January 2009
Dear Fellow FAEP Members:
Hello everyone and thank you for allowing me to serve this great organization! In 2008 Americans were inundated throughout the political campaigns with the concept of voting for “Change”. Whether that was your personal choice or not, “Change” is what this country overwhelmingly voted for. Just as many Americans are hopeful and excited about the changes that our country may see, the FAEP FAEP Officers is very excited about changes within our organization.
As you know, the FAEP’s mission is to support the professional development of its members and to educate them on conditions affecting the equine industry as well as methods for improving the welfare of horses in the state of Florida. In prior years our primary focus was on providing international quality continuing education to the veterinarians within the state of Florida . However, 2008 saw our focus begin to expand as we developed a Grassroots Advocacy Committee to represent our members on political issues within the state. Several members of the FAEP Board traveled to Tallahassee last spring to join forces with the FVMA to represent equine practitioners throughout the state with regards to the very important horse sale bill. This winter we have again joined forces with the FVMA, AAEP, and AVMA to support the proposed rule changes for the Division of Para-Mutual Racing: 61D-2.002: Toe Grabs, 61D-2.022: Use of Whips, and 61D-6.008 Permitted Medication for Horses. This shift in focus that began in 2008 will continue in 2009 as two of the members of the FAEP board, Dr. Jackie Shellow and myself have joined the FVMA Legislative Committee which will give equine practitioners throughout the state a voice in Tallahassee. You can find more information about the Grassroots Advocacy Committee and the FVMA Legislative Committee by reviewing Dr. Shellow’s summary article on the FAEP website or in the Practitioner.
Becoming more politically active isn’t the only change that the FAEP will see in 2009. We are also very excited about the search for our permanent, full-time, executive director. Although Dr. Roberts is doing an outstanding job in the interim position, we anxiously await the opportunity to establish a relationship with our new ED, as we continue to grow our great organization! In addition, your Board and interim ED have been working with the AAEP to determine how we can potentially combine our resources and opportunities to best serve equine practitioners in the state of Florida, as well as to set an example for other emerging state organizations. This unity with the AAEP will prevent us from re-creating the wheel and will allow us to utilize the experience and strength of our “parent” organization.
As a member of FAEP I see many benefits. Some of the more obvious include: contributing to international-level CE within the state of Florida both in symposium format as well as in wet lab format, having a voice in Tallahassee regarding political issues that affect the equine practitioner, supporting the development of future veterinarians with the UF Student Appreciation Day and UF Scholarship, enhancing the veterinarian/farrier relationship via the Foot Symposium, access to free educational articles and summaries in the Practitioner, and the NTRA Benefit program. These benefits are significant but the opportunity to build relationships and create professional networks is not to be underestimated. The relationships that I have developed with other equine practitioners within the state are invaluable to me. The intimacy that is provided at our symposium due to its smaller size is unparalleled when combined with the quality and quantity of speakers that are present. The smaller size of this state meeting affords each attendee the opportunity to have direct contact with international caliber speakers as well as fellow attendees in a comfortable and inviting environment. Likewise, the opportunity to enhance existing relationships or develop new relationships with our industry council and other vendors is wonderful. These leaders in the field are instrumental to our industry and they welcome the opportunity to enjoy a cup of coffee or a glass of wine with us. They are knowledgeable about the products that they offer and the breaks and meal times at our events are perfect opportunities to learn more about what they can offer to make our jobs and lives easier.
In closing, I am very proud to be a member of the FAEP. It has been a truly enjoyable experience for me to serve on the Board with such wonderful fellow board members. The amount of time and effort that these veterinarians put into this organization is phenomenal, and there is no doubt in my mind that we would not be where we are today, after just four short years of existence, without the dedicated efforts of them all. I hope you, too, feel the same pride in your organization, and I encourage you to renew your memberships yearly and get involved on the Board or on Committees. You will not be sorry if you do so. I hope to have the opportunity to see each of you at our 5th Promoting Excellence Symposium in Marco Island, FL on October 1st-3rd!
Sincerely,
K. Leann Kuebelbeck, DVM, DACVS
2009 FAEP President