I am not really sure a practice managment course is fundamental to a veterinary student 
?How would running a business and mitgating risk? help a vet tech for example

I am In support of allowing a portion of the yearly required Continuing Education Credits to be non clinical in nature. 

Currently 21 states already allow this. Alabama, Georgia, California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, N. Mexico, Texas, Nebraska, N. Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky, Florida, South Carolina, Maine. 

I am in support of the petition to allow a small number of practice management CE hours to be used toward our required CE credit.  The purpose of the our CE requirement is to keep veterinarians up to date in medicine and help them do a better job treating animals.  Many practice management CE course focus on improving the practice to do a better job treating animals and providing better services.  Just like the importance of veterinary wellness and the link between mental health of veterinarians and patient care, without good management patient care suffers.  I hope the board will consider this petition.  

I am in support of allowing practice management courses to count towards continuing education requirements for veterinarians. These courses teach customer service and time management skills that ultimately impact how well patients are cared for. They are an important in making sure that pets and clients get the care they need.

Continuing education of veterinarians and their staff is vital to maintain and increase the quality of care for the animals owned by the Commonwealth's citizens. Veternary medicine and surgery is more complicated than ever before due to the increased volume of information available to our members. In order to provide improved the knowledge to prevent zoonotic diseases that could affect all citizens and their animals, members must be in business to provide the necessary services.

The world has changed in order to stay in a viable business position. Business knowledge has to be up to date with management information. We are business owners with little business education. We receive little or no business education while in our formal professional training years. We must learn how to manage all aspects of small business management while actually providing services to Virginia residents. The need for management education is paramount to a successful veterinarian providing preventive medicine and surgery for all of our citizens.

I am totally in favor of allowing practice management seminars to be eligibile for inclusion in the hours of CE required for licensure.

Awesome idea!!!!

I support this petition because it’s super important to have some more education on the management side of things. And it doesn’t always mean how to be a boss, you learn a lot about communicating, and dealing with tough situations, and the business/money aspect of things.

With the time and money it takes for us to get this kind of CE, it should count! 

Thanks for reading! 

In support of this petition 

I am in support of the change in Continuing Education to include practice management. As we know running a business is no easy task; with our constantly changing social climate and client expectations we must continue to evolve our practices to make it. I feel practice managers should be allowed to earn CE credits for the time they are putting forth to improve employees, clients, and our patients experiences with veterinary medicine. 

I am in favor of the petition allowing practice management seminars to count for continuing education credit.  For more seasoned practitioners, or younger practitioners interested in management/ownership, practice management is just as important, if not even more so, than clinical education.  

Veterinarians typically receive very little business trainiing in school, so it is up to them to seek this out on their own.  As more and more small animal practices are consolidated by corporations it becomes even more necessary for individual owners to become more adept at business management.  

I am in favor of the petition allowing practice management seminars to count for continuing education credit. 

I am in favor of the petition allowing practice management seminars to count for continuing education credit. 

Practice management topics including client communication, critical conversations, fee scheduling, etc, are completely integral to veterinary practice, so those CE lectures should count toward annual CE requirements.

Some other states I have been licensed in put a maximum for not medical CE, like 10 hours vet med, 5 hours practice management, computer training, etc.

Please consider allowing practice management conference lectures to count toward veterinarian license CE requirements.

Thank you.

Ashley Bensfield, DVM, DACVIM (Neurology)

Taking practice management courses broadens a veterinarian's education and often allows them to become more aware of laws, restrictions, and compliance issues. In addition, a better-run practice makes all of our jobs easier for us in terms of referrals to local practices and knowing that our local peers are practicing with good quality medicine to boost the profession positively. I'm all for improving the education of any veterinarian in Virginia, and those putting in their hours spent on learning deserve credit for their efforts.   Dr. Becky Verna

i am in favor of including practice management courses as CE time. Proper management can decrease stress, etc and is included in well being issues

I strongly support DC Acadmy lectures to be enrolled in VA continuing education program. Thank you

I am very much in support of the petition to allow management CE credits to be applicable to state licensure renewal. I think it would be reasonable to create a cap on the number of management CE hours that can be used toward licensure renewal, understanding that some CE required for licensure should be clinical or truly biomedical in nature. 

Too little emphisi is placed on management during school and for a competent doctor to serve the public best, A good business background helps their survival and continued public access.

I would like to add my vote in support of this petition.

Leadership and management training is crucial to developing a success practice. In today’s environment, veterinarians are competing with big business as the industry is transitioning to more corporate practices. In allowing veterinarians to count the hours they spend in leadership and management training, Virginia will be fueling the need and desire to preserve veterinarian-owned small businesses. 

Seminars on the purely medical aspects of veterinary medicine are important. However, veterinarians need to know how to manage their veterinary  practices inorder to continue their veterinary medical practices, i.e., continue to serve the public.

I am in support of the change for Continuing Education to include practice management. A veterinary practice is a whole of many parts- one being the management side. To be successul, a more diverse selection of CE is necessary. The opportunity to take management CE to count towards the total of credits needed is a wise decision in this day and age, 

To Whom It May Concern:

I am in support of the current petition to allow up to three (3) management or wellness CE hours to count toward the required 18 hours of annual continuing education currently required by the board of veterinary medicine.

Sincerely,

William D. Tyrrell, Jr., DVM, DACVIM-cardiology

I fully support this amendment as practice management is critical in day to day practice of veterinary medicine.  One must have a solid grasp on how to manage practice economics, personnel and time to provide the best care possible to patients and clients.  It is also paramount in personal satisfaction with one’s career choice.  If a practice is poorly managed, the stress will affect patient care and doctor’s home life. Please support and pass this amendment.

In support of Petition to allow Practice Management credits to count toward  CE. 

Granting CE credit for practice management topics will encourage practice owners and associates to learn more about business, communication, and team building. I hope the VVMA will consider including wellness lectures under the practice management category as well. 

I am In support of allowing a portion of the yearly required Continuing Education Credits to be non clinical in nature. 

Having been a private practitioner, a lobbyist for the profession, and a faculty member at a veterinary college, I have seen the effect on both practice and practitioner health stemming from the stresses of the business side of veterinary medicine.  Better education on the business aspects of practice will have a beneficial effect on the quality of medicine provided by practitioners and on the quality of life of those practitioners. The latter has lately been recognized as a significant problem with high numbers of suicide among practitioners. Making practice management topics eligible for CE credit will help better prepare practitioners for the rigors of business and so reduce stress. With less stress, practitioners will feel more satisfaction in practice and thereby be available to provide top quality services over longer careers.

I am in favor of this petition.

In favor of this petition  and believe it will serve greatly for the veterinary practicing community.

I am in support of the current petition to allow up to three (3) management or wellness CE hours to count toward the required 18 hours of annual continuing education currently required by the board of veterinary medicine.

Sincerely,

Jesper Lorentzen, DVM

I think Practive managment is a critical aspect of continuing education in veterinary medicine. Success in this profession is defined in many ways; but , without personal wellness, nothing else matters. Human resources and other practoce management issues are some of the most stressful aspects of this profession...learning how to manage those issues, learning to balance personal health and finaincal health, are all aspects of both surviving and thriving in this profession. 

Practice Management is very beneficial to the practice of veterinary medicine because it doesn't matter how great of a doctor you are if you can't keep your doors open due to lack of management training. However, I do think there needs to be some limitations to prevent ALL CE from being practice management. 

As President of the Tidewater Veterinary Academy I oppose the inclusion of "practice management" as an accepted topic for the required 15 hours of CE in Virginia.  I believe it is in the best interest of the profession and the public for the veterinarian to remain focused on the science of treating patients.  The topic of "practice management," falls far outside the scope of the Veterinarian's Oath.  There is plenty of opportunites for a veterinarian to obtain practice management CE beyond the requires 15 hours should they chose to do so. 

Managing a veterinary practice is very difficult as a veterinarian because we have no formal business or HR training.  By attending CE, we are able to get new ideas and be exposed to other people's successes and failures. Going to CE is expensive and for a small business owner, the cost has to be calculated in cost vs. benefit.  By changing the CE requirements to include management, we can save on the costs for CE as well as be more competitive in business.  As the face of veterinary medicine changes from small businesses to large corporations, individual business owners need to have as many tools in their pocket to be competitive for employees.  

I support the petition to allow practice management credits to count toward veterinary CE requirements in the state of Virginia.

I personnally believe that personal wellness is a topic that has been overlooked for practitioners for far too long.  There have been preventable suicides that may not have happened if we had taken this subject seriously in the past.  I  believe that practice management courses being allowed for counting toward CE requirements would be beneficial to old and new graduates alike.  I do, however, believe that only perhaps 3 CE units should be the limit.

I support allowing CE to include management  hours. I would limit this to 25% of the total annual required CE.  To fascilitate large mangement conferences this could be an average of 25% say over 2-3 years.

I am in support of the petition to allow practice management CE hours to count toward the required annual continuing education requirement. Clinical CE should remain the majority of the CE required each year for relicensure, but practice management, professional development, wellbeing, and business topics are all important components of maintaining status as a current, competent veterinary professional. Allowing these topics to qualify for a portion of the required CE will allow veterinarians to pursue education related to all facets of veterinary practice, which benefits the entire profession.

Support the amendment to allow non-clinical CE to fulfill some of the CE requirements. This will improve the quality of veterinary medicine in our state.