Feb. 7, 2005, Findlay, Ohio – Linda Peck, D.V.M. director of The University of Findlay’s Pre-Veterinary Studies Program and professor of animal science and biology, has been invited to speak at the Ohio Veterinary Medical Association’s Pre-Veterinary Medicine Conference on Saturday, Feb. 26 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

The conference is geared for undergraduate college-level students, as well as high school students in the junior or senior year.

Dr. Peck, who has been involved with UF’s Pre-Veterinary Medicine Program since 1986 and continues to practice as an associate veterinarian with the Findlay Animal Hospital, Inc., will discuss “Choosing and Applying to a Veterinary College: What You Need to Know,” beginning at 1:30 p.m.

As director of UF’s pre-vet program, Dr. Peck has advised countless pre-vet majors through the highly competitive and detailed process of choosing and applying to veterinary school. Graduates of the University’s Pre-Veterinary Medicine Program have a 60 percent acceptance rate into professional school; the national average is between 30 and 33 percent.

Dr. Peck credits the high acceptance rate to the exceptional students the program attracts. “We have some of the best pre-vet students from all over the country in this program. Many of the students are not only very talented in the classroom and out in the field, but they also are some of the most active students on campus. They are involved with the various student organizations, the arts and athletics,” Dr. Peck explained.

According to Peck, students are attracted to UF’s program because of the unique focus on giving the students hands-on experience with animals beginning in their freshman year. “Many schools’ pre-vet programs are all class work,” Peck said. “At UF, our students spend much of their time out at the UF barns working with the horses, cows, pigs and the other animals, in addition to their class work. This experience is more important now than ever because fewer and fewer students are growing up on farms and around animals. They don’t have the basic understanding of how animals act and how to act around them. Our program helps to gives them that experience.”

For more information about The University of Findlay’s Pre-Veterinary Medicine Program or the conference, contact Peck at 419-434-4719.