President's MESSAGE

Greetings,

It is an honor for me to continue to serve our great profession and our professional organization, and now as the 95th FVMA President. I want to thank our outgoing President Dr. Marta Lista, our outgoing Past President Dr. Mary Smart, the FVMA Executive Board, the FVMA staff, and our Executive Director Jim Naugle. I look forward to continuing to work with all of them.

I also want to give a big thank you to Dr. Richard Williams for all his work with the FVMA’s Legislative Advocacy Committee who work hard to advocate and protect our profession and the animals we take care of. The FVMA will continue to work to protect the Veterinary Patient Client Relationship (VPCR).

Thank you to Dr. Ernest Godfrey for representing us so well as our AVMA Delegate. Dr. Richard Williams will take over as AVMA Delegate, and Dr. Richard Sutliff is our new AVMA Alternate Delegate. Thank you to Dr. Terry Clekis, who heads the FVMA’s Disaster Preparedness Committee, for all of his work coordinating the relief and recovery efforts for Hurricane Ian. I want to congratulate this year's Power of Ten graduates and welcome the new Power of Ten class. Our young leaders are the future of our profession, and I want to continue to empower them and encourage them to be involved.

This year we will continue to focus on offering high quality continuing education in attractive venues. Those of you that attended FVMA Annual Conference in Orlando – thank you. It was a great program, as usual, put together by Dr. Ernest Godfrey. Our next meeting, The Gulf Atlantic Veterinary Conference (TGAVC), will be in Tampa on Sept. 14-17, 2023, and I hope to see you there. We also have our equine-exclusive Promoting Excellence Symposium in West Palm Beach on Oct. 19-22, 2023.

Lastly, we would like our members to become more involved in the FVMA. Feel free to contact me or your District Representative who works hard for you or our Executive Director, Jim Naugle, or any of the rest of the amazing FVMA staff. "We are here for you. How can we help?"

Warm regards,

Jackie Shellow, DVM, MS

To advance the veterinary medical profession, promote animal health and well-being, and protect public health.

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