Veterinarian have been participating in the North American Veterinary Community’s NAVC Institute 2022, a multi-day immersive learning experience where they improve proficiency in one specific discipline including case-based behavioural medicine, practical techniques in orthopaedic and soft tissue surgery and small animal abdominal ultrasound.
The anticipation of an animal going under anaesthesia can be worrisome for a pet owner. There are risks associated with the procedure. Veterinary professionals from around the world will leave Orlando with new skills and knowledge in anaesthesia as well as other animal healthcare topics that they can immediately use to provide better patient care.
For the first time, NAVC Institute offered anaesthesia for the practice team where veterinarians and veterinary nurses learned together to better complement their respective roles during procedures.
The following are comments from NAVC Institute participants:
“Behavioural problems are the number one reason animals are relinquished, abandoned or euthanised and it happens most often during the first three years of being in their homes,” said Karen Overall, MA, VMD, PhD, DACVB, CAAB and an NAVC Institute course presenter. “Dogs undergo social maturity, starting 10 months to 18 to 24 months. One of the things that we recommend is that people take advantage of good, positive reward training classes.”
“Pet owners typically focus on the procedure that their animals are going through, whether it’s a dental or a fracture, repair, etc. and they don’t always ask about the anaesthesia skill and knowledge of the veterinarian and the veterinary team. I think that’s important. They should ask about their training, their experience, and success rate,” said Khursheed Mama, DVM, DACVAA and an NAVC Institute course presenter. “Now we like to engage owners in giving sedative or tranquillizing drugs to their animals so the animal has a better experience at the veterinary hospital and the owner also feels like they’re part of the care for their animal.”
“I do a lot of dentistry and I’m anaesthetizing a lot of 15-year-old dogs with heart murmurs and it’s a little scary sometimes,” said Cassandra Fleming, DVM, of Gainesville, FL and an NAVC Institute participant. “It is very helpful to be able to look those clients in the eye and say, ‘I have extra training in anaesthesia, that this is a very important topic to me and I have the experience and knowledge to keep your pet safe.’”
“Medicine and orthopaedic surgery, no exception, is always evolving and so when I look at the career that I’ve had, techniques that I was taught as cutting edge at one time would be archaic,” said Ross Palmer, DVM, MS, DACVS and an NAVC Institute Course presenter. “As it relates to things we do for displacement of the kneecap, one of the techniques that veterinarians are learning here at the NAVC Institute is how to preserve the healthy joint cartilage and help that kneecap to track normally so the pet is more comfortable.”
“We know that it’s important to pet owners that their veterinarians are staying at the forefront of the latest and greatest in veterinary medicine and surgery,” said Dana Varble, DVM, CAE and NAVC’s Chief Veterinary Officer. “Here we can be confident that not only our veterinarians, but other veterinary professionals including veterinary nurses and technicians, are absorbing that knowledge and are going to be able to bring it back and take care of our pets better than ever.”
