Pulse - October 2021 - 9

JIM BELL
SCVMA PROFILE
Elaine Myers Heads SCVMA's
Para-Professional Chapter
E
laine Myers, administrator of the Orange
County Emergency Clinics, has a new role
to fill: She has taken over as chair of the
SCVMA Para-Professional Chapter.
" The group has been dormant for a couple of years
and we would like to revive it, " she said. " I became chair
in March so it's still pretty new to me. "
The other part of " we, " she said, is Allyne Moon,
membership secretary of SCVMA, former Board of
Trustees member and a former leader of the para-professional
group. " She is definitely partnering with me, "
Elaine said. " We brought a lot of this together. Allyne is
a driving force behind it. She's such a big promoter of
SCVMA. "
Elaine's initial goal is to begin offering continuing
education to para-professionals, she said, and then " to
develop a social media presence with the purpose of
fostering a sense of community. Those are my immediate
goals. "
For now, however, meetings and CE will have to be
virtual because of the covid pandemic. Elaine fears that
will slow efforts to foster a better sense of community
in the group. " We're really restrained by covid and, like
everybody else, we can't wait for all of this to be over. It's
really hard to make connections when you're virtual.
" In the future I would like to plan in-person continuing
education events because the RVTs need that
for their licenses, " Elaine said. " But I also want to plan
some fun events for community and relationship building.
Allyne and I have talked about setting up tours, like,
for example, at the zoo, perhaps to see the hospital side of
the zoo and its laboratories.
" I also want to make sure that we include all of the
veterinary staff in the group. That would include the
front office, the veterinary assistants and the kennel helpers
and managers - all of them, everyone in the hospital
who is not a veterinarian. I want it to be inclusive. " She
said that she would like to get to live meetings as soon as
that can be done.
She has heard " some pushback against our name, "
Elaine said. " I don't think people are happy with it. It
makes some of them feel sort of pushed to the side. So
we are currently considering renaming the group.
" In the future I would like to plan in-person continuing
education events because the RVTs need that for their
licenses, " Elaine said.
PULSE
OCTOBER 2021
9
" Some of the comments
posted were like, 'I don't want
to be part of any group that
calls me a para-anything.'
" So I feel like 'para-professional'
has a slightly derogatory
connotation. I'd rather
build people up and I'd like a
name that would reflect
that.
Maybe something like 'veterinary
team members association'
- something like that,
something that would encompass
everybody.
" We do have a Facebook page and it gets a little traction
here and there. I can list our events there and post
different articles and funny things. The name on Facebook
is SCVMA Para-Professional Chapter. "
Allyne told her that 775 of SCVMA's 2,725 members
are para-professional, Elaine said. " That's 28 percent
of the membership. I feel like we should definitely be
offering more to those members that is geared toward
them. That is one of my goals. "
Elaine has worked for the Orange County Emergency
Clinics since 1995. Her tenure included working remotely
while she finished her master's degree at the University
of Missouri. After her graduation, she returned to Orange
County and became practice manager of the clinics. She
has been administrator for six years.
Jerry, her husband, is semiretired. A daughter, Bethany,
is a practice manager in Texas and a son, Sam, is a high
school senior who has worked as a veterinary assistant at
the clinics - but wants to be an engineer.
" I'm excited to explore [the para-professional group]
and just get it to grow, " Elaine said. It's not necessarily
about the numbers but about what members need and
how we can fulfill that. I know they need continuing
education and I know that we all need to support each
other. Those are my primary goals right now. " P
Pulse - October 2021

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