Join AWVS
AWVS members are knowledgeable, diligent, enthusiastic women and men committed to their clients, patients, colleagues and family members. Our members understand that to be your best self means different things to different people. Our members are academics and private practitioners with diverse life experiences. Yet we all have two things in common, a love of surgery and a commitment to learn and help teach other women surgeons. Come join us as a member of the Association of Women Veterinary Surgeons!
Through networking and mentoring, we provide an exchange of life experiences, guidance, and approaches for work place success. We have a worldwide membership with both academia and private practice represented. Although women make up the majority of veterinary students and practitioners, many times women are our hardest critics.
AWVS is interested in the unique challenges that women veterinary surgeons face on a day to day basis including:
- Work life balance- family planning, conflicts with partners over work commitments, etc
- Work environment struggles- interactions, conflicts, etc.
- Pay equity issues
- Promotion equity issues
- Lack of women in leadership positions at universities
- Lack of women business owners
Benefits to Joining
01
Get the News You Need
Our list-serve and social media posts will update you with the latest topics and trends relating to woman and veterinary surgery
02
Network
Attend the annual conference held during ACVS Symposium, connect with AWVS members at other society meetings, get involved with a committee, or join any one of our online social networks (facebook, twitter).
03
Mentor or Mentorship
Get a mentor or be a mentor. Access the members-only directory to find a mentor who is right for you.
04
Help with Research
As a member you have access to our list-serve to post research ideas or questions.
05
Find a Job
Use the AWVS Career Center to find a job that is perfect for you.
Important Statistics
- The number of women who are general surgeons has consistently increased over the past 30 years.
- A growing number of women serve as chairs of surgery departments.
- Women constitute 8% of Professors, 13% of Associate Professors and 26% of Assistant Professors of Surgery.
- The 100-year-old American College of Surgeons (ACS):
- Five women have chaired the ACS Board of Governors.
- Four women have received the ACS Distinguished Service Award.
- Three women will have served as ACS President as of 2017.
- Two women have been named ACS Division Director.
- Two women surgeons have chaired the ACS Board of Regents since October 2012.
- A woman has yet to serve as the ACS Executive Director.
There isn’t an all men’s organization, so why should we support an all women’s organization?
There isn’t a need for a “male surgeon” organization since most of the surgical organizations are, as noted in the statistics above, comprised primarily of men with men in almost all the leadership positions.
AWVS membership is open to men, as well as women.
All AWVS resources, including our popular Pocket Mentor and family leave policies, are accessible to everyone on our Website.