For the third year in a row, the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine has received the national Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. The award recognizes U.S. health colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. As a recipient of the award for 2022, the college will be featured, along with 61 other recipients, in the December 2022 issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.
The college was selected for the honor by INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine because of its innovative and impactful programs designed to diversify the population of prospective students pursuing careers in veterinary medicine. One of those programs is the Vet Up! Champions Mentor Match Program, in which high school and college students participating in the college’s year-long Vet Up! Champions program are mentored by current veterinary medical students. The mentoring program provides aspiring veterinarians support well beyond the year-long Vet Up! Champions curriculum and summer campus experience.
Another example of the college’s award winning initiatives involves Vet Up! College Veterinary Clinical Experiences. Participants in the Vet Up! College program are immersed in the curriculum, animal experiences, and culture during a month-long summer stay at the College of Veterinary Medicine. Students are then placed at clinical sites in their residential communities to gain hands-on veterinary experiences, many of which continue beyond the summer program.
“These initiatives provide a solid foundation for these promising future veterinary professionals as they prepare to embark on the rigorous process of seeking admission to veterinary school,” said Purdue Veterinary Medicine Dean Willie Reed. “We are excited by the success we are seeing when students from a wide range of backgrounds grow in their confidence about becoming veterinarians as they realize there is a need and a place for them in the veterinary medical profession and feel tangible support for pursing this field as their future career.”
Of the more than 60 Health Professions HEED Award recipients, Purdue Veterinary Medicine is one of only six colleges of veterinary medicine chosen for this honor. “The Health Professions HEED Award process consists of a comprehensive and rigorous application that includes questions relating to the recruitment and retention of students and employees — and best practices for both — continued leadership support for diversity, and other aspects of campus diversity and inclusion,” said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. “We take a detailed approach to reviewing each application in deciding who will be named a Health Professions HEED Award recipient. Our standards are high, and we look for schools where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being done every day across their campus.”
Click here for more information about the 2022 Health Professions HEED Award.
Vet Up! College offers a six-week-long residential summer program at Purdue University for under-resourced undergraduate students to help prepare them to be competitive in the DVM applicant pool.