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On Saturday, September 21st, 2024, students at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine took part in the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association’s Student Leadership Workshop (SLW), sponsored by Scotiabank and Zoetis. The workshop was making its return since taking a hiatus over the Covid-19 pandemic and had been reworked to be a student-focused arm of the Emerging Leaders Program (ELP). The CVMA brought in professional coach and featured speaker at the ELP, Rob Marr, who has extensive experience working within the veterinary industry, to lead the SLW and to guide UCVM students through a day-long workshop examining how to be a leader in the industry as they develop their skills as students and new grads.
The workshop intended to focus on leadership as skills that one can develop to become a better leader, rather than the characteristics that inherently make someone a good leader. This focus created an understanding that anyone can be a leader through building the skills that create confidence in oneself and others, and that helping someone develop themselves to create positive change in their lives is a key to being a strong leader. Recognizing and acknowledging one’s own emotional intelligence, biases, and shortcomings allows us to find the resources that can best help someone as they face challenges themselves. One major topic that was reinforced throughout the day was that building confidence is a cyclical project that begins with an idea, then creates action, and learns from the actions to become more competent and confident, all to begin the cycle anew with a different idea.
Students from all four years of UCVM’s DVM program attended the workshop, including 4th year students taking time out of their busy clinical rotation schedules to take part and offer their expertise to other students in the program. Students from different years in the program mixed together to create a variety of groups with different ideas, allowing for very stimulating discussion throughout the day.
As a participant in the SLW myself, I greatly enjoyed the variety of topics that were covered during the workshop. I believe Rob did a wonderful job in creating conversation among the participants, and was very open to interaction, questions, and new ideas. This allowed the room to be quite vibrant, with a palpable buzz of discussion occurring continuously throughout the day. Seeing my classmates so engaged with the workshop and with Rob showed me that while we were attending the SLW to learn more about leadership, there are already so many of them who have the skills to be leaders in their careers, the teams they work in, and the industry as a whole. The SLW was a positive experience for those in attendance, me included, and I am confident that the topics covered will enhance our lives in the present and future.
Another big thank you to Scotiabank and Zoetis, and their representatives Israr and Reeti, and Dr. Evan Vandervalk, respectively, for attending the SLW. Their support allowed the return of a valuable workshop that I cannot wait for students at the other veterinary colleges around Canada to experience. Thank you to the CVMA for their ongoing support of veterinary students across the country, to my classmate and friend Angelina for photographing the event. And thank you to the students who participated, and to Rob Marr for leading an exceptional day!
- Matthew Tornopolski, CVMA Senior Student Representative, UCVM Class of 2026
Student Testimonials
“The CVMA Student Leadership Workshop completely exceeded my expectations about what a leadership workshop has been previously labeled to be. The key speaker Rob was complex, philosophical, and truly captivating to listen to- he was honestly one of the best speakers I have ever heard. The conversations we had throughout the day went beyond the typical understanding of leadership, and in doing so, the lessons I learned will continue to stay with me as I progress through veterinary medicine. Overall, the workshop was well organized, professional, and had phenomenal food. I am very impressed with the quality that CVMA brought forward in designing a workshop built for success.”
- Seanna Wengryn, UCVM Class of 2028
“The CVMA Leadership workshop with Rob Marr was a highly valuable and insightful session that I would recommend to any veterinary student. The session introduced a unique approach to leadership and demonstrated that there is not one specific list of inherent qualities a leader needs to have, but that anyone is capable of developing the skills and making the changes to be a leader in the profession. It was great to connect with our sponsors Zoetis and Scotiabank, and see what other industries are connected to and supporting veterinarians during and after their academic careers. I am very glad I attended the session and would not hesitate to recommend the session to other veterinary students at UCVM and across Canada.”
- Meagan Bradbury, UCVM Class of 2027
