The Pre-Veterinary club at Iowa State is a student-run organization dedicated to the education and encouragement of personal and professional growth of its members through the accumulation of knowledge in veterinary medicine.

The club is broken up into special interest groups including small animal, production animal, equine, zoo exotics and wildlife and veterinary specialties.

Stephanie Kjormoe, a senior in animal science and animal ecology, is vice president of the club and instantly knew the club was for her.

“I’ve known I want to be a vet since around second grade,” Kjormoe said. “I knew the club was definitely something I wanted to be involved in as soon as I learned about it.”

Kjormoe has been a member since her freshman year and received encouragement from other members to run for vice president.

“It looked like something I’d enjoy and I am really glad I did it,” Kjormoe said.

The club offers several different activities and fundraising opportunities.

Some of the events include offering small animal CPR classes, cleaning up trash as part of a roadside cleanup crew, offering pet sitting to people in need in the Ames community, hosting a chili cook-off on campus and doing fundraising for the Josh Project, which benefits and helps hospitalized children.

Dr. Mark Ackermann, professor of animal pathology, is one of the three club advisers, along with Joan Howard and Matthew Ellinwood.

The club advisers are very actively involved in club activities and meetings.

Club advisers approve travel and purchases, attend meetings and are there for students who need advice or help with anything else.

“I am a pathologist also, and so I have a clinical involvement in the club,” Ackermann said. “Occasionally I will give talks on pathology … I’ll [also] talk about the application process to vet school, as I was on the admissions committee for a number of years.”

Something unique about the club is the special interest groups.

“Each special interest group will hold different lectures that pertain to the subject of the group,” Kjormoe said. “We also participate in wet labs in some of the groups, which offer hands-on experience for the members.”

Hands-on opportunities and resume experience are reasons a lot of students join clubs, but networking is another important part.

Katelynne Stueck, senior in animal science, is treasurer of the club and greatly values the connections she has made since joining the club her freshman year.

“My favorite part about the club is the endless opportunities and connections it has provided me to prepare and get the experience needed to put on my resume and application to vet school,” Stueck said.

Kjormoe also values the connections, but in a different way.

“My favorite part of the club is getting to know people who have the same passions as I do,” Kjormoe said. “I have made so many friends through the club.”

Open to all majors, Ackermann believes it’s a good idea to try the club, even if a student doesn’t end up sticking with it.

“It could be that a person joins Pre-Vet Club and says, ‘You know, this isn’t for me,’ and if that’s the case, then that’s good because then they have a little pocket of information about veterinary medicine to take with them elsewhere,” Ackermann said.

The Pre-Veterinary Club meets every third Thursday of the month. The next meeting is on April 25, 2013 at 6:30 p.m. at 005 Physics Hall.

An event to look for from the Pre-Vet club is the petting zoo during Veishea on from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 20 outside the Kildee pavilion.

“The club is a great way to meet people, spark your interest in something new, to volunteer and make great networking connections with the advisers, as they are also professors out at the vet med school,” Kjormoe said.

Ackermann is very involved in the club, but he also values the involvement of the members themselves.

“This is a club that is very active,” Ackermann said. “Every year it is an infusion of activity and fundraisers.”