Maddie’s Fund recently caught up with Dr. Michael Blackwell as part of their Candid Conversations series which is committed to providing a platform for talking about difficult issues in veterinary medicine, particularly around issues of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Dr. Blackwell was born into veterinary medicine and animal welfare. His father, a veterinarian and mixed-animal practice owner in Oklahoma, gave Blackwell a first-hand look at caring for animals and their owners. At that time segregation was overtly present in the South, although his father’s clients were both White and Black families. It wouldn’t be long before Blackwell would follow in his father’s footsteps.
Blackwell’s dad was involved with civil rights. Blackwell experienced and witnessed systemic racism which shaped his world view and his approach to finding the success he has achieved today. Blackwell joined the Food and Drug Administration and had a 23 year career with the United States Public Health Service. Following that, he served as the Dean of the University of Tennessee’s College of Veterinary Medicine, and then moved on to overseeing medical services at the Young-Williams Animal Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was there that he witnessed a veteran with his dog that needed veterinary care, but that he was unable to afford. Blackwell remembers thinking, “what are we doing? If we can’t offer health care for those that have served our country, something is not right.”
Blackwell started a new mission to ensure animals would be able to receive healthcare, especially for families that had served our country. This was the birth of AlignCare.
AlignCare is a program that better aligns the resources in this country with the health and well-being of companion animals, our non-human family members. As stated on the AlignCare website, “pets are family and when pets cannot get the care they need, they can suffer from illness or risk being surrendered to a shelter. This causes distress for the entire family. AlignCare, the national One Health system connects under-served bonded families with social services, community groups and veterinary service providers in their community.” This is accomplished by subsidizing cost for families in need, and asking veterinarians to practice incremental veterinary care, which identifies priorities for care and spreads out services for cost control.
Blackwell’s hope for the future is that the millennial generation will not only see the importance of AlignCare’s mission but will also help to enforce it and to change the system. The goal: all family members, both human and non-human, receive the care they need and deserve. With that also comes an increasingly popular segment in veterinary medicine: the practice of veterinary social work. More and more universities and organizations are beginning to see the importance of this new model of care and incorporating trained staff to their teams.
To learn more about the practice of veterinary social work, visit https://vetsocialwork.utk.edu/
We encourage you to watch the entire segment of Maddie’s® Candid Conversation featuring Dr. Blackwell from November 10,2021.
Dr. Michael Blackwell is the recipient of the 2020 Avanzino Leadership Award for his outstanding leadership and purposeful dedication to the human-animal bond.
