Presidents Message
Dr. Dave Sjeklocha
Behind the Scenes
Your AABP Board of Directors recently met in Ashland, Ohio for the annual AABP Spring Board Meeting. I’m so thankful for this group of volunteers and their hard work that allows AABP to do the many things it does, even beyond the annual conference. It truly is a pleasure to work with these dedicated individuals.
One thing that has become clear to your board is that we simply haven’t returned to our pre-COVID Annual Conference attendance. We could generally count on 1,500 veterinarians attending before the pandemic shut down, and now we have had to revise those estimates to approximately 1,000. There are, I’m sure, many reasons and/or opinions as to why attendance has been reduced by a third, and your board has worked to identify and address many of these. Some of the reason may be the success of the Recent Graduate Conference, which may draw some of our younger members away from the Annual Conference – which is a good thing, in my opinion (see last month’s President’s Message). Some of it may be due to the free CE members can receive from AABP online through the BCI website. Whatever the reasons, the negotiating strength of AABP for hotel, conference center and food contracts is substantially stronger when we can confidently state that 1,500 veterinarians will be in attendance.
In efforts to reduce costs over the last few years, Dr. Gingrich has brought several contract services “in-house.” One example of this is we no longer hire an outside entity to manage the Annual Conference Trade Show exhibits. Publishing of the Bovine Practitioner and conference proceedings is also now handled by AABP staff. These changes have resulted in savings of tens of thousands of dollars. While this is good news, the fact is, the costs of meeting rooms, convention centers, food, etc., has continued to climb. Rest assured, your Board of Directors and Dr. Gingrich (a.k.a. “Checkbook Fred”) is working hard to make sure AABP’s funds are being used as efficiently as possible.
AVMA president-elect candidates Dr. Jennifer Quammen and Dr. Mary Ergen virtually addressed the Board of Directors and described their respective visions for AVMA. AABP, Dr. Gingrich and AVMA leadership have worked closely on multiple issues that have affected bovine practitioners in recent years. These issues include the scheduling of xylazine, the H5N1 outbreak in dairy cattle, regulations regarding telemedicine, and opposition to the development of a mid-level practitioner. While AVMA membership is primarily non-food animal practitioners, the majority of the problems AVMA addresses are food animal in nature and, contrary to what some may believe, AVMA takes their lead from food animal practitioners, especially in Washington, D.C. I encourage AABP members to support AVMA and its PAC, as they have been a good partner.
I believe it has been over two years since AABP-L has been available. IT Director Steve Johnson and Dr. Gingrich have found a new platform for AABP-L so it can be re-established for our members. It will work very much like the original listserv, and you can receive it as a series of individual emails or you can get it in digest form (one email per day with all conversations included). I preferred the digest form. At times, AABP-L has been the source for some consternation; but overall, it has provided an excellent medium for exchange of ideas, help with perplexing bovine problems and can also provide a great deal of practical advice for new practitioners and students.
Please read the guidelines for subscribing to AABP-L. Find information and the sign-up link on page 2.
Finally, as I have now completed half of my term as your president, I want to express my thanks again to our AABP Board of Directors for their hard work. These volunteers devote a lot of time and effort for your profession, and I am thoroughly enjoying working with these fine veterinarians.
Dr. Dave Sjeklocha
