Resources focus on veterinary careers in public service
In May, the National Association of Federal Veterinarians and the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine’s Center for Public and Corporate Veterinary Medicine published resources in conjunction with the AVMA about veterinary careers in the federal government.
“Federal Veterinarians: The World Is Our Clinic” is a brochure offering an overview of where veterinarians are currently serving across the federal government and how they can help fill the country’s increasing demand for professionals with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics backgrounds in the future.
The groups also published a white paper titled “Addressing federal hiring needs with veterinary medical professionals,” which provides an in-depth look at how the federal government classifies some of its job series. Specifically, for some federal positions not classified as veterinary positions, professionals are sought with backgrounds in the basic sciences, health, agriculture, or the environment, areas in which veterinarians are often uniquely qualified.
The white paper calls on the Office of Personnel Management to expand the veterinary medical officer job series description to include the additional skill sets that veterinarians possess, allow professionals with DVM or VMD degrees the ability to qualify for a more diverse range of science and technology–based federal positions or be given preference for those science-based positions, and consider professionals with doctorates in veterinary medicine for any science-based position that requires a doctorate or other advanced science or research degree.
In the months ahead, the AVMA, NAFV, and Virginia-Maryland will provide the brochure and white paper to federal human resources managers as part of a continued effort to place veterinarians in federal service.