2024 veterinary news in review: #5

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The dvm360 editorial team is counting down our Top 20 news stories and articles of the year, from January 1, 2024, to November 15, 2024. Rank was determined by measurable audience interest and engagement.

A spotlight is shining on 1 article each day through New Year’s Eve, when the No. 1 dvm360 story of the year will be shared. The following article is No. 5 on this list:

The future of veterinary medicine is here

written by Kristen Coppock Crossley, MA

Originally published June 6, 2024

Artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technology are rapidly moving health care forward with the recent evolution of telehealth serving as an example. Along with other modern technological innovations, veterinary care providers should expect to see much more innovation to come in the next decade and at an even faster pace, according to Daniel Kraft, MD, founder of NextMed Health and the digital database Digital.Health, which includes Veterinary.Health. “It’s an interesting time,” he said.

In his keynote address at the 2024 American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) Forum in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kraft delved deep into the various ways that digital and AI technologies are being combined with medical knowledge and research to create new ways to manage health care for humans and animals. But first, he demonstrated to the audience just how these modern technologies can be adapted for many different uses by playing a song he created using AI that celebrated the veterinary professionals in attendance. “It’s not bad for a first pass,” he said.

RELATED: 2024 veterinary news in review: #6

According to Kraft, a human medicine doctor who specializes in pediatrics, modern technology offers the promise of health care tools and resources that are more intelligent, digitized, personalized, data-driven, precise and preventive, democratized and equitable than ever before. He acknowledged that pet owners and human patients are already using AI services such as ChatGPT to self-diagnose medical conditions. A proponent of crowdsourcing information, Kraft noted the ease in which medical communities can also share research and innovation. One example he used is the crowdsourced Dog Aging Project.

Kraft’s lecture itself also demonstrated the value of technology and the ability to drive crowdsourcing with its livestream broadcast from Minneapolis. In the session’s digital chat, audience members provided locations from which they were virtually watching throughout the US and Canada, as well as from countries around the world that included The Netherlands, Germany, France, Ireland, Switzerland, South Africa and Australia.

For more on this story, including information on virtual and augmented realities, genomics, and home health, view the full article here: https://www.dvm360.com/view/the-future-of-veterinary-medicine-is-here