Pulse - July 2024 - 19

CHAPTER PROFILES
San Gabriel President Seeks
Speakers Who Offer Great CE
D
r. Jessica Chen, president of the SCVMA
San Gabriel Chapter, said that her goal
is to " book excellent speakers so our people
will feel happy " with what they learn at the
group's meetings.
" That's what I really want - I want people to get great satisfaction
out of the CE we provide. It's not that you're just filling
a quota when you book a speaker. I want to bring in speakers
who will make you feel like you will practice better medicine
or have a higher understanding of medicine " because of this
hour spent once a month.
" If I can achieve that, that's all I really want. I don't need
anything else, " she said.
Dr. Chen cited Dr. SeungWoo Jung of Echo Vet Cardio in
Tustin as a good example of what she was talking about. He
lectured to the San Gabriel group on May 8. " He's a really good
cardiologist who's taught at universities and now is in private
practice. His talk was so amazing - I was sitting there overjoyed.
" The talk was so good and he broke it down to basics and
educated us in such a fun way. When his talk was over, people
were walking up to shake his hand and thank him. It was joyful
and it was fun. He was so down to earth. He said he'd have
to come to talk to us again. "
And, she noted, Dr. Jung had a long drive between Monrovia
and Tustin - " and he did not ask for a fee. All I gave him
was a cup of tea. "
Dr. Jung earned MS and DVM degrees from Seoul
National University in Korea, then earned a Ph.D. degree at
Cornell University, where he also did a fellowship before adding
a residency at UC Davis.
This is Dr. Chen's first year as chapter president. She said
that normal attendance at meetings is about 30 people, mostly
doctors and RVTs. The group meets at Mimi's Café in Monrovia.
" There's no room fee and no screen or projector fee, which
some places charge, " she said. " We meet the second Wednesday
of each month, except in December, when we take a break.
" We have half an hour for social time. We say you can arrive
any time after 7 p.m. but for that first half hour we have nothing
going on. Those attending are just eating and talking. "
She said that she knows " specialists who practice really
good medicine and I call them to see if they have an interest in
speaking. Most of them do want to do it - and they do it out
of the kindness of their hearts. "
Besides finding speakers, Dr. Chen also needs to book a
sponsor. Sometimes
it's a pet cremation
company or it could be
other services, such as
lab, pet food or pharmaceutical
companies.
" Their main job is to
pick up the tab for dinner, "
she said.
" The way I do this
is that I always find a
speaker first. Then I
look for a vendor to
support the speaker.
That way, the speaker
is not obligated to
promote
anything.
The speaker is purely
educational. "
" And that is how
I think it should be.
Attendance improves
when the talks are highly educational. We truly appreciate all
the sponsors and we always offer them 10 minutes of floor
time to give their own presentations. "
She does all the work of finding speakers and sponsors and
Dr. Jessica Chen, San Gabriel Chapter President
messaging about upcoming chapter meetings. " Literally, the chapter
was going to go on hiatus if I didn't take the job, " she said.
" I do try to get into the crowd after the talk is over to chat
with members. Many members are still eating dessert after
the speaker is done. I try to go to each table and talk to the
people there a little bit to get to know them. I love it because
it's about weaving the social fabric, right? As you get to know
each other, you can help each other and I get good ideas.
" I like to ask what the members want to learn - although
no one's ever suggested anything. I always ask them and they'll
say: 'Oh, thank you so much. You're doing a great job.' "
She said that she has attended other chapter meetings but
only during the covid pandemic when all of the meetings were
via Zoom. " I attended all of them then. I loved staying home
and taking in all those CEs. They were all quality talks. And
the speaker variety was amazing. Because of the pandemic,
you could get speakers who were quite far away then.
" To physically go to other chapter meetings now - I have
not done that because they're really far away. " P - Jim Bell
PULSE
JULY 2024
19
Pulse - July 2024

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