NAVC attracts record crowd with 14,500 in attendance

ORLANDO — The North American Veterinary Conference (NAVC) drew record-breaking crowds with 5,665 veterinarians in attendance.

More than 14,500 people attended the 2006 conference, including 1,658 technicians, 669 practice managers, 740 students, 2,466 family members and guests, 3,099 exhibitors, 126 non-DVM registrants and 130 members of the press. More than 1,000 registrants were in attendance from 72 countries.

NAVC programs included communication labs to help veterinary staff develop meaningful relationships with coworkers and clients, avian and canine influenza virus updates, disaster medicine and issues faced by emergency response teams.

Practice management and marketing the veterinary practice, along with a two-part, half-day symposium on money management that offered various perspectives on protecting and increasing net worth.

A half-day session was dedicated to strategies for treating heartworm as well as managing other parasites, while wet and dry laboratories were available throughout the conference.

NAVC sponsored the James A. Jarrett lecture on food animal medicine, a tribute to Jarrett, NAVC past president. Dr. Jenks Britt was the featured speaker.

"I am very pleased with our overall attendance," says Dr. Colin Burrows, NAVC executive director. "I am more pleased to know the quality of the conference interests so many practitioners and team members."

Among some of the reknown speakers were Ed and Tonie Earmes, advocates for assistance dogs for disabled individuals. In their fifth appearance at the conference, the pair discussed their co-authored book, "Partners in Independence, a Success Story of Dogs and Disabled: Second Edition."

In a pop-quiz fashion, a woman who was in an automobile accident with her pet Chihuahua brought her dog to Dr. James Bailey, NAVC speaker and University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine anesthesiologist.

Concerned about a potential eye injury, the woman asked to have her dog examined.

"I did a physical examination, limited to the tools I had, which were basically my hands, my eyes and my ears," Bailey said. "I didn't even have a penlight."

The irritated eye might have been irritated by a deployed airbag. Without the aid of technology, answering questions and a rough exam was all Bailey was able to do for the pet, along with recommending she took the dog to see a veterinarian in an office.

"I guess a veterinarian's job is never done," Burrows says. "Even when you are doing another job."