Leadership Rooted in Practice Dr. Isaac Bott, AVMA President-Elect Candidate 2027
Veterinary medicine has always been built on service. It asks people to give deeply of their skill, time, energy, and compassion. In return, this profession should offer a path that is sustainable, fulfilling, and grounded in shared purpose.
My campaign is centered on practical conversations that matter to the people doing the work every day:
Workforce sustainability
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Stronger support for technicians and care teams
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A more visible and responsive AVMA
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A future where young veterinarians can build stable, meaningful careers
As a practicing veterinarian and service-driven leader, I want to help move our profession forward with humility, clarity, and trust.
Shaped by Service, Practice, and Purpose
I am a practicing veterinarian, mixed animal clinician, educator, researcher, and lifelong student of this profession.
My story started on a farm in a small Utah town, where animal care was part of everyday life. Later, while serving in Peru, I saw how practical animal care could change lives. I helped families with animal husbandry, health maintenance, and education, and I realized that teaching people how to care for their animals brought me a deep sense of purpose.
That experience still shapes how I see veterinary medicine today. This profession is about animals, but it is also about people, communities, trust, and service.
Whether you work in companion animal medicine, production medicine, equine practice, academia, public health, shelter medicine, emergency care, industry, or another area of veterinary medicine, your work matters.
A Practical Path Forward
Good intentions are not enough. Our profession needs clear priorities and thoughtful action.
My campaign focuses on four areas that are deeply connected: supporting the workforce, elevating the veterinary care team, strengthening connection with AVMA, and protecting opportunity for the next generation.
Careers Built to Last
Workforce sustainability means looking beyond staffing numbers and building conditions that help veterinary professionals stay, grow, and find purpose in their work. I want to support healthier teams, stronger retention, and career paths that make veterinary medicine sustainable for the people doing the work.
Using the Full Strength of the Team
Veterinary medicine already has skilled, dedicated teams with more potential to unlock. I want to better support technicians and support staff through clearer roles, stronger career pathways, fair compensation, and greater trust in the work they are trained to do.
Bringing Leadership Closer to Practice
Practicing veterinarians need to know their daily realities are seen and understood by the association that represents them. I want to help AVMA leadership listen more visibly, communicate more clearly, and stay closely connected to the people working in practice every day.
Keeping Opportunity Within Reach
Students and young veterinarians deserve a future that includes mentorship, stability, leadership, and opportunity. I want to help protect the pathways that allow veterinary medicine to remain a meaningful, viable career, including practice ownership for those who want it.
Service as the Standard
I believe leadership is measured by what we help build for others.
For me, this campaign is not about recognition. It is about service to a profession that has shaped my life and continues to shape the lives of so many others.
Veterinary medicine has extraordinary people. By supporting those people with greater intention, strengthening the teams around them, reconnecting leadership with practice, and preserving opportunity for future veterinarians, we can build a profession that is more sustainable, more connected, and ready for what comes next.
