{"id":15840,"date":"2025-11-21T14:05:51","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T19:05:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acvs.org\/?p=15840"},"modified":"2025-11-21T14:05:51","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T19:05:51","slug":"comprehensive-summary-of-the-2025-diplomates-business-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.acvs.org\/es\/news\/comprehensive-summary-of-the-2025-diplomates-business-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Comprehensive summary of the 2025 Diplomates’ Business Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"

A fresh approach awaited Diplomates attending the 2025 Diplomates\u2019 Business Meeting held during the Surgery Summit in Seattle in October.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

ACVS President Bryden J. Stanley presided over the meeting with enthusiasm to share an update of the College\u2019s activities. In this milestone 60th year of the meeting, ACVS reimagined portions of the traditional proceedings, streamlining content, and restructuring key leadership reports. Most importantly, Dr. Stanley welcomed the College\u2019s newest Diplomates to their first Diplomates\u2019 Business Meeting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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A talk with leaders<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In lieu of separate reports from the chair of the ACVS Board of Regents Jan F. Hawkins and ACVS CEO Ann T. Loew, these leaders engaged in a robust and informative conversation that highlighted progress on the ACVS strategic plan. The intent was to create a more engaging, less formal atmosphere. It was a welcome change, according to comments shared by some attendees.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Hawkins provided Diplomates a refresher on the strategic plan\u2019s four objectives<\/a>: cultivate an engaged community, update training and certification, focus on excellence in continuing education, and maximize awareness<\/span>. He and Loew discussed details of some of the accomplishments and initiatives now being developed to achieve the objectives.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Expanded access to learning<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Hawkins emphasized the College\u2019s dedication to creating CE opportunities to meet the needs of residents and Diplomates at every career stage. While the annual Surgery Summit remains a cornerstone of concentrated learning, he shared, the Continuing Education Committee is actively developing new programs for those unable to attend.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>This year, ACVS launched the Educational Affiliate Program. This new initiative, Loew explained, builds partnerships with external entities to provide highly desired CE opportunities with exclusive benefits for Diplomates and residents that ACVS does not currently offer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Flash Focus webinars were launched this fall. Each under-an-hour webinar in the series breaks down detailed topics into digestible on-demand segments, ideal for the demanding schedules of veterinary professionals.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, ACVS entered a new collaborative partnership to provide education on topics specifically requested by residents in a recent needs assessment. <\/span>The format of these courses fosters a strong sense of community, giving residents a unique venue to connect with peers, ACVS staff, and leadership.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Improve quality of and access to training<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One priority of the training and certification objective is to provide robust support for residents on the path to becoming ACVS Diplomates.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

ACVS\u2019s information session for new residents returned for its second year in 2025. Two recent Diplomates anchored the session, Loew said. They shared valuable insights on maintaining resident logs in CERT, tips on studying and how to approach literature for the Phase I examination, and understanding the financial aspects of residency. To ensure transparency, residency fees are available on the website.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

ACVS also continues to ramp up its informal communication to residents with friendly check-ins to ensure they know ACVS is ready to support them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking ahead, the Board of Regents recently approved creation of a well-being resource web page specifically for residents. Led by the Resident Well-Being Working Group, this initiative will be developed in 2026, according to Loew.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Engagement is key<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Hawkins spoke of the importance ACVS places on creating opportunities for Diplomates and residents to connect, to build their ACVS community. ACVS Connect, a new ACVS online community platform, is the place to go, he said. \u00abWe really want our members to participate in ACVS Connect. It’s a response to your request to have an engaging, online community.\u00bb An early adopter, Dr. Hawkins said, \u00abI’ve signed onto the platform, and I’ve seen some really interesting cases.\u00bb<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

ACVS Connect currently boasts an open forum for Diplomates and residents as well as discussion groups specifically for Diplomates, residents, residency program directors and resident advisors, those interested in discussing the proposed ACVS governance change, and a Summit working group. The community offers the possibility of a mentorship program; ACVS is considering how that could unfold.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Elevate the veterinary surgery specialty<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

ACVS has implemented a public awareness campaign and a new brand for the College, Dr. Hawkins reported.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The awareness campaign’s goal is to enhance recognition of ACVS, Diplomates, and veterinary surgery.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00abWe are revamping how we approach public awareness,\u201d Loew said. \u201cWe have the ability now to identify animal owners and primary care veterinarians while they attend pet conferences and veterinary professionals’ gatherings, and we can place ads on their devices.\u00bb The ads, she explained, link to a variety of ACVS website pages, like the Find a Surgeon Directory, the What is a Veterinary Surgeon page, and the repository of Animal Health Topics, which is the second most popular page on the website. \u00abWe’ve had great success thus far implementing this as a pilot, and it will continue into 2026.\u00bb<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Hawkins shared the Board’s excitement about the rebranding, while Loew highlighted the findings of the brand survey, to which 600 Diplomates and 100 residents responded. She reported that about three quarters of the respondents in the early to mid-career group said the current logo does not reflect ACVS, or they were not sure. \u00abThese people are the future of the College, so we looked at how to modernize the logo, while honoring the legacy of the College. The roll out is right around the corner.\u00bb\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Supporting the College and Foundation<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Julie Smith, ACVS treasurer, <\/span>presented<\/span> a brie<\/span>f report. <\/span>She shared that as of June 30, 2025, revenue and expenses for both the College and the ACVS Foundation were in line with their respective operatin<\/span>g budgets.<\/span>\u202f\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

College revenue sources support mission-critical programs and member benefits. The commitment Diplomates make to the College by <\/span>maintaining<\/span> membership, Dr. Smith explained, is critically important to upholding the value and prestige of the Diplomate credential while serving the diverse needs of early-, mid-, and late-career Diplomates.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u202fThe College incorporated strategies and initiatives from the 2022 <\/span>s<\/span>trategic <\/span>planning session into the 2025 budget and will continue to foc<\/span>us on the <\/span>objectives<\/span> into the 2026 budget and beyond. To that end, the Board of Regents<\/span>\u202fapproved <\/span>a 3.5 percent <\/span>($20) dues<\/span> increase.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u202fThe full <\/span>Treasurer\u2019s Report<\/span><\/a> is available for review. Diplomate login is <\/span>required<\/span>.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. R. Reid Hanson, chair, ACVS Foundation Board of Trustees, highlighted that 100 percent of donations support resident and new Diplomates education and research grants available to residents and Diplomates.<\/span>\u202fThe Foundation will continue to look for opportunities to fund programs.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Stay informed, share ideas<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

ACVS remains committed to achieving its strategic objectives and will continue to keep Diplomates and residents informed of future progress. Diplomates who attended the meeting are encouraged to share their thoughts on and ideas for the meeting via email to <\/span>acvs@acvs.org<\/span><\/a>. ACVS welcomes ideas to evolve it further in 2026.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note:<\/span><\/b> In a separate session following the business meeting, ACVS leadership participated in an open town hall session focused on the proposed separation of ACVS certification functions from membership activities. A bylaws vote to codify the separation will occur in spring 2026. ACVS will send a summary of the town hall to Diplomates on November 29.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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A fresh approach awaited Diplomates attending the 2025 Diplomates\u2019 Business Meeting held during the Surgery Summit in Seattle in October.\u00a0 ACVS President Bryden J. Stanley presided over the meeting with enthusiasm to share an update of the College\u2019s activities. In this milestone 60th year of the meeting, ACVS reimagined portions of the traditional proceedings, streamlining […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diplomate","category-residency"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acvs.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acvs.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acvs.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acvs.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acvs.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15840"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.acvs.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15945,"href":"https:\/\/www.acvs.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15840\/revisions\/15945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acvs.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acvs.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acvs.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}