The leadership of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) for the next 2 years has been decided. Dr. Lori Teller will serve as the president of the AVMA for the 2022-2023 term, while Dr. Rena Carlson will succeed Teller for the 2023-2024 term, the AVMA announced in a press release.

Teller is a board-certified diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners in canine and feline practice and clinical associate professor at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Teller has held several positions in the past within the AVMA, including as delegate, on the Board of Directors and on multiple committees. Teller says she will focus on collaboration and the wellbeing of members.

“The AVMA is here to protect, promote and advance the veterinary profession. This is what we do every single day, and we are really good at it because our focus is on you, the veterinarian,” Teller told the AVMA’s House of Delegates in late July at the organization’s annual convention. Teller continued, “Nourishing all parts of our complicated selves makes us better veterinarians and better people.”

Carlson also released a statement regarding her election to the organization’s presidency, to start in 2023. “It’s an honor to work with the Board of Directors, with the House of Delegates, and with AVMA staff and really support and advance the important initiatives they are working on. I always say I’m standing on the shoulders of giants that have come before me and have built such an amazing, strong association. I’ll do my best to continue that legacy and to build and grow that foundation,” Carlson says.

Carlson is a 1989 graduate of Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Four years later, she became the co-owner of Alpine Animal Hospital in Pocatello, Idaho. She has also worked in academia, with a part-time position at the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International. Carlson has served as the AVMA’s Board of Directors Chairwoman.

Teller and Carlson were both elected to their positions by the AVMA’s House of Delegates on Friday, July 29, during the group’s first in-person convention since 2019, held in Philadelphia, Pa. Next year, the organization will host its convention in Denver, Colo., where Carlson will succeed Teller as president.

The AVMA elected several other officials to their leadership positions, including Dr. Ronald Gill, a mixed-animal practitioner hailing from West Salem, Ill., as the Board Chairman and Dr. Chuck Lemme as Vice Chairman. Lemme is based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Both the Chairman and the Vice Chairman will serve through the 2022-2023 session.

The AVMA is one of the nation’s largest professional development groups for veterinary professionals, boosting nearly 100,000 members. It was founded in 1863 and serves every U.S. state and territory, as well as having an international presence. The AVMA offers courses and clinics to improve veterinarian practices.