About the CbVMA
The Caribbean Veterinary Medical Association is an Association of veterinarians primarily of the English-speaking Caribbean countries stretching from Guyana on the South American mainland through the Caribbean archipelago around to Belize in Central America. Throughout its history, the Association has primarily functioned as the umbrella under which a regional veterinary conference has been held every two years. Membership is drawn from the veterinary associations and communities of the various CARICOM territories.
As veterinary professionals of former British colonies, the first meetings were formal gatherings of government veterinarians. This later evolved into a biennial meeting for all veterinarians from these English-speaking territories, encompassing broad continuing education goals with an opportunity for them to share experiences, fellowship and fun. Participants came from outside the Caribbean on some occasions, with large contingents of Canadian veterinarians together with a sprinkling from the United States and Europe, coming to enjoy the warm Caribbean sun and hospitality.
Conferences would rotate between the various territories, with the main hosts being Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana, with others such as Antigua and Grenada hosting from time to time. The host country for each succeeding conference is selected by vote at each conference’s CbVMA General Meeting. The most recent event, held in 2008, took place in St. Maarten, the first time it had taken place in a non-CARICOM state, with the objective being to broaden the scope of the conference to include Dutch, French and Spanish-speaking Caribbean territories.
The establishment of the School of Veterinary Medicine on the St. Augustine, Trinidad campus of the University of the West Indies added another dimension to the CbVMA. The SVM, along with the Unites States offshore veterinary colleges of Ross, St. Mathews and St. Georges Universities in St. Kitts, Grand Cayman and Grenada respectively, are now playing a growing role in our Conference. An increasing percentage of our members are graduates of SVM-UWI and so biennial meetings now serve the dual function of being Alumni reunions.
As globalisation and internet technology make our world ever smaller and as the definition of our region grows away from our post-colonial boundaries, our ability to reach out to our French, Spanish and Dutch-speaking Caribbean colleagues advances. Indeed, the realization that greater intra-regional cooperation is required in these times of global pandemics and epidemics makes it imperative that we foster every avenue of cooperation and dialogue. The CbVMA’s Conference provides such an opportunity and we cordially invite our colleagues from the entire region and the world at large to join us at the 26th Biennial CbVMA Conference which will be held in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, November 3 – 6, 2010, as we seek to build bridges of friendship and cooperation in “Promoting Animal Health and Welfare for Sustainable Human Development”.