Newsletter

AVMA Report Summer 2019

Aloha HVMA Colleagues and Happy Summer!

We are preparing for the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Summer Session for the House of Delegates which will begin prior to the AVMA Convention – “A Monumental Experience.”

Here are the highlights for our session beginning on Thursday August 1, 2019 in Washington DC:

2019 D.C. Hill Visits: Because we are in DC, we are planning on visiting our legislators to discuss the issues that are important to the AVMA and the veterinary profession. With over 200 individual meetings, this will be the largest veterinary event on Capitol Hill ever conducted by the AVMA!

We are scheduled to meet with Hawaii’s Members of Congress or their staff – Senators Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz; Representatives Ed Case and Tulsi Gabbard. We will be focusing on three issues for the visits: Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Enhancement Act (VMLRPEA); Fairness to Pet Owners Act (FTPOA) and Association Health Plans Act (AHP).

Resolutions to be discussed and voted by the House of Delegates:
a) Model Veterinary Practice Act: The AVMA adopt the revised policy Model Veterinary Practice Act
b) Revised Policy on Judicious Therapeutic Use of Antimicrobials
c) Revised joint AABP-AVMA Policy on Judicious Therapeutic Use of Antimicrobials in Cattle
d) Sexual Harassment Awareness
e) Revised Policy on Pet Heath Insurance
f) Revised Policy on Veterinary Dentistry

Proposed Bylaws Amendment:
a) Council on Research – Responsibility
b) Board of Directors – Qualifications
c) Board of Directors – Composition

AVMA Elections:
There are multiple positions that will be voted on by the House of Delegates:
a) President-Elect
b) House Advisory Committee
c) 6 Council Positions

Congratulations to Carolyn Naun who will be a speaker at this year’s AVMA Convention!

If you need to contact us with comments about the topics we mentioned, here is our email: AVMA_Delegate_HI@avma.org

Aloha!
Leianne K. Lee Loy
Hawaii Delegate

Carolyn Naun
Hawaii Alternate Delegate

Meet Your Board – Jenee Odani, Secretary

Dr. Jenee Odani (kneeling). Also pictured: Blaine Ishizu and Dr. Kim Kozuma (HDOA)

Dr. Jenee Odani graduated from the University of California at Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 1999. She can’t believe that she’s already 20 years out of school since she vividly remembers her first day of orientation in Surge IV! She completed a diagnostic pathology residency at the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System and is a board-certified veterinary anatomic pathologist. She grew up on Maui and graduated from H.P. Baldwin High School where she was the captain of the debate team, then attended UH Mānoa for two years before graduating with a B.A. in Zoology from the University of Washington.

She has had a lifelong love of cats, starting with a silver-tipped Persian named Lady Ming of Tara to her newest, Joey, a bottle-raised buff bicolor with a bobbed tail. She was also obsessed at various times of her life with horses, snails, and ants. She has served as the UH Mānoa Extension Veterinarian since 2016 and currently has projects with shrimp disease diagnostics, small ruminant infectious diseases including parasites, bovine
semen certification, food animal continuing education, and poultry diseases. Prior to joining the UH Mānoa Cooperative Extension Services, she was with the Hawaii Department of Agriculture’s Veterinary Laboratory.

Her professional interests include infectious diseases, especially foreign animal and zoonotic diseases, fish/shrimp diseases, diagnostic methods, and quality management systems. She was the previous Chair of the Hawaii Veterinary Licensing Board and is currently the advisor for the UH Mānoa Pre-Veterinary Club where she mentors bright, eager, pre-veterinary students.

She lives in Pearl City with her husband (Norman) and son (Nicholas) and is active with the Shotokan Karate International Federation-Hawaii (has the rank of Shodan) and Boy Scout Troop 147. Please contact her if you are interested in learning how to make Kadomatsu this December!