7. Supporting veterinary and veterinary nursing students
By Niamh Young (previous AVS Student Welfare Rep)
Entering the veterinary professions as a student can be an exciting time and events offer a wealth of opportunities for learning, networking and professional development as well as providing a brilliant introduction to the industry. However, being new to these spaces can be intimidating for a number of reasons. Here are some key points to encourage student attendance at events and protect wellbeing.
Acknowledging and normalising knowledge gaps
Many students may feel intimidated by the level of expertise of qualified veterinary professionals at conferences. It’s important to acknowledge this and create an inclusive learning environment by:
- Ensuring speakers are aware there will be students present and asking them to encourage questions from all knowledge backgrounds.
- Encouraging speakers to define technical terms and provide context for more complex topics when appropriate.
- Labelling talks and sessions as ‘student-friendly’ where appropriate.
- Offering dedicated student workshops and discussion groups that allow students to engage without judgement.
- Providing question submission options to reduce anxiety around asking questions in front of experienced professionals (such as through anonymous Q&A platforms like Slido or
Mentimeter).
Fostering a sense of belonging
As students are often at the beginning of their veterinary journeys, it can be difficult to feel a sense of belonging. To bridge this gap, organisers can:
- Designate student ambassadors or mentors to help students navigate the event, introduce them to professionals and advise them on appropriate talks.
- Provide optional stickers for lanyards/name badges to highlight individuals as students in a positive manner.
- Advertise the event as student friendly and remind other attendees of their presence.
Creating safe spaces for students
To help minimise overwhelm for students at professional events, organisers can:
- Create a designated student-friendly space (such as a student zone or stall) to use as a base to decompress and connect with other students.
- Ensure student spaces have clear, visible information about support services and where to seek help within the conference.
- Ensure congress maps and itineraries advertise student-friendly spaces so they are easily accessible.
- Advise stewards of designated student spaces and encourage them to promote them.
Encouraging inclusive and supportive dialogue
Industry events can focus heavily on qualified professionals. To foster a culture of openness and inclusivity for students, organisers can:
- Offer structured networking opportunities, such as speed-networking, to make interactions less daunting (see section 3 on protecting new joiners).
- Provide discussion prompts or icebreaker activities to help initiate conversations between students and professionals.
- Encourage speakers to actively welcome and acknowledge student attendees at the start of their talks and welcome questions from students at the end.
- Advise speakers talking on advanced topics to consider adding annotations into their presentations, which may make more difficult concepts clearer for student attendees.
- Invite student participants onto panel discussions to demonstrate the valued position students hold within the industry and to encourage student perspectives to be shared.
- Set clear expectations for respectful communication for all attendees and discourage elitist or dismissive attitudes.