Dear Diplomates,
It was a pleasure to see so many of you at the 2026 ACVIM Forum in Seattle. I am grateful for the energy, collegiality, and shared commitment to our profession that were so evident throughout the meeting. Opportunities to gather as a community are an important reminder of the strength of the impact our members have across veterinary specialty medicine.
As we move into the second half of 2026, I want to remind everyone of several strategic priorities the Board of Regents reframed earlier this year to guide the ACVIM’s work and ensure our efforts remain aligned with the future of veterinary specialty medicine. These updated objectives focus on:
- Strengthening engagement and outreach
- Advancing high-quality residency training
- Supporting excellence in certification
- Expanding meaningful continued? education
- Elevating specialist leadership
- Fostering strong research and scholarly activity
Together, these priorities reflect ACVIM’s continued commitment to supporting Diplomates, Candidates, and the broader profession. A few areas of focus this year I’d also like to highlight include:
- Developing a specialty medicine awareness campaign that highlights the unique value of Board-certified specialists
- Creating new strategies to introduce veterinary students to specialty medicine
- Continuing work to define and advance competency-based residency training
- Exploring ways to strengthen resident training program quality and remain actively engaged in discussions about the future oversight of graduate veterinary medical education
- Developing a research competency roadmap to help guide how the ACVIM supports Diplomates and Candidates in contributing to the body of knowledge that advances animal, human, and environmental health
- Evaluating our current education portfolio to shape a future strategy and create a product roadmap that supports rigorous, specialist-level learning for members, while also addressing the needs of referring veterinarians and the broader veterinary care team
We are also working to intentionally position ACVIM Diplomates as trusted Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) by highlighting the important work specialists are doing in clinical care, research, education, and public engagement. Our aim is to identify opportunities where veterinary specialists should have a stronger voice, including within professional organizations, policy discussions, and regulatory conversations that influence the future of veterinary medicine. You can help us in these efforts by completing this brief survey, which asks about your areas of expertise, leadership roles, and organizational involvement.
These priorities are ambitious, but necessary to advance veterinary specialty medicine and support the specialists who lead it. I look forward to sharing more updates as this work progresses. Thank you all who contribute your time, expertise, and leadership to move the ACVIM and the profession forward.
