If you know me personally, you know I am a creature of habit. I wake up at the same time each day; I park in the same parking lot at the airport; and I paddle board the same route each time I get out on the water. Yes, guilty as charged.

However, I have been told time and time again that change is good and a part of growing. The current board of directors has certainly embraced that change. For starters, as a board, we agreed on increasing member dues. The last increase in dues was nearly a decade ago and was long overdue. There was so much thought and consideration that went into making this decision to ensure that the amount is still very reasonable and consistent with other allied organizations. We also advocated for a new membership type: affiliate membership. We recognized that now is the right time to embrace our industry veterinary technicians and we are excited for this new beginning together. Lastly, we updated our website and host server, and added an additional member benefit thanks to our new partner Total Planning. More to come on that soon! Together, as an organization, we are embracing change for the sake of the veterinary community that we serve.

One last push for this quarter: If your membership has expired, NOW is the time to renew before the dues increase. Remind other industry veterinarians and technicians out there about the benefits of an AAIV membership. Looking for way to get involved? Jump on one of our webinars and share or comment on our social media. Need a mentor or want to become one? Join our mentorship program. Does sponsorship interest you? Reach out to us. Finally, as always, this is YOUR organization, and we want to hear from YOU!

Enjoy the warmer weather. Spring has sprung!

Allison Sateren
AAIV President

The post President’s Letter | Q2 2023 appeared first on American Association of Industry Veterinarians.

I am in complete disbelief that I am saying this but welcome to 2023. VMX marked my first official meeting as president. As a 15-plus year member of AAIV, three years on the board and more than 18 years of industry experience, I have a passion for this organization and can’t wait to get started.

However, first, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to our 2022 AAIV board. All 14 members worked really hard to make 2022 a huge success. I would be remiss if I didn’t personally thank my mentor and friend, Dr. Tim Smaha, for his leadership last year. From sponsorship enhancement to a revamp of the compensation survey and everything in between, his direction took AAIV to the next level. Also, a big shoutout and a thank you to our fabulous 2022 sponsors. We know that sponsorship budgets are tightening each year for many companies. We appreciate your willingness to invest in your people and support our organization.

My message is simple this quarter. Spread the word about AAIV! There are so many practitioners looking to take the leap into our world and AAIV has so much to offer. For those veterinarians in industry who haven’t joined AAIV, remind them that AAIV is their voice with the AVMA, the place to meet and connect with fellow industry vets and a great resource for learning about compensation and additional career opportunities within the field. Finally, we want to hear from you. What are we doing well? How can we improve the organization?

I am honored to serve as your president and I look forward to another great year.

Warmest regards,

Allison Sateren
AAIV President

The post President’s Letter | Q1 2023 appeared first on American Association of Industry Veterinarians.

It is hard to believe that we have already gotten to the point of passing on the baton to the next president of AAIV. I am confident that Dr. Allison Sateren from Boehringer Ingelheim will be a great leader for our organization. Dr. Sateren and I have worked side by side all year to ensure a seamless transition, and we have collaborated with the board of directors to plan valuable events for next year. We are excited about our new board of directors for 2023 and excited to introduce you to the team at VMX. This will kick off with our networking reception at 5:30-7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 16. Check out the section of the newsletter with all our AAIV VMX details below. 

I want to now turn our attention to the compensation survey. You probably noticed, if you took it, that it is very different this year. Why does it look different? Dr. Sateren and I formed a “task force” of industry representatives who are hiring managers at several of our major companies. The idea was to streamline the survey for eventual publication looking at the trends over three to five years. We eliminated open-ended questions to make the data clearer to evaluate, and we changed the questions to improve the survey so that it is more useable for hiring managers. We also wanted to capture the differences in salary for those who switch companies, starting salary versus average salary and the importance of work-life balance. For the first time, we will be working with a statistician to ensure that the data is clearly analyzed and able to be used year after year. 

Having looked at the early results, there are some interesting perspectives that I think we all need to consider when recruiting and hiring new veterinarians. This is a compensation survey, which means it is about money, right? Not exactly. One thing that we have noticed in the past few years is that emotional compensation is as important or more important than financial compensation to the majority of veterinarians. Money is great, no one will complain about that, but honestly, you cant go onto social media without seeing three or four posts a day about burnout, work-life balance, satisfaction in jobs, etc. 

The survey appears to be capturing that. In the early results that I have seen, for those who have switched jobs or started at a new firm in the past five years, more veterinarians did so for a better work-life balance than anything else. Actually, of the respondents so far, almost 95% did so for a better work-life balance. This is compared to only 40% who changed jobs for a promotion and only 70% for a salary increase. When asked about work-life balance, almost 40% do not find it easy to balance work and personal life in their current role. 

So, how do we offer this to our employees? Perhaps we should ask what that looks like. The problem is that all of us see this balance differently. What works for a two-income, no children household is not the same as a sole provider for a family of six. What works for a mother of young children doesn’t work for a grandfather of three dogs. Do we offer a “cafeteria plan” for our new hires: you can choose your own adventure and pick and choose the benefits that work best for you? Is this something that is even achievable for most of us? 

For our hiring managers out there, what do you think? Perhaps we should take this one step further. Would you like to see an AAIV task force to discuss how we can improve work-life balance? Would you like to help us help you? AAIV wants to know our members thoughts on this. Please reach out to us at industryvets@gmail.com to let us know. How can we help you and your colleagues achieve the perfect work-life balance? 

The post President’s Letter | Q4 2022 appeared first on American Association of Industry Veterinarians.

Posted: 8/11/2022, 4:34 PM

Let me first start by saying thank you to everyone who joined us for the AVMA reception and who attended one of the many sessions that AAIV collaborated on. This AVMA meeting was one of the best to date. 

Having said that, for those who didn’t attend the networking event, I wanted to take a second to tell you how AAIV is your advocate in the AVMA. As an affiliate organization, AAIV has a delegate and an alternate delegate to the House of Delegates automatically, and our members represent in other areas as well. 

·      Dr. Ellen Lowery, AAIV Delegate to the AVMA House of Delegates;

·      Dr. Deb Nickelson, AAIV Alternate Delegate to the AVMA House of Delegates;

·      Dr. Pam Mitchell – AAIV Secretary and Alternate Delegate to the AVMA House of Delegates for Louisiana.    

But the influence of AAIV runs deeper than this. During this most recent election cycle, AAIV nominated several delegates and they were accepted to several committees. 

·      Dr. Efrem Hunter was nominated and accepted to the Legislative Advisory committee;

·      Dr. Wendy Weirich was nominated and accepted as alternate to the Animal Welfare committee;

·      Dr. Joe Dedrickson was nominated and accepted to the Animal Agriculture Liaison Committee;

·      Dr. Karen Shenoy was nominated and accepted to the Food Safety Advisory Committee (FSAC).

I would like to highlight. Dr Shenoy. For most of these committees, AAIV has an automatic nomination. However, the FSAC position was an at-large position for pet food industry. Dr. Shenoy asked for AAIV to sponsor her for the committee and we did so through an alternate track (meaning we did not have automatic nomination potential). This is a good example of how AAIV can work for you. As an affiliate of the AVMA, AAIV can help to provide access to these important aspects of organized veterinary medicine.  

I personally often get questions about “why should I join AAIV?” or simply “what’s in it for me?” Well, there are so many things that AAIV can do for you, but as with all things in life, there is a better return on investment when you put more into it. Dr. Weirich, Dr. Shenoy and Dr. Hunter all utilized their membership and connection with AAIV to get them on the committees that they wanted to represent. They are all now leaders among your AVMA, our AVMA. Are you the next future leader of the AVMA? Let us help you, and let’s get industry veterinarians represented across the board. 

Not interested in organized vet med? That’s OK! There are so many other things we can help with. Everyday I go online and see veterinarians asking about “how do I get into industry?” or “what can I do with my degree besides private practice?” Well, we got you covered there too. Our members have access to our job board which highlights the jobs of most major companies currently hiring. Many jobs are highlighted every week on our social media pages as well so be sure to follow for the most up to date job postings. Furthermore, with a network of over 400 veterinary professionals, we have experience all across industry from regulatory to corporate practice field leadership to pharmaceutical companies. Through our networking receptions, webinars and mentoring program, there is always someone there who knows what you are going through and who is willing to help. Let our networking potential work for you. 

Already in industry and just looking for a transition to a new role? Did you know that the compensation survey we do each year has the influence of hiring managers from several different industry partners? As a member you have instant access to the results of the previous surveys and can utilize this information for your own contract negotiations. 

Maybe none of these work for you, but let me turn the question of “what’s in it for me” around. Let us know what you want to see. AAIV is your organization. Let’s make it work for you. 

Sincerely,

Tim Smaha

The post President’s Letter | Q3 2022 appeared first on American Association of Industry Veterinarians.

When I first addressed the membership late last year, I promised that the goal of our board in 2022 was to revamp the organization to be more about YOU as the member. You will see that many of these changes are in the works. I want to highlight some of those for you. Before we dive in, I would also like to welcome our newest sponsors: Vetoquinol and Antelligence (The Fountain Report). Look for more information from these and all our sponsors in the future.

First, let’s talk about the newsletter. The Board of Directors voted earlier this year to go from six newsletters a year to a quarterly newsletter. Our goal is to streamline the newsletters and enhance the content to make it more applicable to your everyday life. Having said that, welcome to the first quarterly AAIV newsletter! Look for these to come in the middle of each quarter. In addition to content from our board members, we will also be featuring articles and blog posts from partners outside of AAIV so to bring more applicable content to our members.

Secondly, having launched our mentorship program last year, we continue to grow the program and are always looking for new mentors and mentees. Hopefully we can utilize our mentorship program to match our sponsors and members with veterinarians who are seeking to transition in their careers. We need mentors from all aspects of industry! If you have not signed up yet, please go to our website and check it out.

Mentorship

Next, the annual compensation survey has historically been a major endeavor for our group and there is no other survey out there like it. Look for us to begin soliciting responses in early fall for the 2021 compensation survey. Additionally, we have made some strategic changes to make this more applicable for our members. This includes:

·      Formation of an “advisory committee” from our industry partners to help select questions and analyze data

·      Partnership with Antelligence for press releases and periodic analytical articles

·      Agreement with a statistician to have the data analyzed before AND after the survey to ensure that the data is useable and statistically significant

·      More HR specific questions that focus on benefits, quality of life, financial questions and additional data points

·      Compiling of data for an eventual “5 year trend” to mark any changes seen over time

Lastly, let’s talk about our webinar series “AAIV presents.” We have already had two webinars this year: Dr. Darby Affeldt talking about the top 10 financial mistakes you could be making and Christine Splichal talking about leveraging your LinkedIn profile. With that, we are very excited to announce the lineup for the remainder of the year. Stay tuned for announcements about the exact dates and times.

·      June 9, 5 p.m. CST – Amy Grice, V.M.D., will present on “Leadership at All Levels.” Dr. Grice is a renowned speaker and one of the founding facilitators of Decade One, a program that focuses on mentoring Equine Veterinarians in the first 10 years of practice.

·      September 2022 – Betsy Charles, D.V.M. will present on conflict management and resolution for future leaders in veterinary industry. Dr. Charles is on the Board of Directors for Veterinary Leadership Institute and the executive director for Veterinary Leadership Experience.

·      November 2022 – Offered in conjunction with VMRCVM Public Health and Corporate Medicine and ‘Friend of AAIV’: Pawsibilities Vet Med. We will have a hosted roundtable discussion with a group of industry professionals to discuss career transitions and how to land that perfect industry position.

As always, if you need anything from me or from any of our board members or AVMA HOD delegates, please reach out to us at industryvets@gmail.com and we will get you in contact with the right person as quickly as possible. 

Sincerely,

Tim Smaha

The post President’s Letter | Q2 2022 appeared first on American Association of Industry Veterinarians.

Pay it Forward with AAIV’s Mentor Program

Happy 2022! Who would have thought that we would still be here two years later? With testing, vaccines, virtual learning, cancelled plans, masks and more, this is our new normal. Think back when you first started in industry, did you ever think that things would be quite like this? More generally, how did you know what this industry would be like when you first started?

The industry is changing, and with that the demands on our industry colleagues are changing. This will inevitably lead to the opening of new positions, retirements and people looking for a change in responsibilities. There is not a day that goes by that I do not see two or three posts on social media about veterinarians wanting to get out of clinical practice, and how to break into industry. But, have we, as an industry, really prepared ourselves and our businesses to have all of these new colleagues? What can we tell them to expect? Do they realize that our jobs, mostly travel based for years, now involve endless hours of Zoom meetings and periods of quarantine? Do they realize that the “glamorous lifestyle” we have as traveling veterinarians really just translates to hours of sitting in airports, living out of suitcases and hopping from hotel to hotel? I often find myself telling people that it doesn’t matter where in the world you are — the Hampton by Hilton London Waterloo in the United Kingdom, or the Hampton Inn in London, Kentucky — they all look and feel the same inside. Do we love our jobs? Of course. Are we glamorous jet-setters? Not quite. And luckily I knew what I was signing up for. 

I met my mentor 20 years ago while in vet school at Auburn. We have stayed in touch through the years and watched each other change jobs many times. Finally, after a 20 year mentorship and friendship, we work in the same company and both love what we do. I know that I never would have gotten this job, joined AAIV or be writing you this letter had it not been for my mentor. That is why last year when AAIV launched the mentor program, I signed up immediately. Since we launched the program in 2021, I was matched with a couple of mentees. On Jan. 24, my mentee began her career in industry, thanks to AAIV and our mentor program. This is our first successful mentor-mentee match that has led to a clinical veterinarian joining our ranks as a professional services veterinarian. Having said that, I know that this will not be the last success story. I just hope that she will also pay it forward and turn her successful experience as a mentee into a successful mentorship. 

The AAIV mentorship program was designed to be a way to match early career veterinarians with more seasoned professionals as we transition through these crazy times and the ever changing nature of what we do. However, it also has become a good tool for prepping aspiring industry veterinarians and recruiting new talent. There is so much opportunity out there and so much talent that needs to just find a way through the challenging and all too impersonal human resources platforms.

That is why today, I urge everyone to please join the AAIV Mentorship Program. Let’s work together to prepare the next generation of industry veterinarians.

Sincerely,

Timothy Smaha, D.V.M.

President’s Letter | January/February 2022

By Timothy Smaha

Posted: 1/28/2022, 12:15 PM

Pay it Forward with AAIV’s Mentor Program

Happy 2022! Who would have thought that we would still be here two years later? With testing, vaccines, virtual learning, cancelled plans, masks and more, this is our new normal. Think back when you first started in industry, did you ever think that things would be quite like this? More generally, how did you know what this industry would be like when you first started?

The industry is changing, and with that the demands on our industry colleagues are changing. This will inevitably lead to the opening of new positions, retirements and people looking for a change in responsibilities. There is not a day that goes by that I do not see two or three posts on social media about veterinarians wanting to get out of clinical practice, and how to break into industry. But, have we, as an industry, really prepared ourselves and our businesses to have all of these new colleagues? What can we tell them to expect? Do they realize that our jobs, mostly travel based for years, now involve endless hours of Zoom meetings and periods of quarantine? Do they realize that the “glamorous lifestyle” we have as traveling veterinarians really just translates to hours of sitting in airports, living out of suitcases and hopping from hotel to hotel? I often find myself telling people that it doesn’t matter where in the world you are — the Hampton by Hilton London Waterloo in the United Kingdom, or the Hampton Inn in London, Kentucky — they all look and feel the same inside. Do we love our jobs? Of course. Are we glamorous jet-setters? Not quite. And luckily I knew what I was signing up for. 

I met my mentor 20 years ago while in vet school at Auburn. We have stayed in touch through the years and watched each other change jobs many times. Finally, after a 20 year mentorship and friendship, we work in the same company and both love what we do. I know that I never would have gotten this job, joined AAIV or be writing you this letter had it not been for my mentor. That is why last year when AAIV launched the mentor program, I signed up immediately. Since we launched the program in 2021, I was matched with a couple of mentees. On Jan. 24, my mentee began her career in industry, thanks to AAIV and our mentor program. This is our first successful mentor-mentee match that has led to a clinical veterinarian joining our ranks as a professional services veterinarian. Having said that, I know that this will not be the last success story. I just hope that she will also pay it forward and turn her successful experience as a mentee into a successful mentorship. 

The AAIV mentorship program was designed to be a way to match early career veterinarians with more seasoned professionals as we transition through these crazy times and the ever changing nature of what we do. However, it also has become a good tool for prepping aspiring industry veterinarians and recruiting new talent. There is so much opportunity out there and so much talent that needs to just find a way through the challenging and all too impersonal human resources platforms.

That is why today, I urge everyone to please join the AAIV Mentorship Program. Let’s work together to prepare the next generation of industry veterinarians.

Sincerely,

Timothy Smaha, D.V.M.

By Timothy Smaha

Posted: 1/28/2022, 12:15 PM

Pay it Forward with AAIV’s Mentor Program

Happy 2022! Who would have thought that we would still be here two years later? With testing, vaccines, virtual learning, cancelled plans, masks and more, this is our new normal. Think back when you first started in industry, did you ever think that things would be quite like this? More generally, how did you know what this industry would be like when you first started?

The industry is changing, and with that the demands on our industry colleagues are changing. This will inevitably lead to the opening of new positions, retirements and people looking for a change in responsibilities. There is not a day that goes by that I do not see two or three posts on social media about veterinarians wanting to get out of clinical practice, and how to break into industry. But, have we, as an industry, really prepared ourselves and our businesses to have all of these new colleagues? What can we tell them to expect? Do they realize that our jobs, mostly travel based for years, now involve endless hours of Zoom meetings and periods of quarantine? Do they realize that the “glamorous lifestyle” we have as traveling veterinarians really just translates to hours of sitting in airports, living out of suitcases and hopping from hotel to hotel? I often find myself telling people that it doesn’t matter where in the world you are — the Hampton by Hilton London Waterloo in the United Kingdom, or the Hampton Inn in London, Kentucky — they all look and feel the same inside. Do we love our jobs? Of course. Are we glamorous jet-setters? Not quite. And luckily I knew what I was signing up for. 

I met my mentor 20 years ago while in vet school at Auburn. We have stayed in touch through the years and watched each other change jobs many times. Finally, after a 20 year mentorship and friendship, we work in the same company and both love what we do. I know that I never would have gotten this job, joined AAIV or be writing you this letter had it not been for my mentor. That is why last year when AAIV launched the mentor program, I signed up immediately. Since we launched the program in 2021, I was matched with a couple of mentees. On Jan. 24, my mentee began her career in industry, thanks to AAIV and our mentor program. This is our first successful mentor-mentee match that has led to a clinical veterinarian joining our ranks as a professional services veterinarian. Having said that, I know that this will not be the last success story. I just hope that she will also pay it forward and turn her successful experience as a mentee into a successful mentorship. 

The AAIV mentorship program was designed to be a way to match early career veterinarians with more seasoned professionals as we transition through these crazy times and the ever changing nature of what we do. However, it also has become a good tool for prepping aspiring industry veterinarians and recruiting new talent. There is so much opportunity out there and so much talent that needs to just find a way through the challenging and all too impersonal human resources platforms.

That is why today, I urge everyone to please join the AAIV Mentorship Program. Let’s work together to prepare the next generation of industry veterinarians.

Sincerely,

Timothy Smaha, D.V.M.

The post President’s Letter | January/February 2022 appeared first on American Association of Industry Veterinarians.