AVMA spotlights government relations pathway through Dr. Jacey Cerda

CURRENT BRIEF VERSION: Veterinary students and early-career veterinarians are getting a closer look at how policy work shapes the profession through AVMA’s Government Relations Externship, highlighted in a recent My Veterinary Life podcast featuring Dr. Jacey Cerda. In the episode, Cerda describes how the externship opened a door into organized veterinary medicine and advocacy, and how that experience fit into an unconventional career spanning clinical practice, law, research, and conservation. The episode also sits within a broader My Veterinary Life push to show early-career veterinarians how volunteering and organized veterinary medicine can expand networks, build leadership skills, and offer practical ways to help shape the profession at national, state, and allied-organization levels. AVMA positions its externships as opportunities to explore parts of veterinary medicine “you won't find in school,” while its broader advocacy work continues to focus on federal policy issues including rural workforce shortages, student debt, and regulatory matters affecting practice. (myvetlife.avma.org)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the story is less about one career path and more about the expanding role of advocacy literacy in practice. AVMA’s government relations efforts touch issues that directly affect clinics, public health, food animal care, and workforce access, and the association has long used externships, committee service, and ambassador-style programs to help veterinarians understand how those decisions are made and where they can plug in. That broader organized-medicine message has also been reinforced in recent My Veterinary Life conversations with early-career veterinarians serving in state VMAs, AVMA committees, and allied groups, as well as in AVMA’s newer emphasis on belonging and engagement as part of retaining people in the profession. Cerda’s background, which includes legal training and current postdoctoral work in biodiversity conservation and emergency response at Colorado State University, also underscores how policy fluency can translate across companion animal care, wildlife health, and disaster response. (avma.org)

What to watch: Expect continued emphasis on advocacy pipeline programs as AVMA pushes federal priorities such as the Rural Veterinary Workforce Act and looks to engage more students and early-career veterinarians in organized medicine, volunteer leadership, and other profession-shaping roles. (avma.org)