BOARD SPOTLIGHT: DR. DEBRA SHOULDERS
Dr. Debra Shoulders, President, KVMA Tell us about your prior roles as a KVMA Member. • Member of the Southcentral VMA • Southcentral VMA representative to KVMA • President of Southcentral VMA • Served on the Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners • Vice President of KVMA • President-elect of KVMA
What has prepared you for the challenge of serving as KVMA President? Being involved in all of these positions has enabled me to understand how orga- nizations operate. You don’t have to know everything about KVMA operations to get more involved in the organization. Te purpose of the KVMA is to promote, protect, and improve the veterinary profession. As a board member, we are tasked to represent all the factions of our profession and the problems that face our whole industry. We have open dialogue and different opinions but the goal is always to come to a consensus to better our profession.
What are some issues within the veterinary profession that need to be addressed? We need to maintain our contract spaces with Auburn and Tuskeegee. I would love it if we could have a veterinarian as a member of the Council on Postsecondary Education. One Health: We need to work to- gether with our medical cohorts to monitor emerging issues. We also need to stay on top of all the political issues (Fairness to pet owners act).
How will we get more professionals to become KVMA members? We need to reach more members through our constituent groups as well as our allied groups. We have a great, user friendly website available that has a variety of information to assist veterinarians. We are also able to communicate to our members with a blast email to keep everyone apprised of issues that need our attention.
How can we convince members to become more involved? Some people may just be too busy with “life” to become more involved. Becoming more involved in a committee, as a KVMA representative, or in the Power of Ten group does not require an exorbitant amount of time. It is also a way to network with your colleagues from around the state and learn about issues that affect different areas of our industry. We wel- come fresh ideas and different opinions.
What changes are you hoping to see within the veterinary profession during the next 15 years? More practices owned by multiple people instead of single owner practices. Tis will offer a better work life balance Like the beef, dairy, poultry and swine industries, the veterinary professionals will become more efficient in practice in order to meet the growing demands of the consumer. Veterinarians are exceptionally qualified to adapt and thrive. A prime example is the COVID chaos. Advances in technology will allow better communi- cation and enable more efficient diagnostics.
What made you want to become a vet? Genetics! My Grandfather was a mixed animal vet and practiced for 50 years. He always brought home calves to feed, evil ponies to treat and I was cheap labor with a small hand when he had pigs to deliver. I always knew I would be a veterinarian.
Tell us about your history in the veterinary profession and what you have done to get you where you are today: I started working in a mixed animal practice in Morgantown, Ky after I graduated. It was a very busy practice and I was fortunate to have a wonderful mentor. I decided to start a housecall practice 13 years later because I had three kids who all had extracurricular activities. I needed to be able to set my work schedule around the hours I needed to make my life work. It was an adjustment but it works for me and I love the flexibility.
At what point did you finally feel comfortable with what you are doing every day as a veterinarian? It was probably a year before I stopped imagining all the horrible possibilities awaiting me on the 25 minute drive to the emergency call. I just accepted the fact that it was something I couldn’t predict or change and I would just deal with whatever it was. It made life so much easier deciding not to worry. Continued on pg. 6
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