This years AGM was held at the Glasshouse of the Villa Richter, Prague during the World Veterinary Congress. The venue was superb with views over the old town of Prague coupled with excellent company and refreshment. Dr. Tepper, Chair of the Meetings Committee had done an excellent job in organizing the venue.
WAVMA President, Dr. Faisal commenced the formal part of the proceedings announcing the results of the 2014 Executive Board elections and the election of three new WAVMA Distinguished Fellows (Full results can be found in The Aquatic Veterinarian). Before passing the floor over to the 2014 President, Dr. Loh, Dr. Faisal asked everyone present from new and old members of WAVMA to representatives of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA), the Federation of Asian Veterinary Associations (FAVA), the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN (FAO) what they wanted from WAVMA. Whilst the opinions expressed were diverse they can be summed up in that they wished WAVMA to succeed in its Mission Statement. Dr. Faisal directed the proceedings in a very entertaining and inclusive way which will have left everyone with fond memories of the event and a few chuckles.
Dr. Loh, 2014 WAVMA President then talked about what he hoped to accomplish during his presidential year. He began by stating that WAVMA stood for excellence, was global, multidisciplinary and intergenerational, connecting veterinarians through space and time. That through the work of many volunteers WAVMA had created awareness of aquatic veterinary medicine to colleagues and the public and provided tools such as The Aquatic Veterinarian, WebCEPD and the members listserv allowing members to reach out and connect to anyone willing to share their wisdom and providing learning tools for any veterinarian interested in aquatic veterinary medicine.
Dr. Loh then posed two questions; What does being a WAVMA member mean to you and how relevant is WAVMA in meeting your needs and daily challenges?
In answer, Dr. Loh believed that WAVMA not only needed to increase the awareness of aquatic veterinarians but to also change client perceptions of our area of expertise. And that by doing these things we can really grow the World Aquatic Veterinary Medical Association. As such the three areas he will concentrate in the year ahead are:
Relevance: to satisfy the needs and wants of its members, through support, CEPD, recognition of work experience.
Pre-eminence: about growing the WAVMA brand within our profession and outside the profession.
Reach: is about size which is limitless.
To achieve this Dr. Loh would like more people to come forward and keep WAVMA ahead of the game through recruiting people with a variety of experiences to compliment the strengths WAVMA already has. "WAVMA believes in supporting you in your journey as an aquatic veterinarian. Help us to help you, in investing in experience and engage in lifelong learning".
Dr. Loh finished by stating, "I'm so excited about the road ahead because we are sitting on a gold mine of practical experiences which are not taught at University or at any other educational institution. This gold mine is you, our members. I'd like to finish by paraphrasing what our current President said in an email - You are a role model for every veterinarian,not just aquatic veterinarians and I am proud to be a part of this great organization that has you in our membership."