Our diversity program partner, VetaHumanz at Purdue University has researched how to most effectively encourage a more diverse population to choose veterinary medicine as a career.
They identified that it will be a more effective use of time to visit elementary school classrooms to provide lessons based around veterinary medicine. Older students are less easy to influence, particularly toward careers like veterinary medicine.
Rather than simply delivering a "career day" style talk, VetaHumanz equips veterinarians with a range of lesson plans that fit in with the standard curricula requirements for elementary schools. They provide online training as well as materials that feature veterinarians of color who demonstrate that veterinary careers are possible regardless of racial origin.
NYSVMS will facilitate the formation of small VetaHumanz chapters, that are equipped to visit schools, and also help build connections with schools to enable veterinarians to deliver the program.
For more information on how you can help, please contact
Tim Atkinson on 518 869 7888 or take a look at the other information on this website.
You can also visit
https://vet.purdue.edu/vetahumanz/ for more information.