January 2014

Annual Conference to Address Medicine at the Intersection of Animal, Human and Environmental Health

There's still time to register for the 2014 AAVMC Annual Conference, "One Health in Veterinary Medical Education," March 14-16, 2014. The conference, focused on One Health, will explore the many benefits of taking a global, discipline-spanning approach to animal, human and environmental health. It's sure to spark lively, content-rich discussions from a wide spectrum of experts in academic veterinary medicine and related organizations. Please join us in Alexandria, Virginia, for a seminal meeting of the minds, where leaders who care about academic veterinary medicine can come to hash out issues, get inspired, network, and strategize. Learn more and also register. Plus, hear what some participants had to say about last year's conference in the following video.

AAVMC 2014 Annual Conference "...the best conference in the world on veterinary medical education."

Capitol Hill Briefing Highlights Scope, Implications of Educational Debt in Academic Veterinary Medicine

Student debt in academic veterinary medicine took the stage December 3, 2014, at an AAVMC/AVMA Congressional briefing organized through the Congressional Veterinary Medical Caucus. Speakers at the U.S. Capitol shared data related to veterinary medical education, including tuition and student debt, funding strategies and important provisions of the upcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act that have the potential to improve the situation. Learn more.

AAVMC and AVMA Convene Joint Committee Meeting

Top leaders from the AAVMC and AVMA convened in Washington December 19 for a Joint Committee meeting. Following organizational updates from AAVMC President Dr. Kent Hoblet and AVMA President Dr. Clark Fobian, the leaders were briefed on progress made by committees working in three specific areas: educational debt, day-one competencies and the AVMA workforce study. A number of other topics were also addressed during the day-long meeting. Learn more.

Leadership Academy Encourages and Nurtures Promising Leaders

"If you do what you love, you will never have to go to work." That's the philosophy of Michael Dunn, chairman and CEO of Dunn and Associates, who will speak about advocacy to the 26 participants enrolled in the AAVMC's Leadership Academy in March. The academy, which will take place just before the 2014 AAVMC Annual Conference in Alexandria, Virginia, includes the opportunity to accompany veterinary medical college deans to Capitol Hill to discuss pressing issues in academia and the profession with legislators and Congressional staff. It also features a panel discussion led by veterinarians who have risen to leadership positions in academia as presidents, provosts and chancellors. Learn more.

New Survey Policy Seeks to Enhance Data Collection

In order to provide better service, the AAVMC has formalized its support for investigators wishing to survey personnel in our member institutions. A new survey policy, recently established by the Board of Directors, creates a process by which surveys distributed to AAVMC member institutions can be monitored, standardized and enhanced by the AAVMC. The goal of the policy is to increase the efficiency of the process and the quality of the results by working with investigators during an earlier phase of their research. Learn more.

AAVMC Conducts Webinar on LGBT Climate Survey

In November, AAVMC Associate Executive Director for Institutional Research and Diversity Lisa Greenhill presented a webinar on the results of a climate study on the experiences of LGBT students at schools and colleges of veterinary medicine, hosted by VOICE and Broad Spectrum student organizations. Learn more.