The American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) held its 44th Annual Meeting at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, CA. March 2 – 5, 2013. The theme of this year’s meeting was Purpose-Inspired Practice. The meeting drew 1034 total attendees (a record) including 619 paid registrants (also a record) and 124 students. The participants represented 29 countries with 24% of attendees from outside the U.S. Total attendance included 225 allied industry representatives from 79 exhibitors manning a record 80 technical tables. The students in attendance represented 22 veterinary schools!
The participants were presented with numerous educational sessions including 9 pre-conference workshops, two general sessions, three break-out sessions, research topics, industrial partner sessions, 15 student seminar presentations and 98 posters. In addition, the weather was perfect for the first ever AASV 5k Fun Run/Walk! Joel Sparks led the pack of 77 participants with a time of 19:43. The best female time was clocked by Robin Schroeder at 21:57. Pretty impressive for early on a Sunday morning!
Dr. Craig Rowles opened the Monday General Session with the Howard Dunne Memorial Lecture. His presentation, entitled “Perspective, passion, and the purpose-inspired practice,” challenged the attendees to examine what they are most passionate about and to consider the future role of the veterinarian in the ever-changing world of animal agriculture. He challenged us all to “live a life of purpose.” Dr. John Waddell followed up with the Alex Hogg Memorial Lecture entitled “Mentoring with purpose.” He acknowledged the value of mentors in our profession and recognized that we are all mentors. Not only do we learn from our colleagues but the animals we care for also have a lot to teach us. Dr. Waddell challenged all of us to “make mentoring our purpose and do it with passion!”
The second half of the Monday morning session included presentations on PRRS, swine influenza and infectious disease. All of the General Session presentations on Monday and Tuesday were video recorded and will be posted in the video library of the AASV website in the near future.
The AASV Awards Reception was held Monday night followed by the AASV Foundation’s annual fund-raising auction. Dr. Butch Baker, 2009 AASV President and chair of the 2013 Awards Selection Committee, presented the recipients of the Howard Dunne Memorial Award (Dr. Jeff Zimmerman), the Technical Services/Allied Industry Veterinarian of the Year Award (Dr. Brad Thacker), the Young Swine Veterinarian of the Year Award (Dr. Amber Stricker), the Meritorious Service Award (Dr. Craig Rowles), and the award for Swine Practitioner of the Year (Dr. Barry Kerkaert).
In addition, fifteen AASV committees met during the Annual Meeting and the Board of Directors convened at the close of the meeting on Tuesday afternoon recognizing the new slate of officers: Drs. Matt Anderson, President; Michelle Sprague, President-Elect; Ron Brodersen, Vice President and Tara Donovan, Past President. The Board also welcomed incoming Ditrict 6 representative Dr. Alex Ramirez. The 2014 Annual Meeting will be held March 1 – 4 in Dallas, TX. If you would like to provide feedback on this year’s meeting or suggestions for future meetings, please complete the short online survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/AASV2013.