Dear Colleagues,
You asked for it. You got it.
So many of you indicated in surveys that you were looking for online continuing education opportunities that we couldn't stand idly by. So we kicked it into high gear and are thrilled to tell you that AVMA Ed is now only a few key strokes away.
AVMA Ed, which launched on our Web site December 1, is easy to access from your home or office computer and is available 24/7, 365 days a year. You can take the courses when and where you want at your convenience. It's an opportunity to not only learn, but to get continuing education credit in the process, complete with a certificate you receive after completing the course and passing a short test.
By going directly to the AVMA Ed Web page, you can access continuing education courses that come directly from the AVMA Annual Convention and the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. The courses are available to veterinarians and those who work in the veterinary profession, with special pricing available to AVMA and Student AVMA members. You can choose courses from topics that include Companion Animals; Food Animal/Equine; Practice Management and Professional Development; and Public and Corporate Practice.
With so much choice available at the AVMA Annual Convention, AVMA Ed provides an opportunity to participate in educational programming you couldn't possibly get to any other way. So put on your thinking cap and add to your continuing education credits by checking out AVMA Ed today.
Salary Calculator
Curious as to how your salary compares? Our online Veterinary Salary Calculator lets you benchmark your income with other veterinarians in private clinical, public and/or corporate practice. Available exclusively to AVMA members, it has been recently updated with 2007 salary data compiled from our Biennial Economic Survey that compares salaries based on a number of career factors, including type of practice, species served, ownership status and experience. Along with median salaries, the calculator lists salaries for most categories at the 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th percentile.
Economics of Practice
In case you missed our live Webinar last month on the results of our latest Biennial Economic Survey, you can now access the program online. According to the Survey, veterinary incomes are up across the board, but some sectors of veterinary medicine are doing better than others. Salaries are growing at rates higher than inflation, which is good news. But we need to further explore the reasons behind some of the disparities in what veterinarians earn based on their type of employment and even their gender. If you want the complete picture, two AVMA publications – the Report on Veterinary Compensation and the Report on Veterinary Practice Business Measures – are available for purchase either through a downloadable PDF or soft-cover book.
State by State
If you've found it hard to track down contact information for veterinary state boards, check out a new addition to our Web site, where we've compiled and posted links to the Web sites of the 51 veterinary state and DC regulatory boards. If you dig a little deeper, you can also find even more information on a particular state – like contacts for the state's veterinary medical association, the official state government legislative Web site, or state veterinary practice act and administrative rules.
Membership Renewal
If you have yet to renew your AVMA membership for 2009, why not "go green," save the cost of a stamp and claim your membership as a 2008 tax deduction by renewing before the end of the year? Log on to the AVMA Web site and renew your membership quickly and easily. New this year, members now have the opportunity to renew multiple memberships with a single credit card payment through the multiple-payment feature once you log in. While you're at it, why not update your contact information so we know where and how to reach you if we need to? And, as long as you're there, sign up for other electronic communications available from the AVMA.
Chew on This
Our profession is filled with experts on every subject related to veterinary medicine. Here at the AVMA, we often rely on these authorities to help us with public outreach and interview requests from the media. In the process, we are also able to showcase the diversity of the profession to the general public. You can find some of these folks talking about food safety on AVMA Chew on This, one of our latest outreach efforts.
Designed to talk directly to consumers, Chew on This provides entertaining, interesting and informative podcasts focusing on the latest developments, science and research on hot topics in food safety. Our first two episodes – "The Scoop on Raw Milk" and "Thanksgiving Food Safety" – find veterinarians Raymond Sweeney and Dustan Clark talking about timely topics and providing consumer advice. Future Chew on This podcasts include topics such as organic food, antibiotics in food, and country of origin labeling and animal identification.
During this holiday season, Dr. DeHaven and I wish you and your family health and happiness. We'll talk again when the calendar changes to 2009. Till then, all the best.
Sincerely,
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James O. Cook, MS, DVM
President |
W. Ron DeHaven, DVM, MBA
Chief Executive Officer |
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= AVMA/SAVMA Members Only
