Driving Success over the Past 50 Years-The Faculty in Academic Veterinary Medicine.

The faculty at member schools and colleges of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) are critical for continued progress in veterinary medicine. The success of those faculty members over the past 50 years has positioned veterinary medicine to engage an ever-widening array of opportunities, responsibilities, and societal needs. Yet the array of skills and accomplishments of faculty in academic veterinary medicine are not always visible to the public, or even within our profession.

Providing stewardship and leadership for the future of veterinary medical research: a responsibility of the veterinary colleges.

As we contemplate responsibilities as well as opportunities in research, it is fair to begin by considering why research is, or should be, important to veterinary schools and colleges, to our profession, and to society. Veterinary research is conducted in many venues, such as colleges of veterinary medicine, veterinary science departments, comparative medicine departments, medical schools, and many other university departments, as well as in industry laboratories, governmental agencies, and other organizations. But schools and colleges of veterinary medicine have a unique and historic responsibility to ensure that our veterinary medical research programs are sufficient in quality, capacity, and depth to meet the research needs of our society.