Shaping a Vet Future to Share

By: El Robertson, AVS Senior Vice President

The initiation of the Vet Futures project in 2014 was a cause of great excitement amongst the AVS committee, myself included. Why? Because as students, the future of the veterinary profession, we should be active in shaping it and championing the project through a myriad of various opportunities.

For those who are new to the Vet futures project, here is a very brief introduction (although check here for all the details). The Vet Futures project was established jointly by RCVS and BVA in 2014 with the proactive aim of readying the profession for an uncertain future. By foreseeing some of the challenges the veterinary team might face, the project will encourage innovative thinking and present a co-ordinated approach to them.

So, keen to play our part in making the project a success, AVS created the ‘Vet Futures Student Ambassador’ initiative. We wanted to, not only increase the visibility of this incredible project at a student level, but also encourage active engagement with it.

We promised the BVA and RCVS ‘excellent and dynamic’ individuals to become ambassadors, so… no pressure there. Although, as you all know, vet students seem to be a sea of enthusiastic, driven individuals! We were delighted at the level of interest from students from across all the vet schools and very impressed by the ideas and innovative thinking demonstrated in the applications.

The newly appointed Vet Future Ambassadors then came down to the RCVS headquarters in London for a day of training. The day included training on planning, communication, presentation and leadership, focussing on developing student-led projects.

A lot of coloured pens later, we had five project groups that are now hard at work bringing the vet futures ambitions to fruition among vet students. These groups focus on Innovation, One Health, Mental Health Awareness, Veterinary societal outreach and Graduate Outcomes.

I am really excited to introduce this project to you all. Have questions or want to contribute? Don’t hesitate to get in touch – avspresident@gmail.com . We want vet students to embrace the amazing opportunity we have here! Keep an eye on the AVS pages for updates on our progress!!