Dr. Niccole Bruno joins Dr. Andy Roark to talk about an outstanding event she put on at the VMX conference, A Day in Veterinary Medicine, and her company Blend.Vet. Niccole discusses the "pipeline problem" in veterinary medicine, and the lack of progress we have made (compared to the aspirations of our schools and profession, at least). She talks about what representation and inclusion look like in our education process and also in our practices. Andy and Niccole talk about the intersection of DEI and hospital culture, and the opportunities for growth commonly found in veterinary clinics. Finally, Niccole lays out some clear action steps that practices can make to improve their culture and support equity and inclusion in our profession.

LINKS: Blend - DEIB Certifications: https://www.blend.vet/ Pawsibilities - https://www.pawsibilitiesvetmed.com/ PRIDE VMC - https://pridevmc.org

ABOUT OUR GUEST: Dr. Niccole Bruno is the CEO & Founder of blendvet, a veterinary hospital certification program in diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB). She became interested in veterinary medicine as a child but lacked mentorship until she attended Tuskegee University for her undergraduate studies. Seeing representation and receiving support from her professors and classmates made the dream of pursuing veterinary medicine a reality. She attended Cornell University for veterinary school and along with her classmates became the founders of VOICE, a student organization to promote and celebrate diversity and inclusion. VOICE is now a national veterinary student organization and has since changed its name to Veterinary Students as One Inclusive Community for Empowerment. Dr Bruno graduated from Cornell University School of Veterinary Medicine in 2006. Dr Bruno has practiced in small animal medicine and surgery for over 16 years, both in NYC/Long Island and Houston, TX. She has served in hospital leadership roles for over eight years. Dr Bruno realized the value leadership has in creating a diverse and inclusive hospital culture. As Medical Director, she became intentional in recruitment and retention of diverse individuals while creating a space for them to thrive. She continues to pay it forward by dedicating much of her time to speaking and mentoring students from all stages of the pipeline to increase representation for Black, Indigenous and People Of Color (BIPOC) students into the profession. Following completion of the Purdue University Diversity and Inclusion certificate program in 2020, her awareness, continual exploration, and study into the diversity deficiencies of our profession, ignited her vision to create blendvet. Dr Bruno hopes that blendvet can be transformational, creating a space for collaborative learning for individuals and teams in diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB). Through blendvet, Dr. Bruno will be executing pipeline programs at veterinary conferences to help promote and advance veterinary medicine for underrepresented students. Dr. Bruno currently remains a member of the Cornell University Advisory Council, serves as an Advisory Board member for Pawsibillities, a mentorship platform and is a facilitator for MentorVet. In her spare time, she enjoys activities with her husband and two children, Cole and Addison. She loves traveling, her Peloton, football and binge-watching her favorite shows. She has a 15-year-old Shihpoo named Jimmy Choo and a Siamese mix cat named Sushi Roll.

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