Advocating for Veterinary Medicine

The Governmental Affairs program works to secure resources in support of academic veterinary medicine. This includes informing and influencing policymakers and their staff on important issues that affect veterinary medicine’s impact on public health, including biomedical research, agriculture, and animal welfare, as well as both direct and indirect support for colleges of veterinary medicine.

Working closely with the government relations officers who serve our members, we monitor, review and respond to federal legislation or regulations that affect veterinary medical education. This includes maintaining a continuous presence on Capitol Hill to inform decision-makers and the public about the critical role that veterinary medical education plays. It contributes to society’s overall quality of life by educating veterinarians who advance medical knowledge, help to recognize and prevent the spread of diseases and pathogens, and protect our nation’s food supply.

We reach out to all branches of government to encourage the development of policies that will benefit veterinary medical education, and to explain the many ways in which such support will also enhance animal and public health.

With input from our Advocacy Committee, the governmental affairs program identifies and addresses critical issues in veterinary medical education, such as the need for increased diversity and the crushing debt load often carried by graduates. Our work includes supporting initiatives designed to encourage a wider spectrum of students, to reduce veterinary medical student debt through public and private support and loan-forgiveness programs, and to recognize the contributions that veterinarians make to our public health system.

Finally, we work to keep the importance of veterinary medical education in the public’s eye through media outreach, public events and Hill briefings that highlight the crucial role that academic veterinary medicine plays in advancing society’s well-being.

Governmental Affairs Initiatives

Legislative Initiatives

H.R. 525, The Veterinary Public Health Workforce and Education Act

S.518, The Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program Enhancement Act

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

AAVMC Names New Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Veterinary Medical Education (JVME)

Advocating for Veterinary Medicine

Governmental Affairs Initiatives

Priorities for Fiscal Year 2012

2013 Advocacy Agenda

Support the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program Enhancement Act

Appropriations Recommendations for FY 2014

Reauthorization of the Farm Bill

Veterinary Medical Caucus Forming

Legislative Initiatives

H.R. 525, The Veterinary Public Health Workforce and Education Act

S.518, The Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program Enhancement Act