I knew I wanted to become a veterinarian when I was a senior in high school. I developed an affinity for biological sciences and medicine in general, and, along with the love of pets, it just all came together.

Veterinary medicine is a unique profession. What motivates us is not maximizing income, but rather, service to society. It's really a love of animals that makes us first consider a career in veterinary medicine, but what keeps us motivated is the important services that we provide. Whatever the discipline that one pursues within veterinary medicine, it really is a service position.

I was one of -- if not the first -- federal employee who served on an AVMA committee as a non-voting consultant. That really opened my eyes to what the AVMA was all about and to the benefits of organized veterinary medicine. Subsequently I served on the House Advisory Panel representing APHIS, and it was that experience that sparked my interested in the Executive Vice President position when it became open a few years later.

No other voice can speak for the profession with the authority of the AVMA because of our impressively high market penetration. Eighty-five to eight-seven percent of all U.S. veterinarians belong to the AVMA. At any given time, we are tracking seventy to eighty pieces of federal legislation and somewhere around four hundred pieces of state legislation, any one of which could have dramatic impact on how we practice veterinary medicine. From the potential impact of non-economic damages, to food safety systems, to drug approval systems, to disposal of hazardous waste as overseen by EPA, the AVMA is tracking and commenting on the rules and regulations that govern our profession. So we speak up on behalf of the profession. We are "the voice" of the veterinary medicine and, without that voice, veterinarians would be subject to the whim of legislators.

It really is important for veterinarians to be involved in public policy. If we do not have individual members who are actively engaged as part of our congressional advocacy network or otherwise making their voices heard, then we are subject to whatever other groups want and to whoever has the ear of legislators. AVMA, as a professional society, can speak on behalf of the profession, but the more voices we have, the more effective we are. That's why it's so important for our individual members to get involved and to let their voices be heard.

My first recollection of using an AVMA policy would be the AVMA Euthanasia Guidelines. In my previous capacity as deputy administrator for animal care in APHIS, I was in charge of the national animal welfare program. We had to evaluate whether or not the facilities that we regulated were using humane methods to euthanize their animals, regardless of whether that was a research laboratory or a commercial dog breeder. The AVMA Euthanasia Guidelines are the "gold standard" domestically, and, in many situations, internationally as well. Many of the regulations and policies I implemented and enforced every day while at USDA-APHIS were influenced by an AVMA policy or position.

POLICY DEVELOPMENT
The AVMA develops policies which not only serve as guidelines to the profession, but which provide the highest standards and the most comprehensive guidelines to every veterinarian in America.