If you are a veterinarian member of AASV residing in Canada, Mexico, or the United States, it is time to exercise your right to vote for your association leaders. Voting opens on January 6 for the following leadership positions:
Vice president and president-elect
Dr Melissa Billing of Defiance, Ohio and Dr Chris Rademacher of Ames, Iowa are this year’s candidates for vice president. Their candidate messages appear in this JSHAP issue. Dr Rebecca Robbins is the current vice president and is unopposed on the ballot to ascend to the president-elect position.
District directors
Members in 2 districts may vote for their district representative on the AASV Board of Directors. Elections are being conducted in District 3 (AR, KY, and MO) and District 7 (western US: AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, KS, ID, MT, NM, NV, OK, OR, TX, UT, WA, and WY).
All balloting is conducted electronically. Voting members may access their ballot by logging into their AASV member account at aasv.org/members. The last day to submit or change a vote is Friday, February 21.
The election results will be announced during the AASV Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California.
AASV committees to meet virtually before Annual Meeting
Once again this year, AASV’s membership and issue-based committees will meet virtually before the Annual Meeting, in addition to meeting in person in San Francisco, California. Meeting times are posted on the AASV committee webpage at aasv.org/committees. Agendas will be posted on each committee page as they become available.
Learn about each committee, read their reports and workplans, and review committee guidelines on the AASV committee webpage. All AASV members and student members are welcome to attend any committee meeting, but only committee members are eligible to vote. If you are interested in joining a committee, please contact the committee chair or Dr Abbey Canon. Not sure which to join? The AASV staff can help you fill an open seat!
The AASV Board of Directors relies on the committees as topic experts and seeks their input regarding issues of importance to swine veterinarians. Committees are called upon to examine an issue and advise the board on official positions the association should take or to develop additional resources to educate membership.
AVMA Committee and Council positions open
The AASV designates representatives for several committees of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Current representatives are listed at aasv.org/contacts/avma-reps. Visit avma.org/membership/volunteering-avma/avma-volunteer-opportunities-vacancies for more details and descriptions of each committee. Some committees have openings; please contact the AASV office if you are interested in representing AASV.
Scholarships available for MentorVet Leap; apply by February 7
The American Association of Swine Veterinarians and MentorVet continue their partnership to offer scholarships to swine veterinarians early in their careers. The AASV has approved funding of 5 additional scholarships for early-career swine vets to participate in the spring 2025 MentorVet Leap program.
The MentorVet Leap program is a 6-month, entirely virtual, evidence-based mentorship and professional development program that aims to promote well-being and decrease burnout in the transition into veterinary practice. The mentorship program has been adapted to meet the needs of early-career swine veterinarians including swine-specific case examples and paired mentorship with a more experienced swine veterinarian.
In addition to paired mentorship, the program provides holistic support to veterinarians through a combination of professional skills training, financial and mental health coaching, and peer mentorship. Mentees engage in a self-paced online curriculum and then meet monthly with other early-career veterinarians to discuss shared challenges and share perspectives on how to create a sustainable career path.
Dr Monica Strawn, a 2024 AASV MentorVet Leap scholarship recipient said, “MentorVet helped me grow as a person and a doctor in all the areas vet school doesn’t prepare you for. The soft skills I have learned over the last 6 months have helped me navigate as a new veterinarian and will benefit me for the rest of my career.”
Jenna Scott, DVM, a 2023 AASV MentorVet Leap scholarship recipient, shared, “MentorVet Leap is a great way to gain knowledge and learn skills to better navigate early-career veterinary practice. Through the MentorVet Leap program, I have also been paired with an excellent mentor whom I plan to stay in communication with after the program ends. I have found it very helpful to have a supportive person to talk to about goals and stresses associated with work.”
During the 2023 pilot, small-group discussions were facilitated by a MentorVet team member allowing early-career swine veterinarians to connect with one another and share experiences. After participating in the program in spring 2023, swine veterinarian Jordan Buchan shared, “Being able to discuss topics such as self-care, professional boundary setting, and conflict resolution, amongst many others, with colleagues in the same discipline of veterinary medicine, was life changing. In addition, being assigned an external professional mentor in the industry continues to be a great asset. I actively use the lessons learned during my participation in MentorVet every day in my career. I am very grateful to AASV for funding my enrollment in the program and know it will continue to be transformative for many young swine veterinarians in the future.”
The spring 2025 MentorVet Leap program will take place from February 21, 2025 – July 31, 2025. The deadline to apply for the spring scholarship is February 7, 2025. Those AASV members who have received their veterinary degree in the past 5 years (classes of 2020-2024) can apply for a scholarship to participate in the MentorVet Leap Program by visiting mentorvet.net/scholarships.