For the second time in three years, the Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) at UPEI has won a prestigious national award for its highly successful veterinary summer camp program.

The Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education (CCAE) recently named AVC’s Dr. Tim Ogilvie AVC Vet Camp the Best Community Outreach Program in Canada. The CCAE is a volunteer-led organization that promotes excellence in educational advancement. Its membership is made up of universities, colleges, institutes and independent schools from across Canada. The CCAE’s PRIX D’EXCELLENCE awards program is assessed by CCAE colleagues and external judges.

“The Dr. Tim Ogilvie AVC Vet Camp provides students with real-life, hands-on experience in veterinary medicine—they do everything from looking at x-rays to participating in pathology labs,” says Dr. Donald Reynolds, Dean of the Atlantic Veterinary College. “To be named Best Community Outreach Program in Canada twice in three years recognizes the high quality of the educational experience students receive and the dedication of AVC’s staff and faculty to our program.”

The only veterinary-based summer program in Canada, AVC’s Dr. Tim Ogilvie Vet Camp provides students in grades 7, 8 and 9 who are passionate about veterinary medicine, animals and science to experience the life of a veterinarian. New this year is a senior camp for students in grades 10, 11 and 12. Since it began in 1998, the program has attracted over 1,200 participants from as far away as Australia, Spain, Scotland and Saudi Arabia.

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Photo: Displaying the CCAE award are (left to right) Charlotte McCardle, director of the program; Carole McCarville, vet camp instructor; and Cassie Brown, student coordinator of the 2009 camp.