MVMA QUARTERLY - SPRING 2021
Convention Highlights Making Lemonade! O
ver 300 individuals and 60 clinics (with 650 members) attended the Missouri Veterinary Medical Association’s Virtual 129th Annual Convention on January 21-24. Members were able to access over 80 continuing education lectures. Unlike previous years, the association held live online events via the “Zoom” app.
The convention was sponsored by numerous companies with major support from the MVMA Partners For Progress members: Addison Biological Laboratory, Inc., Boehringer Ingelheim, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, J Hooker Construction Services, MWI Animal Health, ProPartners Wealth/AVMA-LIFE, Simmons Veterinary Sales, Stopp & VanHoy CPAs, and Zoetis Animal Health. Also thanks to our Affinity Programs, Nxgen and TheSocialDVM. Following the opening of the new virtual CE format, attendees enjoyed a fun Saturday afternoon at home bidding on Silent Auction items and the annual Missouri Veterinary Medical Foundation Drawing. Congratulations to Dr. Cathy Hicks, this year’s $10,000 winner and to all of the other winners at this year’s drawing! The Saturday afternoon General Membership meeting saw the installation of officers for 2021. Newly installed officers include: Dr. Marcy Hammerle, President, St. Charles, Mo.; Dr. Ed Migneco, President-Elect, St. Louis, Mo.; Dr. Matt Silvius, VicePresident, Riverside, Mo.; Dr. Shelia L. Taylor, Secretary/Treasurer, Springfield, Mo. and Dr. David Gourley, Board Chair, Mountain Grove, Mo. 2021 MVMA Executive Board Members are as follows: Dr. Sonia SeradWright, Northwest District Delegate; TBD, North Central District Delegate; Dr. Christopher Perry, Northeast District Delegate; Dr. Matthew Silvius, Greater Kansas City District Delegate; TDB, West Central District Delegate; Dr. Jessica Farris, Greater St. Louis District Delegate; Justin Berger, DVM, East Central District Delegate; Dr. Julie King, Southwest District Delegate; Dr. Catherine Hicks, Southeast District Delegate; Dr. Carol Ryan, AVMA Delegate; Dr. Chuck Barry, AVMA Alternate Delegate; Dr. Carolyn Henry, Dean - MU College of Vet. Med.; Dr. Chuck Lemme, AVMA District 7 Representative; Stephanie Gilliam, RVT, Ex-officio; and Robert Schmidt, Student Representative. At-large Delegates are: Dr. Ashley French, Jefferson City, Mo.; Dr. Thomas Rose, Columbia, Mo.; and Dr. Jessica Stroupe, Fayette, Mo.. The virtual convention offered both individual and clinic registrations. All convention continuing education lectures were offered online and will be available until April 30. Be sure to have your CE certificates downloaded (or printed and saved) before then! On Friday evening, the Early Career Task Force hosted a forum where new veterinarians were able to sit down and share their post-graduation experiences and listen to guest speaker, Dr. Sarah Wooten The forum was sponsored by Hill’s pet Nutrition. Also on Friday, Boehringer Ingelheim sponsored the Student Graduate forum which dicussed the facets of “life after graduation”. The highlight at Saturday evening’s Awards Ceremony, was the presentation of the 2020 MVMA Veterinarian of the Year award to Dr. Steve Strubberg, Jefferson City, Mo.. Dr. Kacie Ulhorn presented the award to Dr. Strubberg. 4
Others who received honors during the evening included: Dr. Missy Gourley, Mountain Grove, Mo. was presented the MVMA’s President’s Award by Dr. David Gourley, 2020 MVMA president. The Ortu Stella Award honored Dr. Jessica Stroupe, Fayette, Mo. The award is presented to graduates up to 10 years out who are illuminating the path of veterinary medicine to those around them. The award was presented by Dr. Ken Vroman Abbie Knudsen, Auxvasse, Mo. received the 2021 William A. Wolff Volunteerism Award for organizing a major pet food drive during the pandemic. The award was presented by Dr. Amie Burling and Dr. Cathy Vogelweid, Chair of the MVMA’s Emergency Management and Public Health Committee. Lori Muhlenbruch, Lake Ozark, Mo. was honored with the MVMF Distinguished Service Award. It was presented to Mrs. Muhlenbruch by Richard Antweiler Dr. Richard Linn, Ozark, Mo., received the MVMA Academy Distinguished Service Award. The award was presented to Dr. Linn by Dr. Julie King, president of the MVMA Academy. We hope all attendees had a chance to “Make Lemonade” at this year’s vrtual event and that you will plan to join us LIVE next year in Columbia on January 27-30 for more great education, fellowship and fun.
