New SAVMA president brings student voice to workforce debate

Spencer Stelly, a third-year veterinary student at Louisiana State University, has been elected president of the Student American Veterinary Medical Association, with Cayden Smith of Long Island University’s Lewyt College of Veterinary Medicine elected president-elect, according to Vet Candy Radio profiles and supporting school information. Stelly’s profile highlights an emergency and critical care background, an interest in policy and advocacy, and a public stance against creating a veterinary mid-level practitioner role, often called a veterinary professional associate, or VPA. That issue has become one of the profession’s most contentious policy debates since Colorado voters approved a VPA position in November 2024 and Colorado State University moved ahead with a master’s-level curriculum in 2025. (lsu.edu)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this is a reminder that student leadership is increasingly intersecting with workforce policy, scope-of-practice debates, and the pipeline into practice. SAVMA represents veterinary students nationally through the AVMA ecosystem, and student leaders can shape how future veterinarians think about supervision, team structure, liability, wellbeing, and career readiness at a time when the job market for new graduates remains strong. AVMA’s 2025 economic report found 93.9% of 2024 graduates had secured employment or advanced education shortly before graduation, underscoring that students are entering a robust but rapidly changing profession. (avma.org)

What to watch: Watch whether Stelly and the new SAVMA leadership take a more visible public role in national debates over the VPA model, veterinary education policy, and student advocacy heading into the next AVMA policy cycle. (aavsb.org)