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Phone: 202.371.9195
Fax: 202.842.0773

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DiVersity Matters

DiVersity Matters

Veterinary Medical Education Meeting Societal Needs

 

Diversity in the veterinary workforce that reflects the society we serve is essential for meeting societal needs.  In March 2005, the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) proudly launched DiVersity Matters-- a bold and dramatic initiative to increase diversity among students, faculty, and leadership of our US Colleges of Veterinary Medicine.  DiVersity Matters is aimed at achieving a diverse student body and faculty in our member institutions that reflects the society the veterinary medical community serves. This will require a sustained effort aimed at building an educational infrastructure that supports the recruitment, enrollment, matriculation, and faculty development of a wider range of ethnic and racial minorities in academic veterinary medicine, to achieve the following objectives:

  • Creating and supporting opportunities for outreach to students and faculty from underrepresented populations through the building, strengthening, and support of diverse and effective partnerships
  • Improving the academic environment with our member institutions that promotes and ensures success of underrepresented  students and faculty
  • Developing curricula that prepares faculty and veterinary students to work effectively across the profession and to more effectively meet societal needs.

 

Achieving the Goal and Objectives

Advocating for Improved Policies

Understanding that information on key indicators can be used by our member institutions to formulate and implement effective policies that will reduce barriers to academic success and foster a supportive learning environment, AAVMC has implemented an evaluation program to provide essential information on admissions policies and practices, campus climate, and student and faculty involvement in local diversity initiatives and curriculum development.  More than 80% of the US colleges of veterinary medicine have participated in this program and 25% have already made adjustments to add new staff with expertise in diversity issues, changes to embrace holistic student evaluations during the admissions process, and creative ways to support the development and retention of underrepresented faculty. 

 

Recruiting a Diverse Student Body and Faculty

A multi-layered approach with communities of color is required to effectively achieve greater diversity across the spectrum of veterinary medical education and the profession.  To date, the AAVMC has undertaken the following activities:

  • Participating in as many as 12 recruiting events annually, targeting more than 10,000 students of color;
  • Hosting bi-annual veterinary medical career fairs reaching more than 1500 students around the country over the last 3 years;
  • In 2006, developing and releasing 20,000 copies of a brochure “Caring for Your Community”—which features prominent veterinarians from historically underrepresented backgrounds with targeted messaging promoting the profession; a new, enhanced version of the this publication will be released in 2008;
  • Hosting the Veterinary Medical School Admissions Requirements (VMSAR) Project which is designed to increase the availability of informational resources to students and pre-health advisors at 300 minority serving institutions of higher education.  

 

Supporting the Curriculum

Infusing diversity issues throughout the curriculum is critical in order to prepare students to work with an increasingly diverse society.  In partnership with student and specialty practice organizations, AAVMC has been able to support and/or deploy co-curricular programming at 39% of the US veterinary colleges.  AAVMC has also been able to provide resource and program support to numerous professional veterinary organizations offering continuing education credit to faculty as well as the general veterinary medicine population.

Lastly, AAVMC hosts the oldest symposium in the veterinary profession dedicated to promoting racial and ethnic diversity, the Iverson Bell Symposium.  This symposium is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Iverson Bell, an African American veterinarian worked tirelessly to promote diversity in the profession.  The symposium is held on biennially, with the next occurrence in March, 2009.  This symposium has been the primary forum for administrators, faculty and staff to examine diversity in academic veterinary medicine for more than 30 years.

 

Measuring Progress

Through the DiVersity Matters initiative, efforts of our member institutions have reaped benefits: enrollment of underrepresented students has increased by 22%, an incredible figure in just 3 years.  Student-led diversity related organizations have grown dramatically, with more than half of the US colleges now having an active student organization.

We look forward to using this space to provide current information about the initiative's activities.

 

DiVersity Matters Committees, Statistics, and Relevant Presentations:

Diversity Resources:

Veterinary Related:

Health Professions, Science, and/or Agriculture Related

General

Announcements:

  • AAVMC Veterinary Career Fair and Information Session, New Orleans, LA, July 18, 2008.
  • National Association of Minority Medical Educators, Arlington, VA, September 20, 2008.