Dear fellow Diplomates,

I hope everyone has had a safe and successful start to 2025! It is a great privilege to begin my role as President of the ACVIM. I look forward to serving our community of professionals who lead the way in promoting excellence in all aspects of veterinary medicine. I am excited to work with you and for you throughout this year. Thank you for entrusting me with this honor!

Before providing an overview of our priorities for the year, I would like to take a moment to thank Dr. Roger Hostutler, whose term as Small Animal Internal Medicine Specialty President has ended, and to welcome Dr. Jana Raessler, who has ascended to the role in 2025. On behalf of the Board, I’d like to extend my sincere gratitude for the hard work and leadership Dr. Hostutler has given the College over the past three years. I would also like to thank Dr. Jane Sykes, who has served as both Specialty President, ACVIM President, Chair, and Immediate Past Chair and has now concluded her time on the Board. Dr. Sykes has made innumerable contributions to the ACVIM and continues to volunteer her time and expertise to advancing both the College and veterinary internal medicine at large. I invite you to join me in extending thanks to Dr. Sykes for her leadership.

Now, as we look forward to the new year, I would like to share a few of the ACVIM’s top priorities for 2025:

• Specialty Perception Research: Led by the ACVIM Specialty Medicine Awareness Committee (SMAC), this research project addresses a long-expressed need by members for increased awareness among key stakeholder groups for the value of specialty veterinary medicine. Research conducted will quantify the overall awareness and perceptions of veterinary specialists among animal owners and primary care practitioners.
• Optimizing the Training Experience: We are continuing our broad efforts to optimize the training experience for all stakeholders. This includes implementation of recommendations by the RTP Oversight Task Force and survey data from mentors and Candidates. These will be the basis for training program dashboards that highlight key metrics for each program, e.g., pass rate percentages. Additionally, College-wide efforts to standardize requirements across specialties will continue in 2025, led by the Training Optimization Task Force (TOTF). Finally, the ACVIM will continue to lead conversations about independent oversight of training programs in meetings led by the AVMA.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research and Education: Convened in 2024, the ACVIM AI Task Force plans to publish an expert statement on clinical evaluation and validation standards to consider before AI deployment by fall of this year. The Task Force is also working closely with our Forum Planning team to develop an AI-focused virtual Forum program, as well as other educational offerings. This work is being guided by an AI survey which is currently open to all ACVIM members.
• Follow the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Roadmap: This long-term objective will continue to be a priority for the ACVIM in 2025. Central efforts, which are spearheaded by the DEI Committee, include the implementation of programs to reduce the financial barriers of becoming a Diplomate, ensuring RTP programs are safe spaces for Candidates from all backgrounds, and enhanced DEI education and resources for the ACVIM community.

For further details and discussion of our 2025 priorities, I encourage you to save the date for the 2025 State of the ACVIM Town Hall and Specialty Business Meetings: Wednesday, March 5 from 4:00-5:15 pm CST. More information and a Zoom link will be shared closer to the virtual meeting.

Finally, I would like to thank all the volunteers, leadership, and staff of the ACVIM for your dedication to advancing our initiatives. I am excited to collaborate with you all in meeting the challenges and seizing the opportunities that lie ahead. All the best to each of you as we embark on this year of progress, teamwork, and excellence. 

Sincerely,

Henry W. Green, III, DVIM, DACVIM (Cardiology)
President, ACVIM