Meeting Agenda

Study group meetings are usually designed to foster the best possible benefit for the members. Management groups within Veterinary Study Groups, Inc. function under the charter and guidelines secured by Veterinary Study Groups, Inc. Each study group is free to provide a variation on this theme through the direction of the organized leadership of that study group, usually found in an Executive Committee. Two meetings per year are organized where outside speakers may be invited or the power of the group is tapped with pre-defined themes for a specific focus.

Members are expected to do their homework. Detailed information about the practice is presented and members within the study group function as a pro forma Board of Directors that offers advice and assistance for the management of each group. The group is led through the efforts of a facilitator. The facilitator’s role is multi-faceted and includes not only the organizational structure for maintaining the meeting at a location but also to help provide content, offer assistance to the program director, interface with the Executive Committee, lead discussion in specific areas that require shepherding, and offer commentary. Study group facilitators are usually selected because of their extensive experience and knowledge in veterinary practice issues, their extemporaneous communicative skills, and their ability to think quickly on their feet.

Back to Top

Financial Commitment

The organizational structure of a study group does not come together on its own, but rather through the efforts of many. Veterinary Study Groups, Inc. assists in the establishment and coordination of a study group that is most appropriate for the type of group organized. Specific study groups have already been formed in companion animal and equine medicine. Appropriate candidates are reviewed by Veterinary Study Groups, Inc. which takes the responsibility of forming these initial groups.

A facilitator functions on an ongoing basis after initial meetings are attended by representatives from Veterinary Study Groups, Inc. as mentors. The facilitator’s role is to continue the operation of the study groups for decades that follow. Study groups normally meet at locations that are agreed upon by members and require that those members attend the meeting at those locations during the selected days.

The fall meeting focuses on the business of veterinary medicine, while the spring meetings center in selected topic areas in medicine, surgery, and finance. On a quarterly basis, information is gathered on each practice within a study group. Appropriate reports are prepared and sent to members so that up-to-date quarterly current information is available not only on the practice as it exists but also the other practices within the group.

Taking into consideration travel, subsistence, meals, fees paid to Veterinary Study Groups, Inc. for organizational structure and maintenance of the operational entity, acquisition of data for quarterly reports by the facilitator, facilitator’s time in coordinating activities, making hotel arrangements, preparing for meetings, and the actual attendance at the meetings for each member usually range between $6,500 and $12,000 each year.

Each study group sets its own parameters as to which locations it will meet, the extent of assistance that will be required, the number of days of the meeting, any outside speakers that may be invited where separate fees are paid for private seminars, etc. An investment of capital as well as an investment in time is required. Those individuals who join study groups are committed to the continual improvement of their practice. The investment of time and money is not small but the rewards are massive. One idea taken from one study group meeting can mean tens of thousands of dollars of improvement in the practice. The impact is not only enjoyed with improved income yield but also the appreciation of the underlying veterinary practice entity by improved goodwill.

Presently, Veterinary Study Groups, Inc. has, in operation and formation, eight specific study groups with a ninth being organized presently in companion animal medicine, and another for emergency clinics. Some individuals wish to join a burgeoning study group while others prefer admittance into an existing study group. The equine study groups have grown the most quickly. The advantage of starting at the ground floor with a study group is that everyone is at a common standing. The advantage of gaining entrance into an existing study group is that you are joining a group of individuals who are well versed in the benefits and disciplines of being together to gain information about practice operation for operational efficiency and improvement.

Back to Top