Getting started at President-elect of the American Veterinary Medical Association

Hi all.  This is Dr. Rene' Carlson, owner and founder of the Animal Hospital of Chetek since August of 1996.  I was honored to be elected in July at the AVMA Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, to be President-elect of the AVMA, representing over 80,000 veterinarians in this country, which is quite an amazing privilege. That means I will be President-Elect this year, and next July in St. Louis, will be inducted as the 3rd woman to become president of this organization in 147 years!  I hope to give you a glimpse of what being in that position entails every day and week because I am very grateful for this opportunity and I want to share this experience with you, clients of the Animal Hospital of Chetek.  

This new position means I will be traveling much more on behalf of the American Veterinary Medical Association.  However, I will be working and seeing appointments when I am in town.  The staff has my schedule.  I will be working at home on AVMA business in the mornings, and seeing patients in the afternoons when my schedule allows.  The hospital continues to run very well with Dr. Mike Kuchevar working full time taking care of all our patients.  Mike has been with the Animal Hospital of Chetek for 9 years and is excellent!  Our three licensed veterinary technicians (nurses), Amy Snapp, Tishara Worsley, and Melissa DeGolier, have been here  many years as well.  Amber, our veterinary assistant celebrates her 10th anniversary with us on September 5.  As always, Amy Mickelson will be there to answer your phone calls and help you at the front desk.

My first duty as President-Elect was to go to Mexico City in August to represent the AVMA in celebration of “Veterinarian’s Day in Mexico”, a national recognition of the services veterinary medicine provides for Mexican society. (We should have such a day of appreciation in this country!) It was attended by about 700 people.  I met with their national veterinary medical association while I was there. Some people have asked me if I was nervous to go to Mexico City with the news reports of increased crime there, but I have been to Mexico City several times before.  Mexico City is a beautiful city and I had no fears of going there for this trip.  I was only there for about 36 hours and was well taken care of by a local veterinarian named Dr. Gabriel Hernandez, who works in the US Embassy there with our USDA. He works to be sure importation of products entering the United States from Mexico are safe and in good condition, and that the same is true for products from the US that are exported to Mexico.  

Please visit the AVMA website at www.avma.org to see what AVMA does on behalf of animals and their welfare, as well as how veterinarians work to keep your food safe.  There are many podcasts and avmaTV videos on a variety of subjects, including on pet care.  I could not be more proud to be associated with the AVMA.  I hope to highlight some of these issues and my trips as AVMA President-elect on this blog, answer your questions, and stimulate some dialogue on current issues and activities.  Meanwhile, see you at the Animal Hospital of Chetek.

Rene' A. Carlson, DVM

AVMA President-Elect

Animal Hospital of Chetek, Ltd.

941 - 24 1/2 Street

Chetek, WI   54728

715-859-6650 (wk)

715-859-6460 (hm)

715-491-3540 (cell)

rcarldvm@citizens-tel.net

www.animalhospitalchetek.com