VIS Explores Medical Innovation with Almost 600 Guests
The Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences’ (CVM) Veterinary & Biomedical Education Complex (VBEC) was filled with more than 582 people from all over the country and world who learned about innovations in veterinary medicine during the second annual Veterinary Innovation Summit (VIS) April 6-8.
The one-of-a-kind event included discussions on telemedicine, the human-animal bond, women in leadership, genetic and genomic innovations in medicine, marginalized communities’ effect on veterinary capacity and adoption, and the next generation of graduates, among many other topics.
“Over the last two days, we’ve heard about veterinarians changing the world and others changing the world of veterinary medicine and quite literally transforming the lives of people in our society each and every day,” said Dr. Eleanor Green, the Carl B. King Dean of Veterinary Medicine in the CVM. “People went on and on about how great the veterinary profession is and what a great space we have. It is a diverse, rewarding, impactful, appealing, and very viable profession, and it’s great to hear that kind of feedback.”
Among the other takeaway messages Green highlighted included the essential nature of veterinary medicine to our nation’s health and security in fighting emerging and reemerging infectious diseases, the opportunities for innovative career paths in the profession, the need for women in leadership to advance innovation and entrepreneurship in veterinary medicine, and the dedication of corporations to the veterinary space, as well as the extraordinary amount of discussion on telehealth and telemedicine.
“We really are moving forward in the areas of telehealth and telemedicine, and I do believe that us getting together and talking about these issues makes a difference,” she said. “Just one example was watching Scott Echols talk about advanced imaging in veterinary and human medicine and sharing some of his innovative images with us; who wasn’t inspired by that?”
Guests overwhelmingly expressed their appreciation for the conference and the diversity of sessions. Some comments included:
“Everyone should go to this conference. I have never been to a conference where I have met such a diverse group of people who are looking forward.”
“I need to take back all of the enthusiasm that we have captured during this time. It was phenomenal.”
“One of the things we take away is the difference in frontier psychology’s can happen collaboratively.”“It has been an incredible experience. We have to be advocates for what we have seen and heard. We need to continue to beat the drum. It’s exciting and the opportunity is incredible.”
Six CVM students were able to attend VIS for free, thanks to the support of alumnus Tim Turner, and they also expressed how valuable the programming was.
“It was really, really cool. The ideas that were presented and discussed got me really excited for future things to come in our profession,” one student wrote. “It was an awesome time and a great opportunity to learn. I hope next year more students will be able to attend, because it was really worth their time.”
As CVM administrators and staff begin to look toward the third annual VIS in 2019, the college wants to thank VIS 2018 co-presenters, the Veterinary Innovation Council (VIC) and the North American Veterinary Community (NAVC), as well as all of the guests who attended.
Dr. Aaron Massecar, executive director of the Veterinary Innovation Council and program manager for the CVM, thanked Dean Green for taking a risk in bringing VIS founder Adam Little and him to Texas A&M to create the VIS and to incorporate innovation into the CVM.
“She was one of the few deans who said she wanted to continue this conversation,” Massecar said. “Thank you so very much for taking that risk on us and everything we’ve been able to do was all because of you.”
A special thank you also goes to the VIS diamond sponsors the American Veterinary Medical Association, Banfield Pet Hospital, and Zoetis; gold-level sponsors IDEXX and Shepherd; silver-level sponsors the Animal Policy Group, Hill’s, Merck Animal Health, Neogen, the National Veterinary Associates, Purina, and Royal Canin; and bootcamp sponsors Shepherd and the National Veterinary Associates.
To see a full list of presentations, visit http://navc.com/vis/2018_VIS_Program_Guide.pdf.
To see more images from the Veterinary Innovation Summit, visit the CVM Flickr page.
