Pulse - December 2024 - 8

SCVMA PROFILE
Dr. Meyers Takes Role with
SCVMA Board of Trustees
Jim Bell
D
r. Tiffany Meyers has been named to replace
Dr. Karryssa Fenderson on the SCVMA Board
of Trustees.
The board appointed Dr. Meyers to complete Dr. Fenderson's term,
which ends at the end of 2024. Dr. Meyers applied to fill the same seat on
the board for the three-year term that begins in January. Dr. Fenderson
resigned to pursue a specialty internship and residency in another state.
Dr. Meyers said that she learned that she would be joining the
Board of Trustees when Dr. Jennifer Hawkins, SCVMA's executive
director, " emailed me and said that we have a board member who is
leaving and we thought about you filling that position. I was like,
'Whoa, oh thank you!'
" I didn't really know much about the board. I know a lot of people
who are or have been board members and I have always been very active
with meetings and Celebration dinners every year and going to all the
events. And I want more people to know about it and I want to spread
the word about SCVMA and to reach out to the community with so
many hospitals and veterinarians who don't know about the SCVMA
or are not members.
" And I can go to their hospitals and try to get more people to be
active. I see it as a way to branch out and get more people involved. I've
had a few meetings and it's interesting to hear all the ins and outs of
SCVMA. I'm learning a lot and it's very exciting. "
She said that she doesn't understand why any veterinarian in Southern
California would not join SCVMA. " Your dues pay for themselves
after you attend two or three meetings. It's a really good value. "
Dr. Meyers came to Southern California 13 years ago after she graduated
from Auburn University's veterinary program.
" I had been traveling to California to visit friends throughout college
and during vet school I had been coming out for vet conventions, " she
said. " I just fell in love with it. I love the ocean. I love the weather. I love
the people. And I just knew when I graduated that was where I wanted
to go. I always wanted to live near the ocean. And I detest humidity and
mosquitos. So Texas and Florida weren't very good options for me.
" I came out to interview hospitals and look for places to live a few
months before I planned to move. And I cold-called a bunch of hospitals
just to let them know I was heading this way and I had a 'working interview'
at one of them and then started working for them for several months.
And it just sort of became relief work accidentally. I wasn't really looking
for relief and didn't know what relief work was before I graduated. "
But her relief work turned into a long-term occupation for her that
introduced her to more than 75 hospitals in Greater Los Angeles and
Orange County. She mixed in a seven-year stint at one hospital and an
interval at a new corporate hospital where she was not happy and left
before a year was over.
A doctor she worked with told her about a company that works with
doctors to help them open their own practices. " That's what I'm doing
8
Dr. Tiffany Meyers
now in Long Beach, " she said.
" It's a brand new building that's still under construction but I'm hoping
we'll be wrapping everything up shortly and going through our punch list
and making sure everything's ready to go for our January opening. "
Her hospital is downtown. " It's right on the Promenade, " she said.
" It's a great location with lots of foot traffic and a huge parking structure
next door. It's general practice. We will do surgeries and hospitalizations.
We already have a full-time associate and as we grow, we're looking forward
to hiring more. We're definitely looking for more associates and
more RVTs. Eventually we'll probably have five doctors. "
Appropriately, the new practice will be named Promenade Veterinary
Hospital. Dr. Meyers said that the company she is working with will be
part owners of the practice with her. " It's a really good collaboration of a
big team of people who are helping to put this thing together. I'm really
happy with my team. They are doing an amazing job. "
Dr. Meyers found help getting acquainted when she first came to
Southern California with what was then called the Young Vets Group,
now DVM2K. " We had monthly meetings, there were open discussion
lectures and a social hour meet-and-greet. It was focused on the
younger cohort of doctors my age. " Later she became president - and
still is - of DVM2K for the LA region.
Dr. Meyers plans to marry John Hayes, a construction contractor,
next May. The couple lives in Manhattan Beach. They have an 11-yearold
dog and a young kitten. P
DECEMBER 2024
PULSE
Pulse - December 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pulse - December 2024
