Luverne veterinarian selected as AVMA Future Leader | News

Dr. Jason W. Johnson, a 2003 graduate of Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine, is one of 10 veterinarians selected to participate in the American Veterinary Medical Association’s (AVMA) Future Leaders Program.

This year-long program, created by the AVMA and supported by Pfizer Animal Health, will help develop leadership skills in the selected group of volunteer leaders for the future of the AVMA and other veterinary groups. This is the second class of 10 Future Leaders involved in the program. They were selected from approximately 60 AVMA member nominees who had graduated from veterinary school within the last 15 years.

“I have always felt compelled to be intimately involved in organized veterinary medicine and I’m proud to represent the Society for Theriogenology in the AVMA Future Leaders Program,” Dr. Johnson says. “I hope the program will unveil my inadequacies; refine my leadership and communication skills; and equip, embolden and envision me to best represent the AVMA in future capacities.”

Dr. Johnson, a native of Luverne, Ala. is associate professor of theriogenology at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine on the Island of St. Kitts. Dr. Johnson is

a diplomate in the American College of Theriogenologists. He did a three-year residency at Auburn University in food animal theriogenology and also completed a master’s in virus transmission studying Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus.

The year-long Future Leaders Program will start at the AVMA Convention in San Diego, Calif. August 3-7. This select group will have the opportunity to work with a professional facilitator Dr. Ken Andrews of High Impact Facilitation to receive project management and leadership training. Over the year they will collaborate on a project to provide the AVMA with solutions to help increase the leadership skills develop valuable resources for of veterinarians nationwide to use. The final results of their efforts will be presented during the AVMA Convention in Chicago, July 19-23, 2013. “The hardest part of picking each class over the past two years has been narrowing down the list of nominees to just 10 participants, because of the qualifications, diverse interests and energy of all the outstanding nominees,” said Dr. Ron DeHaven, chief executive officer of the AVMA. “Many of these Future Leaders are already leaders, having accepted leadership roles at the state and local levels, so we’re excited by not only by what we can teach them but how much they’ll be able to teach us. The inaugural class of Future Leaders has been inspiring and accomplished so much, so I expect a lot from the second class.”

The first class of Future Leaders focused on creating a web-based Future Leader Toolkit that uses videos, instructional tools, media materials and other information and instruments that AVMA members can use to improve their leadership skills on the job or within the profession.

For more information on the AVMA’s Future Leaders Program, or to arrange interviews with Dr. Johnson or any of the participants, contact Tom McPheron at 847-285-6781 or at tmcpheron@avma.org. For general information about the AVMA and its convention, please visit www.avma.org, or www.avmaconvention.org.

Source:  American Veterinary Medical Association