Linking communication and wellbeing: Training for veterinary educators

 

Veterinarians laughing

Upcoming training sessions

March 18, 2025 – Virtual training

Applications due: March 4, 2025

May 14, 2025 – Virtual training

Applications due: April 30, 2025

Cost/CE

AVMA members: $129
Non-members: $199
CE credit: 5.25 hours

Note: Cost of attendance does not cover hotel or travel.

Here’s what people are saying

"Communication is such a key aspect of wellbeing in any personal or professional organization. The skills I learned from the training are already having a beneficial effect on me."


"I never thought about the fact that communication would be a key to improving workplace wellbeing, but it now makes sense."

Train the Trainer wellbeing educator program

Effective communication is a cornerstone of healthy workplaces. Our words are integral to supporting and encouraging teammates, lifting up colleagues, offering constructive feedback to peers, problem solving, and much more.

AVMA’s groundbreaking Train the Trainer workshop empowers veterinary professionals to become educators in workplace communication skills that support wellbeing. In this one-day interactive session, learn how to use communication to help teams and individuals flourish and achieve their full potential. In addition to learning the content yourself, you’ll come away with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to teach others.

If you’re passionate about sharing communication strategies and insights with others, and improving wellbeing across the veterinary profession, the Train the Trainer program is for you.

Participants learn:
  • The link between effective communication and workplace wellbeing
  • Core communication skills that build trust, increase rapport, and create healthy work cultures
  • Strategies for promoting wellbeing in the workplace
  • How to conduct communication training in a wide variety of settings, including live team meetings, classrooms, conferences, and webinars
Apply today.

Applications are being accepted for training sessions in 2025.

Get the application

Become a wellbeing educator

Join a growing network of educators bringing foundational communication concepts and skills to professionals nationwide.

Preferred qualifications for applicants

The Train the Trainer program builds upon knowledge, experience, and skills you already have in related areas. If you have a strong foundation in these subject matters, we encourage you to apply to the program:

  • Commitment to connection-centered teams and organizations – You are committed to promoting the centrality of communication as a core part of healthy workplaces.
  • Passion for the topic – You care deeply about effective communication and are recognized by colleagues and clients as an excellent communicator.
  • Presentation skills – You have experience designing and delivering effective presentations that are responsive to the needs of your audience.
  • Group facilitation – You can manage complex interactions among workshop participants, including disagreements, personal disclosures, and conversations about sensitive topics.
  • Critical thinking – You are able to analyze and evaluate evidence-based practices related to team-patient relationships and health outcomes.
  • Learning orientation – You value a growth mindset and model a commitment to lifelong learning and development.

Applicants will be selected based on these and other preferred criteria. Before applying, participants should review the full list of qualifications here.

Educators who complete the program are required to give the associated wellbeing presentation at least two times per year. There is no minimum attendee size for these presentations. They can be given to a small group of coworkers or to a large audience at a conference.

What can you expect?

The workshop covers four foundational concepts and skills: providing feedback, collaboration, reflective listening, and facilitation. During the training, you’ll get to know and learn from other trainees. Participate in large- and small-group learning, interactive skill-building exercises, and self-reflection. You’ll also practice delivering a portion of the training yourself, building both your skills and confidence.

Come away with valuable strategies to promote workplace wellbeing, and the confidence and skills to pass your expertise on to others.

After completing the program, trainees will have access to materials that will enable you to share your learning with others:

  • Wellbeing educator manual
  • Training presentation and presenter notes
  • Workbook to use in your own trainings
Merck


This program is made possible through an educational grant from Merck Animal Health. Merck’s commitment to the veterinary profession continues with a focus on veterinary wellbeing and makes a positive impact to advance The Science of Healthier Animals®.