AVMA names board members, trims budget

Schaumburg, Ill.­­As a result of the American Veterinary Medical Association's (AVMA) two-phase redistricting plan, two new members have been named to the executive board.

Dr. Larry R. Corry of Loganville, Ga., and Dr. Richard E. Coon of ForestGrove, Ore., made their first appearance as representatives before the boardin April. Corry's district covers Florida, Georgia and Puerto Rico whileCoon represents Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Montana and Washington.

Both have long histories of working with the AVMA and describe beingelected as a "tremendous honor." Their terms continue through2008.

Traveling to Ross University

The board also elected two members of the AVMA's Council on Education(COE)­­the national accrediting body for veterinary schools­­totravel to Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine on St. Kitts inthe Caribbean. The offshore school has long awaited U.S. accreditation andrecently made changes within its program that "constitute a site visit,"says Executive Vice President Bruce Little.

"This is all very preliminary," he says, "but what Rossis doing is putting itself in a position to become eligible to apply foraccreditation."

The school, which boasts more than 900 graduates since its 1980s inception,is scheduled to receive the site visit this fall.

Trimming the fat

Aside from accreditation, board members are looking to trim the group's$21 million 2003 budget in an effort to "cut the waste." One prospectlies with the AVMA directory, which is published and mailed out to the group's66,000-plus membership each year.

"It costs us $360,000 a year to put that manual out," Littlesays. "We're having a debate on whether to publish more on CD- ROM,put it out biannually or cut parts of the book. Ninety percent of the directoryis repetitive each year."

"Dead wood" projects also are budgetary concerns. "Theseare projects that seem good at one time, but just don't pan out," Littlesays. One cut could occur with the AVMA's Washington newsletter, which costs$26,000 annually to produce. Officials are considering offering it solelyonline.

"I'm not sure how that will fare," Little says. "We havesome members who just refuse to go online."

North American meeting

Scheduled for 2003 is a third meeting between U.S. and Mexican veterinaryofficials to discuss accreditation, bioterrorism threats and border protection.This time, Canadian veterinary officials also are invited to join.

Although earlier meetings in Puerto Villarta, Mexico and Las Vegas provedsuccessful, Little says, next year's gala should be more productive.

"Frankly, the Mexican officials were focused on driving it downour throats that their veterinary medical colleges were as good as U.S.vet schools," Little says. "Since our talks, they have a betterunderstanding of what our accreditation entails. They have 38 schools; fivemight ever reach U.S. accreditation standards, and they know that."

A meeting date has not been set, but officials expect to convene in MexicoCity.

The next AVMA Executive Board meeting is this month.