The Official Site for the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association
Atiya Hakeem received her PhD from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Until 2015 she was a neuroscientist at Caltech studying primate vision and social cognition in humans, apes, elephants, and cetaceans. In 2016 she moved back to Honolulu and has worked in various capacities at the Honolulu Zoo as an animal keeper and veterinary assistant until joining the HVMA as Assistant to the Executive VP in 2021.
Happy New Year Everyone!
As the COVID -19 Pandemic continues through 2022, we’ve learned how to adapt to providing veterinary care to the communities in Hawaii. However, many of us have been affected by the omicron variant hitting close to home, causing staff shortage and supply chain issues. Hopefully, 2022 gets better as we continue to stay vigilantly safe, healthy, and happy. The HVMA board will continue to meet bi-monthly this year to discuss veterinary-related issues and prepare for HVMA Annual Meeting scheduled for November 2022.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Alfred J. Mina, DVM
HVMA President
The Hawaiian Humane Society is seeking licensed veterinarians to assist with community outreach clinics in District 9 (Ewa Beach, Waipahu, Mililani). Pet Kōkua Wellness Clinics are pop-up veterinary clinics that assist low-income and houseless pet owners with wellness checks, vaccinations, flea/tick preventatives, heartworm tests and preventatives, deworming, and treatments for minor illnesses and injury, at no cost to the owner.
Clinics are generally hosted one to two times a month, are 4 hours long and are generally appointment-based. The Pet Kōkua Program is able to offer veterinarians a stipend of $250 per clinic due to a generous grant from the City & County of Honolulu. If interested, please email outreach@hawaiianhumane.org with your general availability. You may also call Suzy Tam at 808-356-2225 with any questions.
Applications for the HVMA scholarship for current veterinary students from Hawaii are being accepted. Students must be enrolled full-time in an AVMA-accredited doctoral program of veterinary medicine and have graduated from a high school in Hawaii. Please share with any students you are mentoring!
All submissions due by 3/31/2022.
Application details here.
On Monday, AVMA launched a targeted campaign to encourage members, the veterinary healthcare team, and clients to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if they are able. This campaign was encouraged by the CDC, as the agency recognizes the key role veterinarians play in society and public health. You may see campaign elements in your email, social media feeds, through advertising on websites that you visit, in your mailbox, or even on digital screens at various businesses.
As veterinarians, we understand the power of vaccines and are uniquely qualified to share their importance in preventing and controlling disease, and we have created a variety of materials for members to use in sharing this information in their practices and communities. These include posters for practice lobbies and back office areas, client handouts, talking points for discussing the vaccine with clients or the public, an FAQ about the vaccine itself, language you can use for on-hold messages or on appointment reminders and videos. Many of the materials offer multiple versions featuring veterinarians interacting with various animal species, so that they are relevant to different audiences. Physical campaign materials will be mailed the week of December 3rd to practices located within geographic areas that have been reported by the CDC to have lower vaccination rates. You are invited to view www.avma.org/VaccinationTools to view and download any of these materials.
We fully understand that not every veterinarian will be comfortable discussing the COVID-19 vaccine, and that every encounter with a colleague or client simply isn’t going lend itself to a conversation about vaccination against COVID-19. The resource materials are intended to make that conversation easier for those who are comfortable and do want to take the opportunity to discuss it with their colleagues and clients.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Dr. Gail Golab
Chief Veterinary Officer
Angela Roberts
Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
American Veterinary Medical Association
The HVMA Legislative Committee is working on a few proposals to update Hawaii’s Veterinary Practice Law (HRS 471). These proposals include definitions and guidelines surrounding telemedicine, visiting veterinarians, and informed consent. Have another proposal? Let us know.
Mahalo to HI-EMA for their donation of PPE to veterinary clinics around the state. Oahu’s distribution was held August 28-29th and was a success due to the generosity and hard work of many HVMA members. Thank you to everyone who donated their time and energy, especially Jamie Furutani, Mililani Mauka Veterinary Clinic, and Waipio Pet Clinic. We could not have done it without you!
We are working to coordinate similar smaller distributions on the neighbor islands. Please contact us if you are on a neighbor island and want to help.
The AVMA’s Veterinary Leadership Conference is for veterinary professionals at every career stage who are interested in deepening their engagement with AVMA and other veterinary organizations. Leaders of all types are welcome to register:
Rising Leaders:
Attendees with a desire to get involved with veterinary organizations, and little or no prior leadership experience
Experienced Leaders:
Attendees with prior experience as volunteer leaders who want deeper engagement and opportunities to develop new skills
Presiding Leaders:
Attendees who have served as chair or president of a volunteer body, or as CEO or executive director, and want to perfect their leadership skills
The HVMA is willing to sponsor a member to attend the VLC. If you are interested, please contact us with your CV and personal statement by November 22, 2021.
Veterinary medicine is a community, and a community supports its members. For that reason, the AVMA is offering free training in suicide prevention to all veterinary professionals. QPR gatekeeper training — short for “question, persuade, refer” — teaches people without professional mental health backgrounds to recognize the signs that someone may be considering suicide, establish a dialogue and guide the person to seek professional help.
Veterinarians, veterinary students, technicians, assistants, practice managers and all other veterinary professionals are now eligible to take this free online training.
Thank you for your HVMA membership! Please take our membership engagement survey and let us know how you want to hear from us and how we can best serve you.
You must be logged in to post a comment.