I support the VA Board allowing a small portion (2 hours?) of non-clinical education hours be counting toward the yearly CE requirement.  Like it or not, the business of veterinary medicine is indeed a business. Like all businesses, trends in efficiency and information dissemination evolve (did any practioners who graduated 20 years ago envision Facebook or Twitter at all, let alone as a practice tool?).  Veterinarians' ability to learn our business better (including practice owners, associates, and technicians) will allow us to be better at what we ultimately strive to do--deliver high quality medical advice and services to our clients and patients.  If we do not care for our clients, we will not have the opportunity to care for their pets; if we do not care for ourselves by balancing our work and "other life", making a decent wage and managing debt, we can care for neither our clients nor their pets.

I strongly urge the Board to acknowledge the inclusion of non-clinical CE hours as an important step in furthering the overall fitness of Virginia veterinary professionals.