UPLOADED 15. March 2019
67th IVSA symposium in south korea
In January the journey led 150 delegates from 31 countries to Seoul, where IVSA South Korea welcomed us to the 67th IVSA symposium. Switzerland was able to send two delegates, one from each university.
During the eight days of the symposium, the organisation committee, consisting of 30 South Korean students, did their very best to show us the most of their city, country and culture - we got to go to the horse race course, participate in traditional temple ceremonies, try out percussion instruments, practice our calligraphy skills and visit shrines or the famous Gyeongbok palace, where we could observe the change of guards. For those looking for some exercise, there were the options of ice skating in the middle of Seoul or hiking up to Gwanaksan mountain as well.
Of course a lot of time was also spent in the great lecture hall of the faculty. In 6 GA’s, we decided on various bylaw amendments, for example to use british grammar only throughout the bylaws. We also elected a new president for IVSA Global - Elwin van Oldenborgh from IVSA The Netherlands will certainly do a great job in the next 1.5 years.
The OC also had prepared various lectures for us. My favourite was definitely “oriental medicine”, where a lecturer from the faculty taught us about acupuncture and moxibustion, a therapy where dried herbs are burned on particular points of the body. We tried out both on ourselves and came to two main conclusions: 1) Sticking a needle into your skin does not hurt as much as expected, and 2) practising moxibustion indoors may cause the fire alarm to go off.
As soon as the sun was down, it was time for the optional evening activities. You could either go to bed, or join the OC and 99% of the delegates to experience South Korean clubbing or pub culture. This involved Soju, a traditional alcoholic drink made of rice. It can be drunk plain for the brave, but is best if mixed with beer. At least one jar of this “Somaek” was necessary to even make the most reserved sing “Gangnam Style” or “Bohemian Rhapsody” in South Korean karaoke.
The “all time IVSA classics” were not missing either: In the cultural night you could taste food and drinks from all over the world (we brought raclette and Appenzeller). The leftover money was spent in the silent and live auctions buying t-shirts, souvenirs or extravagant things like the uniform of a (present) norwegian ski jumper, signed by herself!
All too soon it was time for the official dinner, where everybody was dressing up to enjoy one last evening together in a fancy dining room in the heart of Seoul.
The symposium was again a fantastic experience, thanks to the perfect organisation skills of the lovely OC and so many nice delegates who have become friends by now.
UPLOADED 5. January 2019
Group Exchange with IVSA the netherlands
The IVSA Group Exchange of this semester led us to the Netherlands. After visiting the faculty in Utrecht in October, eight dutch students came to Bern in November. It was again a fantastic event. Read all about our adventure here:
 | Report Exchange Bern Utrecht.pdf (3.89MB) |
| Report Exchange Bern Utrecht.pdf (3.89MB) |
UPLOADED 20. June 2018
2nd EVSS IN ZAGREB,
14. - 17. JUNE 2018
This summer, three students from Bern participated in the second edition of the European Veterinary Students Seminar (EVSS) which was held in Zagreb from 14th to 17th of June. After our arrival in the lively city center of Zagreb, we checked in at the official hostel. It was located right between two of the main sights of Zagreb: the creepy tunnel system and the worlds shortest "railway", leading up to the old town of Zagreb.
People got to know each other and the nightlife of Zagreb at the Rakija bar, where we tasted this interesting croatian specialty - a shot - for the first time.
Among the other participants we saw many familiar IVSA-faces as well as new students from all over Europe and even northern Africa.
We could not enjoy the Rakija for too long, because lectures where waiting at 8:30 AM at university. After the opening ceremony we enjoyed - like every following morning - a variety of informative lectures; starting with wildlife, continuing with aspects of the OneHealth approach on saturday and culminating in clinical topics on sunday. The lectures where held by different professors and assistant professors of the University of Zagreb.
After the ever filling lunchbreaks with delicious meals, the afternoon program was a bit more hands-on. Among many things we got an extensive tour through most departments of the faculty. In several workshops, we learnt for example how to do nerve blocks for oral surgeries, practiced oval pick-up and embryo transfer in cows and tried to make sense of ancient fragments of bones.
In the evening, it was all about socialising and intercultural exchange. Nice people, good music and drinks suited us very well and with Swiss biscuits, chocolate, ginger brandy (Ingwerer) and Appenzeller we tried to spread swiss culture too... more or less successfully.
On the last evening, we met on the arcades of the university for a formal dinner. A catering team served amazing croatian specialities and later, a local live band consisting of several vets made the student room vibrate.
On Sunday afternoon - all too early as it felt - we had to say goodbye to our newly made friends and the beautiful Zagreb. We would love to thank the OC for their hard work and hospitality as well as all the staff from the faculty for what they taught us in only a few days. We would be delighted to meet all of you again somewhere else in the world... maybe even in our lovely capital city Bern.
UPLOADED 17. April 2018
IVSA GROUP EXCHANGE BRNO-BERN
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The IVSA Bern committee members are proud to announce the success of our group exchange with IVSA Brno, Czech Republic ! Once again, ten students of IVSA Bern accepted the challenge to travel abroad during 6 days to meet veterinary students from new horizons, in exchange of giving them a taste of the Swiss culture by welcoming them in our well-known mountains…
The Czech students stayed at the scouts hut, at the border of the Bern river, the Aare. From visiting the old town of Bern and our little but nice vet campus at the edge of the students quartier, to excursions in the mountains of the Berner Oberland and its surroundings, including a trip to the French-speaking part of Switzerland where they could taste our famous cheese and chocolate, our guests couldn’t have seen a more typical side of our small but rich country.
Two weeks after that, we left our mountains to finally get to Brno, second city of Czech Republic, where their IVSA members were waiting for us to discover their unique culture. And what a rich culture ! We had the chance to walk through the landscape of pure wildlife around the city, enter into the largest cave system of the country in a wonderful nature reserve, experience traditional Easter meals at one of the students’ place and enjoy a trip to the small village of Mikulov, where we had a nice wine-tasting surrounded by stunningly beautiful vineyards. Besides, the Czech students showed us their huge vet campus, where we could take care of cows, sheeps and goats in the farm animal clinic with the help of the local vet.
We couldn’t expect a better way to get to know this beautiful country and its citizens, than by having as hosts the kindest people we could imagine. We all would like to thank the veterinary students from Brno from the bottom of our hearts to have made this experience possible between Brno and Bern and we will surely keep very sweet memories from that unforgettable exchange.
Did it attract your attention and do you want to join the large IVSA family and get to know vet students from all over the world ? Don’t hesitate and write us an email at ivsaswitzerland.bernvsamo.org and we’ll be happy to welcome you as a new member and ambassador of our team !
See you soon,
The IVSA Bern committee
UPLOADED 27. August 2017
66th IVSA Congress in Malaysia
For the second time, IVSA Bern was present at an international IVSA congress. This year it was held in Malaysia and we were happy to send two students from Bern who, together with two people from Zurich, represented IVSA Switzerland during the General Assemblies.
A congress is a meeting of representatives of the existing chapters from around the world. During the official meetings, the «General Assemblies», the delegates decide about the future of IVSA by accepting new bylaws or policy papers and elect the Executive Committee of the next term. Much more important are the social events during the congress. They always include a cultural evening where you can taste food and alcohol from all over the world, a white t-shirt party where your new friends leave lovely comments or awesome drawings on your shirt and a formal dinner where you get to enjoy the company of so many amazing people for one last evening, being all dressed up fancy.
Apart from that, there is always time to discover the country and get a great insight in a different culture as one is travelling with the locals. The OC in Malaysia made sure we had a great time and that we don’t miss out on any asian experience - like Durian, their favourite (very smelly) fruit.
For now, the symposium in South Africa (9th to 19th of December) opened the application and we would be happy to again be able to send students from Bern to represent us.
The next congress is held in Krakow, Poland next July.
Send us a message for more information!
IVSA Bern / Zurich presenting swiss food on the cultural evening.