Hi there everyone,
Just back from a successful AVA conference in Brisbane. It is always a highlight to catch up with people face to face and I had a terrific week reconnecting with colleagues. It was wonderful to see so many people there.
Highlights as follows:
- On the Sunday, I represented our SIG at the council of Presidents meeting and the combined dinner. It was a great opportunity to make connections and expand perspectives all around.
- Tuesday and Wednesday saw me fulfilling my duties as CPC rep and chairing lectures in our Integrative stream. The lectures were really well attended, with between 30 and 60 people for each one. Thanks to our speakers: Dr Geraldine Blanchard, Dr Kelly Halls, Dr Nicole Rous, Dr Elaine Cebuliak and Dr Renee James.
- Tuesday night we had a lovely get together with wonderful people and mountain of Turkish food at our SIG dinner. Thanks to your organizing committee of Dr Kelly Halls, Dr Natalka Kohut and myself.
- Wednesday lunch time saw our annual meeting which unfortunately was at the far reaches of the universe and only a small crowd in attendance. We could definitely have benefited from better advertising and also from lunch time catering at the room. We had our meeting, but it was disappointing to have so few in attendance.
- Thursday saw me host some very interesting sessions for conservation biology and urology.
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- IVA Get together
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- Dr Renee James
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- IVA Get together
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- IVA Workshp at AVA 2026
Several significant outcomes came from the annual meeting. Firstly Kelly Halls is stepping down from the policy Advisory Council. Thank you so very much Kelly for all your hard work over the last several years it’s greatly appreciated.
Secondly Natalka Kohut is staying on the committee and will be taking over from me in the position of CPC Rep that means she will be organising the next scientific conference and workshop at the 2028 AVA on the Gold Coast. We look forward to the fabulous programme that she is going to put together and hopefully we get good engagement from the membership with ideas of speakers and topics, thank you Natalka!
There were no nominations from the floor for any new positions and once again we find ourselves in a crisis point in terms of having enough volunteers to make the SIG a workable proposition.
Currently we only have two committee members: myself and Natalka. I will remain as president for this year, but I am retiring end of 2027 and will be stepping off the committee in line with those dates. We urgently need a President Elect who will become president next year and we urgently ad desperately need a policy Advisory Council representative with Kelly’s retirement from the committee, so we need 2 new people to urgently come on to the committee.
I have included a position description for the Policy Advisory Council Rep and also for President. Please click here to view.
If we don’t get these sorted then we’re in a very real prospect that the group is in danger of folding we also had the issue of declining membership models in our seek we’re currently sitting at under 40 an AVA rules say that we have to have at least 50 to be a special interest group so it really is once again another crisis time for this SIG.
We need members to urgently step up and fill these volunteer positions. Please contact me if you have the capacity to help, it’s honestly a most rewarding thing both personally and professionally. We are a friendly and supportive bunch. It’s a great way to make new friends and grow your skills.
Please nominate, get in touch now! The future of IVA depends on you! NOMINATE HERE
Possible merger for IVA and AVAG
One of the topics that was discussed is a possible merger with the acupuncture SIG as a way to save us from our current predicament. This would allow larger numbers and a larger pool of volunteers to draw from. Watch for correspondence about that over the coming months.
New cheaper and more inclusive membership model
It is hoped that the new membership model where it costs no extra to join as many SIGS as possible will help boost membership numbers. The new model launches 1 July and promises to be very exciting.
IVA turns 30 this year:
This special interest group was formed in 1999 as AHV (Australian Holistic Vets). This year we turn 30. On the Friday night after the conference we had a celebratory dinner, with our special guest one of the founding members Dr Charissa Smith. We had a very fun night.
Workshop
We had a very successful fresh food feeding and nutritional assessment workshop on the Friday. Hosted by Dr Geraldine Blanchard we had 20 people attend and a variety of hounds for a practical assessment. Thanks to Natalka, Kelly, Barbara, Elaine, Camilla and myself for another successful and fun day.
What next?
Webinar reminders: Sue Peden and Matt Muir.
25th August – IVA Bursary Webinar | Susan Peden | The Relevance of administration of a Probiotic (Limosilactobacillus reuteri) in Relieving Musculoskeletal Pain in Horses
3rd December – IVA Bursary Webinar | Matt Muir | Integratgive Oncology in Practice: A 12-month obdservational experience using a proprietary mushroom-based nutraceuticdal in dogs with stage 2 splenic hemangiosarcoma
Please remember our annual research bursaries are opening soon. We now have two: one for a general topic and one for a cancer related topic. Spread the word and put your thinking caps on!