AVMA Government Relations Externship: Bailey Goff

Navigating Challenges
Submitted by Bailey Goff, Iowa State University

I’m beginning to believe that the “rite of passage” for an American Veterinary Medical Association DC office extern is getting lost in D.C.  Maybe Marie and I just need to get better at reading a map.

Meeting with individuals in a post-(ish) COVID-19 world mostly means virtual (e.g., Zoom, Microsoft Teams) for convenience; however, several of our meetings this week were in-person, either in the office or over lunch.  On Tuesday, we travelled over near Penn Quarter to meet with Dr. Rachel Cumberbatch at Animal Health Institute (AHI), chatting about her career working in public policy.  We only passed by the building once before quickly turning around, making our ’lost’ count = one.  On Wednesday afternoon, we joined Dr. Kathy Simmons at the National Cattleman’s Beef Association (NCBA) – which is incidentally not far from AHI.  Hearing from a veterinarian who worked for 10+ years in clinical practice before making the transition to the policy realm was a great perspective.  This time, we circled the same block three times trying to find the building, making our ’lost’ count = two.  Thursday brought lunch with Kevin Cain, the Director of Governmental Affairs at the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC).  He shared with us the challenges of placing new graduates in other spaces they’re needed besides clinical practice (e.g., United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety Inspection Service).  We got to visit the AAVMC office space, which is shared with other professional college associations such as the like the American Dental Education Association.  He took us to the penthouse for a gorgeous view of the city on one of the first warm, sunny days (see pictures below).  Luckily, we found our way without getting lost (yay!), but we found another challenge to navigate – one pair of AirPods and one computer microphone shared between two externs in a loud coffee shop.  Not our intended approach to this virtual meeting, but sometimes as veterinarians, you must navigate challenges on the spot.  Thanks to Dr. Valerie Ragan at Virginia-Maryland Center for Public and Corporate Veterinary Medicine for understanding!  While we didn’t get lost physically, we were lost technologically, so I’ll make our ’lost’ count = three.  Friday lunch with Dr. Leslie Brooks, an American Association of the Advancement of Science Fellow with the U.S. Agency for International Development, was a perfect round-out for in-person engagements for the week.  We followed up with a virtual meeting with Dr. Chase Crawford from National Institute of Health, including a great conversation about how to optimize fellowships in the future.  My AirPods wouldn’t connect for the first 10 minutes, so I’ll add another half-loss in technology, bringing the total ’lost’ count = 3.5.

Maybe next week, we’ll be better at navigating around the Washington D.C. landscape.  Until then, thankfully we can blame it on being the new “puppies,” as Dr. Kathy Simmons put it.  If I have to keep getting lost in order to hear from veterinarians with incredible career paths, passions, and advice for new graduates, well then, I’ll just continue to make the wrong turn.