AVMA spotlights advocacy career path through Jacey Cerda story

CURRENT FULL VERSION: The AVMA is continuing to spotlight advocacy as a career-building lane for veterinarians, most recently through a My Veterinary Life podcast episode featuring Dr. Jacey Cerda and her experience with the AVMA Government Relations Externship. Cerda’s story stands out because it connects organized veterinary medicine with an unusually broad professional path: veterinarian, attorney, public health professional, Fulbright scholar, and Colorado State University postdoctoral researcher focused on biodiversity conservation and disaster response. (podcasts.apple.com)

That message fits into a larger AVMA effort. Recent My Veterinary Life episodes have focused on opportunities in organized veterinary medicine for early-career veterinarians, emphasizing volunteering, leadership, and involvement in national, state, and allied organizations. The same podcast feed has also been reinforcing two adjacent themes: first, that there is no single “correct” veterinary career arc, as small-animal general practitioner Dr. Jon Cudiamat described when he said he did not decide on veterinary medicine until junior year of college and now encourages students not to feel they must have everything figured out from the start; and second, that professional belonging and engagement matter to retention, connection, and long-term success in the field, a point AVMA Chief of Veterinary Engagement and Belonging Dr. LaTonia Craig recently framed as essential to helping people feel valued and thrive in the profession. AVMA’s own membership materials likewise frame volunteer and advocacy work as a way for veterinarians to shape policy, strengthen professional networks, and build communication and leadership skills. (myvetlife.avma.org)

Cerda’s background helps explain why the episode may resonate. Public profiles show she trained in wildlife biology, worked as a wildlife biologist, then practiced law before earning her DVM. She is now affiliated with Colorado State University and has been recognized as a 2024-2025 Fulbright U.S. Scholar in Australia, where her project examines lessons from the country’s 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires for wildlife disaster response and biodiversity protection. In other words, the externship is being presented not as a one-off student experience, but as one step in a policy-aware, cross-sector veterinary career. (fulbright.org.au)

There’s also historical depth behind the externship itself. AVMA has supported government relations externships in Washington for years, describing them as a way for veterinary students to gain firsthand exposure to Congress, federal agencies, and the legislative process. Earlier AVMA reporting said participants worked on active legislative priorities and appropriations issues, reinforcing that these programs are meant to build practical advocacy skills, not just offer résumé lines. (avma.org)

Industry reaction in this case is less about controversy than professional signaling. AVMA’s recent advocacy communications show the association is actively pressing Congress on issues such as the Rural Veterinary Workforce Act and the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program, while also maintaining fellowship pathways that place veterinarians in congressional offices. And its recent messaging on belonging and engagement adds another layer to that strategy: AVMA is not only trying to expose students and early-career veterinarians to policy work, but also to create stronger professional connection points in a field still dealing with disconnection, efficiency pressures, and retention concerns that intensified after COVID. That gives Cerda’s podcast appearance broader context: AVMA is cultivating a pipeline from student exposure, to organized veterinary medicine involvement, to direct policy engagement. (avma.org)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, especially students and early-career associates, this kind of story broadens the definition of what a veterinary career can look like. Advocacy experience can strengthen a veterinarian’s ability to navigate regulation, influence legislation, communicate with policymakers, and contribute to workforce, public health, animal welfare, and disaster preparedness discussions. Those aren’t abstract concerns. They shape practice conditions, access to care, educational debt policy, and the profession’s role in One Health and emergency response. Just as importantly, AVMA’s recent podcast programming suggests the organization is trying to pair those opportunities with a more realistic and supportive message about career development: you do not need to have your path perfectly planned from the beginning, and people are more likely to stay and grow in the profession when they feel heard, connected, and included. (avma.org)

Cerda’s profile may be especially useful to readers because it connects policy work with fields that are gaining visibility across veterinary medicine, including conservation, wildlife health, and disaster management. Her current work suggests that advocacy training can be relevant even for veterinarians whose careers move outside companion animal practice and into interdisciplinary or international settings. That’s a practical message for veterinary schools, employers, and professional groups trying to retain talent by showing more than one viable path forward. It also complements the podcast’s broader editorial line: celebrating general practice, acknowledging the highs and lows of clinical work, and making space for multiple definitions of success within veterinary medicine. (jaceycerda.com)

What to watch: The next signal will be whether AVMA continues pairing these career stories with concrete advocacy recruitment, including externships, volunteer roles, and fellowships, while also tying them to broader engagement and retention efforts as federal debates over veterinary shortage areas, student debt support, and public health capacity continue through 2026. (avma.org)