Taking a history on veterinary education

From more-than-human solidarity to multi-species biographical value: insights from a veterinary school about ethical dilemmas in One Health promotion

This article features a partnership between a veterinary school and a charity that aims to enhance the wellbeing of low-income people. Through this partnership, the charity periodically hosts veterinary clinics for clients and their pets. Even as the veterinarians and veterinary students duly examine people's pets, these pop-up clinics aim to help people and their pets. Hence our analysis revolves around the ethics of 'more-than-human solidarity'. By 'more-than-human solidarity', we mean efforts to help others that either center on or that implicate non-human beings. To delve into the ethical and sociological implications of subsidised veterinary services, and to assist with program planning, we conducted several in-depth interviews with veterinarians. Most substantively, we found that the veterinary school's outreach clinics give rise to multi-species biographical value, which is prized as a pedagogical resource for veterinary students. The veterinarians whom we interviewed felt troubled by the extent to which the pop-up clinics ultimately benefited the veterinary school, but also by the shortage of subsidised veterinary services in the vicinity. Based on these interviews and our own reflections, we invite more scholarship on cultural, economic and political influences that shape the lives of human beings and non-human animals alike.

Fifty Years of Evolving Partnerships in Veterinary Medical Education

The Association of American Veterinary Medical College's (AAVMC's) role in the progression of academic veterinary medical education has been about building successful partnerships in the US and internationally. Membership in the association has evolved over the past 50 years, as have traditions of collaboration that strengthen veterinary medical education and the association. The AAVMC has become a source of information and a place for debate on educational trends, innovative pedagogy, and the value of a diverse learning environment. The AAVMC's relationship with the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education (AVMA COE), the accreditor of veterinary medical education recognized by the United Sates Department of Education (DOE), is highlighted here because of the key role that AAVMC members have played in the evolution of veterinary accreditation. The AAVMC has also been a partner in the expansion of veterinary medical education to include global health and One Health and in the engagement of international partners around shared educational opportunities and challenges. Recently, the association has reinforced its desire to be a truly international organization rather than an American organization with international members. To that end, strategic AAVMC initiatives aim to expand and connect the global community of veterinary educators to the benefit of students and the profession around the world. Tables in this article are intended to provide historical context, chronology, and an accessible way to view highlights.