AVMA revamps AVMF board of directorsJanuary 7, 2019The AVMA has formed a new board of directors for the American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF) to help advance its mission, services, and programs.
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Southern Veterinary Partners acquires its 70th animal hospitalJanuary 4, 2019Southern Veterinary Partners (SVP) has acquired its 70th animal hospital, expanding its reach across 10 southern states.
Debating raw dietsJanuary 2, 2019In spite of resistance from most veterinarians and from public health authorities, the popularity of raw meat-based diets for dogs and cats continues to grow.
AVMA and industry groups work to fight suicide among veterinariansDecember 27, 2018Animal health organizations are partnering to combat suicide among veterinarians in the U.S. According to a study by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), female veterinarians were 3.5 times as likely to die from suicide as the general population from 1979 through 2015. For male veterinarians, that number was 2.1 times. "Too many of our colleagues have either contemplated, attempted, or died by suicide," said AVMA president John de Jong, DVM. "Working with our colleagues throughout the veterinary community will help us find solutions more quickly. This issue is affecting not only our profession, but society as a whole, in numbers greater than ever before." AVMA is working with a number of groups to help address the issue, including: Allied veterinary medical associations Independent veterinary communities Representatives of private and corporate practices Suicidology experts North American Veterinary Technicians Association (NAVTA) Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) Veterinary Information Network (VIN) American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) The association and partners are creating resources to facilitate outreach, such as question, persuade, refer (QPR) training, a free online program put in place to help veterinarians identify …
NTSA honors team behind K9 Diesel medical trainerDecember 13, 2018TraumaFX, a division of Kforce Government Solutions (KGS) received the National Training and Simulation Association’s (NTSA’s) Modeling and Simulation Acquisition Team Award for helping create K9 Diesel.
Alzheimer's drug used in cognitive dysfunction syndrome clinical trialSeptember 5, 2018Ropesalazine, a drug candidate for Alzheimer's disease (AD), has shown efficacy in a pilot clinical trial conducted for dogs with cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS), according to the drug's manufacturer, South Korea-based GNT Pharma. There currently is no cure for CDS, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder of senior dogs characterized by altered interaction with family, disorientation, sleep/wake cycle changes, increased house soiling, and activity change. It is accompanied by nerve cell death, amyloid plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles similar to AD, leading GNT Pharma scientists to design the pilot study to investigate whether Ropesalazine would alleviate signs of CDS, as well. "The companion dogs failed to recognize their owners before the treatment," said Jae Bong Moon, DVM, head of Irion Animal Hospital in Seoul, who led the study. "It was so amazing to see the dogs that wagged their tails for their owners and cuddled up to them within eight weeks of Ropesalazine treatment. [It] appeared to cure CDS." The study was conducted on six companion dogs age 10 or older who revealed severe cognitive dysfunction according to canine cognitive dysfunction and canine dementia rating scales. Within eight weeks following daily oral administration of Ropesalazine, all six dogs returned …
Personal financial health: Index investing 101 for veterinary professionalsAugust 28, 2018Index investing can be a great tool for veterinarians to utilize. Index investing refers to buying an "index," such as the broad stock market, using a single investment. For example, buying the "market" is a popular way in which index investing can be achieved. By purchasing shares of a market-based index fund, just like purchasing a stock, you get access to the entire S&P 500 (the largest 500 companies listed in the U.S.). This can act as a great diversifier for someone who does not want to pick individual stocks but would rather have returns that closely mirror the market as a whole. Index funds can come in a variety of flavors that track different indexes. Investors cannot invest directly into indexes themselves, so index funds, which are offered in the forms of mutual funds or exchange traded funds, are particularly useful for a busy veterinarian who wants to invest in the markets, but doesn't want to get into the granularity of researching particular stocks. An additional benefit of index investing is that companies that offer these products have done so at very low-fee levels—theoretically making the returns of the actual index and the fund similar. A popular approach …
AVMA MyVeterinaryLife website supports early-career vets, studentsAugust 27, 2018MyVeterinaryLife.com, a new American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) website for early-career veterinarians and vet students, answers commonly asked questions about the industry and offers career tips, financial guidance, and ways to deal with work-related stress. MyVeterinaryLife.com is dedicated to offering a chance for trainees in the field to receive the critical resources veterinary students and young professionals need to support themselves and their well-being as the next generation of veterinarians, according to the AVMA. Organized based on career stage, the site includes sections for readers in veterinary school, in transition from school to the workforce, or already working as a veterinarian. The platform also provides access to a salary calculator, a student externship locator, and the ProQOL well-being assessment. Other tools on the site include financial tips for fourth-year veterinary students, a series of webinars exploring different veterinary careers, lessons on financial literacy, and more.
Joint program immerses high schoolers in veterinary scienceAugust 23, 2018In a three-week residential program presented by the Boston Leadership Institute and BluePearl Veterinary Partners, 16 high school students dissected eyes, learned how to perform physical examinations on dogs, presented research findings, and performed lab work. While summer educational institutes are plentiful, it's rare to find such an extensive program in veterinary science for teens. "The students have just been great," said William Snell, DVM, DACVS-SA, who is the medical director of BluePearl's Charlestown, Mass., hospital and who organized the curriculum and instructors. "They are really actively involved; they've been asking good questions. … They are like sponges soaking up knowledge." "The veterinary medicine program this summer in particular was extremely successful for a variety of reasons," said Makayla Karr-Warner, marketing assistant for Boston Leadership Institute, which offers several STEM-related summer institutes. "The students raved about the instructor lineup. They thoroughly enjoyed learning from different veterinary specialists, being exposed to a variety of specialties and potential career paths." While living in a nearby college dormitory for the duration of the program, students toured Southwick's Zoo and BluePearl's Waltham hospital, built mock …
Create an employee wellness plan for the winAugust 23, 2018The mental health of veterinary professionals is the topic at all of our professional meetings and in all the publications. I'm so thankful that it has transitioned from a taboo topic to a mainstream one. While attending the July 2018 AVMA and VetPartners meetings in Denver, I had the pleasure of meeting and learning from several esteemed people who are teaching and coaching on the topic. As a practice management consultant, I am always looking for ways to help my clients improve their practices. So, in evaluating all that I learned about this topic, I began to wonder… all of this talk is fantastic, but what are clinics doing to turn these conversations into action? Veterinary practice leaders need help creating and executing a wellness plan that fits their practice and and their team. Daily practice is hard and busy, and despite your best intentions, the demands of patients and clients fill your days, leaving bigger projects such as an employee wellness plan on the back burner. I turned to certified compassion fatigue coach Julie Squires for guidance. Julie is with Rekindle (rekindlesolutions.com) and is known nationwide …
