Students create the Association of Asian Veterinary Medical Professionals
The AAVMP, short for Association of Asian Veterinary Medical Professionals, was created in April this year. The AAVMP is a newly formed organization that strives to bring the Asian-American veterinary community together. Similar to the BlackDVMNetwork and the Latinx Veterinary Medical Association (LVMA), the AAVMP platform serves as a place to share stories in veterinary medicine, offer education on the importance of representation, provide mentorship opportunities, and make known the biases towards minorities that ultimately influence our professional lives.
The AAVMP’s short-term goals include creating a directory of Asian veterinary professionals, hosting discussions about race-related issues, and connecting with other affinity groups within the profession.
Longer-term goals include creating scholarship and mentorship opportunities for Asian minority pre-veterinarian and/or veterinarian students, Basit says, noting that they would also like to “have more discussions on ally-ship options for non-Asian members, so that they can support their Asian colleagues in an impactful and constructive way.” One of the organization's overarching goals is to create AAVMP student chapters across the nation.