AVMA podcast spotlights policy pathway through Jacey Cerda

CURRENT FULL VERSION: AVMA is using its My Veterinary Life podcast to put a fresh spotlight on the Government Relations Externship, this time through the career story of Dr. Jacey Cerda. Cerda, now a biodiversity conservation and emergency response postdoctoral fellow at Colorado State University, describes a professional path that has included work as a Fulbright fellow, researcher, attorney, veterinarian, and AVMA Government Relations Division extern. The episode positions advocacy as part of veterinary medicine’s broader reach into law, public policy, conservation, and public service. (linkedin.com)

That framing fits with AVMA’s wider effort to encourage early-career veterinarians and students to engage with organized veterinary medicine. Recent My Veterinary Life episodes have highlighted volunteer leadership, belonging initiatives, and pathways into professional advocacy, suggesting a deliberate editorial push to show that veterinary influence extends well beyond clinical practice. In a three-part series on opportunities in organized veterinary medicine, the podcast explicitly framed volunteering as a way to expand networks and help shape the future of the profession while acknowledging common barriers such as not knowing where to start, what options exist, or how to find the time. Guests in that series included Dr. Karen Cross, a member of AVMA’s Early Career Development Committee; Dr. Brennan Pittard, president of the Arkansas Veterinary Medical Association; and Dr. Sara Verghis, who serves on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee for the American Association of Equine Practitioners. AVMA has also used the podcast to connect engagement to retention and workplace culture, with Chief of Veterinary Engagement and Belonging Dr. LaTonia Craig arguing that the profession needs to invest as much in human connection, listening, and making people feel valued as it does in animal care. (avma.org)

The externship itself has deep roots. AVMA reporting shows the Governmental Relations Division student externship program has existed for decades, with students spending several weeks in Washington, D.C., learning how legislation and federal regulation shape veterinary medicine while helping advance AVMA’s policy agenda. Historical AVMA coverage says the program was restored with dedicated funding in 2003, and by 2005 the association had formalized criteria requiring Student AVMA membership, completion of at least the second year of veterinary school, strong communication skills, and an interest in politics or policymaking. (avma.org)

What Cerda appears to add to that history is a contemporary example of how advocacy training can connect to a highly interdisciplinary career. Based on AVMA’s description of the episode and the related professional profile surfaced in outside sharing, Cerda’s story links wildlife biology, legal training, veterinary medicine, and conservation response work. That makes the externship relevant not only for students interested in Capitol Hill careers, but also for those considering roles in public health, wildlife policy, emergency preparedness, or regulatory affairs. This is partly an inference from her career arc and AVMA’s framing, but it is a well-supported one. (linkedin.com)

AVMA’s broader advocacy agenda gives that message more weight. The association is currently backing federal legislation such as the Rural Veterinary Workforce Act, which it says would expand the impact of the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program by ending federal taxation on awards. AVMA has also continued to argue that policy engagement is essential to addressing workforce shortages and access gaps, especially in rural and public-health settings. In that context, promoting the externship isn’t just career storytelling. It also helps build a pipeline of veterinarians who understand how to navigate and influence policy. (avma.org)

The podcast’s recent editorial mix also broadens the audience for that message. Alongside policy and volunteer leadership episodes, My Veterinary Life has featured conversations about the realities of general practice, including Dr. Jon Cudiamat’s account of entering small-animal medicine after graduation and emphasizing that students do not need to have every career step mapped out early. That kind of programming complements Cerda’s story by normalizing multiple entry points into the profession and multiple ways to contribute once there, whether through clinical care, committee service, state association leadership, advocacy, or interdisciplinary public-facing work.

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, especially educators, association leaders, and students, this story underscores that advocacy training is workforce infrastructure. Clinical practice is still the profession’s center of gravity, but many of the pressures clinics feel, including debt burden, labor shortages, telemedicine rules, and rural service gaps, are shaped by lawmakers and regulators. Programs like the AVMA Government Relations Externship give future veterinarians firsthand exposure to that machinery and may help broaden recruitment into public-facing leadership roles the profession continues to need. The surrounding podcast coverage matters too: AVMA is not presenting advocacy as a niche sideline, but as one part of a larger engagement strategy that includes volunteering, committee service, belonging, and early-career leadership development. (avma.org)

There’s also a practical signal here for hospitals and mentors. As more veterinary students and early-career DVMs look for meaning, flexibility, and impact across sectors, organized veterinary medicine may have an easier time attracting them when it can point to people like Cerda, whose career doesn’t fit a single template. That may resonate with professionals who want to stay connected to medicine while also shaping policy, conservation, education, or emergency response. It may also resonate with those who are more clinic-centered but still want manageable ways to contribute through committees, associations, or volunteer roles close to practice. (linkedin.com)

What to watch: The next marker will be whether AVMA pairs this visibility push with clearer recruitment, stipend, or application messaging for current students, and whether advocacy-focused programs gain traction as workforce and regulatory issues remain high on the profession’s agenda. It is also worth watching whether the association keeps tying policy storytelling to its broader themes of engagement and belonging, since that combination could make organized veterinary medicine feel more accessible to students and early-career veterinarians who might not otherwise see themselves in it. (avma.org)