Veterinary technician wins 2024 ICON Honor

Veterinary technician content is sponsored by Elanco for the month of October.

The Bridge Club, a critical conversation company tackling pressing issues in veterinary medicine, announced Kara M. Burns, MS, MEd, LVT, CVT, VTS (Nutrition), VTS Hon (Internal Medicine, Dentistry) as the 2024 Bridge Club Industry ICON winner.¹ This is the ninth annual ICON award and this is the first time a veterinary technician received the honor. Burns will be formally honored during The Bridge Club ICON event on January 13, 2024 in Orlando, Florida.¹

According the release, The Bridge Club Industry ICON Award is given to a veterinary professional who consistently demonstrates leadership, innovation, and a commitment to elevating and advancing veterinary care. “Kara is so deserving of this honor,” says Alex Miller, VMD, MS, manager of veterinary services, Blue Buffalo. “She has been instrumental in advancing the role of veterinary technicians and increasing the knowledge of all practitioners in the area of nutrition.”¹

Kara M. Burns, MS, MEd, LVT, CVT, VTS (Nutrition), VTS Hon (Internal Medicine, Dentistry) (Photo courtesy of The Bridge Club)

Burns has continuously worked to enhance the role of veterinary technicians and has served as the past president of the Kansas Veterinary Technicians Association and past president of the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America (NAVTA). She founded the Academy for Veterinary Nutrition Technicians, an organization that aims to advance the specialty of veterinary nutrition by providing veterinary technicians a process to become certified as a veterinary technician specialist in this area of veterinary medicine.²

Burns has co-written 2 textbooks, including Textbook for the Veterinary Assistant and Nutrition and Disease Management for Veterinary Technicians and Nurses. She has also authored multiple textbook chapters and over 100 professional articles.¹

Burns won the ICON award after a unanimous vote from more than 48 nominations. At the honoree event, attendees will have the opportunity to get to know Burns with a moderated conversation that includes the person who knows her best, her wife, Ellen I. Lowery, DVM, PhD, MBA.¹

References

1. The Bridge Club announces 2024 ICON honoree. News release. The Bridge Club. October 16, 2023. Accessed October 16, 2023.

2. Our mission. Academy for Veterinary Nutrition Technicians. Accessed October 16, 2023. https://nutritiontechs.com/homepage/about/