Dr. Randy Bass, an expert in educational policy and innovation, will present a keynote address at the AAVMC’s Catalyze 2022 Annual Conference March 3-5, 2022, at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. Dr. Bass is vice president for strategic education initiatives and professor of English at Georgetown University, where he leads the Designing the Future(s) initiative and the Red House incubator for curricular transformation. Designing the Future(s)’ mission is to accelerate educational innovation that allows higher education to more effectively and equitably benefit society. He is the author or co-author of numerous books and articles, including, most recently, Redesigning Liberal Education: Innovative Design for a Twenty-First-Century Undergraduate Education. Learn more and sign up for the conference here. Learn more about Dr. Bass here.

In honor of Native American Heritage Month, the AAVMC is hosting its first film festival. The Indigenous People's film festival is designed to raise awareness about indigenous communities in countries where AAVMC has institutional members, according to Senior Director for Institutional Research and Diversity Dr. Lisa Greenhill. With the help of faculty members at colleges of veterinary medicine in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, four films were selected for inclusion in this program. All movies are available on streaming services (Amazon and Netflix), and each is critically acclaimed. To participate in the festival, simply watch one or more of the films and register for a 90-minute Zoom-based discussion on December 2 at 4 p.m. ET. Click here to sign up for the Zoom discussion.

Applications for Zoetis Scholarships from second- and third-year veterinary students enrolled at colleges and schools of veterinary medicine in the United States and Caribbean are being accepted through December 2, 2021. Recipients of the 2022 Zoetis Foundation Veterinary Student Scholarship Award will each receive $2,000 for the 2022-2023 academic year. Interested students can apply here. Winners will be announced during the 2022 SAVMA Symposium in March 2022. To learn more about the Zoetis Foundation Veterinary Student Scholarship Award or to apply for a scholarship, please register here. In prior years, Zoetis funded awards for over 3,900 scholarships totaling more than $7.9 million. Learn more.

Two leaders from AAVMC member institutions have been inducted into the prestigious National Academy of Medicine: Dr. Christine Kreuder Johnson from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and Dr. Wondwossen A. Gebreyes from the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Over the past 150 years, the National Academy of Sciences has evolved to include the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Research Council. Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. Its membership includes more than 300 Nobel Laureates. Learn more.

The Inter-Professional Education Collaborative (IPEC) will partner with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Region 3 on a virtual conference focused on addiction education champions’ projects across all professions. Creating the Essential Workforce of the Future: A Showcase of Addiction and Behavioral Health Interprofessional Education will be held on Wednesday, November 17, 2021 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. EDT. Registration is free. For more information, contact Jean Bennett at [email protected] or Shelly McKearney at [email protected].