AVMA launches podcast focusing on career paths

The AVMA has developed and plans to launch a new podcast called My Veterinary Life. The podcast will focus on personal stories from across the veterinary profession, with a target audience of early-career veterinarians.

Drs. Anna Reddish and Marci Kirk, assistant directors in the AVMA Membership and Field Services Division, will act as hosts.

The show will use a storytelling format to highlight various career paths within veterinary medicine.

"We want to cover backgrounds from all over the profession such as people practicing in different aspects of both clinical and nonclinical medicine—those that are in industry, public service, specialty—a variety of topics," Dr. Reddish said. "We will showcase stories not only on veterinary medicine as it relates to veterinarians, but also veterinary nurses, technicians, assistants, and practice managers. We want to incorporate the whole team into the podcast."

Each podcast will include, along with the main guest interview, a set of core questions that every guest will answer, Dr. Reddish said.

The accessibility of the format was the catalyst behind the podcast.

We hope that everybody walks away learning something new about a colleague, a friend, or someone they didn't know before listening to the podcast.

Dr. Anna Reddish, an assistant director in the AVMA Membership and Field Services Division

"The idea for the podcast has been something we have been working on for a while," Dr. Kirk said. "We thought that it would be a great way to utilize another platform (and that) students and early-career folks that are on the go would be able to take this with them anywhere as they go about their day. We liked that it was nimble and accessible."

While My Veterinary Life has a younger target audience, it will likely appeal to a lot of AVMA members, Dr. Kirk said.

"We really want to build a community," she said.

The show's goals are to reach AVMA members, share stories, create a community and sense of belonging for listeners, and give the audience a chance to learn.

"We hope that everybody walks away learning something new about a colleague, a friend, or someone they didn't know before listening to the podcast," Dr. Reddish said. "We are really focused on making it a positive podcast and showcasing the great things that are in our profession."

My Veterinary Life has a launch date in late March. When the first episode debuts, it can be found in the iTunes and Google Play (requires account) stores, on other podcast platforms, or the AVMA website. A new episode will be released weekly.

Ideas for future podcasts can be submitted by contacting Drs. Reddish and Kirk at mvlpodcastavma [dot] org (mvlpodcast[at]avma[dot]org).

Related JAVMA content:

AVMA website devoted to early-career veterinarians (Aug. 15, 2018)