On Tuesday, March 7, the Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Centre will hold the final webinar in its 2017 winter webinar series, New Approaches to Old Diseases, from 1:00–2:00 pm AST.

Speakers Dr. Caroline Hewson and Dr. Christine Savidge will tie together the concepts illustrated in the first two webinars, using diverse clinical cases from their practice and submitted by webinar participants. As with the previous two webinars, this webinar gives participants one hour of CE.

In the first webinar, Dr. Hewson reviewed three core communication tools for delivering terminal diagnoses and creating workable clinical care plans with clients. She also introduced three other tools that provide a framework to help attendees and their clients to anticipate and respond with greater peace of mind, as the animal’s condition deteriorates, and to identify the right time to start talking about euthanasia and the animal’s end-of-life.

In the second webinar, Dr. Savidge used feline and canine cases of renal disease to illustrate different disease trajectories and how they can help veterinarians and clients anticipate and respond to an animal’s changing condition, as renal insufficiency progresses, and decide when or if intensive rescue treatment is desirable in uremic crises.

For more information, please visit awc.upei.ca. Registrants who are unable to attend a webinar at the scheduled time will be sent the link to view it after it has taken place.

When Dr. Mike West, DVM, was growing up, he had pets but no inkling that he would become a veterinarian—until his third year at Dalhousie University.

Born in England, Dr. West moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1982, with his family. After he graduated from high school, he attended Dalhousie University where he earned a BSc in biology, with a minor in English literature. While at Dalhousie, he saw a poster promoting an information session about AVC’s doctor of veterinary medicine program, which caught his eye. He went to the session and was hooked! After four years at Dalhousie and one at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in Truro, he applied to AVC and was “lucky enough to get in on my first try.”

“I really enjoyed my time at AVC as a student—the atmosphere, the intensity, the learning, the camaraderie,” he said. “It was a very exciting time in my life, and it confirmed that veterinary medicine was the career I wanted.”

After graduating with his DVM degree in 1994, Dr. West worked in private practice in Atlantic Canada for a year, gaining experience in various areas of veterinary medicine. In the fall of 1995, he and his wife, Jennifer King, moved to England with the intention of staying six months. He practiced veterinary medicine in and around Oxford, earning a certificate in veterinary dermatology in the process. Eight years later, he and Jennifer came back to Halifax, with two children, Maddie, now 16, and Evan, now 14, and two cats. He worked at the Fairview Animal Hospital until recently when he decided he wanted a new challenge. He applied for and won a position at AVC as a community practice veterinarian, teaching DVM students and providing veterinary care to companion animals.

Welcome back, Dr. West!

Dr. Peter Foley, Assistant Professor, Small Animal Internal Medicine, Atlantic Veterinary College, will give a public workshop on Thursday, March 9, at 7 pm, about end-of-life issues with companion animals. The workshop will take place at AVC in Lecture Theatre A. Dr. Foley will offer information to help people act on behalf of their beloved pets as the end of life draws near. He will discuss palliative care options, assessing quality of life, deciding when euthanasia is right, the euthanasia procedure itself, and coping strategies for dealing with the loss of a pet.

Everyone is welcome. Admission is free, and refreshments will be served. For information, contact (902) 566-0589.

The AVC Wildlife Service will hold its first Midwinter Pub Night for Wildlife at Upstreet Craft Brewing, 41 Allen Street, Charlottetown, on Thursday, March 2, 2017, from 7–11 p.m. There will be an art raffle and a silent auction to raise awareness of and funds in support of the Wildlife Service. For information, please contact Fiep de Bie, AVC Wildlife Service, (902) 620-5166.

University of Prince Edward Island Women’s Basketball head coach Greg Gould is pleased to announce Reese Baxendale has committed to the Panthers for the 2017-18 season.

Baxendale is a 5’8” guard from Sussex New Brunswick. She leads her Sussex Regional High School Sonics—one of the top teams in the Maritimes—in scoring and assists. She has also been a starter on the New Brunswick U17 team for two straight years.

“I am very excited to be joining the UPEI Panthers,” said Baxendale. “I love Charlottetown, the people of PEI, and the overall campus feel. I’m looking forward to the challenge of playing in the AUS, growing my game to the next level, and contributing to a team that is definitely on the rise. I will be proud to be a Panther and proud to attend UPEI as I work towards my future with a quality education from such a well-respected university.

Coach Gould has watched Baxendale’s rise for the past several years. “She comes from a winning program and competes hard every game,” said Gould. “Reese is fearless on the court and attacks the basket hard—often scoring the basket and going to the free throw line. Reese has a great motor, is very fast in the open court, and constantly puts pressure on opponent’s defence. She is also a very good on-the-ball defender. I believe Reese will have an immediate impact on our team and I look forward to working with her.”

Baxendale has been accepted into UPEI’s Faculty of Science.

Find more details at gopanthersgo.ca.

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) is currently underway for first- and fourth-year students at the University of Prince Edward Island. NSSE collects information at hundreds of four-year colleges and universities about first-year and senior students' participation in programs and activities that institutions provide for their learning and personal development.

Three UPEI students have already won $100 by completing the NSSE survey. However, if eligible students have not completed the survey yet, it is not too late to do so and be included in the next early bird prize draws which are scheduled to take place on March 3, March 10, and the final grand prize in mid-April. First- and fourth-year students should check their UPEI email account for an email from NSSE to complete their online survey today!

Students in UPEI’s Department of Applied Human Sciences are hosting a panel discussion about food insecurity on Prince Edward Island. “A healthy ‘food Island’ for all? Food insecurity and healthy public policy: a call to action” will be held 7:00 pm, March 13 in the Wanda Wyatt Lecture Theatre in UPEI’s K.C. Irving Chemistry Centre. All are welcome.

The panel will discuss the current state of food insecurity in PEI, its impact on one’s health and well-being, what current actions the government is taking to address food insecurity, and future actions needed to address this growing problem.

The panel includes:

Dr. Valerie Tarasuk, Professor, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto is the keynote speaker. Dr. Tarasuk is an acclaimed international researcher in food insecurity and is the lead researcher for PROOF, which has been providing reports on provincial and national data on food insecurity for the past several years. She will will review the current state of food insecurity in PEI and, drawing on evidence of what has worked in other jurisdictions, identify some potential policy options to address food insecurity here. 

Dr. David Sabapathy, Deputy Chief Health Officer, Department of Health and Wellness, Government of PEI. Dr. Sabapathy will review current health status of Islanders compared to the rest of Canada, and the role that the social determinants of health play in Islanders’ health.

Jennifer Burgess, Department of Family and Human Services. Burgess will discuss initiatives that government has taken to reduce poverty and food insecurity in PEI, and proposed future actions.

Dr. Colleen Walton, Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Human Sciences, University of Prince Edward Island. Dr. Walton will discuss her current food costing research in PEI and the need for ongoing monitoring as  part of the strategy to improve food security.

The panel is organized by a group of UPEI senior Foods and Nutrition students, under the supervision of Dr. Jennifer Taylor. The event is supported by the Saint Dunstan’s University Institute for Christianity and Culture.

For more information, contact Dr. Jennifer Taylor, jtaylor@upei.ca, or 902-566-0475.

The University of Prince Edward Island prides itself on people, excellence, and impact and is committed to assisting students reach their full potential in both the classroom and community. With roots stemming from two founding institutions—Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan’s University—UPEI has a reputation for academic excellence, research innovation, and creating positive impacts locally, nationally, and internationally. UPEI is the only degree granting institution in the province and is proud to be a key contributor to the growth and prosperity of Prince Edward Island.

The next lecture presented by The PEI History of Medicine Society features Dr. Jean Mitchell, associate professor of anthropology at UPEI. Dr. Mitchell’s talk is entitled, “The ‘Other War’ in the South Pacific (1942-45): malaria, the American military, and Pacific islanders during the Second World War.” Her lecture is Wednesday, March 8 at 7:00 pm in the Faculty Lounge of UPEI’s SDU Main Building.

When American troops landed in New Hebrides (Vanuatu) in the Southwest Pacific in 1942 to halt Japanese expansion during the Second World, they were ready to mount a full-scale war. They were ill-prepared for their early battle with malaria, which quickly incapacitated soldiers. They also had limited access to quinine supplies—the only effective treatment—that had been cut off by Japanese forces.

Controlling malaria became instrumental in deciding the outcome of the Pacific war. The subsequent search for malaria chemotherapy initiated one of the largest biomedical research efforts in the first part of the twentieth century, providing a model for later biomedical and health research programs. When the endemic malaria became an epidemic among American soldiers, it transformed the little known archipelago of New Hebrides into an “unintended laboratory” for malaria research and control.

Dr. Jean Mitchell has been doing research in the Pacific for more than 20 years. Her interest in medical anthropology developed while working in health programs in the South Pacific and India.

All are welcome!

The University of Prince Edward Island prides itself on people, excellence, and impact and is committed to assisting students reach their full potential in both the classroom and community. With roots stemming from two founding institutions—Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan’s University—UPEI has a reputation for academic excellence, research innovation, and creating positive impacts locally, nationally, and internationally. UPEI is the only degree granting institution in the province and is proud to be a key contributor to the growth and prosperity of Prince Edward Island.

Erin O’Halloran, a fourth-year student in UPEI’s Faculty of Business, is a member of one of two national finalist teams in the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF) Breakthru competition. Breakthru is a biennial start-up competition where more than 60 teams compete for the chance to pitch live on stage at the Breakthru LIVE awards dinner on March 23 at the Fredericton Convention Centre.

O’Halloran’s team is representing Newpy, a social network app for posting photos of products that are hidden inside digital packaging. The digital packaging designs grab attention and spark curiosity as to what is inside. Newpy offers two types of digital packaging—variety, which are ever-changing, unique designs to reflect user’s interests, and custom, which are specifically tailored to reflect a company’s brand. Custom digital packaging showcases the company’s name or logo in plain sight directly on the packaging. Companies will now have a choice: they can choose to hope good photos of their products are taken, or they can guarantee with Newpy that every photo posted will grow their brand.

“The very innovative network application developed by Erin and Alana is an amazing idea and a truly entrepreneurial endeavour,” said Dr. Juergen Krause, dean of UPEI’s Faculty of Business. “I applaud their accomplishments and wish the team great success at the competition.”

Good luck, Erin!

The University of Prince Edward Island prides itself on people, excellence, and impact and is committed to assisting students reach their full potential in both the classroom and community. With roots stemming from two founding institutions—Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan’s University—UPEI has a reputation for academic excellence, research innovation, and creating positive impacts locally, nationally, and internationally. UPEI is the only degree granting institution in the province and is proud to be a key contributor to the growth and prosperity of Prince Edward Island.

Every week, UPEI Athletics and Recreation recognizes a female student-athlete for her hard work and dedication to her respective sport. Congratulations to Kiera Rigby (Women’s Basketball), the UPEI Panther Subway Athlete of the week for February 21-26!

Kiera Rigby is a fourth-year Bachelor of Science student from Charlottetown and a member of the UPEI Women’s Basketball team. Rigby scored 21 points and shot 40% from field goal range in the AUS quarter-final Women’s Basketball Championship loss to Acadia. She made 11 of 13 shots from the foul line, and had three rebounds, one assist, two steals, and one blocked shot. “Kiera had a great all-around game in our playoff game with Acadia,” said coach Greg Gould. “She has become one of the premier scorers in the AUS!”

Find more details at gopanthersgo.ca.