WAZEM gives the vet students at LSU SVM an opportunity to experience many of the specialized fields of veterinary medicine.  We do this through speakers and field trips and try to tour new facilities as frequently as possible.  Some of the interesting places we have been include:

*Global Wildlife Center- Folsom, LA

*Audubon Zoo- New Orleans, LA

*Audubon Aquarium of the Americas- New Orleans, LA

*BREC Baton Rouge Zoo- Baton Rouge, LA

*Memphis Zoo- Memphis, TN

*Houston Zoo- Houston, TX

*Alligator Bayou- Baton Rouge, LA

Since we are five organizations in one, we also do a variety of things that are catered to one interest or another.  Every year the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine hosts its annual Open House, and  the student chapters of the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV) and the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV) in addition to the Raptor and Wildlife Rehabilitation Unit (RWRU) set up booths to give visitors an idea of what we are about.  We usually have live animals at our booths, pet birds at the AAV, pet reptiles and amphibians at the ARAV , and a few of our resident raptors at the RWRU table.  Pictures from Open House 2004 and 2005 can be seen at our PICTURES page.

We also try to have "wetlabs" occasionally to give our members a hands-on feel for practicing veterinary medicine.  The American Association of Zoo Veterinarians (AAZV) did a wetlab at the Baton Rouge Zoo in which they did regular maintenance trims on the elephants' feet.  The ARAV hosted a wetlab where students were able to draw blood from tortoises and lizards, a challenging task since you cannot see or palpate their veins.  RWRU has a workday every month where they go through a proper physical in a wild raptor as well as learn how to bandage, do talon and beak trims, and make training equipment to aid in handling the large birds.