AVMA spotlights government relations pathway through Dr. Jacey Cerda

CURRENT FULL VERSION: AVMA is using its My Veterinary Life platform to spotlight one of the profession’s lesser-seen career development channels: government relations. In a recent podcast episode, Dr. Jacey Cerda reflected on her experience with the AVMA Government Relations Externship and how it helped shape a career that now spans veterinary medicine, law, research, and conservation. The episode fits into a broader AVMA effort to show students and early-career veterinarians that organized veterinary medicine can be a practical entry point into leadership and advocacy, not just an abstract professional obligation. In a recent My Veterinary Life mini-series, AVMA also featured early-career veterinarians including Dr. Karen Cross, Dr. Brennan Pittard, and Dr. Sara Verghis discussing how volunteering through AVMA, state VMAs, and allied organizations helped them expand their networks, find mentors, and contribute to the profession while building busy clinical careers. (myvetlife.avma.org)

That message lands at a time when policy questions are pressing for the profession. AVMA’s advocacy agenda in the past year has included federal action on rural veterinary shortages, loan repayment, and other legislative issues that affect access to care and the economics of practice. The association says its advocacy work helped lead to the March 27, 2025, reintroduction of the Rural Veterinary Workforce Act, which would expand the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program and end federal taxation on those awards. In 2025, USDA identified 243 rural veterinary shortage areas across 46 states, according to AVMA. (avma.org)

AVMA has been building this advocacy pipeline for years. Its externship materials describe the programs as a way to learn about areas of veterinary medicine not typically covered in school and to help shape the profession’s future. Historical AVMA reporting shows the Governmental Relations Division externship placed students in Washington, D.C., to support the association’s legislative agenda and gain firsthand exposure to Congress and federal agencies. Earlier AVMA coverage also shows the program became competitive enough that formal selection criteria were established, including Student AVMA membership, completion of at least two years of veterinary school, and demonstrated interest in politics or policymaking. The association’s recent podcast programming broadens that same pipeline message beyond Capitol Hill: Cross discussed committee service through AVMA’s Early Career Development Committee, Pittard described leadership through the Arkansas Veterinary Medical Association, and Verghis highlighted involvement with the American Association of Equine Practitioners’ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. Across those episodes, the recurring themes were that volunteering can be a practical way to grow a professional network, find community, and influence the future of the field even early in practice. (myvetlife.avma.org)

Cerda’s own trajectory helps explain why AVMA chose her for this conversation. Outside the podcast, public profiles describe her as a veterinarian, attorney, and postdoctoral researcher at Colorado State University with interests in wildlife health, emergency response, and One Health policy. Federation University, which is hosting her as a 2025 Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholar, said Cerda is studying what the U.S. can learn from Australia’s response to the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires, with the aim of developing frameworks, training programs, and policy toolkits for wildlife disaster preparedness and biodiversity protection. (portal.wfoh.org)

While direct outside commentary on this specific podcast episode appears limited, AVMA’s own advocacy leaders have consistently framed relationship-building with lawmakers as essential. In prior AVMA reporting, staff involved in the association’s ambassador program said veterinarians are best positioned to deliver the profession’s message because they live and work in the communities lawmakers represent. That same article noted that advocacy conversations have covered prescription mandates, educational debt, appropriations, animal welfare legislation, and transportation issues, illustrating how broad the policy footprint can be for practicing veterinarians. AVMA has also recently tied engagement more explicitly to retention and professional wellbeing. In a separate My Veterinary Life episode, AVMA Chief of Veterinary Engagement and Belonging Dr. LaTonia Craig said the profession needs to invest as intentionally in human connection as it does in animal care, warning that efficiency can displace listening and connection if teams are not deliberate about belonging and engagement. (avma.org)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this is a reminder that regulation and advocacy are workforce issues, practice issues, and patient-care issues. Decisions made in Congress and by regulatory agencies can influence clinic operations, prescribing rules, student debt burdens, rural access to care, and public health capacity. Programs like the Government Relations Externship give future veterinarians an early understanding of that machinery, and Cerda’s example shows how those skills can remain relevant even in careers that move beyond traditional clinical lanes. The broader My Veterinary Life series suggests AVMA is trying to make organized veterinary medicine feel more accessible by showing multiple on-ramps, from policy externships to committee work to state and allied association volunteering. For hospitals and veterinary teams, that matters because policy-savvy and professionally engaged clinicians are often better equipped to interpret regulatory change, communicate with pet parents, build durable peer networks, and advocate for workable standards. (avma.org)

What to watch: The near-term signal will be whether AVMA continues pairing career storytelling with active federal advocacy, especially around workforce legislation and student engagement, and whether more early-career veterinarians use organized medicine as a launch point into policy-facing, committee, and volunteer leadership roles. (avma.org)