Keeping Up with Your Education

Continuing education conferences abound in veterinary medicine. Whether you are a veterinarian or team member, work in a private practice or a shelter, teach students or are a student, there is a conference for you. In fact, hundreds of conferences are held throughout the country each year on every topic imaginable.

Attending veterinary conferences (conventions, symposia, meetings, forums, academies) is an invaluable learning experience that keeps veterinary professionals up-to-date on the latest and greatest in veterinary science and medicine, from cutting-edge diagnostics and therapeutics to refreshers on dealing with common clinical conditions. Conference attendance not only allows you to get out of the practice—or classroom, zoo, office, or wherever you happen to work—and learn about best practices and changing protocols, but it also affords the opportunity to network with like-minded colleagues, explore every possible avenue of veterinary practice, and learn what new products are available.

Many private practitioners count themselves lucky if they get the opportunity to attend or send their team members to a single conference each year. For others, a number of factors make conference attendance all but impossible. After all, attending conferences comes at a cost, whether that’s the time away from the practice and your clients or the registration and travel expenses.

That’s where American Veterinarian^® comes in. Our mission is to provide you with clinical updates and information that will help you improve patient outcomes and positively affect the way you practice. One of the primary ways we do that is by bringing you news and information from conferences nationwide. This year, we’re covering nearly 15 national, regional, and local conferences. In this issue alone we feature 4 of them—Western Veterinary Conference, Central Veterinary Conference, American Animal Hospital Association Conference, and American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum—with topics that range from canine behavior and biosecurity to pain control in horses and respiratory infection in cats, among others. And we continue our extensive coverage on our website, so check out AmericanVeterinarian.com/conferences for more useful clinical information from a host of experts in academia and practice.

We understand that veterinary medicine is constantly evolving and to provide the best care possible for your patients, you must educate yourself continually. We’re proud to help you in that endeavor through comprehensive conference coverage in every issue.

Happy reading!

Mike Hennessy, Sr

Chairman and CEO