News

Aust Vet J Vol 81, No 6, June 2003312

Anumber of members have askedwhen I would be restarting acolumn in the AVJ from the

CEO. I’m happy to oblige. In my firstcolumn I’d like to focus on some of thehighlights of the meeting of theInternational Veterinary Officers Councilin Chicago from May 8 to 10. The IVOC meeting was hosted by AVA’sAmerican counterpart, the AmericanVeterinary Medical Association. In 2004the host organisation will be the BritishVeterinary Association.The other members of IVOC are Canada(CVMA), Australia (AVA) and NewZealand (NZVA). The intention ofIVOC is to share information, ideas andresources, and work collectively on issueswhere possible.With AVMA headquarters in Chicago,

we were able to take advantage of thatand spend half a day at their offices,meeting senior staff, listening topresentations, and taking part in aquestion and answer session. The Americans and the British weredelighted with the AVA paper on theproposed Veterinary Reserve and will useit in developing their own policies indiscussions with government.Delegates were also impressed with therationale for AVA PetPEP and took awaymaterials from the “Look. Check. Ask aVet.” campaign.In discussing international trends, theforemost was the question “what is a vet?”In the UK there have been a number of

delegations to other accreditedindividuals such as equine dentaltechnicians, or delegations incircumstances such as embryo transfer(with epidurals under “control” of aveterinarian) and physiotherapy.In some parts of the US, castration,dehorning, pregnancy testing andembryo transfer can now be undertakenby non-veterinarians.Within the European Community, too,there have been changes so that a range ofpeople may be able to use the title“veterinarian”, while a “veterinarysurgeon” is defined in relation to thecapacity to prescribe drugs and undertakesurgery.Another trend is towards reaccreditationand revalidation.That is, a basic degree will not provide a

licence for life but rather for a limitedtime. There is also an argument that eachlicence should be species-specific,reviewed say every five years, and thatCPE (continuing professional education)be mandatory in order to maintain one’slicence as a vet.Then there is the rising debate over theinvolvement of veterinarians in ethicalarguments – whether or not aprocedure/practice is ethical in the firstplace, rather than only being involved inthe development of humane practices.For example: Should a healthy cat be putthrough kidney removal, a procedure thathas no positives for it?There is also considerable debate inEurope about the status of animals, andwhether the person who cares for animalsis a “guardian” or an “owner” (see thestory on page 319 of this issue).And finally, student debt is another hugeissue, not just locally but alsointernationally.High levels of student debt haveimplications for professional organi-sations, for purchase of practices, and forretention of people within the profession.I have only provided a small window intothe IVOC agenda, however internationaltrends have a tendency to arrive on theseshores, so we would do well to beprepared.I look forward to ongoing dialogue withyou on these and many other issues ofimportance to the AVA and theprofession.

Thinking globally, acting locally

AVA CEO Margaret Conley

c o m m e n t

At the IVOC meeting in Chicago were(L to R) AVA CEO Mrs Margaret Conley;Ms Henrietta Alderman, Assistant CEO,BVA; Mr Peter Jinman, President, BVA;Dr Murray Gibb, CEO, NZVA; Dr JoeHowell, Executive VP, AVMA; Dr JackWalther, President-elect, AVMA; MsDarlene Berend, Executive Assistant,AVMA; Dr Jeanne Lofstedt, President,CVMA; and Dr Jo Toia, President, AVA.