Student access to journal, human-animal bond top Board of Directors meeting actions

Members of the Student American Veterinary Medical Association (SAVMA) will soon get free access to online and smart phone app versions of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association after the AVMA Board of Directors approved the new student benefit during their winter meeting Jan. 4.

SAVMA is composed of about 16,000 students, and the AVMA Board believes that providing free access offers a valuable and needed resource to students during the critical early years of their career development. Students have received a discounted rate for subscriptions to JAVMA and the American Journal of Veterinary Research for many years, and the discounted rate would still be in place for those students who would like to receive the print versions. We’ll keep you posted on when free online access for students is available.

The AVMA Board of Directors met for their winter meeting during the AVMA’s annual Veterinary Leadership Conference (VLC), which was held in Chicago and welcomed more than 600 attendees, including AVMA members, state and allied group executives, veterinary students and volunteers.

While the VLC is primarily designed to bring together leaders from across the veterinary profession for networking and educational programming focused on career and personal enrichment, it also includes regular meetings of the AVMA Board and the AVMA House of Delegates (HOD). You can read about the actions taken by the HOD in a separate AVMA blog post.

Also at the VLC, the Board voted to welcome the chief executive officer from the Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) to the AVMA Steering Committee on Human-Animal Interactions (SCHAI) as a non-voting liaison. Establishing this relationship enhances mutual understanding and collaboration between HABRI and the SCHAI after AVMA participation at the trustee level in the HABRI was approved in November.

In terms of actions taken related to AVMA policy, the Board approved the following revised policies on:

• Physical Restraint of Animals
• Safety Testing
• AAAP-AVMA Guidelines for Judicious Therapeutic Use of Antimicrobials in Poultry
• Federal Guidance on Integrating Animal Issues into Emergency Issues
• Environmental Responsibility
• Zoonotic Disease Prevention: Compendium of Measures to Prevent Disease Associated with Animals in Public Settings
• Harassment and Discrimination-Free Workplace

The Board also reaffirmed the AVMA Policy on Guidelines for the Use of Trainees and Volunteers in Veterinary Practice. And Board members referred a new Policy on Foot and Mouth Disease to the AVMA House of Delegates for consideration during its summer meeting with a Board recommendation of approval. The Board referred a revised Policy on Extractive Industries to the AVMA Committee on Environmental Issues. The Board also rescinded the AVMA Policy on National Incident Management System.

Finally, the Board elected the following AVMA members to volunteer positions:

• Dr. Ronda DeVold to the Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities, and
• Dr. William McBeth as liaison to the American Feed Industry Association