Notice of 70th Annual Business Meeting

The Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association’s Annual Business Meeting (HVMA Hui) will be held on Saturday November 11, 2023 from 12-1pm at the Hilton Waikiki Beach Hotel Prince Jonah Room. All veterinarians are welcome to attend, though only active members are permitted to vote. You do not need to be a conference attendee to come to the Hui.



The Bylaws Committee has proposed a change to Article 3, Section 3, regarding Special Meetings. This section currently reads:

“Special meetings may be called by the Chairman or by any three Members of the Board by submission of written notice to each Member of the Board at least fifteen days prior to each meeting.  A majority of the Executive Board shall constitute a Quorum for the transaction of business.”

To allow for more timely response to emergency situations and acknowledge technological advances in modes of communication, the proposal is to change Article 3, Section 3 to read:

“Special meetings may be called by the Chairman or by any three Members of the Board by submission of uniform written notice, including electronic communication, to each Member of the Board at least 24 hours prior to each meeting.  A majority of the Executive Board shall constitute a Quorum for the transaction of business.”

70th Annual Conference – Registration Open!

This year the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association’s 70th annual conference will be held in-person from November 9-12th, 2023 in Honolulu, Hawaii at the Hilton Waikiki Beach Hotel.

We are welcoming back our colleagues from Japan for the first time since the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic shut down international travel. In addition to Japanese-translated sessions, we will have hands-on laboratories on orthopedic surgery, point of care ultrasound, and successful CPR techniques.

Lecture topics include ophthalmology, neurology, dentistry, emergency and critical care, swine and ruminant medicine and surgery, business, and wellbeing.

HVMA will also hold our 70th Annual Business meeting on Saturday, November 11, 2023 at 12pm. This meeting is open to active HVMA members as well as any interested veterinarians in Hawaii.

Please check here for conference schedule, lab information, and accommodation information. Registration is now open; we hope you will join us this fall!

Recover CPR Lab at HVMA

When an arrest happens, are you and your team prepared??
Get certified in RECOVER CPR at the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association Conference on Thursday November 9, 2023.
You’ll learn all of the concepts of effective CPR:
Rapid Diagnosis
Chest Compressions
Ventilation
Drugs and Defibrillation

Hands on and interactive! Become more confident, competent, and connected with your team!
Register Now!

LEARN BY DOING!
Hands on practice of chest compressions and ventilation.
Pull it all together with high fidelity simulators with pulses, heart / lung sounds, and more.

Pre-registration is required! Sign up today!

Thursday November 9
8.00 AM-10.00 AM Basic Life Support Group 1
10.15 AM – 12.15 PM Basic Life Support Group 2
1.15 PM – 5:15 PM Advanced Life Support

Join us at the HVMA Conference in Honolulu!

2020 HVMA Conference Cancelled

Dear HVMA Members,

Thank you so much for your positive feedback and support for our annual conference. We sincerely want to meet your expectations and provide the same quality CE and warm fellowship that we have in the past. We regret that we have decided to cancel our 2020 Annual Conference (November 12th-15th) due to multiple factors relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, including limited capacity in our exhibit hall and lecture rooms to accommodate physical distancing requirements, increased risk of spreading SARS-CoV-2 in an indoor convention involving many people from outside of Hawaii, and the unknowns of the COVID-19 situation in the fall.

HVMA will hold our Annual Business Meeting virtually on November 14, 2020, and will also be offering monthly CE webinars starting in July 2020. We will be planning to hold our next full in-person Annual Conference during November 11-14, 2021 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Please let us know if you have any suggestions for virtual CE topics or other ways the HVMA can support you. May you, your veterinary teams, and your families stay well and safe during these challenging times.

Aloha,
Your HVMA Board

Letter from the President – Oct 2019

Aleisha Swartz, DVM

Dear Friends,

I hope to see each of you soon at our annual conference at the Hilton Waikiki Beach on November 7-10, 2019. We are fortunate to host AVMA President John Howe and District 10 representative George Bishop at the conference this year. Dr. Howe’s areas of focus for his tenure as president are member needs, veterinary technicians and One Health. Please give them a warm welcome if you see them. Even if you are not attending the conference for CE be sure to join us for our annual meeting at noon on Saturday.

Mental health and wellbeing concerns for veterinary professionals have been in the national news recently. Awareness of the increased risk for burnout, substance abuse, depression and suicide ideation in our profession is hopefully a first step toward finding solutions for this crisis. The AVMA has many resources for veterinarians on personal and workplace wellness, and the HVMA has a wellness committee to assist members in need. 

In 1976, Dr. Bill Hettler, co-founder of the National Wellness Institute in the US, developed a model of wellness that included six dimensions of health: physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, occupational, and social. Since then others have added three more to create the nine dimensions of wellbeing: financial, creative and environmental. Each dimension is interconnected and collectively contributes to our overall wellbeing, and when one area is lacking, the others and overall wellbeing are affected. I encourage you to follow the links to read and learn more about these areas and take a self-assessment to identify areas where you might focus your self-care.

For this message I want to focus on the social dimension. One stated purpose of the HVMA is to promote the spirit of community among members of the veterinary profession. Our annual conference is a time to get together and catch up on what is happening with one another: the success and challenges of our friends and colleagues we may not see as often as we would like to. It is also a chance to make new friends and welcome new colleagues into our community. Brené Brown, best-selling author and published researcher writes the following in the introduction to her book Daring Greatly: “the surest thing I took away from my BSW, MSW, and Ph.D. in social work is this: Connection is why we’re here. We are hardwired to connect with others, it’s what gives purpose and meaning to our lives, and without it there is suffering.” This includes connection with colleagues in the workplace. In Dare to Lead she says this about her research: “Daring Leaders must care for and be connected to the people they lead. The data made clear that care and connection are irreducible requirements for wholehearted, productive relationships between leaders and team members.” She defines a leader as “anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes, and who has the courage to develop that potential.” As veterinarians, we are all leaders and we must strive to build connection in our work and social lives to build resiliency.

I hope you can all take a moment during the next month to talk story and build those connections with one another. By doing this we will be taking a step in the right direction to improve our well-being. Please reach out to a colleague, friend, or professional if you are suffering. We are here to help one another. And if you are interested in learning more so that you can help those at risk, visit the AVMA’s website on Question-Persuade-Refer (QPR) training. There is currently a pilot program that will provide training to learn how to identify and refer colleagues who are at risk.

Aloha,

Aleisha Swartz, DVM
President, Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association

Conference Registration Open

Registration is open for our 66th Annual HVMA Conference, which will be held from November 7-10, 2019 at the Hilton Waikiki Beach Hotel. We are again offering over 80 hours of RACE-approved CE (up to 27 credits for vets and 16 credits for vet techs) and bringing in world-renowned speakers covering a variety of topics including cardiology, oncology, sports medicine, equine medicine, soft tissue surgery, infectious disease, exotics, essential oils, wellness, the opioid crisis, and emergency & critical care.

Our wet lab offerings include orthopedic labs by Brian Beale and Don Hulse, a small diameter endoscopy lab by Carrie Palm and Sean Hulsebosch, dental radiograph positioning and interpretation labs by Kevin Stepaniuk, and a laser lab by Yukiko Kuwahara.

During the conference, we will hold our annual HVMA Hui on Saturday November 9 at 12:00pm during lunch. You do not need to be a conference attendee to come to the meeting. During the meeting, we will provide an update on what the HVMA has been doing this past year as well as overview any important legislative and island news. If you are interested in sharing anything during this time, please email us.

Also on Saturday November 9 from 6-8pm we will be hosting our annual social cocktail party. Tickets to this event are $60 or complimentary with full conference registration.

Register online for early bird pricing by September 15th. Remember to log in to your HVMA online account to register at the reduced member rates. If you have forgotten to renew your membership for 2019, it’s not too late! We hope you and your staff can join us!

2018-2020 Officer Nomination Slate

HVMA Board
President-Elect: Alfred Mina
Vice Pres: Tim Falls
Secretary: Jenee Odani
Treasurer: Brenda Smith
Executive Vice President: Jill Yoshicedo
Maui County Delegate (1): Leo Murakami

Hawaii County Delegates (2): Jacob Head, open

AVMA House of Delegates

Hawaii Delegate: Leianne Lee Loy

Hawaii Alternate Delegate: Carolyn Naun

We will be holding elections during the annual business meeting on Saturday, November 10 at 12:15pm at the Hilton Waikiki Beach Hotel, 3rd floor, Prince Jonah Room. Installation of officers will be held on Sunday, November 11 at 12:15pm at the same location. You do not need to be a conference attendee to attend these meetings. Please join us!

Message from the President Vol 3, 2018

Aloha HVMA Members!

We are excited to announce registration is open for our 65th Annual HVMA Conference, which will be held from November 8-11, 2018 at the Hilton Waikiki Beach Hotel. This year we are offering RACE-approved CE (up to 30 credits for vets and 16 credits for vet techs) and bringing in world-renowned speakers covering a variety of topics including Fear Free experts Marty Becker and Gary Landsberg, emergency medicine specialist Tim Hackett, exotics specialist Joerg Mayer, and disaster medicine expert Debra Zoran.

Our wet lab offerings include four different orthopedic labs by Brian Beale and Don Hulse, advanced dental extraction labs by Kevin Stepaniuk, and a cat behavior lab by Karen Sueda. Please see our complete conference schedule at: https://hawaiivetmed.org/2018conference/schedule/.

During our conference we will hold our annual HVMA business meeting on Saturday November 10 at 12:15pm. You do not need to be a conference attendee to come to the business meeting. During the meeting, we will be voting on the 2018-2020 officer positions as well as a few proposed bylaw changes. If you are interested in putting your name on the ballot, please email us.

Also on Saturday November 10 from 6-8pm we will be hosting our annual social cocktail party and sharing some Hawaiian paniolo culture with our Japanese and international guests. Tickets to this event are $60 or complimentary with conference registration.

Register online for early bird pricing by September 15th. Remember to log in to your HVMA online account to register at the reduced member rates. If you have forgotten to renew your membership for 2018, it’s not too late!

Thank you to those who generously volunteered their time and energy toward making the 2018 Pet Expo another success. We are always looking for volunteers for the conference and other HVMA activities. Please send your ideas, feedback, and questions to contact@hawaiivetmed.org.

Aloha,
Jill Yoshicedo, DVM
President, Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association

Open Nominations 2018

HVMA Board Member Elections 2018

President-Elect
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Hawaii County Representatives (2)
Maui County Representative (1)
Executive Vice-President

More information about board positions may be found in our bylaws. You may also contact the nominating committee or any current board member if you have further questions.

Please submit your nominations to nominating_committee@hawaiivetmed.org by September 1, 2018.

Elections will be held at 1 pm on Saturday November 10, 2018 during our HVMA 65th Annual Meeting at the Hilton Waikiki Beach Hotel.

Message from the President Vol 2, 2018

May 2018

Dear Colleagues,

Our annual Hawaii Pet Expo will be held this weekend on May 12-13th. Thank you to everyone who has already signed up to help put on this popular event. We expect over 10,000 attendees and can still use your help! If you have a couple free hours this weekend to stop by and support our public outreach at the Pet Expo, please sign up here.

The HVMA booth theme is “Year of the Dog”, and we are looking for more veterinarians and veterinary assistants to guide visitors through the booth and answer questions at the “Ask-a-Vet” section. Other volunteer posts include entrance greeters, Food Bank donation collectors, poop patrollers, and helpers at our Keiki Make ‘n Take craft booth.

We are also gearing up for HVMA’s 65th annual meeting to be held November 8-11th at the Hilton Waikiki Beach Hotel. Speakers include Fear Free advocates Marty Becker and Gary Landsberg, ECC specialist Tim Hackett, exotics specialist Joerg Mayer, and internal medicine specialist Debra Zoran. We will also have laboratory sections on orthopedics by Beale and Hulse, dentistry by Kevin Stepaniuk, and cat behavior by Karen Sueda. Information on our conference will be posted here, with registration opening up this summer. We hope you will join us.

Would you like to write an article or draw a comic for our quarterly newsletter? Can you write up a visitor’s guide suggesting activities and eateries for our out-of-state conference attendees? Are you interested in serving on the HVMA Board? Do you have any other ideas you would like to help the HVMA implement to better serve our members? These are just a few ways you can get more active with us! Please contact me at contact@hawaiivetmed.org if you want to get involved or have an idea to share. Open board positions are listed here, or you can directly contact Leilani Sim-Godbehere, head of the Nominations Committee, for more info.

Thank you for your membership renewal in 2018. Please remember to sign up for your online account at https://hawaiivetmed.org/newaccount. You will need an individual online account to register for the annual conference at the reduced membership rate. We are happy to help you with this process, so please contact us if you have any difficulties.

Aloha,

Jill Yoshicedo, DVM
President, Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association