September 15 IVMA Communique

IVMA

Communiqué

"Serving veterinarians for the benefit of animal and human health."

September 15, 2020

www.iowavma.org

New IVMA Officers Sworn In

With the cancellation of the IVMA Annual Meeting, the new IVMA officers were sworn in at the September 10 IVMA Executive Board Meeting. Around half of the Board members participated via Zoom while the others social distanced at the Gateway Hotel in Ames.

Dr. Jim Berger (3rd from left in photo) of Walcott was sworn in as IVMA President. Dr. Brenda Bright (2nd from left) of Story City was sworn in as IVMA President-Elect and Dr. Shawn Nicholson (far left) of Stuart was sworn in as the IVMA VIce President. Dr. Amanda Fales-Williams (far right) will serve on the Administrative Committee as Immediate Past President.

Congratulations to the new IVMA officers!

FREE IVMA Webinar:

COVID Update for Iowa Veterinarians

Thursday, October 1

Noon-1:30 pm

Free to attend, registration required

Dr. Caitlin Pedati, Medical Director of the Iowa Department of Public Health will give an update on the COVID situation in Iowa with a focus on veterinary and other small business considerations. The webinar will be moderated by Dr. Kristen Obbink who will also share her experiences as the Iowa State University COVID-19 Public Health Director. Two IVMA member veterinarians, Dr. Ashley Williams and Dr. Lisa Thilges, share their experiences dealing with positive cases of COVID in their veterinary clinics. The session will end with a live question and answer session from our panel.

The webinar will be presented via Zoom. A link will be sent to attendees after they have registered.

This webinar is approved for 1.5 hours of management CE.

Free RFID Readers Available to Veterinarians

To further move forward with animal disease traceability and promote the use of free low frequency Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. IDALS, through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), is offering a FREE Allflex RS420 portable stick reader or an Allflex Live Pocket Hand Reader to eligible participants, while supplies last.

The application to be considered for this program can be found on the IDALS website or email delores.clausen@iowaagriculture.gov.

There are RFID tags available at this time as well. Tags can be ordered through Dee Clausen at delores.clausen@iowaagriculture.gov

Online Program "Stress on the Farm: Strategies that Help" Offered

In response to the additional stress related to the derecho storm that has brought devastation to many parts of Iowa, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, in collaboration with COVID Recovery Iowa, will offer another round of 10 online “Stress on the Farm: Strategies That Help” programs.

While our agricultural community has been impacted by COVID-19, many have now experienced extreme losses of their crops, buildings, storage and other hardships that came with the storm. This is in addition to pandemic stress that is impacting our agricultural community and it’s important we’re all aware of the signs of stress for ourselves and so that we can be of help to our neighbors.

ISU Extension and Outreach will offer "Stress on the Farm: Strategies That Help" at various dates and times to meet the busy schedules of those in the agricultural community. Each program will last for one-half hour on the following dates and times:

· Tuesday, Sept. 22, 6:30 p.m.

· Friday, Sept. 25, 12:30 p.m.

· Monday, Sept. 28, 6:30 p.m.

· Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2:30 p.m.

Agribusiness professionals, agriculture lenders and bankers, veterinarians, vet techs, commodity group members, producers and other concerned individuals can register at no cost for any of these programs.

To register, go to https://www.extension.iastate.edu/humansciences/stress-farm. Participants will receive a unique URL prior to the program to access the Zoom hosted program.

Also see https://www.extension.iastate.edu/humansciences/farm-ranch-wellbein g for other key state, regional and national resources.

Iowa Clinician Suicide Prevention Day

On September 19, clinicians across Iowa will recognize the state’s inaugural Clinician Suicide Prevention Day, as proclaimed by Governor Reynolds. This day-long observance will highlight mental health and the high rates of suicide clinicians face. The day will emphasize the importance of clinicians addressing mental health issues as a unified front across all medical professions.

Clinician Suicide Prevention Day will also recognize those who have been lost to suicide within healthcare professions. Those observing the day can wear yellow and organize or take part in wellbeing-related activities. A moment of silence will be held by those observing across the state. This will last 30 seconds, for the 30 Healthcare workers in the US that are lost every week. Please join us in this moment of silence at 1pm CDT on 9/19 as we recognize the importance of mental health and those who we have lost. Those participating can join this Zoom call with an RSVP here.

More information can be found here or contact Neil Vezeau (npvezeau@iastate.edu) or Thomas Pak (thomaspak2@gmail.com).

Survey on Veterinary Care of Wildlife

The International Wildlife Response Team (IWRT) is conducting a survey to study the relationship between injured, ill or orphaned wildlife and veterinary facilities.

They are asking for IVMA members to take the survey which is open until October 1.

Take the survey.

Dr. W. Bruce Wren Food Animal Incentive Award Nominations Sought

Applications are now being accepted to recognize recent graduates in food animal veterinary medicine through the Dr. W. Bruce Wren Food Animal Incentive Awards.

Recipients of the Dr. W. Bruce Wren Food Animal Incentive Award receive a $1,000 stipend, complimentary registration, lodging, airfare, meals, and a $525 travel allowance to attend the Dr. Jon R. Pennell WVC 93rd Annual Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 6-9, 2021.

Online applications are open through October 12, 2020.