**VETERINARY PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE**

**MEETING MINUTES**

**August 15, 2002**

# Members Present

CAPT Sean Altekruse (NIH)

CDR Terri Clark (NIH)

CAPT Randolph Daley (CDC)

CAPT Marissa Miller (NIH), Alternate for CDR Katherine Hollinger (FDA)

CDR Brent Morse (NIH)

CDR Lowery \"Dusty\" Rhodes (NIH)

# Members Absent

CAPT Bob Hoyt (USPHS, Retired) (NIH)

# Guests Present

CAPT Cynthia Pond (NIH), Chief Professional Officer (Ex Officio Member)

CDR Johnny Braddy (FDA)

LCDR Kamela Davis (FDA)

LCDR Jennifer McQuiston (CDC)

CDR Nancy Pate (EPA)

The meeting was called to order at 1305 hrs. Minutes of the April 25,
2002 Vet-PAC meeting were previously approved and posted on the
category's website:

<http://www.fda.gov/cvm/links/vcc/>

**[Comments from the CPO (CAPT Pond)]{.underline}**

##### **Information from the Office of the Surgeon General** 

We now have a new Surgeon General, VADM Richard H. Carmona. The CPOs are
arranging an All-Hand's videoconference with the Surgeon General; it is
tentatively set for next Friday, August 23. CAPT Pond will send
information about the videoconference to the category as soon as the
details are available.

A task force is being set up to examine the entire promotion process.
CAPT Pond was a member of the committee to determine the charge to the
task force. The task force will recommend changes that will be
implemented in promotion year 2004.

**Information from the Division of Commissioned Personnel**

Here are the promotion results for our category for Promotion year 2002.
Congratulations to all!

**To Temporary Captain (0-6)**

Sean F. Altekruse 7-1-02

Mark A. Bryant 7-1-02

Patricia E. Hasemann 7-1-02

**To Permanent Captain (O-6)**

Cynthia L. Pond 7-1-02

Linda R. Tollefson 7-1-02

**To Temporary Commander (0-5)**

Terri R. Clark 7-1-02

Katherine A. Hollinger 7-1-02

Brent C. Morse 7-1-02

**To Permanent Commander (O-5)**

Judith A. Davis 8-16-02

**To Temporary Lieutenant Commander (0-4)**

Nelva J. Bryant 7-1-02

Kristy M. Lillibridge 7-1-02

Regina L. Tan 10-1-02

Allison M. Williams 7-1-02

**To Permanent Lieutenant Commander (O-4)**

Katherine A. Hollinger 7-1-02

Charlotte A. Spires 7-1-02

**Veterinary Activities**

**1. PHS Commissioned Corps as a Personnel System at USDA**

 After multiple meetings and intense discussions over the past few
months, USDA\'s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has decided to
begin utilization of PHS Commissioned Corps veterinarians. The first few
officers will be placed in field positions. CAPT Pond has offered her
assistance, and that of the Vet PAC, to spread the word about vacancies,
and assist USDA in finding suitable candidates from the applicant pool.
Preliminary discussions have also been held with USDA's Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service.

We have an urgent need for volunteers to screen the DCP veterinary
applicant pool to fill these and other anticipated vacancies. Please
contact CAPT Altekruse if you can assist with this important category
activity.

# 2. Avian Influenza

The outbreak of avian influenza in Virginia and West Virginia is over.
The last positive bird was found on July 3. PHS involvement with the
task force ended on August 3. A total of 4,743,560 chickens and turkeys
were depopulated in order to contain the outbreak. A total of nine PHS
veterinarians assisted with epidemiology and surveillance.

## 3. PHS Veterinarian Selected as NC VMA Veterinarian of the Year

CDR Nancy Pate, of EPA's Office of Air Quality, Planning and Standards,
Information Transfer and Program Integration Division, was honored
recently by the North Carolina Veterinary Medical Association as
"Veterinarian of the Year\". CDR Pate has been an active member of the
NCVMA since she graduated from Oklahoma State College of Veterinary
Medicine in 1969, and she currently serves as Chair of the NCVMA
Informatics Committee. CDR Pate has worked with several EPA programs and
has served on many interagency work efforts. As a member of the USPHS
Commissioned Corp Readiness Force, she recently deployed to assist USDA
with an avian influenza outbreak in northern Virginia.

**4. PHS Veterinarians All-Hands Luncheon**

The PHS veterinarians held their annual All Hands luncheon meeting on
Thursday May 23, 2002. Featured speakers included LTC Don Noah (USAF),
on "Bioterrorism: A Veterinarian\'s Perspective", RADM John Babb
(Director, CCRF) on "The role of the veterinarian in the PHS CCRF", and
CDR Meta Timmons (Senior Instructional Officer, COTA) on "Space-A
Travel: Opportunities and How To Use Them". LCDR Patrice Klein (FDA)
gave a brief overview of the "Virginia Avian Influenza Outbreak
Deployment Response". CAPT Douglas Sharpnack received the 2002
Commissioned Corps Veterinarian of the Year Award.

#### 5. American Veterinary Medical Association meeting

The Commissioned Corps of the PHS was highlighted at the AVMA meeting
July 13-17. The PHS CC recruitment booth was staffed by officers and
offered a full range of informational material, including a newly
developed four-page brochure about the veterinary category. Thirty-one
of the visitors to the booth requested additional information about the
CC. During the PHS veterinarians' session, category members gave
presentations about their involvement in investigations and operations
related to anthrax, 9-11, and avian influenza. Special visitors to the
session included previous CPOs RADMs Steele and Blackwell, VMAT members
and uniformed services veterinarians. Speakers from the category met
with Student AVMA Representatives to discuss the PHS as a career option.
Members of the category were invited speakers at the meeting on the
following topics: dogs as therapeutic interventions; antimicrobial
resistance; anthrax exposures; anthrax bioterrorism; retail meat
pathogens; career opportunities for laboratory animal veterinarians in
the PHS and other federal agencies; and career opportunities in
veterinary public practice.

## 6. Veterinary Medicine and Public Health Meeting - CDC

On Tuesday August 20th, from 12:15 - 1:30 PM, Dr. Lonnie King will be
giving a seminar at CDC on \"The Challenges Facing Academic Veterinary
Medicine and Their Impact on Public Health\". The Seminar will be held
at the Roybal Campus, Building 16, Room 1111. Dr. King, Dean of the
Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine, is truly one
of veterinary medicine\'s most dynamic and visionary leaders today, and
he always has interesting and thought provoking ideas to share on how to
move veterinary medicine forward into the future to improve the
public\'s health. An invitation has been extended to members of the
American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, the University of
Georgia, as well as CDC, USDA and FDA employees.

#### 7. Annual Meeting, Association of Military Surgeons of the United States (AMSUS)

This year's AMSUS meeting will be held November 10-15 in Louisville. The
veterinary session is Tuesday November 12. A request was made for
speakers from the PHS; several volunteered to speak and COL Severin has
selected two speakers.

#### Organizational Maintenance

#### 

#### 1. PAC Membership for 2004

The category elected four officers for terms beginning January 1, 2003.
Once Agency endorsement is received, the nomination package will be sent
to the Office of the Surgeon General for concurrence.

+---------------+----------+----------------+--------+---------------+
| Name          | AGENCY   | DUTY           | Grade  | Nominated by  |
|               |          |                |        |               |
|               |          | Station        |        |               |
+---------------+----------+----------------+--------+---------------+
| Lowrey Rhodes | NIH      | Bethesda, MD   | 0-5    | Self          |
+---------------+----------+----------------+--------+---------------+
| Estella Jones | FDA      | Rockville, MD  | 0-5    | Self          |
+---------------+----------+----------------+--------+---------------+
| Stephanie     | EPA      | Port Orchard,  | 0-5    | Self          |
| Harris        |          | WA             |        |               |
+---------------+----------+----------------+--------+---------------+
| Patrice Klein | FDA      | College Park,  | 0-4    | Self          |
|               |          | MD             |        |               |
+---------------+----------+----------------+--------+---------------+

#### 2. PAC Charter

The recently revised 2002 Veterinary PAC Charter was approved by the
Office of the Surgeon General and is posted on our website

#### 3. Call for Nominations of new Vet CPO

The Office of the Surgeon General is seeking nominations from the
agencies for candidates for the position of Chief Veterinarian. CAPT
Pond's tenure ends November 1, 2002.

**[Comments from the PAC Chair (CAPT Altekruse)]{.underline}**

# PHS Commissioned Corps Veterinary Category Strength

# As of August 2002 there are 99 active duty Commissioned Corps Veterinarians. Seven new officers were called to duty in the spring of this year. Of these, five officers are at CDC, and one officer each at FDA and NIH. The large number of new officers assigned to CDC reflects the increased demand for CDC and state-based Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officers in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 2001. The veterinary category needs to recruit to maintain our current level of active duty officers. Nearly half of CC veterinarians are approaching or have passed 20 years of service, the optional age for early retirement.

# Commissioned Corps Bulletin Articles

There have been several requests for new articles summarizing the role
of the Public Health Service in the Avian Influenza outbreak in the
Shenandoah Valley. The veterinary category was the lead PHS professional
group in that deployment. An article is in preparation and will be
submitted to the Division of Commissioned Personnel (DCP) in the next
few weeks.

**Meeting Agenda Items**

**Request for information on category preparedness**

The Chief Professional Officers are compiling a document for the Surgeon
General on activities since 9-11 related to preparedness. Final comments
were solicited for completion of our category's document. CAPT Randolph
Daley and CAPT Marissa Miller will forward by email their comments on
CCRF and working relationships with non-federal agencies, respectively.
CAPT Cindy Pond requested any final comments be sent to her by August
19, 2002.

# PHS Veterinarians' Brochure

The DCP has announced plans to fund the printing of recruitment
brochures for each category. Although these would be category specific
brochures, they would be designed by DCP in a standard template.
Deadline for submission of request to DCP is the end of September.

**The AVMA-CC Veterinarians Booth**

The CC booth was well attended at the 2002 AVMA Conference in Nashville.
Over 250 copies of the PHS Veterinarians Brochure were distributed. LCDR
Jennifer McQuiston has requested the use of our CC booth at to the
Student AVMA meeting on March 20-23, (2003) in Athens, Georgia. We do
need to update the library of photographs. Please send publication
quality digital files to LCDR Jennifer McQuiston at fzh7@CDC.GOV. Other
suggestions for updates to the booth included adding the new FSIS
position category and "usajobs" website.

# Associate Recruiter Program

Our newest Associate Recruiters are CDR Alfred Montgomery (FDA), CDR
Mark Haines (NIH) and CDR Meta Timmons (DCP). CDR David Ashford (CDC)
and LT Jennifer Wright (CDC) have also expressed their interest in
serving as Associate Recruiters.

**CC Veterinarian Website**

A surprising number of people are visiting our website. To have maximum
advantage of this resource we need to update our calendar of events, add
the standardized curriculum vitae format, Vet-PAC meetings minutes, and
other items of interest on at least a quarterly basis. CDR Kathy
Hollinger has been working with the webmaster. CDR Nancy Pate suggested
using 'cold fusion technology' and will forward her comments on that
process to CAPT Sean Altekruse.

**Standard curriculum vitae format**

CDR Terri Clark and CDR Brent Morse are developing a standard CV format
in consultation with officers who have served on veterinary promotion
boards. Participants at the Vet PAC meeting provided comments. A final
document will be posted on the category website in September
<http://www.fda.gov/cvm/links/vcc>

**Holiday Uniformed Services Veterinary Prom**

The Air Force is lead organizer of the Veterinary Prom this year. CDR
Terri Clark will serve as our category's lead coordinator in assisting
the AF with PHS related requirements.

**Old Business**

A goal was set to double the number of Commissioned Corps veterinarians
with CCRF certification in 2003.

# New Business

LCDR Kamela Davis (FDA) commented on the need for career development for
junior officers, in particular guidance on promotions. CAPT Randolph
Daley suggested focusing on post-graduate training, board certification,
veterinary category activities, and participation in CCRF.

**Select Date for Next Meeting**

The next meeting date is November 21, 2002 at 1300 hours to be held at
Executive Park South, NCI DCEG Conference Room 7107, Rockville, MD.

# Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at 1500 hrs. Minutes were prepared by LCDR
Patrice Klein (FDA) and approved electronically by Vet PAC members and
the Chief

Professional Officer.