Nov, 2024

Uniting Veterinary Educators: Mars Veterinary Health Hosts 3rd Annual House Officer Summit

Healthcare education is a critical component of building a sustainable future for veterinary medicine. Mars Veterinary Health prioritizes investments to enable best-in-class veterinary care that serves the needs of pets today and in the future. As part of that commitment, Mars Veterinary Health held its third annual House Officer Summit in October 2024 in partnership with Colorado State University (CSU) College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences and the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC).

This year’s event brought together more than 100 attendees, including house officers and academic and industry leaders who manage education programs for house officers from more than 30 veterinary schools and private practice groups across North America. The focus was providing ongoing support for this unique group of learners, with emphasis on patient safety and wellbeing. Programming was designed to establish a foundation for defining, designing, and bringing a workplace culture of safety to life that empowers both individuals and veterinary teams, which in turn, contributes to a sustainable future for the profession. Discussions were inspired by prior year’s topics of Health and Wellbeing (Chicago, 2022) and Mentorship (The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, 2023).

“Our House Officer Summit offers a unique platform for veterinary educators to come together, share insights, and collaborate in an inspiring and innovative environment,” said Andy Maccabe, DVM, MPH, JD, Global Vice President of Veterinary Education, Mars Veterinary Health. “As one of the largest providers of post-graduate veterinary education in the world, Mars Veterinary Health continually seeks opportunities to collaborate across academic institutions and the profession to enhance and advance training that enables excellent clinical experiences for our Associates, students, and veterinary teams industry-wide.”

This past year alone, Mars Veterinary Health hosted more than 1,500 veterinary student externs, hundreds of rotating and specialty interns, and more than 140 residents as part of its post-graduate veterinary education efforts. And as the largest employer of board-certified veterinary specialists, Mars Veterinary Health interns and residents receive mentoring and coaching from some of the most experienced providers in the industry.

On the heels of Mars Veterinary Health’s Pet Healthcare Industry Summit in September, the annual House Officer Summit exemplifies our commitment to supporting the careers of the people who care for pets so that, together, we can make A Better World for Pets.

A special thanks to this year’s Summit sponsors: American Association of Veterinary Clinicians (AAVC) and American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).

Susan VandeWoude, DVM, Dean of Colorado State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, welcomed attendees at CSU’s Translational Medicine Institute.
Albert Wu, MD, MPH, Director of Strategic Collaborations at Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, discussed his patient safety work and the impact of adverse events on teams, also known as “The Second Victim.”
Drawing from his culture of safety expertise in human medicine, Jeff Glasheen, MD, Director of the Institute for Healthcare Quality, Safety and Efficiency (IHQSE) at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, advised on how to build organizational capacity for change.
Rochelle Low, DVM, MHL, MaS, Global Vice President of Quality and Patient Safety at Mars Veterinary Health, presented on creating a culture of safety, highlighting patient safety parallels in human and veterinary medicine complete with real-world examples, data, and lessons. Read more about Dr. Low’s perspectives on creating a culture of safety here.
Dr. Brian Thomsen, a second-year veterinary surgery resident at BluePearl participated in a panel with house officers moderated by Dr. Albert Wu, MD, MPH, Director of Strategic Collaborations at Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality.
Karen Faunt, DVM, MS, DACVIM (small animal), Vice President of Global Quality Design at Mars Veterinary Health, discussed ways to create a strong veterinary patient safety program. Attendees received an advance copy of the new textbook she co-authored titled, “Building a Strong Patient Safety Program in Veterinary Medicine: Volumes I-IV.”