title: Impact of the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine's Boiler Vet Camp on participants' knowledge of veterinary medicine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess whether Boiler Vet Camp, a 7-day residential summer camp for students entering eighth or ninth grade in the fall, would increase participants' understanding of career options in the veterinary profession, increase understanding of the science of veterinary medicine, or increase the number of students stating that they intended to apply to the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine.
  
  
  METHODS
  Survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  48 individuals attending the 2009 Boiler Vet Camp.
  
  
  METHODS
  Information on participant demographics was obtained from camp applications. A questionnaire was administered on the first and sixth days of camp, and results were analyzed to identify changes in responses over time.
  
  
  RESULTS
  More campers correctly answered questions designed to evaluate knowledge of the veterinary profession and 10 of 12 questions designed to evaluate specific knowledge of the science of veterinary medicine on day 6, compared with day 1. Remarkable differences were not observed among gender or race-ethnicity groups for these questions. There was no significant difference between percentages of campers who stated that they would apply to Purdue before and after camp. Significantly more Caucasian campers stated they would apply to Purdue on both day 1 and day 6, compared with campers from under-represented minority groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results indicated that the Boiler Vet Camp accomplished 2 of its 3 planned objectives, suggesting that such camps can be successfully used to increase knowledge of the veterinary profession among middle school students. Reasons for the low percentage of participants from underrepresented minorities who indicated they would apply to the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine require further exploration.
authors: Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA. jweisman@purdue.edu
authors: James L
authors: JL
authors: Weisman
authors: Sandra F
authors: SF
authors: Amass
authors: Joshua D
authors: JD
authors: Warren
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001290:Attitude; D002321:Career Choice; D003625:Data Collection; D004520:Education, Veterinary; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007196:Indiana; D008297:Male; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D018634:Veterinarians