I oppose reducing or changing CE requirements for veterinarians or technicians simply because they are working at spay neuter clinics or rabies clinics.  That work does not reduce the need that every working veterinarian has to stay current in our field.  It is insulting to suggest that those veterinarians or technicians neither need nor want the CE to provide good care.  CE is readily and inexpensively available and an average of 1-2 hours a month is easy and essential.  If the point of this resolution was to express gratitude or ease the burden on hardworking veterinarians providing essential low cost care, then consider other gestures (eligibility to count their work as a charitable tax deduction if they are volunteering?). 

I am opposed to this proposed regulation change. I do not see that working in a spay/neuter clinic contributes anything toward continuing education. The person may become more proficient in spays and neuters, but the same could be said for any repetative task in general practice as well. While providing those services to a community is certainly a positive, it is not advancing the knowledge of our profession to the person doing it. Further, if someone is motivated to perform that service, I don't think CE hours would either motivate them further, or would be enough to convince someone who wasn't already involved to perform that service. The few CE hours required each year are easy to obtain, and can be done online and without cost.  Continuing professional education should be just that - to advance the knowledge and skill of individuals in our profession. An alternative option to encourage involvement in charitable community activites, such as spay/neuter or vaccination clinics, would be to reduce or eliminate license fees, or provide tax credits, in exchange for service. I do not see this proposal as a positive to veterinary medicine in Virginia.

• Oppose .  These volunteer services are basic routine services and skills.  The entire reason for CE is to advance and develop knowledge to expand one's ability to provide current and advanced skills and understanding to better serve the public sector. I strongly oppose this change. We must advance education and not weaken our quality of knowledge.

I support this petition.  There is a need to support non-profit spay/neuter and rabies vaccination for low income.  volunteering at shelter spay/neuter programs is worthy CE for recent graduates to gain more education (ie CE) and experience in surgery (spay/neuter) and give back to the community in the process.  Rabies clinics are needed in low income/rural area and volunteering at these clinics allows veterinarians to give back to local low-income/rural communities and learn about what veterinary needs these communities face.  

It has always been difficult for animal shelters and humane organizations to find veterinarians and technicians that will perform low cost spay and neuter procedures. This petition would encourage veterinarians and technicians to offer their time. This would at least help reduce the current companion animal overpopulation problem and reduce the euthanasia of healthy animals. It would also allow veterinarians and technicians to gain valuable surgical and medical (anesthesia) experience. There is no significant downside to this petition as currently written.

The Virginia Veterinary Medical Association (VVMA) submitted this petition in an effort to assist spay/neuter and rabies clinics by incentivizing veterinary participation in these events. We see this proposed change as a positive for Virginia-licensed veterinarians; assisting in these clinics and being able to earn CE credit for participation is a win-win for the veterinarian as well as the animal welfare organizations or localities hosting these clinics. Given the number of required CE credits, there are ample hours over and above what could be earned in these clinics to expand a practitioner’s knowledge base and learn new skills. Participating in these clinics to meet CE requirements is optional.  

The VVMA believes this is a creative approach to address the need for increased veterinary participation in spay/neuter and rabies clinics and offers practitioners an additional option to earn CE credits. 

We are on the frontlines here in Franklin County Virginia trying to stem the overpopulation of pets - in particular outside cats and kittens that overwhelm shelters every year.  We have operated our Planned Pethood Clinic for over 23 years but it is very difficult to find enough veterinarians to meet the needs of our community and surrounding areas which are very low income.  Anything that can help provide more veterinary help is a positive step.  I don't understand some of the comments posted here that question the value of performing work in a spay neuter clinic.  Any veterinarian who has worked in a spay neuter clinic can tell you that a majority of animals come in having had little to no previous veterinary care and that an entire range of skills are needed to treat these animals.  Many of the animals are our animals that go from our Planned Pethood Clinic to our Adoption Center after they are healthy enough to be adopted.  I don't see a downside to this proposal.  We are certainly willing to pay veterinarians for their time.

• Not everyone can afford to spend hours volunteering, and nonprofits are finding it harder and harder to find paid veterinarians, let alone volunteers. The veterinary workforce shortage has a significant effect on low-income communities across Virginia – the proposed changes would allow for increased participation by veterinarians in programs designed to help more animals in those communities by eliminating the requirement that they must work without compensation. 
  
  
• Overpopulation has been exacerbated the ongoing veterinary shortages. Non-profit organizations that have the surgical facilities are struggling with such a limited pool of Virginia-licensed veterinarians. High volume, high quality, space/neuter services are the most effective way to address the crisis of companion, animal overpopulation, that floods overburdened public shelters with animals.
  
  
• Allowing CE credits for sterilizing and vaccinating animals who otherwise would not receive any veterinary care supports public health at large while providing the opportunity for practitioners to hone their surgical skills and work in novel environments.   
• The proposed changes would neither allow nor encourage veterinarians and technicians to use time spent working in low-cost spay/neuter clinics to fulfill all their CE requirements. There are still many other CE opportunities available for them to pursue according to their needs and interests, and the regulation does not limit an individual’s pursuit of learning.  
• We should be doing everything we can to promote sterilization as it is an effective,   responsible and humane method of. controlling companion, animal overpopulation that also bestows health benefits to these animals.             

The Virginia Alliance for Animal Shelters (VAAS), representing 206 shelter personnel and animal control officers, strongly supports this petition for the following reasons: 1) it provides  a unique opportunity for professional staff to interact both with a variety of companion animals  while providing a productive community service 2) acquaints veterinary professionals with other animal welfare professionals in the region 3)attaches a benefit to the professional as well as a benefit to the larger community through the provision of much needed spay/neuter services 4) does not require a professional to forego other educational opportunities but incentivizes this opportunity even if only on one occasion 5)attaching CEUs to this activity acknowledges that this kind of outreach, beyond that found private veterinary practice,  is imbued with the likelihood of learning about the overall health status of animals in a community.  Adding spay/neuter services  to the CEU catalogue enhances the benefit of the CEU beyond the individual practitioner to the broader community.  Sharon Quillen Adams MPA

I fully support and encourage the passage of this proposal. Allowing veterinarians and veterinary technicians to receive CEUs for work at spay/neuter clinics and vaccination clinics is a win-win for everyone involved. This change would not prevent veterinarians or veterinary technicians from receiving CEUs through other means, but it would provide them with hands-on experience that they would not likely get through conferences and workshops.

The ongoing veterinary workforce shortage crisis has affected no one more than animals in low-income communities. Those animals will likely never receive any medical care other than what nonprofit animal welfare organizations and public health clinics provide through low- and no-cost programs. Without high-volume, high-quality spay/neuter programs, communities are facing significant overpopulation of cats and dogs who are homeless, unwanted, unvaccinated, reproducing, and flooding public animal shelters. These programs cannot exist without licensed practitioners and the workforce shortage has made it nearly impossible for organizations to find veterinarians and technicians at all, let alone those willing and able to work without compensation (as currently required for CE credits). Nonprofit organizations are more than willing to compensate professionals for their time, and many practitioners – especially recent graduates – could use more experience in a surgical setting. Amending the current regulation to allow veterinarians and technicians to receive CE credits while they are compensated for providing spay/neuter services would benefit everyone: practitioners, animals in underserved communities, and public health at large.

Having practiced in the private sector for twenty years before joining the HQHVSN Team at the Richmond SPCA, now almost nineteen years ago, I wholeheartedly agree with this petition.  I host veterinary students year-round from all over the country, as well as from AVMA accredited veterinary schools outside the United State for externships.  I have yet to meet a new graduate that would not benefit from additional sterilization help post-graduation while working with teams in the HQHV sector serving the community animals most in need.  I see this petition as a win-win for the animals, the veterinarians struggling every day in this understaffed environment and the veterinarians looking for additional experience who may just find they would love to continue giving their time and expertise to this very rewarding part of our profession.  It is such a small fraction of the yearly continuing education hours needed for a Virginia license renewal that they will have plenty of hours to spare on exploring cutting edge, new trends in our field.

This is another great way to get CE and serve the community. Win Win

As we all know, we are facing a severe veterinary professional shortage in all aspects of the profession. Providing some continuing education credits would certainly encourage and entice some professionals to explore these outlets for their talents. As a profession of action, many would prefer to do, rather than just sit and listen to obtain valuable CE. As a veterinarian with over 20+ years of private practice experience, I am forever in debt to the Norfolk SPCA for teaching me new surgical techniques, medical management of larger populations, public awareness of zoonosis, and opening my eyes to the very real struggle of pet overpopulation. Not for profit organizations would benefit immensely from any change in this direction. Traditional CE courses would still be required as well. It certainly seems like a win for everyone. I can’t even envision a downside.

The current overpopulation of companion animals has overwhelmed our profession and filled our shelters past capacity. It can be a struggle as a shelter/ high volume practice to keep up with the number of animals that need to be sterilized on a daily basis. Maybe by allowing for more CE credits then more DVMs and technicians would be inclined to volunteer for not for profit organizations.