Back to Convention Daily News

Drs. Mary Ergen, a small animal practitioner and long-time practice owner from suburban Nashville, Tennessee, and Jennifer Quammen, chief veterinary officer of a veterinary technology company from Walton, Kentucky, are running for 2025-26 AVMA president-elect.

They announced their candidacies on June 21, the final day of the regular annual session of the AVMA House of Delegates (HOD) in Austin, Texas.

Dr. Ergen is beginning her sixth and final year as District III representative on the AVMA Board of Directors, representing AVMA members in Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Dr. Quammen will complete her term as AVMA vice president during AVMA Convention 2024. It is a two-year position serving as the AVMA's liaison to the Student AVMA (SAVMA) and its student chapters and, by extension, to the veterinary college deans and faculty.

Dr. Mary Ergen

In her remarks to the HOD, Dr. Ergen said, "I would like to continue to move our strategic plan forward, to see our technician initiatives materialize, streamline the Educational Commission on Foreign Veterinary Graduates, and continue to support our legislative issues."

"I also know life happens, and we have to be prepared for anything," she added.

"I am bullish on the AVMA," Dr. Ergen continued. "I think I can work well with our volunteers and other stakeholders to solve the current issues of workforce imbalance, the availability and validity of telehealth, and the use of (artificial intelligence) in our profession as just a few examples."

The 1982 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine has been active in organized veterinary medicine for more than 30 years, including serving as president of the Tennessee VMA in 2008. She was also the Tennessee alternate delegate in the HOD for seven years.

Additionally, Dr. Ergen helped establish a veterinary technician program at Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, Tennessee, and taught there for seven years.

Dr. Quammen told delegates she is running for president-elect because she is eager to contribute to a profession that has enriched her life.

Dr. Jennifer Quammen

"I have the foundational skills in communication and collaboration," she said along with the knowledge to contribute within the Association and to represent the AVMA to the public and other organizations.

A 2011 graduate of The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Quammen has served as president of the Kentucky VMA (KVMA) as well as co-facilitator of the KVMA's Power of Ten leadership program. She was engaged with the Veterinary Leadership Experience and the Veterinary Leadership Institute from 2011-19, and she continues to champion leadership initiatives.

Additionally, Dr. Quammen said she is passionate about wellbeing. She co-founded Veterinarian Coaching in 2014, and has helped numerous veterinarians, practices, and veterinary students on topics ranging from stress management and sleep hygiene to career transition and improved work-life integration.

Dr. Quammen is an alumna of the AVMA Future Leaders Program and has served as chair of the AVMA Council on Veterinary Service.

"AVMA cannot be everywhere at all times, nor can I," she said, "but we can serve as a place to bring differing opinions into the same room-virtual or in real time-and find common ground to have respectful discussions."

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.