sounds great - 'welcome to broad spectrum .. this is who we are.. we're just like you'

Liam: well, we'll edit out the "lols.” part of this whole thing is to be really inclusive, so we need to show people we're friendly/funny/and cooler than we really are

Audrey: good idea.

Liam: Who are we? Ready GO

Nikki: Nikki (Ashley Nicole) Wright, University of Pennsylvania, class of 2014, Wellesley College BA in Biology 2008, from Houston, TX; New Orleans, LA; Miami, FL; Boston, MA

Sonia: Sonia Fang.  Pomona College 2008.  Western University of Health Sciences, Class of 2013.   From: San Marino, CA. Interests.  HOLD ON.

Liam: Undergrad was a BA in Linguistics [at UW-Milwaukee, 2007], with a minor in Portuguese and an Asian Studies certificate; I've been known to break out the Portuguese and Mandarin if the mood strikes me.

Audrey: Audrey Weaver class of 2013 graduated from Virginia State University with a BS in animal science/pre-vet med.

Sonia: LIAM, YOU SPEAK MANDARIN AND YOU DIDN"T TELL ME THIS? The things you learn. *NBC shooting star*  Ok my interests: Identity, Race, Intersectionality (of multiple identities), Representation, The personal being political, Feminism, Music.  So.  that takes care of  the BUSINESS-y side of it. Do we want to have a goofy [interview] too? HOGWARTS HOUSE. I think I'd be in Hufflepuff. If we don't want to do that I DO NOT CARE I AM STILL IN HUFFLEPUFF.

Liam: I also am a legit gay cowboy and play ice hockey.

Sonia: maybe we can edit it and pretend I said Ravenclaw

Audrey: I like cupcakes

Nikki: hell yes! Cupcakes. I'd also like to include: running, yoga, cooking/baking, poetry, music, gardening, and good beer :)

Liam: GOOD BEER! And can I throw in “watching clothing hang on Idris Elba"?


Back to business.  So, what do you want to do, career-wise, after vet school?


Nikki: global public health, mixed animal practice, sustainable food production

Sonia: small animal medicine, maybe lab animal medicine

Liam: equine practice with a focus on sport horse medicine and eventually wind up … teaching, or working on the policy/government side of vet med

Audrey: Hoping to get into small animal emergency medicine, also into holistic/homeopathic medicine. Not sure how I'll work that but I'll work it!