2026 AVMA Convention program analysis: Cost, affordability, and spectrum-of-care sessions more than double from 2025

Before thousands of veterinary professionals gather for this year’s American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Convention, taking place July 10–14 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, the published program offers a look at how the session mix has changed from 2025. A dvm360 analysis comparing the published 2025 and 2026 convention programs found that sessions naming cost, affordability, access, or spectrum of care more than doubled, climbing from 11 sessions in 2025 to 24 in 2026. That puts affordability among the handful of themes that grew most, alongside a jump in surgery sessions.

AVMA also grouped 7 of the 24 sessions into a new “Reducing Barriers to Care Symposium,” a named block that had no equivalent in the 2025 program. Among the themes examined in this analysis, no other area received a comparable dedicated block. Screwworm, disaster preparedness, and practice ownership also increased, though none received a dedicated symposium.

Cost and access topics extend beyond practice management

Cost- and access-related sessions appear across all 5 days of the published program. Friday opens with a sunrise session on affordability and expanding access. By Saturday, the topic has reached the clinical talks, with sessions on handling common emergencies on a budget and giving “five-star care on a two-star budget" for canine infectious respiratory disease. Other lectures ask whether pet ownership has become a luxury, look at pets and poverty, and explore how veterinarians are navigating treatment decisions when recommendations meet financial limitations.

This year, cost- and access-related framing also appears inside dermatology, emergency medicine, antimicrobial stewardship, and shelter medicine, placing it alongside the clinical decisions it affects. The 2026 program adds a legal dimension as well, with a session examining the spectrum of care from an attorney’s perspective and another addressing licensing-board expectations when veterinarians offer a range of treatment options rather than a single standard. The range of crossover with other subject areas shows how affordability considerations are increasingly appearing alongside clinical decision-making.

The increase in affordability-related sessions reflects a broader challenge facing veterinary teams and pet owners. Recent surveys have found that financial constraints continue to affect access to veterinary care. A PetSmart Charities-Gallup survey of practicing veterinarians (PetSmart Charities-Gallup State of Pet Care Study: Veterinarians’ Perspective on American Veterinary Care), found that 94% said clients’ financial considerations at least sometimes limit their ability to provide recommended care, and cost was named as a reason owners decline treatment more than twice as often as any other factor.¹ A 2025 companion survey of pet owners in the same series found that 52% had skipped or declined needed veterinary care, most often because of cost.² The barrier is geographic as well as financial, with more than a third of Americans—roughly 129 million people—living in areas with severely limited access to veterinary care.³

Screwworm and disaster preparedness gain ground

New World screwworm-related sessions rose from one in 2025 to 4 in 2026. The increase comes amid the parasite’s northward movement through Mexico and its first US detections in decades, which have included livestock and 2 dogs. The 2026 program includes an overview of the parasite, a session on the USDA response, a panel on veterinary preparedness, and a National Veterinary Accreditation Program module, reflecting how quickly the threat has moved from a border concern to a clinical readiness topic.

Disaster and emergency preparedness sessions also increased, rising from 7 in 2025 to 14 in 2026, and the host region is visible in the lineup. Several sessions address issues relevant to California and the surrounding area, including a California disaster panel, a session on the veterinary response to the Eaton Fire and windstorm, and lectures on treating wildfire-related burns. Others focus on Hurricane Helene, search-and-rescue dogs, and preparing for extreme weather, extending the theme beyond any single event.

AI and wellbeing remain steady

Not every prominent topic grew. Artificial intelligence (AI) appears in 6 sessions this year, compared with 7 in 2025. However, compared with the 2025 program, the 2026 sessions place more emphasis on implementation, including topics such as a “Skeptic’s Guide to AI” and strategies for introducing AI tools to hesitant teams, reflecting growing trends in AI adoption efforts.

Wellbeing and mental health sessions increased from 10 to 13, remaining one of the program’s steadier categories, and avian influenza held even at 3 sessions in each year.

Practice ownership receives more attention

Sessions examining corporate medicine, independent practice, and ownership models increased from 1 in 2025 to 4 in 2026. Topics include competing as an independent practice, comparing private-equity and private-practice ownership models, examining the current state of corporate medicine, and nonprofit efforts to preserve rural independent practices. The sessions reflect continued discussion around ownership models, consolidation, and the structure of veterinary practice.

Changes within AVMA’s program tracks also show growth in business-focused programming. The Public and Corporate Practice track grew from 87 sessions to 104, while AVMA-and-entity programming increased from 58 to 90. Those were the 2 largest track increases in the catalog. Companion-animal medicine, the largest track overall, remained close to last year’s total at about 215 sessions.

Taken together, the 2026 program reflects several issues receiving increased attention in veterinary medicine, from emerging disease threats and disaster preparedness to practice ownership and the role of technology in practice. Among the topics examined in this analysis, cost, access, and spectrum of care showed the largest increase compared with 2025.

The increase comes as affordability continues to be a challenge for many pet owners and veterinary teams. While increased attention to the topic does not resolve broader barriers to care, the 2026 program reflects continued discussion and education around how veterinary professionals navigate financial limitations while providing care.

References

1. Cost of care continues to strain veterinary care access. News release. PetSmart Charities. January 20, 2026. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://petsmartcharities.org/press-releases/cost-of-care-continues-to-strain-veterinary-care-access
2. Bautista-Alejandre A. Many pet owners cannot afford veterinary care, survey finds. dvm360. April 17, 2025. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://www.dvm360.com/view/many-pet-owners-cannot-afford-veterinary-care-survey-finds
3. Bautista-Alejandre A. One-third of Americans live in an area where veterinary care is scarce. dvm360. April 22, 2025. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://www.dvm360.com/view/one-third-of-americans-live-in-an-area-where-veterinary-care-is-scarce