November 2011
Dear Fellow FAEP Members,
Those of us who serve you as council members of the Florida Association of Equine Practitioners are proud of what we have accomplished in 2011.
Change is stressful even when it is necessary change. The FVMA/FAEP merger preceded smoothly thanks largely to the efforts of our 2011 Council President Dr. Jackie Shellow and FVMA Executive Director Philip Hinkle. Both Jackie and Phil invested a tremendous amount of time and effort this past year into helping our organization evolve and grow to better serve you. By combining forces, we are now in a stronger position to represent Florida veterinarians on the regulatory and legislative fronts in Tallahassee.
Another recent change as the result of the merger of the FAEP with the FVMA is with The Practitioner. The production of this publication is now handled by the FVMA staff. Changes have already taken place and additional publication enhancements are being planned. The FAEP would like to take a moment and thank Mr. Richard “Dick” Booth, former Practitioner publisher, for his involvement in the production of the Practitioner for more than six years since its inception. The Practitioner continues to be informative based on scientific equine-related articles written by specialists in the equine field of practice. The publication is well received among its recipients. The FAEP welcomes and encourages equine practitioners and members to submit scientific-based articles to the FAEP Practitioner Publication Committee for publication consideration in the Practitioner.
Our 2011 continuing education events were very well attended and received excellent reviews from the attendees. The FVMA staff members were organized and handled each CE event in Orlando (3rd Annual Foot Symposium), Amelia Island (7th Annual Promoting Excellence Symposium, including an imaging wet lab), and in Ocala (49th Annual Ocala Equine Conference and imaging/ophthalmology wet labs) with efficiency and professionalism. All of these events were made possible and affordable to each of you by the support of our Industry Advisory Council. We are currently hard at work planning CE events for 2012.
Our organization has evolved and the faces have changed. However, the primary mission that Dr. Rob Boswell challenged us with when he founded the FAEP in 2005 remains the same. We will continue to strive to provide you with the highest quality equine continuing education opportunities available anywhere. I am honored to serve you as the 2012 FAEP Council president and take very seriously the responsibilities that come with this position. You are all encouraged to become more involved in the FVMA and your FAEP council. Please feel free to contact any of us on the council either through the FVMA or via email.
Sincerely,
Greg BonenClark, DVM, DACVS
FAEP 2012 Council President