What Are the Benefits of Joining AVSAB as a Member?

Updated

AVSAB membership is aimed at people who work with animal behavior professionally or are training to do so: professional veterinarians, veterinary technicians, doctorate-level animal behaviorists, researchers, and students. The main benefits are access to a professional community and its forums, exclusive career and research opportunities, and member-only discounts on continuing education. If you are a pet owner looking for help with your own animal, membership is not the relevant feature — the public consultant directory is.

Who can join

The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior describes itself as a group of veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and graduate degree level animal behaviorists dedicated to improving the lives of animals and people through an understanding of animal behavior. Its membership welcome explicitly covers:

  • Professional veterinarians
  • Veterinary technicians
  • Doctorate level animal behaviorists
  • Researchers
  • Students

If your role falls outside these categories, the site does not present a membership path for you.

What membership gives you

A professional community and forums

Membership gives you the opportunity to learn from and contribute to a community of animal behavior professionals and students. According to AVSAB, interacting with its online forums, members, and groups is how you develop new ideas and strategies you can implement in your veterinary practice. This is the core of the offer: peer exchange with people who handle behavior cases, rather than a library of static content.

Exclusive opportunities

AVSAB states that members get access to opportunities found only on its website, including:

  • Job openings
  • Research opportunities
  • Scholarships
  • Other member-only listings

These are described as exclusive to members, so they are not visible or available without joining.

Member discounts on continuing education

AVSAB currently advertises a member discount on an external course. Dr. Katrin Jahn offers her "Psychoactive" veterinary psychopharmacology course to AVSAB members at 30% off. The course is RACE approved for 8.5 CE credits and covers:

Module Topic
1 Neurotransmission, neurotransmitters, and related fundamentals
2 Who, when, and why
3 Long-acting medications: SSRIs, TCAs, MAOIs, SNRIs, and more
4 Short-acting medications: SARIs, gabapentinoids, alpha-2 agonists, benzodiazepines, and more
5 Practical applications (over 3 hours of content)

Members access the discount details through a dedicated page on the AVSAB site. Note that the discount applies to a third-party course, not to AVSAB membership itself.

What is free without joining

AVSAB maintains a public directory of behavior consultants, described as the largest online database of veterinarians with a focus in animal behavior. Anyone can search it to find a consultant. The site also publishes position statements that are viewable without membership.

So if your goal is to find a behavior consultant for a case, start with the public directory. If your goal is to be part of the professional community, contribute to discussions, and see member-only listings, membership is the relevant step.

How to decide

Join if you are a veterinarian, technician, doctorate-level behaviorist, researcher, or student who wants ongoing peer exchange on behavior cases, access to job and research listings, and member pricing on CE courses like the psychopharmacology course above.

Do not join if you only need to locate a behavior consultant or read AVSAB's position statements — both are available publicly. The site does not state membership pricing or payment details on the pages reviewed here, so check the membership page directly for current cost and terms before deciding.