Young Generation of Veterinary Anatomists - YGVA

Aims

The purpose of YGVA informal meetings is the ability to exchange research experiences and connected problems, discuss new methods and trends and to form network of ideas while bringing together people form different Universities on a more informal basis with enough spare time for discussion.

In practice smaller group of people of similar age enables one to speak more openly and ask “stupid” questions. When participants meet again, i.e. at the EAVA Congress, they already know each other and can make scientific exchange more fruitful.

To further facilitate young people attendance to meetings is free of charge. To keep other costs low accommodation is preferably organised in student hostels.

Future prospects
Widespreading the YGVA idea and active promotion of the upcoming meetings. We must do our best to promote YGVA and EAVA in Scandinavian, Baltic, East European and Mediterranean countries as well Great Britain and Ireland.

Providing cost-effective workshops.

All new into morphology field i.e. PhD students are heartily welcome to contact us and join future meetings.

YGVA representatives in EAVA
2002-2006 Christoph K.W. Mülling (Berlin)
2006- 2010 Malan Štrbenc (Ljubljana)
2010- Pieter Cornillie (Utrecht)

Fifth YGVA meeting in Utrecht

The fifth YGVA meeting was held May 21 and 22, 2009 in the Veterinary Faculty of the Utrecht University, The Netherlands with 43 participants. The main theme was plastination in teaching. The participants of the teaching anatomy session had been asked to make a presentation about their current curriculum, to experience the differences between the vet schools.

After this session a lively discussion was started leading to the following conclusions:

- Dissection is an important tool in teaching the 3D body plan, plastinates cannot replace that. It’s merely supplementary.
- In histology the ideal situation is to combine working with the microscope and digital images. The microscope provides the real image, the digital image the ideal representation.
- It is important that we focus more on clinical anatomy or applied anatomy.
- It is important to educate the teachers how to teach. The education of teachers is currently done in Hannover, Nottingham, Helsinki and Utrecht.

During this session we welcomed prof. dr Jimmy Saunders, vice-president of the ECVDI (European College of Veterinary diagnostic Imaging), Ghent University, Belgium. He came to explain the ECDVI proposal to form a joined college with our ECVAnat. With the previous conclusion that clinical anatomy is important, this proposal is welcomed. Prof. Saunders explained that the mutual benefits of a combined college. The meeting agrees with this initiative, and asks the members of the founding committee of the ECVAnat to proceed in this way.

During this meeting prof. dr Wim van den Broeck is appointed as interim representative to the board of the EAVA to replace dr. Malan Strbenc who is on sabbatical leave.

Furthermore, many presentations were given about research projects, we organised a faculty tour to the horse department and the study landscape, and afterwards we had a BBQ. The workshops were dedicated to the technical aspects of plastination and the role of plastinates in self-directed learning, both subjects the Utrecht anatomy department has a lot of experience in. All the participants were given a plastinated cat heart when saying farewell.

History

At the occasion of EAVA congress in Olsztyn in Poland in 2000 the idea was born on the possibility to bring together the younger members of EAVA for an informal meeting. Ideal timing was agreed for the odd-years, between the two EAVA congresses.

First opening meeting was organised by Monika Ergerbacher from July 26th to 29th at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Wienna. 16 founding colleagues attended and agreed such meeting was a good idea.

Second meeting was organised by Christiane Pfarrer at the Veterinary Faculty in Giessen. Major part of the meeting was composed as Cell cultures Workshop. A possibility to set up posters on scientific work of participants was also introduced. Tours to beautiful town of Marburg and open air museum of Hessian culture kept the participants fit.

Third YGVA meeting was organised by Wim van den Broeck fom 13th to 15th July 2005. 37 participants had a chance to talk about their work and discuss the founding preparations for European College of Veterinary Anatomy at Veterinary Faculty in Gent. (minutes) Second day was devoted to Stereology workshop professionally carried out by staff at the Department of Veterinary Medicine in Antwerp. Guidance through historical Gent and insights into many types of Belgian beer was as self understood activity.

Malan Štrbenc welcomed 20 colleagues at fourth YGVA meeting from 8th – 10th July 2007 at Veterinary Faculty in Ljubljana. Again oral talks and posters were welcome. Main topic was confocal microscopy and other computer assisted imaging techniques with demonstration. Discussion time was reserved again for topics in founding activities of European College of Veterinary Anatomy (minutes). Short tour of Ljubljana prepared participants for long trek thorough Postojna underground caves.