NIFA Invests $3.8 Million in Rural Food Animal Veterinary Medicine Across the U.S. | |
To address a growing shortage of food animal veterinarians, in November USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), which administers the Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP) to mitigate food animal veterinary shortages, announced 22 VSGP awards, six Education, Extension, and Training (EET) grants, and 19 Rural Practice Enhancement (RPE) grants. These programs have long been a key part of the AAVMC advocacy agenda.
VSGP supports rural food animal veterinary clinics and education and training opportunities for veterinarians, veterinary students, and veterinary technicians through two different project types. EET grants focus on education and extension activities that provide current and future veterinarians, veterinary students, and veterinary technicians with specialized skills and practices by expanding educational programs at American Veterinary Medical Association-accredited schools and professional organizations. RPE grants directly support veterinary clinics and practices by providing up to $125,000 for the purchase of equipment and to support clinic staffing and operations to enhance food animal veterinary services in a designated shortage area.
The 2025 grant awards totaled $3.8 million. AAVMC congratulates all recipients!
| Primary Care Veterinary Educators Symposium Attracts 100+ | PCVE Chair Liddy Alvarez welcomes attendees to the 2025 PCVE Symposium. | |
The 2025 Primary Care Veterinary Educators (PCVE) Symposium, held October 22–25 at the University of Minnesota, brought together more than 100 attendees for two days of insightful sessions, shared best practices, and collaborative discussions on advancing primary care veterinary education.
Participants engaged in interactive sessions led by academic leaders, clinical educators, and industry partners, with the PCVE’s enduring goal of helping improve instructional practices in veterinary medical clinical education. Thank you to all presenters, participants, and sponsors for contributing to another meaningful and energizing symposium.
| Nominations Now Open for AAVMC Committees and Council | | |
AAVMC is now accepting nominations for its committees and council through January 30, 2026. This is your opportunity to take advantage of significant opportunities to develop your leadership skills, serve the academic veterinary education profession, and drive innovation and impact across the profession.
AAVMC Committees and Council
-
Time Commitment: Three-year terms, approximately 2–4 hours per month
-
Eligibility: Nominees must be affiliated with an AAVMC Institutional Member organization
-
Deadline for Nominations: January 30, 2026
Admissions and Recruitment Committee (1 vacancy)
Ideal for admissions directors or deans supporting applicant recruitment efforts.
Advocacy Committee (4 vacancies)
Seeking members to influence policy with key decision-makers.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (2 vacancies)
For directors, deans, or faculty interested in advancing DEI through data-driven approaches.
Educational Research Committee (1 vacancy)
Associate deans or faculty willing to provide scholarly oversight for multi-institutional research.
Professional Development Committee (2 vacancies)
Expertise needed in curriculum design, assessment, instructional technology, or educational research.
Wellbeing Committee (1 vacancy)
Wellbeing professionals, deans, or faculty fostering belonging throughout academic veterinary medicine.
Council on International Veterinary Medical Education (8 vacancies)
Educators interested in advancing high-quality veterinary education internationally by enabling and empowering best practices in veterinary education.
| | Questions about the nominations process? Please email us. | | SOC Spotlight: Spectrum of Care Curricular Change | | |
How do you address barriers to Spectrum of Care (SOC) curricular change?
The SOC Implementation Strategies Guide features “Anticipated Challenges and Potential Solutions to Spectrum of Care Curricular Change,” a resource designed to help you address barriers that may arise related to the following areas:
- Curriculum
- Faculty
- Students
- Logistics
- Concepts in Clinical Training
Making changes to an already full and complex curriculum is difficult. Get ahead of potential barriers by reviewing these solutions and considering how you can apply them in your program.
| |
Your feedback helps AAVMC keep our resources, like the SOC Implementation Strategies Guide, relevant to the needs of the veterinary education community. Complete this brief survey to let us know what you think.
| | Call for Proposals: Share Your Innovative Teaching Practices at VetEd AAVMC | | |
Is your faculty demonstrating innovative teaching and learning practices? Encourage them to submit a proposal to VetEd AAVMC 2026.
Proposals are now being accepted for VetEd AAVMC 2026, taking place June 3–5, in Madison, WI. Under the theme, "It Takes a Village," VetEd AAVMC will provide a welcoming platform to explore creative approaches to teaching, learning, and assessment; exchange ideas; and showcase scholarship.
VetEd AAVMC 2026 invites proposal submissions on:
- Interdisciplinary and cross-institutional collaboration
- Instructional innovation and learning sciences
- Curriculum development, integrating clinical and foundational sciences and competency-based education
- Longevity in the veterinary professions (e.g., professionalism, professional identity, health and wellness, community building)
- Spectrum of care pedagogy and curricular change (AAVMC Spectrum of Care Symposium, sponsored by the Stanton Foundation, will take place as a programming track of VetEd AAVMC on Friday, June 5)
Abstracts are due by January 12.
| | Celebrating Our Spring 2025 Systemic Wellbeing Cohort | | |
Congratulations to AAVMC’s Spring 2025 Introduction to Systemic Wellbeing cohort: Auburn University, Mississippi State University, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Oklahoma State University, and Rowan University! Teams of two to three college and wellbeing leaders completed a 16-week online course focused on strengthening systemic wellbeing across their institutions.
Save the Date
Applications for the Fall 2026 cohort open January 5. The online course will run from January 26 to May 15 and is designed for a team of a college leader (e.g., assistant or associate dean) and a wellbeing professional. Participants will build skills in systems thinking, using data to guide wellbeing initiatives, engaging stakeholders, establishing effective committees, and selecting the right personnel to lead wellbeing efforts.
| | Deans Leadership Conference, January 14–16, 2026 | |
Exclusively for deans at AAVMC Institutional Member organizations and invited guests, the Deans Leadership Conference offers an opportunity to explore the issues, opportunities, and challenges shaping the future of academic veterinary medicine in a focused, executive setting. This year’s sessions will focus on such topics as forging successful relationships with university leadership, rural practice challenges, staying mission focused, distance education, and more.
Invitations have been sent to eligible participants; if you are eligible and did not receive one, please email us.
Future Save the Date: January 13–15, 2027
| Save the Date: 2026 AAVMC Annual Conference and Iverson Bell Symposium, April 16–18 | |
Mark your calendar for the 2026 Annual Conference and Iverson Bell Symposium, taking place April 16–18 in Washington, D.C.
This premier event brings together leaders in academic veterinary medicine to explore various topics, including admissions, academic affairs, Competency-Based Veterinary Education, international veterinary education, institutional health, interprofessional collaboration, and more.
Registration opens in January.
| | |
-
Sign up to receive the Vet-Med Educator in your inbox here. See past issues here.
-
Sign up for our Advocacy newsletter here. Read past issues here.
The AAVMC strives to create a culture of diversity and inclusion in every dimension of academic veterinary medicine. To foster this goal, the photographs and illustrations which are used in our communications programs are aspirational, and do not necessarily reflect the levels of diversity and inclusion that currently exist.
| | | | |
