Veterinary skills that translate to policy and advocacy

Veterinarians already use many of the skills needed for policy work, even if they do not recognize them as such. During the 2026 American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Convention in Anaheim, California, Dilara Kiran, DVM, MS, an associate veterinarian in a small-animal general practice in Colorado with National Veterinary Associates and the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Science Policy & Governance, spoke with dvm360 about the key messages she hoped attendees took away from her session, "Veterinary Voices in Policy Spaces." In this video, Kiran explains why veterinarians are well suited to policy engagement, drawing parallels between navigating stakeholder interests in the exam room and contributing to policy decisions at the local, state, and national levels.

Below is a partial transcript, which has been lightly edited for clarity.

dvm360: What are some of the key takeaways you hope attendees walked away with from your AVMA session?

Dilara Kiran, DVM, MS: First and foremost, veterinarians are really uniquely positioned to be extremely valuable in the policy space because we have this interdisciplinary background. And a large part of policy is stakeholder engagement and interacting with different groups of people, understanding the cost-benefits of what those different groups need, and then coming to a mutual decision or creating an option that works and maximizes benefit for everyone.

And we do that, if you're a practitioner in the exam room every day. You have your interests, what you believe is standard of care. The client has their interests, their needs, their finances, their microcosm and context. And then your patient has needs. We are constantly navigating those different stakeholders to come up with a treatment plan. So learning how those transferable skills can apply, that there are opportunities out there that aren't just federal government, and [that] you can find things to do right at home [is crucial].