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Public & Corporate Career Advisors for Veterinary Students

Find a veterinarian who is working in your area of interest within the public or corporate domain.

CPCVM Career Advisor Program

Are you interested in learning more about veterinary career paths outside of private clinical practice?  Veterinarians with a wide variety of educational and work experience have volunteered to be advisors to veterinary students like you.

The Career Advisor Program connects students with veterinarians who are, or have been, in public practice areas that students might be interested in exploring. The advisor/advisee match is aimed at connecting a student with someone possessing career experience in their area of interest, who is willing to help the student explore this potential career option, and provide guidance on how to enter the field. The career advisor/student relationship may eventually develop into an informal long-term mentor/mentee rapport; however, mentorship is not the primary intention of the Program.

We have committed to our career advisors that we will try to limit the public availability of their biographies. Therefore, please do not share this web page or any biographies with others.

1 )  Search for a career advisor in your area of interest

Further down this page are categories with over 100 tags, followed by a set of four filters and an embedded search box, and then advisor biography snapshots.  By using the predefined tags in the filters or the embedded search box, you can instantly determine if any of the dozens of veterinary advisors listed at the bottom of the page have a background in your areas of interest.

  1. Familarize yourself with the tags; they are key to identifying advisors of interest to you.
  2. Select the desired tag in the appropriate filter - or use the embedded search box - to instantly determine relevant advisors.
  3. Click on the advisor’s name in the biography snapshot to read their story.

2 )  I found an advisor with whom I'd like to connect.  How do I submit a connection request?

  1. Request - Select one or two advisors you wish to connect with, and select the start date of the 30-day reservation period during which you'd like to connect with each one. If you select two advisors, prioritize your selections, identifying one as your 'primary' choice and the other as your 'alternate'.  We attempt to match you with your primary selection during the period you requested, but if this advisor is unavailable at the time, we attempt to match you with your alternate selection. Only one of your selections has the possibility to get confirmed.
  2. Review - Upon submission of your connection request, faculty will review your selection(s). Based on your prioritization, faculty will verify that an advisor is available during the time period requested.
  3. Confirm - Once an advisor verifies their availability, your request will be confirmed. You (with the advisor on copy) will receive an email with instructions on how to proceed. Please reach out to the advisor within seven days after your selected start date. 
  4. Please don't forget to thank the advisor!
Advisor Process Flow Chart
Request an Advisor Form

First, familarize yourself with the tags ... there are likely some that will be new to you and prove to be very helpful (especially board certification tags).

In general, the filters are the quickest and easiest way to identify biographies of interest. 

The embedded search examines both the text and the tags in the biographies and is the best way to determine if an advisor with a unique attribute is available. For example, the search is useful for finding a specific school name or a certification not listed in the tags.

The filters work independently of the search. Best results are usually found using one or the other but not both simultaneously.

There are many board certifications available in veterinary medicine. Our certification tag list contains the 32 most widely recognized. If advisors hold board certifications not in the tag list, they will still be noted on individual biographies and can be identified by using the search. It's also possible that we do not yet have an advisor with that board certification.

You can look in the system to see the status of your request (pending -> declined/confirmed -> expired) .

Your submitted request will immediately appear in a pending status.

If your request is declined by faculty, you will be notified within the system. Typically, this occurs because we've just learned through an earlier submission that the advisor will be unavailable for the time period you requested. If your request is declined by the advisor (or declined by both the primary and the alternate advisor if you submitted a prioritized request), you will receive an email notification. 

You will receive an email notification if your request is confirmed by an advisor. The advisor will be on copy so they will expect you to reach out. We ask that you initiate contact within the first seven days of the confirmed start date.

A request reaches expired status when your confirmed, 30-day blocked calendar reservation with a specific advisor has ended.

We try to match you with your primary selection during the period you requested, but if this advisor is unavailable at the time, we attempt to match you with your alternate selection. Only one of your selections has the possibility to get confirmed.

Once you are confirmed with one of your two requested advisors, you have a reserved engagement with that advisor - your connection request is not processed further. If you would like the opportunity to connect with the advisor that was unavailable or was your alternate, please submit a new connection request.

Once you have a confirmed engagement with one of your two requested advisors, we automatically cease any further processing of the second advisor, if it is still pending.

If you received a confirmation for your alternate advisor, your primary advisor has already been rejected by faculty or has declined.

It is not unusual to receive a 'request declined' email. Like everyone, advisors have volatile schedules that change on short notice (illness, business travel, a busy period at work, etc.).  While we have the capability to block out days on an advisor's calendar, we do not pressure advisors to constantly, preemptively update us for short-term interruptions.  We encourage you to request a later time with the desired advisor, or search for other advisors in your area of interest and submit a new connection request.

We built in a two-week administrative buffer so that faculty has time to review all requests and forward your request to the respective advisor. We allow individual advisors sufficient time to see the student request, check their calendar, and reply to us. In the event that your primary selection is not available, but you identified an alternate, we allow time to repeat this process with your alternate. 

We automatically reserve 30 days from your selected start date for each advisor reservation. We think this 30-day period strikes an optimal balance between 3 objectves:  providing you sufficient time to address your questions with the advisor, allowing as many students as possible access to that advisor, while simultanously eliminating the risk of overwhelming advisors with many short-term requests.

While you and your advisor may mutually agree to remain in contact beyond the engagement period, this will not be managed by the Career Advisor Program.  You might consider sending an invitation on LinkedIn.  If you establish a long-term relationship, please be sensitive that the advisor will likely still be receiving requests from other students on an ongoing basis.

Once you graduate, you will no longer have access to the platform.  If you'd like to maintain a longer term relationship with an advisor, consider reaching out via LinkedIn or other social media platform. 

  • AHP (animal health policy)
  • AHBOND (animal - human bond)
  • AQUATIC
  • AVIAN
  • DEVICE (medical devices)
  • DIAG (diagnostic laboratory)
  • ECON (veterinary economics)
  • EPI (epidemology) 
  • ER (emergency preparation and response)
  • FOOD (human food safety, security, and defense)
  • INFECT (disease / infection surveillance, prevention, and control)
  • LAB (lab animal medicine)
  • NUTRI (pet food / nutrition)
  • ONE (One Health - positions in which the work involves the relationship between the health of people, animals, and our shared environment)
  • PHARM (veterinary pharmaceuticals and vaccines)
  • PUB (public health)
  • REGIE (regulatory - import / export)
  • REGPET (regulatory - pet food)
  • RESCLIN (clinical research)
  • SHELTER (shelter medicine)
  • TEACH (teaching)
  • WELL (animal welfare)
  • WILD (wildlife health and conservation)
  • ZOO (exotic, zoo medicine)
  • ACAD (faculty / researcher in an academic institution)
  • APHIS (USDA - Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service)
  • AVMA (employed by the American Veterinary Medical Association)
  • CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Includes Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer (EIS Program) participants
  • CORP (corporation - positions in which the work is performed for a single business entity, regardless of its  legal structure, including for-profit, non-profit, sole proprietor, partnership, LLC, S-corp, C-corp, etc. Examples include veterinary medical conglomerates / partnerships / consolidators. See also "industry".)
  • FDA (Food and Drug Administration)
  • FED (employed by a federal government agency not specifically listed here)
  • FSIS (USDA - Food Safety and Inspection Service)
  • INDUST (industry - positions in which the work involves a general group of companies that operate in a similar business sphere. Example: "the pork industry" or "the dairy industry". See also "corporation".)
  • INTLORG (employed by an international organization)
  • MILITARY
  • NGO (employed by non-governmental organization)
  • NIH (National Institutes of Health)
  • SELF (self-employed)
  • STATE (employed by state government agency)
  • USDA (United States Department of Agriculture).  See also the tags for FSIS and APHIS.
  • MPH (master of public health)
  • MASTERS (master of science degree in a subject other than public health)
  • PhD

There are many board certifications available in veterinary medicine. We created tags for those certifications that are AVMA-Recognized Veterinary Specialities (TM). To learn more about these specialities, visit the AVMA website.  Additional certifications not listed here will still be noted on individual biographies.

American College certifications:

  • DACVIM (diplomate of the American College of Internal Medicine - ACVIM)
  • DACZM (diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine  - ACZM)
  • DACPV (diplomate of the American College of Poultry Veterinarians - ACPV)
  • DACLAM (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Laboratory Animal Medicine - ACVLAM)
  • DACVPM (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine - ACVPM) 
  • DACAW (diplomate of the American College of Animal Welfare)
  • DACT (diplomate of the American College of Theriogenologists)
  • DACVAA (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia)
  • DACVB (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists)
  • DACVCP (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology)
  • DACVD (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Dermatology)
  • DACVM (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists)
  • DACVNU (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Nephrology-Urology)
  • DACVO (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists)
  • DACVP (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists)
  • DACVR (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Radiology)
  • DACVSMR (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation)
  • DACVS (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons)
  • DACVECC (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care)
  • DAVDC (diplomate of the American Veterinary Dental College) 

American Board of Veterinary Practitioners certifications:

  • ABVPAP (ABVP diplomate - Avian Practice) 
  • ABVPBCP (ABVP diplomate - Beef Cattle Practice) 
  • ABVPCFP (ABVP diplomate - Canine and Feline Practice) 
  • ABVPDP (ABVP diplomate - Dairy Practice) 
  • ABVPEP (ABVP diplomate - Equine Practice) 
  • ABVPECMP (ABVP diplomate - Exotic Companion Mammal Practice) 
  • ABVPFP (ABVP diplomate - Feline Practice) 
  • ABVPFAP (ABVP diplomate - Food Animal Practice) 
  • ABVPRAP (ABVP diplomate - Reptile and Amphibian Practice) 
  • ABVPSMP (ABVP diplomate - Shelter Medicine Practice) 
  • ABVPSHP (ABVP diplomate - Swine Health Practice) 
  • ABVT (ABVP diplomate - Veterinary Toxicology)
  • For the location of an advisor, select one of the state abbreviations listed. Be aware that if a state is not listed, there is currently no advisor working in that location.  
  • Use DC to identify those living in or near Washington DC.
  • Use INTL for advisors who are working overseas or have extensive overseas experience.

Do not press enter after filtering or searching. The list automatically updates.