Open House 2023
April 7 @ 9:00 am - 4:00 pm EDT
What is open house?
Each year the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine organizes an Open House event to welcome all ages and members of the community to explore the world of veterinary medicine and see what the University of Georgia’s Veterinary College has to offer!
Cost of event
This event is free and includes many events and exhibits on the CVM Classic Campus! These activities range from tours of the veterinary hospital to zoo and exotic animal displays! Donations at various activities can provide additional experiences. An extensive list of Open House activities can be found below.
Food and drinks will be available for purchase.
**We can only accept cash, check, and Zelle payments.
Registration
No registration for Open House necessary! Just drop by between the hours of the event!
** Teddy Bear Surgery and group tours of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital require registration on the day of the event (first-come, first-serve)
Parking
Parking is free for guests located at the Soccer Softball Complex parking lot. Shuttles will be running from 8:45 am to 4:15 pm. Shuttles will also be available for guests touring the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. These will run from from 10:30 to 2:30 pm.
Address for parking:
2330 S Milledge Ave, Athens, GA
Accessibility
Access provided for people with disabilities through the Accessibility and Inclusion Committee. If you have any accessibility needs, please contact Katie Godoy, Kag63181@uga.edu, by March 24th so that we can work with you to make accommodations.
Schedule of events
We are excited to present UGA’s Veterinary College and all that we offer! These events are developing as we get closer to open house, so keep checking back for more!
Lameness Paddock Demonstrations
Several demonstrations and live animal shows will be happening at the lameness paddock throughout the day. Below is a list of events that will be occurring throughout the day. Come check it out!
Schedule:
9:00 – 11:00 am: Goat Yoga
- start your morning by relaxing with goats!
- There will be 4 sessions of 20 people each
- **Limited spots available and will require a waiver/release form
12:00 pm: Parade of Dog Breeds
- come see a parade of AKC registered breeds!
1:00 pm: Northeast Georgia Free Spirits Drill Team
- riders and their horses perform a choreographed routine to music
3:00 pm: Lawn Games
- cornhole, learning how to rope
TBA: Georgia Mobile Dairy Classroom
- learn about milking techniques and get to meet a live dairy cow!
TBA: Athens-Clarke County Police K9 Demonstration
- watch police dogs in action as they demonstrate their scent tracking and apprehension techniques
Veterinary Student Q&A Panel
An interactive conversation with a combination of current first and second year veterinary students. Get a taste of what life as a veterinary student is like and get the chance to ask any questions you may have about veterinary school, careers in veterinary medicine, or anything else you’d like to know!
Schedule:
- 10:15 – 11:00 am
- 12:15 -1:00 pm
- 2:15 – 3:00 pm
*All three sessions will be held in room H237
Dog Petting Booth
Who doesn’t want some puppy love every once and a while? Stop by the Dog Petting Booth to make some new four-legged friends.
Reading to Dogs
Sit down for story time with a furry friend! A variety of books will be available to read to/with the dogs, and you can make a personalized bookmark with your favorite pup on it!
Anatomy Booth
The University of Georgia has one of the most advanced anatomy labs in the country. Come see where veterinary students spend their first-year learning anatomy! This event will include interactive models, preserved specimens, and more!
Endoscopy and Ultrasound
Endoscopy will be an interactive booth where laparoscopic equipment will be available at stations for you to try and grab goodies from beneath a hidden cover. Time to see how good your “toy claw machine” skills are– Veterinary Medicine style!
Ultrasound will feature live demos of our ultrasound equipment. With the assistance of one of own veterinary medicine students, you will be able to visualize organs and other structures on some of our student’s dogs! In addition, one of our clinicians is volunteering to ultrasound a horse for us to see!
Zoo and Exotics Display
Welcome to the jungle! Interact with and learn about many different interesting species of animals.
Quail Hatching
Japanese quail are a species of Old-World quail found predominantly in East Asia. During this event, observers will be able to witness the hatching of up to 40 quail chicks! We will also have several breeds of exotic chickens on display to learn about the interesting history and selection of different poultry breeds!
Teddy Bear Surgery
Teddy Bear Surgery is a hands-on experience that allows children to be “anesthesiologists” and “surgeons.” They get to participate in a physical exam for their bear and then gown up in surgical gear to “anesthetize” a teddy bear. Once “sterile,” children watch second year students suture their bears’ “wounds” closed while holding the mask to keep their animal “anesthetized”.
We will have 16 surgery tables running at 20-minute time slots throughout the duration of the event.
**Appointments for Teddy Bear Surgery can be made the day of Open House at the Teddy Bear Surgery check-in table
Tours of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital
See our new state-of-the-art veterinary hospital and get a behind-the-scenes tour led by our Student Ambassadors!
Schedule:
Buses will be running from 10:30 – 2:30 pm
Tours will be given from 11:00 – 1:00 pm, every 30 minutes
We have limited spots for tours, so those interested will need to sign up for a time slot at the welcome desk upon arrival to the event. This will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.
**Because it is a functioning hospital, tours are limited to 3 groups of 10 at a time and guests must be 6th grade and older.
Participants that have signed up will take the bus to the VTH for their tour and when the tour is over, the bus will run back to the parking lot and then back to the CVM.
If you are unable to tour, there is a virtual tour available through the link below!
Parasitology Display
A display of the different types of “creepy crawlers” our pets can get! Two highlights of this display are the “build your own tick” craft area and the “tick racing” event where we get to watch ticks race each other!
Merchandise Booth
The merchandise booth will have some awesome UGA College of Veterinary Medicine apparel. Those range from shirts, sweatshirts, hats, etc. We are in the works of designing a “I’m a teddy bear surgeon” shirt for purchase as a cool souvenir! We will be accepting cash/check/zelle payments only.
Club Fair
The club fair will showcase all the wonderful clubs that the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine has to offer. Each club will have a poster up for display and members walking around giving brief presentations. In addition, the veterinary teaching hospital will have a booth educating visitors about their “Veterinary Technician Career Path” and the emergency services the hospital offers!
See the club fair schedule below!
9:00 AM Zoo Med and Exotics Club
- Demonstration: making an origami frog
9:15 AM scAAEP
9:30 AM AABP
9:45 AM Small Ruminant
10:00 AM Behavior Club
- Informative talk/Q&A: Cooperative care/fear free nail trim alternative
10:15 AM Canine Club
- Q&A Session
10:30 AM scAAFP
10:45 AM Theriogenology Club
11:00 AM LVMA
11:15 AM SVECCs
- Dog CPR/Choking Demonstration
11:30 AM VBMA
- Q&A about VBMA
11:45 AM AAVMP
12:00 PM Shelter Medicine
12:15 PM Surgery Club
12:30 PM WAVMA
12:45 PM SNABV
1:00 PM SWaP
- Observe candling eggs at various stages of development and preserved chicks provided from the Poultry Science Department
1:15 PM Internal Medicine Club
- Fake biopsy interactive demonstration
1:30 PM Student Honey Bee Vet
1:45 PM AWC
- Explore types of enrichment and how to make your own
2:00 PM Lab Animal Club
2:15 PM CVF
2:30 PM Integrative Medicine Club
- Acupuncture demonstration
2:45 PM VOICE
3:00 PM IVSA
3:15 PM Pride VMC
3:30 PM Pathheads
3:45 PM Public Health Club
4:00 PM CVF
Meet the Animals
There will be many animal guests in attendance at Open House! Below is an introduction to some of the many incredible animals that will make an appearance.
Meet Bacon and Waffles! These two guinea pigs are excited to meet you!
This is Kirby!
Fun fact: Rabbits and guinea pigs are both hindgut fermenters. This means that they need help from bacteria in their gut to digest all the nutrients they need! In order for guinea pigs and rabbits to digest all of the nutrients their bacteria break down, they need to eat their own droppings to allow the broken down nutrients to be digested in their small intestine.
Open House Diamond Sponsors
