Dr Wayne Ricketts, NZ Council Representative
THE KIWI CONNECTION During 2018, Council received a request from three former College Kiwi Presidents to consider if the College could provide a greater presence in New Zealand for New Zealand based members. At around 370 members Kiwis represent over 10% of the total membership and also more than 10% of the registered veterinarians in New Zealand. Kiwis are represented in all Chapters.
Members indicated they were very supportive of more engagement between the College and New Zealand members
Contemporaneously Council had already began thinking about how the College might work more closely with the New Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA), Massey University (the only university providing veterinary training in New Zealand) and the Veterinary Council of New Zealand. To this end Council met with representatives of all three organisations at its September meeting in Auckland. The meetings were very fruitful and there was a general commitment to working more collaboratively in the future.
Council hosted two very successful cocktail parties for Kiwi members – one in Auckland following the Council meeting and the other soon after in Christchurch. Both were well attended, convivial and fun. Members indicated they were very supportive of more engagement between the College and New Zealand members. Council agreed that it should investigate setting up a New Zealand branch. The Constitution does allow for setting up Australian and New Zealand branches. We have sent out a survey to New Zealand members in December to
gauge further feedback on the matter. If you haven’t completed it, please do, we would love to hear from you. We hope to follow this up with a possible meeting for Kiwi members at Science Week 2019 – and hopefully the launch of a new Kiwi branch! We have also had further discussions with NZVA about possible synergies with the new NZVA/Massey CPD pathway, a presence at each other’s conferences, a possible combined NZVA/College stream at NZVA conferences and how we could provide more continuing education for New Zealand Fellows. Watch this space!
7
| COLLEGE COURIER
