Neurodiversity and Disability Justice: Americans with Disability Act Includes Neurodiversity
What does the Americans with Disabilities Act mean for neurodiverse veterinary professionals in the workplace. The Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA was passed in 1990 as part of a movement to recognize the civil rights of Americans with disabilities. This legislation seeks to eliminate discrimination and is not just for people with different physical abilities, but also includes mental and emotional conditions that limit one or more major life activity.
Erika Lin-Hendel
VMD, PhD
Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Recruitment and Retention: Neurodiverse Individuals are Valuable Members of the Veterinary Team
Is your practice or company missing an opportunity to attract and retain highly motivated and qualified people who may have some kind of disability, such as being neurodiverse? Considering that the average cost of accommodating an individual is less than $500 and the average cost per hire is $4,700, accommodating individuals is an opportunity to attract and retain dedicated talent.
Debra Nickelson
DVM, MBA
Time: 1:10 pm - 2:10 pm
Inclusive Leadership: Integrating Chronically Ill and Handicapped Professionals in Veterinary Practices
This talk aims to educate veterinary professionals on the importance of creating a supportive and inclusive environment for chronically ill and handicapped team members. The presentation covers common challenges faced by these individuals in the industry and provides best practices for inclusion and integration. It includes real-life examples of successful inclusion and the impact it can have on individuals and practices. The presentation aims to increase awareness of the benefits of a diverse and inclusive team and to encourage veterinary professionals to adopt these practices in their own workplaces.
Rhonda Bell
CVPM, CCFP, CDMP
Time: 2:20 pm - 3:20 pm
VetCE Virtual: Embracing Diversity: Creating Inclusive Workplaces in Veterinary Medicine
November 23, 2024 @ 12 pm - 3:30 pm ET
Speakers
Erika Lin-Hendel
VMD, PhD
Erika Lin-Hendel, VMD, PhD (pronouns: They|Them|Theirs) began their career in the swine industry before returning to companion animal medicine to expand their advocacy work in mental health and social justice. They are passionate about how intersectional identity plays a role in mental health in the veterinary profession, and advocating for neurodiverse veterinary professionals, particularly students. They are honored to serve/have served as a board member of several organizations, including the Not One More Vet, Inc, and the Multicultural Veterinary Medical Association. They are a co-author of the Gender Identity Bill of Rights for the Veterinary Profession published by PrideVMC. Currently, they practice companion animal medicine in Arizona as a Locum veterinarian for Western Veterinary Partners and engage with various collaborative veterinary profession empowerment based projects through their consulting business, Empathy at Large.
Debra Nickelson
DVM, MBA
Dr. Debra Nickelson (she, her, hers) has enjoyed an extensive career within the veterinary industry, responsible for professional services, product development and management, delivering continuing education, strategic planning, regulatory compliance, marketing, technical selling and business development. She is the founder of Trillium C, LLC focusing on collaboration, consulting and coaching. She assists veterinarians transitioning from practice to industry. Because of her previous positions with a number of industry partners and working within a variety of veterinary practices, Dr. Nickelson has the ability to mentor and provide guidance in navigating the transition. Dr. Nickelson has served on the board of directors, Secretary and President with American Association of Industry Veterinarians (AAIV) and is currently AVMA delegate representing the organization. She received her DVM and MBA from University of Minnesota. Currently she lives in Kansas City with two cats.
Rhonda Bell
CVPM, PCM, CDMP
Discovering veterinary medicine as a career field was the perfect fit, but becoming a professional Certified Veterinary Practice Manager was the game changer. She never looked back because it was the perfect storm of passion, problem-solving, pets, and people. She loved working for over 15 years as a practice manager.
A lifelong learner, she has also completed extensive training for her digital marketing certifications and incorporates personal and professional career coaching into her brand consulting business.
She left full-time practice management to pursue her dream of combining her three loves, People, Pets, and Practice Building, into a successful social media management and professional brand consulting business. She has a variety of clients in the veterinary space, but the majority are small animal practices looking to increase their online presence and engage with their clients on social media. She helps them identify their goals for themselves, their businesses, and their online audiences.
Why Attend?
The VetCE Virtual event series of micro-conferences is designed to deliver multiple approved RACE and/or CVPM CE credits in a concise, half-day virtual format with three consecutive one-hour presentations. The series not only provides you with the opportunity to benefit from educational sessions presented by expert speakers but also offers an easy way to learn and earn credits from the comfort of your home or office!
VetCE Virtual events cover a wide range of topics, from detailed medical discussions to practice management and other non-medical subjects relevant to everyday situations encountered by veterinary professionals. If you’ve already registered and happen to miss the live event, no worries, you’ll be given access to the OnDemand courses once they become available (typically about three weeks after the live event) Recordings of the sessions will be accessible for viewing for 2 weeks following each event, providing participants with a valuable reference.
Please be advised that we can not issue CE certificates for only viewing the session recordings. Anyone who registers for a VetCE Virtual event but is unable to attend the live sessions will get free access to the VetCE OnDemand courses we create from the recordings on VetMedTeam so you can still get CE credits!
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If you want to save even more on RACE- and/or CVPM-approved CE credits, the VPN Plus+ membership is perfect for you! It’s a one-stop solution that aims to help you grow and provide all the necessary resources to earn most of the CE credits you require throughout the year! VPN Plus+ members enjoy free VetCE Virtual live sessions, great CE discount opportunities and much more! Also, all VetCE Virtual recordings will be available to VPN Plus+ members for free after the 2 weeks.
