Cornell uses SAVMA grant money for business negotiation skill advancement

On April 24, 2014, Cornell's Student Chapter of the Women's Veterinary Leadership Development Initiative (WVLDI) hosted Jeanne Bohen Simard, a Career Strategist with a clinical background as a registered nurse, at Cornell to host an interactive negotiation skills workshop. Mrs. Bohen Simard has had a long career in both the medical and business world, and she has earned several top leadership positions in her field along the way.  

Students at Cornell recognized the need for increased training of veterinary students in negotiation skills as it currently only exists in the curriculum as one part of an elective course. Early during the Spring semester, several Cornell CVM students had been working together to form the first student chapter of the Women's Veterinary Leadership Development Initiative (WVDLI), so this event fit perfectly as their kick-off event. The founders of Cornell's WVLDI worked with Mrs. Bohen Simard to design an interactive workshop to acquaint, train, and encourage proficiency in business negotiation skills. While the workshop was open to all students, Mrs. Bohen Simard specifically highlighted the challenges that women tend to face when negotiating and managing careers since our field is becoming more female-dominated each year. SheCornell's WVLDI Officers highlighted why men and women have trouble successfully negotiating for themselves, explained what to discuss when negotiating for your career and how to say it, and gave attendees an opportunity to practice these skills so they would feel comfortable using them in the future.

The event had over 65 people in attendance and was wildly successful. Cornell WVDLI would like to thank SAVMA for the funding to execute such a fun and educational event.