Introducing our Directions in Veterinary Medicine symposium in Arlington, VA

A round of new Directions in Veterinary Medicine (DIVM) symposiums kicks off this spring, starting in Arlington, Virginia, on April 21 and 22. Each of the 3 upcoming DIVM events, hosted by dvm360^®, will offer 2 full days of educational content focusing on select specialties, letting attendees take a deep dive into a dedicated area of veterinary medicine. DIVM will be in Miami, Florida, on May 19 and 20; and in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 15 and 16, in addition to Arlington.

The DIVM symposium in Arlington will focus on critical care, emergency medicine, and surgery. This veterinary conference is a single-track event, meaning everything is happening in the same room and there are no competing sessions that attendees will miss.

For each morning of the conference, in place of a keynote presentation, all faculty members will demonstrate a mock emergency case. The faculty involved in these demonstrations include Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, chief veterinary officer of dvm360, and Fred Wininger, VMD, MS, DACVIM (Neurology), as moderators, along with Steven Berkowitz, DVM, DACVECC; Erica Brandt, CVT, VTS (ECC); Bryce Dooley, DVM, MS, DACVAA; Justin Ganjei, DVM, DACVS-SA; Shadi Ireifej, DVM, DACVS; and Adesola Odunayo, DVM, MS, DACVECC, as demonstrators. “It is a very exciting concept, and I can’t wait to see everyone [at the conference],” Brandt told dvm360.

Each mock emergency case will be followed by a workshop session in which attendees will answer questions about the skit they just watched. Questions will cover initial stabilization, differentialsls, and necessary diagnostics with faculty there to guide attendees to be the correct answer and offer further clarification. The first day of the conference will feature a case in which the patient is unable to rise. The second day’s case concerns a patient with refractory vomiting.

“As experienced veterinarians, we risk losing sight of how daunting it may be for a new veterinarian graduate to evaluate any given case in a systematic, algorithmic fashion,” Ireifej told dvm360. “Veterinary graduates often enter their first position in the field with what I refer to as a soup bowl of diagnoses in their mind...filled with every disease they have learned for every species during their time in veterinary school. Then imagine their attempts at applying those unorganized principles to a clinical scenario in front of them. It results in confusion, frustration, and bad medicine. A demonstration and workshop like this, which focuses on a common and generalized medical condition in a pet, will allow experienced veterinarians on this panel to be able to break down each individual methodology used to tackle a case like this.”

He added, “I hope attendees will be able to hear the panel of experienced veterinarians from different backgrounds and specialties openly discuss a case and deliberate on what their thought process is for that case. The second takeaway is how to be able to determine whether a patient is critical or not. This is in-person triage and is vital for any veterinarian, especially newer graduates.”

Ireifej, who is the chief medical officer for telehealth provider VetTriage, also noted that virtual triage is useful to attendees because it provides a convenient option for triaging a pet at home. Access to teletriage services can result in improved access to veterinary care for the pet owner and decrease traffic to the local emergency hospitals, he said.

If you haven't already, register here for the DIVM symposium in the Arlington/DC area and experience these engaging sessions.