{"id":75650,"date":"2024-02-01T00:00:03","date_gmt":"2024-02-01T05:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/todaysveterinarybusiness.com\/?p=75650"},"modified":"2024-01-31T18:54:39","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T23:54:39","slug":"change-agents-creative-disruption-0224","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/navc.sitepreview.app\/todaysveterinarybusiness.com\/change-agents-creative-disruption-0224\/","title":{"rendered":"Change Agents"},"content":{"rendered":"

Among the lessons learned from COVID was that veterinary medicine, a profession long said to be slow to change, can change \u2014 and change in a hurry. Our profession recognized the obstacles, adapted, innovated, failed at times, learned and overcame significant barriers. Happily, our profession continues to learn, adapt, innovate and embrace change to enhance our colleagues\u2019 well-being, help pets more efficiently, empower and better utilize our teams, reduce barriers to veterinary care, and improve medical outcomes. Progressive professionals are stepping up to lead that change as opposed to allowing outsiders to force it on us.<\/p>\n

Change agents, sometimes called change champions, promote, support and enable new ways of doing things. They also come together to form organizations dedicated to solving complex issues facing our profession.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to introduce you to five groups championing change.<\/p>\n

Veterinary Innovation Council<\/strong><\/h3>\n

VIC is the brainchild of the North American Veterinary Community and could be said to be the godfather of change in our industry. VIC is a nonprofit made up of leaders from throughout the profession who champion disruptive solutions to key emerging and existing problems. For example, VIC shed light on veterinary telehealth about seven years ago. Telehealth has since grown into an entire industry, a CE track, a new career path and another way to reduce barriers to care.<\/p>\n

VIC then looked at the topic of midlevel providers, like physician assistants in human medicine. Following VIC\u2019s spotlight on midtier providers, the first master\u2019s-level veterinary technician programs emerged, and work is underway to establish an accrediting body and licensure examinations. Most recently, VIC has tackled the enormous issue of access to care, from which we\u2019ll soon see innovative solutions.<\/p>\n

VIC holds the signature Veterinary Innovation Summit each year to showcase the latest innovations, promote disruptive startup companies and bring together thought leaders to steer change across our industry.<\/p>\n

Consortium on Workplace-Based Education and Learning<\/strong><\/h3>\n

COWBEL, another volunteer-led nonprofit, gets my vote for the best acronym. It brings together enthusiastic veterinary educators from around the world to deliver real-world clinical learning opportunities to veterinary students in distributed education models. Distributed models are proving to be a novel, cost-effective and successful means for academia to partner with quality veterinary practices to provide exceptional hands-on clinical experiences, resulting in more confident and competent new graduates.<\/p>\n

Board of Chief Veterinary Medical Officers<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Established one year ago, BCVMO is another volunteer-driven nonprofit comprising top medical decision-makers from their respective organizations. Their groups range from for-profit to not-for-profit, independent to corporate, generalists to specialists, and shelter to academia. Over 60 members represent tens of thousands of veterinary professionals.<\/p>\n

BCVMO aims to bring awareness to and solve issues affecting the delivery of care<\/a> and the well-being of veterinary professionals. The organization is committed to these strategic pillars:<\/p>\n