To encourage and support swine veterinarians in the early stages of their careers, AASV held the first-ever Early Career Swine Veterinarian Conference on November 5th in Ames, Iowa, in conjunction with the Iowa State University James D. McKean Swine Disease Conference.
The AASV Early Career Committee, established in 2020, planned the conference to offer a welcoming, interactive setting where early career veterinarians could socialize, collaborate, and communicate with others working in swine veterinary medicine. The half-day conference was intended for AASV members who have received their veterinary degree within the past ten years.
Dr. Larry Firkins opened the conference with a discussion about leadership. By using an interactive demonstration, he described that the culture of an organization is revealed by what it does and not necessarily what it says. Dr. Doug Groth reminded the audience that their retirements were right around the corner in his presentation about personal and professional finances.
The second half of the afternoon included scientific presentations. Drs. Jeremy Pittman and Kurt Kuecker described unique cases encountered in swine practice. Dr. Pittman encouraged veterinarians to never stop learning by reading about cases they recently diagnosed. Dr. Kuecker stressed that veterinarians should always verify a process is done correctly. Dr. Mike Eisenmenger emphasized that swine veterinarians must know about ventilation.
Conference recordings will be posted in the AASV video library soon. Watch the e-Letter for an announcement of their availability.
The afternoon’s educational presentations were followed by an evening social gathering at a local restaurant, sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health and Merck Animal Health.