Call for Papers – AASV 2024 Student Seminar

Veterinary Student Scholarships

The American Association of Swine Veterinarians announces an opportunity for veterinary students to make a scientific presentation at the AASV Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, on Sunday, February 25, 2024. Interested students are invited to submit a one-page abstract of a research paper, clinical case study, or literature review for consideration. The submitting student must be a current (2023-24) student member of the AASV at the time of submission (renew here; new applicants apply here), and must not have graduated from veterinary school prior to February 25, 2024. Submissions are limited to one (1) abstract per student.

Abstracts and supporting information must be submitted online at https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/AASV2024 (see below for details). Submissions must be completed before 11:59pm Central Daylight Time on Wednesday, September 13, 2023 (firm deadline). Late submissions will not be considered.

Students will receive an email confirmation of their submission. If they do not receive the confirmation email, they must contact Dr. Andrew Bowman (bowman.214@osu.edu) by Friday, September 15, 2023 with supporting evidence that the submission was made in time; otherwise the abstract will not be considered for judging.

The abstracts will be reviewed by an unbiased, professional panel consisting of private practitioners, academicians, and industry veterinarians. Fifteen abstracts will be selected for oral presentation in the Student Seminar at the AASV Annual Meeting. Students will be notified of the review results by October 16, 2023, and those selected to participate will be expected to provide the complete paper or abstract, reformatted for publication in the conference proceedings, by November 15, 2023.

Student Seminar
Student participants will receive presentation awards and compete for scholarships awarded through the AASV Foundation. The oral presentations will be judged to determine the scholarship amount. The Zoetis Foundation has provided a $26,250 grant to the AASV Foundation to support awards and the top student presenter scholarship. This includes a $750 award for the student presenter of each paper selected for oral presentation at the meeting. Through the Zoetis Foundation’s grant, the AASV Foundation will also award a $5,000 scholarship to the student whose project and oral presentation are judged best overall.

Elanco Animal Health provides $20,000 in additional funding, enabling the AASV Foundation to award scholarships of $2500 each for 2nd through 5th place, $1500 each for 6th through 10th place, and $500 each for 11th through 15th place.

Student Poster Session
 Abstracts that are not selected for oral presentation in the Student Seminar will be considered for presentation in a poster session at the annual meeting. Those who participate in the poster session will receive a $500 presentation stipend funded by the AASV Foundation through a grant from the Zoetis Foundation and additional support from AASV. All students selected to make a poster presentation will be expected to supply a brief paper, formatted for publication in the conference proceedings, by November 15. The guidelines for preparing posters for the display are available at www.aasv.org/annmtg/2024/posters.php.

Veterinary Student Poster Competition
The presenters of the top fifteen poster abstracts compete for scholarship awards ranging from $200 to $500 in the Veterinary Student Poster Competition, sponsored by United Animal Health. See www.aasv.org/annmtg/2024/postercomp.htm for poster judging details.

In all cases, the student presenter is required to attend the meeting in person to make the presentation. Recorded/virtual presentations will not be accepted unless the meeting converts to an entirely virtual event.

Instructions for Submission of Abstracts

Abstract Content

Three categories of submissions will be accepted (Research, Clinical cases, Literature reviews). Submissions from all categories will be treated equally with respect to judging. The body of the abstract should include:

For Research Papers

  • Statement of the problem
  • Objective(s)
  • Brief materials and methods (including statistical analysis)
  • Significant results
  • Discussion of how results can be applied by practitioners

For Clinical Cases

  • Statement of the problem
  • Describe the herd(s) and the time period
  • Case history
  • State what data was collected, what tests were used, etc
  • Discuss the most significant findings and your recommendations
  • Describe how your findings will assist the practicing veterinarian
  • State what we can learn from this case or the methods used to work up this case
  • Itemize the take home message(s) for the audience

For Literature Reviews

(The literature review is meant to be a comprehensive review and a detailed summary of one specific topic)

  • State the focus of the paper and include why you think this is an important and timely subject for swine veterinarians
  • Discuss the most significant information gathered from the literature review. Describe how the findings will assist practicing veterinarians
  • Itemize the take home message(s) for the audience

Abstract Submission

AASV is using the Microsoft Conference Management Toolkit to manage the abstract submission and review. ALL submissions must be entered at https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/AASV2024 no later than 11:59pm Central Daylight Time on Wednesday, September 13, 2023.

The rules for submission should be followed carefully. Abstracts will not be accepted after the due date. Abstracts that do not comply with the instructions will not be considered.

Each student may submit one abstract. Papers having multiple authors may be submitted and presented by only one of the student authors. Distribution of any stipend or scholarship award is at the discretion of the presenting author.

The submitting student must create a free account (name, email, organization (university), password) at https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/User/Register to submit an abstract. Once logged in, go to https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/AASV2024 and click "Create New Submission" (from the Author Console). The following steps must be completed for a successful abstract submission:

1. TITLE. Enter the title of the abstract. The abstract title must not include any identifiers (i.e., student name, school, state, country, diagnostic lab name, farm name, etc).

2. AUTHORS. The submission must include TWO (and ONLY two) authors:

  • AUTHOR 1: The VETERINARY STUDENT logged in will automatically appear as the author. The student author is (and must remain) the primary contact.
  • AUTHOR 2: The one MENTOR/COAUTHOR who will verify the student's participation in the project. The coauthor must be a veterinarian, university faculty member, or AASV member. To add the coauthor, enter their email address in the space provided and click +Add. If the coauthor already has an account in the CMT system, they will be added as an additional author. If they do not have an account, you will be prompted to supply their name, organization, and country to add them as a coauthor. If the latter, under "Organization," enter the coauthor's employing company, clinic, or university.

Do not add additional authors. These 2 authors are for communication regarding the abstract submission and review. If the abstract is selected for presentation, additional authors may be included later in the published paper and presentation.

3. ABSTRACT. Upload a one-page abstract (pdf, doc, or docx). The filename of your abstract must not contain any identifiers (i.e., student name, school, state, country, diagnostic lab name, farm name, etc). Abstracts must not exceed a single (one-sided) 8 1/2 x 11" page, using 1" margins and 12 pt Times New Roman font. Include the abstract title on the page. The body of the abstract may be single-spaced. Do not include references in the abstract. The abstract may include a visual aid (table or figure), but the visual aid must fit on the page with the text. There must be absolutely no identifiers (i.e., student name, school, state, country, diagnostic lab name, farm name, etc.) within the abstract, abstract title, or visual aid. This abstract will be used for judging only. If selected for presentation, a separate paper (that includes identifiers and additional authors) will be published in the conference proceedings.

4. ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS. Supply contact details, confirm current student membership in the national AASV organization, designate veterinary school year classification, and certify the co-author's participation in the project and his/her status as a veterinarian, university faculty member, or AASV member.

5. CLICK "SUBMIT"
Upon successful completion of the submission, BOTH authors will receive an emailed confirmation copy of the submission. If the confirmation email is not received (check your junkmail folder), log back into https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/AASV2024 to check the status of your submission in the Author Console. If you have questions or concerns, send a message to the session chair, Dr. Andrew Bowman: bowman.214@osu.edu.

Submitted abstracts may be edited (replaced) at any time until 11:59 pm Central Daylight time on Wednesday, September 13, after which all abstracts will be locked for judging and submissions will no longer be accepted.

What Happens Next ...

Students will be notified of the judging panel's decision by October 16.

If accepted for oral or poster presentation, a paper formatted for publication in the conference proceedings will be due in the AASV office by November 15. Awards will be presented only to students who submit their paper on time. Students who wish to submit their research results to the Journal of Swine Health & Production (JSHAP) may submit an abstract (re-formatted according to the AASV Author Guidelines) for the AASV proceedings rather than the full paper (since papers published in full in the proceedings are not eligible for publication in JSHAP).

Students will be expected to provide their PowerPoint presentation to organizers in advance of the annual meeting; failure to meet the specified deadline will result in the student not being eligible for scholarship awards.

For more information, contact the AASV office (515-465-5255; aasv@aasv.org ).

 

AASV Student Seminar Judging

The initial judging of abstracts is accomplished by having all judges score the abstracts using the Initial Abstract Evaluation form below. The judges are then asked to rank the abstracts according to these criteria in case of tie scores. The judges’ results are averaged and the abstracts with the best 15 numerical scores are chosen for ORAL presentation. During the oral presentations at the AASV Annual Meeting, the judges complete the Student Seminar Presentation Evaluation (the next two scoresheets) to determine scholarship award winners.

 

Initial Abstract Evaluation

(for initial review and selection of presentations for the Student Seminar and Poster Session at the AASV Annual Meeting)

Stage of Completion ______

  • Complete (3)
  • Experiment complete, data collected, and results are being interpreted (2)
  • Still collecting data for project (1)
  • Project has not begun yet (0)

Interest to Practitioners ______

  • High interest and information immediately applicable (3)
  • Interesting and some components applicable (2)
  • Less interesting or applicable (1)
  • Not very interesting or applicable (0)

Subject Contribution _____

  • Significant contribution to industry knowledge (3)
  • Moderate contribution to industry knowledge (2)
  • Slight contribution to industry knowledge (1)
  • No real contribution (0)

Abstract Quality ______
Was the abstract well-written (spelling, grammar), easy to follow (organization, clarity), and with good scientific depth?

  • Exceptional - well-written and great scientific depth (5)
  • Well-written - one minor area needs improvement (4)
  • Acceptable - needing two or three minor improvements (3)
  • Needs improving - needing moderate improvements (2)
  • Needs significant improvements (1)
  • Not acceptable - very poorly written; needs to be fully re-written (0)

If the abstract does not rank high enough for oral presentation, should it be allowed to be presented in poster format? _____Yes _____No

 

Student Seminar Presentation Evaluation

(for evaluation of Student Seminar ORAL presentations and selection of student scholarship winners at the AASV annual meeting)

Click here to view an award-winning student presentation

Name:________________________________________

Subject ________

  • Original idea of student (4)
  • Component of a larger study-student ideas incorporated (3)
  • Confirmation of known information but possibly with a new twist (2)
  • Confirmation of known information (1)
  • Review (0)

Interest to Practitioners ________

  • High interest and information immediately applicable (4)
  • High interest but information not immediately applicable (3)
  • Interesting and some components applicable (2)
  • Less interesting or applicable (1)
  • Not very interesting or applicable (0)

Subject contribution ________

  • Significant contribution to industry knowledge(4)
  • Moderate contribution to industry knowledge (3)
  • Slight contribution to industry knowledge (2)
  • Summary of current information (1)
  • No real contribution (0)

Experimental Design Consistent with Expected Outcome ________

  • Very consistent (4)
  • Moderately consistent (3 )
  • Only slightly consistent (2)
  • Experimental design too simple or complex for expected outcome (1)
  • Lacked experimental design (0)

Perceived Overall Effort ________

  • Significant contribution to study (3)
  • Worked hard individually with some advisor help (2)
  • Average effort, possibly 50-50 with advisor or others (1)
  • Mostly someone else's work (0)

TOP TOTAL __________

Oral presentation*
Poor (0)
Fair (1)
Good (2)
Excellent (3)
Eye contact        
Posture        
Proper use of pointer and/or PowerPoint animation        
Poise (displays confidence)        
Ability to speak freely without use of notes or text        
Personal enthusiasm about the topic        
Demonstration of a true
understanding of the subject matter 		       
Displays understanding of possible applications of the topic        
Quality of presentation
(background, fonts, slide layout) 		       
Quality of materials used
(charts, tables, photos) 		       
Organization of the presentation        
Amount of relevant information covered        
Validity of data        
Adeptness or ability to handle Q & A orally        
BOTTOM TOTAL        

Top total __________ + Bottom total __________= OVERALL SCORE* __________

*If a student presentation lasts longer than the allocated 12 minutes, 10 points will be deducted from the overall score.

Scholarship Recipients

The roster of past veterinary student scholarship recipients is available at www.aasv.org/foundation/scholarshipwinners.htm.