More than 400 students from across the country will converge on Ames next weekend to take part in the 13th annual American Pre-Veterinary Medical Association’s National Symposium.

The event will be held March 14 through 16 and will attract pre-veterinary medicine clubs and students from across the country

Julie Hansen, president of the Iowa State Pre-Vet Club, said this is the first year the event is being held at Iowa State.

“The symposium will showcase a particular vet school and inform people about different aspects of veterinary medicine that they may not be aware of,” she said.

The convention will mainly take place at the College of Veterinary Medicine and will also include two group visits to the National Animal Disease Center, the only research facility of its kind in the country.

Stephanie Urban, chair of the housing committee in the Pre-Vet Club, said the convention is a good way for students to meet others who share the same interest in veterinary medicine.

“It’s a great opportunity for everybody to get together and talk in detail about what they want to do with their lives,” Urban said.

Sixty ISU students will take part in this year’s convention. This is largest number of ISU students to ever attend a pre-veterinary symposium.

During the weekend, there will be 16 different lectures in four primary interest groups.

Among them are small animal, large animal, equine and zoo, wildlife and exotic.

“It might peak an interest for them [students], something that they hadn’t thought about before,” Hansen said.

Dr. Allan Miyahara, vice president of the American Veterinary Medicine Association, will be the keynote speaker on Saturday.

“We are really excited,” Hansen said. “We’ve worked incredibly hard to pull this off.”