In consultation with its members, the CVMA has established the following priorities for veterinary medicine in Canada. To find out more about the priorities of the CVMA, click on the links below:

• A Successful Career, A Balanced Life
• Leadership on National Issues
• Animal Welfare Advocacy

A Successful Career, A Balanced Life

The priority "A Successful Career, A Balanced Life" underpins the careers of our members as individuals and collectively, and thus is a very high priority for the association. The CVMA nurtures the growth and health of this many-faceted profession through provision of a number of initiatives:

The two association journals feature continuing education and regular communication. Between them, the journals function to relay new research developments, review new publications, provide a forum for learned debate in letters to the editor, apprise members of upcoming meetings, and contain current news regarding regional, national, and international issues of importance to the veterinary professional.

The CVMA annual conference supplies a major source of current continuing education, a platform for a veterinary summit, wet labs, and social time for networking with colleagues. The conference also brings together those who are involved in organized professional associations in order to share new ideas and plan for their constituents.

The CVMA Web sites provide forums for discussion, current news, business management and education interactive tools, and inform the public about our profession and animal care. Journal content, online classified/career ads and a searchable veterianrian/hospital directory help to serve the busy professional. E-mail bulletins are sent to CVMA members to advise them of current issues of interest to the profession, and to keep them aware of member consultations and online discussions.

The annual Animal Health Week is an ongoing program to help promote the profession in the eyes of the public, and to focus on sharing important health care information with clients. A public web site (www.animalhealthcare.ca) has been created to help promote the profession and inform the public regarding principles of good preventive health care for their pets and livestock.

 

Leadership on National Issues

The CVMA takes pride in the national leadership it provides to the member constituents of Canada. Our dedicated members act upon national issues by lobbying at the local, regional or provincial levels. They all seek to pave the way for effective legislation, and provide a unified representation of the interests of the component groups that make up the profession. Some initiatives have, for example, focused on providing a reasonable consensus on vaccination while research continues into the optimal vaccination regimens for our patients. Microchip technology provided another national challenge due to the proliferation of many proprietary standards. The CVMA responded by helping to ensure one national standard for pet identification. Antimicrobial residue prevention is another important issue that is being addressed by the CVMA on behalf of the profession. Efforts are also being directed to the lobby of government to ensure the recognition of the important role of veterinarians in public health.

CVMA delegates also provide representation for our nation to many international bodies, task forces, and committees to help Canada keep its place of high respect in the world community, and to provide valuable opportunities to share our perspective and ideas on issues that cross international borders.

 

Animal Welfare Advocacy

Veterinarians are powerful advocates of animal welfare, and welfare encompasses many aspects of animal husbandry including appropriate housing, proper nutrition, implementation of effective disease prevention measures, and humane empathetic handling of animals. This commitment to stewardship is reflected in the priority the CVMA assigns to animal welfare issues. The CVMA's Animal Welfare Committee, in consultation with the members of the CVMA has created a set of welfare statements covering the important issues of animal welfare.

These position statements provide a ready source of accurate information for both press and the public, and provide the veterinarian with a standard by which to present the issues in educational settings in or out of the clinic. These guidelines are developed only after in-depth study of the moral, ethical and scientific issues, though the statements are based primarily on the available scientific data. As new research becomes available, these welfare statements are periodically revisited and updated to reflect new understanding of the issues therein. As new issues arise, the CVMA will work to develop new welfare statements to reflect consensus.