Pulse - January 2025 - 10

" For the sake of continuity and experience, it made sense
for Dr. Gerstein to serve another year, Dr. Hawkins said.
where. And that's such a huge issue that
we don't want to acknowledge that the way
we approach volunteers has become a scenario
where we've made much of the work
they do 'busy work.' And we train - but
we don't really train - officers and board
members. What we do is orient them on
the roles, the rules and obligations.
Under these circumstances, Hoffman
said, the busy work is easy to understand
and these volunteers fall into routines that
do not satisfy them. " And if it's not satisfying
and it's taking more time than they
have to give, why would they do it? If I'm
serving on a board and the meetings are
not engaging and the work is not having
an impact, why would I become an officer?
Combine that with the fact that we
are recruiting to a very traditional system.
We obligate people to occupy seats that do
not prepare them. And we've asked them
to make huge commitments of time, often
combined with the fact that we've gotten
desperate and we're telling members: 'Oh,
we really need volunteers!'
" So what have you done? You've taken
something that doesn't look particularly
appealing and sold it as not appealing. "
The other element behind this, Hoffman
said,
is that we haven't really
embraced a sense of diversity at the board
level. That's because we're often tapping
people who have been in the system longer
and we're asking them to take multiple
roles, she said. " So newer people, who are
attuned to diversity - and I'm not talking
about skin color, religion or social
orientation but about coming up through
different pathways. " There are too many
people asking others to be engaged. Why
would I want to be engaged with a group
that doesn't look like me? "
Adrian Hochstadt, chief executive officer
of Veterinary Medical Association
Executives, said in an interview that in
professional associations generally, " we're
seeing more and more smaller and more
nimble boards that are often more strategic
than operational. " The organizations
also want board members with financial or
legal skills, he said, and " we're seeing more
10
diversity and a lot more women and young
people on boards. "
He added that for a small profession
of about 125,000 to 150,000 veterinarians,
" there are an enormous number of
associations. I don't think anyone knows
how many of them there are. " He said that
there are lots of opportunities for volunteering
in a complex field and that member
retention has become an issue for a lot of
associations. He added that many younger
doctors are paying off student debt and
might resist volunteering.
" I also see a lot of angst about regulation
and changes in the profession, " Hochstadt
said. He added that there is pressure on
revenue with a lot of consolidations going
on and animal health firms being a lot
more careful with their dollars. "
++++
Dr. Gerstein said that 2024 had been " a
very successful year. It was very rewarding
in many ways. We're past any hiccups or
hurdles from the Covid years. We're very
grateful to have solid membership levels
and the same could be said for our financial
position. I believe we're in a good place
to build on that.
" A second term is far less daunting,
knowing that we have excellent leadership
from Dr. Hawkins, as well as Lucy Perez,
in the SCVMA office. "
He added that he is not sure yet how
his approach might change but that the
second year " allows us to think about how
we can bring the veterinary community
together more. "
Early plans call for continuing Member
Appreciation Day and perhaps doing education
field trips to animal wildlife centers.
Downtown Dog Rescue Sundays,
the
large continuing education events on Sundays
and weekday lunchtime virtual CE
events, all will continue, Dr. Gerstein said.
" We know at
this point, " he
said,
" that our members appreciate different
things. Some enjoy the virtual CE events
and others prefer in-person events. And
that's great. We're still in brain-storming
JANUARY 2025
PULSE
stage. There have always been different
approaches to attract new members. And
we're still very much interested in enticing
new graduates to join SCVMA. " Among
the attractions are seven chapters spread
across Los Angeles and Orange counties,
the veterinary team member group, the
DVM2K group for young doctors and
other specialized groups.
" We are the biggest regional VMA, "
Dr. Gerstein said. " There are larger state
VMAs,
including CVMA. But we are
proud of what we are able to offer our
members. And we have a nice list of benefits
in addition to the events we provide. "
He said that he had discussed doing
a second term as president with Dr.
Hirshbein. " She was super helpful and
reassuring. " One of her suggestions was
sharing the monthly presidential column
with other trustees which was a life saver
in her second term.
" We're going to proceed with six presidential
columns. Each of the other board
members will do one column, and everyone
was very agreeable to the assist. " He
added that " those [column] deadlines do
seem to come up fast. When an idea comes
up for a column, I make sure I jot it down
so I don't lose track of it. Having the topic
secured is half the battle. " P
Pulse - January 2025

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