It’s Friday and it should be a relaxing day here in Denver at the start of the AVMA Annual Convention. But this is a happening place. First up, it is Denver you know, in land of legalized marijuana. So, I shouldn’t be too surprised that the front page of the Convention News was about marijuana, but I’m here for a veterinary convention, so it’s about veterinary marijuana. It seems that veterinarians are getting inundated with many questions from pet owners about accidental marijuana poisonings. However, some experts are saying hold on, marijuana can be used for medicinal purposes in pets — for cancer patients for example just as with humans. It’s a fascinating topic that will be hotly debated these next few days.
The other topic is one near and dear to my heart and that is women’s leadership issues. Because I work with veterinarians, I was intriqued by the Women’s Veterinary Leadership Development Initiative, but it is because of Dr. Karen Bradley that I became committed to the Initiative. We have her interview on the site now.
Today was a positive day for the Initiative in the AVMA House of Delegates. The AVMA House of Delegates announced Dr. Rebecca Stinson-Dixon as the winner of the election for the AVMA Vice-Presidency two-year term. She is the 4th woman to hold the office. Dr. Melanie Marsden was elected to the House Advisory Committee in the At-Large position. With her election she becomes the only female veterinarian on the House of Delegates leadership committee. There sure were many happy faces in the halls of the Hyatt Regency in Denver today. Kudos to all. And, something tells me with the number of women graduating veterinary school today, they truly are just getting started.