President's message |
Greetings from south-central Kentucky.
After a blistering hot June, we had a surprisingly mild July. I hope weather
hasn't interfered too much with your business or personal plans this summer.
I returned recently from IPVS in Birmingham, England. The United States co-sponsors (the AASP, the NPPC, and Iowa State University) were successful in securing the IPVS meeting for the United States in the year 2002. In 2000, the event will be in Melbourne, Australia, September 17-20. We will host the Congress in Ames, Iowa, June 2-5, 2002. World Pork Expo will follow immediately in Des Moines, providing an attractive CE package for many of us in the United States and in other countries as well.
The United States and the AASP were well-represented at this year's IPVS, with many outstanding papers given by our members. Several of our members were honored by being invited lecturers and there were a number of oral and poster presentations. This was the first year that the AASP had a booth at IPVS and it was well received, with over 20 new members signed up at the Congress. The international segment of our membership continues to be the fastest-growing segment, evidence of the high regard in which our organization is held by veterinarians around the world. The high-quality publications, information, and services we provide are attractive to our colleagues in countries other than the United States. Assimilating these members into the AASP and tapping the wealth of information they can share is one of our challenges and an area in which we need to spend more time and resources.
Since the last message, the Executive Committee has identified and brought on board the new Executive Editor of Swine Health and Production. After 7 years as editor, Bob Morrison has elected to step down. Cate Dewey will be taking the position full-time by the beginning of 1999, after working with Bob for the final 6 months of 1998. Bob has served the organization faithfully and well and we owe him a great deal of gratitude and respect for the work he has done in bringing the journal to the place it is today. We expect great things from Cate as she takes the journal into the next century. The support staff at the University of Minnesota will continue to work with Cate, ensuring a smooth transition.
I was able to attend the AVMA meeting in late July where one of our members, Leonard Seda, is running unopposed for President-elect of AVMA. We expect to hear more from him on issues affecting us as swine practitioners. Tim Trayer is our Delegate to AVMA and David Madsen our Alternate Delegate. Robert Dietl is our Executive Board Liaison, Tom Burkgren represents us on the Animal Agriculture Liaison Committee, Steve Henry serves on COBTA, Butch Baker on DAC, Faye Vittetoe on the Council on Veterinary Service, and Brad Thacker on the Animal Welfare Committee. If you as an AASP member have ideas, suggestions, or concerns about AVMA activities, the people mentioned are your best contacts. Let's work with them to learn about how to influence AVMA activities.
Also at the AVMA meeting, one of our members, Dr. Scott Dee, was awarded the AVMA award for excellence in practice-based research. This is a quite prestigious award and we congratulate Scott on the work that led to this recognition.
In addition to Scott's individual accomplishment, Swine Health and Production was awarded the "best journal produced by a commodity-based practice group." It's nice to be recognized by our peers for the excellence of the Journal and a nice way for Dr. Morrison to end his tenure as the Executive Editor. Congratulations to Bob and the staff of SHAP.
Additionally, John Waddell was elected chair of the ocmmittee on Judicious Use of Antimicrobials. This reflects well on how we are perceived as a group by other specialty organizations, and it shows the high regard in which Dr. Waddell is held by his peers in the arena of antimicrobial use and related issue.
I received a letter from Larry Firkins in District 5 recently, thanking the AASP for our support in a District CE activity. Thanks to District Director Randy Larson for his leadership in helping organize and securing the funding for this activity. Remember, funds are available to each district to help support CE in the various districts. The director should contact Tom Burkgren for details on activities that could be supported for your district.
As I write this, hog prices are in the dumpster and according to our prognosticating economists they will remain there for the next few months. This certainly creates challenges for our clients and in our practices. It also reinforces the need for good CE and cutting-edge information. If we are doing our job as an organization, we are bringing those things to you, our members. As always, we seek your input to improve.