AASV News – Jan 2014
During its October meeting, the AASV Board of Directors approved an exciting new practitioner benefit. An agreement with the Texas A&M University Medical Sciences Library (MSL) allows AASV members to utilize the MSL’s Get it for me document retrieval service.
Using the service, AASV members may request literature searches, and the MSL staff will conduct the search using databases appropriate to the topic and available to the library. Search results will be delivered within 2 business days, free of charge. Additionally, members may request copies of journal articles and book chapters available within the library’s extensive collection. Requested items will be provided free of charge within 2 business days.
The Get it for me service is available to all AASV members except students and those with academic appointments, since they already have access to university library resources. Members must register in order to access the service. To register, follow the step-by-step instructions on page 40 and also available at http://guides.library.tamu.edu/aasv.
AASV board approves position statements
The American Association of Swine Veterinarians’ Board of Directors held its fall meeting on October 3, 2013, in Des Moines, Iowa. During the meeting, the members approved three position statements crafted by the association’s Pig Welfare Committee. The documents highlight the position of the organization on piglet processing activities, including permanent identification, tail docking and teeth clipping, and castration. The statements are available at https://www.aasv.org/aasv/positions.htm.
AASV to survey swine-veterinarian compensation
The AASV is conducting its fifth survey of swine-veterinarian income and benefits. Active Members of AASV (non-retired veterinarians) in the United States and Canada are asked to watch for information regarding the 2014 survey in the AASV e-Letter, and to participate using the electronic survey form on the AASV Web site.
Similar surveys have been conducted every 3 years since 2002. Members have found the resulting salary and benefit summary useful when seeking employment or preparing to hire veterinary professionals in the swine industry. The survey results have also been utilized to inform veterinary students about the career opportunities available in swine medicine.
Members of AASV are divided into two survey groups according to their employment type. The practitioner survey should be completed by members engaged in private practice, as well as those who oversee pig health for a production or genetics company. Members who work for a university, corporation, or government and are engaged in education, research, technical services, public health, or regulatory work should complete the survey for public/corporate veterinarians.
In addition to 2013 income and benefits, the survey requests information about education and training, employment type, and hours worked. Responses are confidential and the results are reported in a manner to assure participant anonymity.
The overall results of the salary and compensation review will be published and distributed for use by AASV members and students. Previous survey results are available for members to access on the AASV Web site under the “Member Center” menu tab.
Who moved my proceedings?
It is often said that the only constant thing is change, and during its 45 years of existence, the AASV has certainly not been a stranger to change. The AASV Board of Directors recently initiated a change to the AASV Annual Meeting when it voted to discontinue printing the conference proceedings in the year 2015. Recognizing that change is often difficult, the board allowed plenty of time for members to prepare for this step toward a paper-free proceedings and to voice their opinions regarding the decision.
The AASV will print and ship the 2014 proceedings book as usual. But beginning with the 2015 annual meeting in Orlando, the proceedings will be provided in electronic format only. This will save at least $22,000 per year in printing and shipping costs (not to mention a few trees). It will also enable the use of color charts and graphs within the proceedings papers.
Read JSHAP on your iPad or Android tablet
Thanks to direction from the AASV Board of Directors and work by AASV Webmaster David Brown, the Journal of Swine Health and Production is now being made available as a single PDF file to download for reading on iPad or Android tablets. The download link is available at the top of each issue’s online edition page at https://www.aasv.org/shap/issues/, beginning with the November-December 2013 issue. Future JSHAP issues will continue to be provided in this format as each issue is published online.