Pawsitive Practice helps students de-stress
Dressed in sarongs and sandals, a group of veterinary students spend their lunch hour practising their tropical dance moves and relaxing. There’s not an animal in sight nor any talk about anatomy, physiology or clinical rotations. For the moment, dancing is all that matters to these students.
By Kris Foster
It's not what you expect to see and hear during a typical lunch break at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, but it's all part of Pawsitive Practice — an innovative initiative aimed at promoting student wellness."Veterinary students are typically studious, hardworking individuals who have very little time to get exercise or just refrain from studying," explains Rebecca Jackson, the college's first elected Pawsitive Practice co-ordinator.
The newly established position, which operates within the Western Canadian Veterinary Students' Association (WCVSA), was created in response to recent disturbing statistics that drew attention to the alarmingly high suicide rate found in the veterinary profession — a rate that bypasses even traditional high-stress occupations such as flight management.
Read the entire Pawsitive Practice story at WCVM Today.