AVMA Convention Registration Now OpenMarch 4, 2016Registration for the 153rd annual American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Convention 2016 is now open. The convention will take place in San Antonio, Texas, on August 5 to 9, 2016. The AVMA convention offers continuing education (CE) opportunities in all disciplines and practice types. It also features an exhibit hall for attendees to see the latest products and services available to the veterinary industry. New to convention this year is a “Meet-the-Experts Roundtable” that will feature more than 20 roundtable discussions related to current topics in veterinary medicine. Also there is a one-of-a-kind addition to the exhibit hall is the AVMA’s Vet Clinic Live!. The state-of-the-art veterinary facility will serve as an interactive educational space for exhibitors to engage with attendees and showcase their products as they would be used in an actual clinic, along with live action scenarios based on case studies. Convention attendees will be able to download an app for the AVMA Convention, which allows user to plan CE and events, download session handouts, track CEs and receive CE certificates. It will also be updated with convention alerts. New features to the app this year will include a messaging system so attendees can network with other attendees, …
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Penn Foster Vet Tech Program Earns Full Accreditation, Celebrates Record Number of GraduatesMarch 4, 2016Penn Foster College announced today that the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities (CVTEA) has granted full accreditation to the Penn Foster College Veterinary Technology Distance Education program, and also congratulated Penn Foster on maintaining accreditation for their program. This recognition marks Penn Foster College’s 6 additional years of full accreditation from AVMA-CVTEA. The program was initially accredited in 2006 at the designation of Initial Accreditation. The Veterinary Technician program at Penn Foster College also recently announced its largest graduating class in its decade-long history. The class of 2015 was composed of 140 graduates, a new record for the program. The program is also anticipating record enrollments with continued growth expected in 2016. “We are honored to receive ongoing accreditation through the AVMA/CVTEA committee, as we constantly strive for excellence,” said Connie Dempsey, chief certification and licensing officer at Penn Foster, Inc. “The enthusiasm and dedication from our national award-winning Veterinary Academy team, led by distinguished department directors Dr. Amanda Teter and Dr. James Hurrell, clearly demonstrate to our students and to the veterinary community the passion they share for the continued success of this program. Penn Foster is committed to remaining at the …
Veterinary Service Grants Available from USDAMarch 4, 2016If you’re looking to expand your clientele to include more rural clients in underserved areas, then look into the Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP) from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which is part of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). What is the VSGP? According to the USDA website: “The purpose of the Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP) is to relieve veterinarian shortage situations and support veterinary services. Grants will be made available on a competitive basis to qualified entities to develop, implement, and sustain veterinary services through education, training, recruitment, placement, and retention of veterinarians and veterinary students. Grants will also be made to establish or expand veterinary practices … The Veterinary Services Grant Program is authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. Initial funding for the program, $2.5 million, was appropriated in the FY 2016 budget.” There are two types of grants available: Education grants and equipment grants. Education grants can be used for recruiting, training programs in food safety or food animal medicine, programs to help enhance food safety and more. Equipment grants are “for establishing or expanding veterinary practices by equipping veterinary offices; sharing in overhead costs; or establishing mobile …
Lisa Simpson Becomes a Veterinary InternMarch 4, 2016The long-running animated sitcom “The Simpsons” is giving Lisa a new calling. In this Sunday’s episode, set to air on Fox at 8/7 central, the animals of Springfield are getting a new caretaker. TVLine reports that Lisa performs CPR on a raccoon after it’s been tased, then heads out to local veterinarian Dr. Budgie’s office. Lionel Budgie, DVM, voiced by actor Michael York, allows Lisa to work at the veterinary clinic as an intern. In true television show style, Lisa reportedly finds out what it’s like when a patient’s health declines, and learns a difficult lesson in the process. Screencap/youtube Dr. Budgie has a sign we all might relate to... Check out a clip from Sunday’s episode below: </center> Will you watch to find out how Lisa does as a veterinary intern?
Veterinarian Removes Purple Teddy Bear From SnakeMarch 3, 2016 Anything is tasty when you’re really hungry, even a small purple teddy bear. Given that winter is approaching in Australia, the snakes native to that country are feasting. Snake catcher Tony Harrison told 7News Brisbane, “Right now they’re really, really obsessively hunting for food… If it smells right, they’ll eat it.” Apparently the purple teddy bear smelled right to the 6-foot carpet python that gobbled it up. Harrison noticed the bulge and took the snake to The Vet Lounge veterinary clinic in Coomera on Australia’s Gold Coast. Reptile Relocation And Awareness/Facebook Reptile Relocation And Awareness/Facebook Reptile Relocation And Awareness/Facebook Reptile Relocation And Awareness/Facebook Reptile Relocation And Awareness/Facebook Reptile Relocation And Awareness/Facebook After an x-ray, it was determined that the snake had in fact swallowed the toy. A C-section was conducted, leaving the snake with 15 stitches. The surgery marked the first time Matthew Hollindale, BVSc had operated on a snake in his 16 years as a veterinarian. The snake will be on antibiotics for a couple of weeks before being released back into the wild.
3-Strain Avian Flu Vaccine on HorizonMarch 3, 2016Kansas State University researchers have produced an avian influenza vaccine they think could be administered in water, eliminating the need to immunize poultry one at a time by hand. The vaccine, called NDV-H5Nx, also might be used on eggs to inoculate chicks before they hatch. The discovery has the potential to save poultry producers billions of dollars in both time and inventory. An estimated 50 million U.S. chickens and turkeys died or were destroyed in 2015 during an outbreak of the H3N2 influenza strain. The KSU vaccine, developed with the assistance of microbiologist Adolfo García-Sastre, Ph.D., of New York’s Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, was found to protect against the H5N1, H5N2 and H5N8 strains. “The vaccine we produced is a live vaccine, which means it replicates in birds,” said Jürgen Richt, DVM, Ph.D., a Regents distinguished professor in KSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine. “Because it’s live,” Dr. Richt said, “we believe that the vaccine could be sprayed into the air or put in the water supply so that when the chickens need a drink, they could be vaccinated. A poultry farm could vaccinate all of its birds in a single …
Meet the VPN Team at WVC!March 3, 2016Are you going to the Western Veterinary Conference starting March 6? Come check out the Veterinary Practice News booth, #2236. The Veterinary Practice News team will be in attendance, so say hi if you see us at the booth or on the floor! So who are we? Veterinary practice news From left to right: Ken Niedziela, Jessica Pineda, Susan Roark, Bill Rauch and Peter Badeau. News Editor: Ken Niedziela Managing Web Editor: Jessica Pineda Chief Sales Officer: Susan Roark Account Executive: Bill Rauch Advertising Direct: Peter Badeau Feel free to tweet us at @VPNwebed (Jessica) and @VetPetNews (Ken). You can also follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Hope to see you there! WVC The Veterinary Practice News booth is #2236.
Veterinarian Proves It: Cats See Better in the DarkMarch 3, 2016No surprises here: Cats see way better in the dark. But Liz Bonnin, host of the BBC show “Cats v Dogs: Which is Best?” wanted to find out how much better they could see, and put together a test with the help of a local veterinary college. Bonnin went to the Royal Veterinary College in the United Kingdom to talk to Rich F. Sanchez, DVM, CertVOphthal, DipECVO, FHEA, MRCVS. Dr. Sanchez is a senior ophthalmologist and a Lecturer of the Ophthalmology Service at the college. He created a maze for his test subjects — a dog named Fen and a cat named Oedipus — that they would have to navigate in complete darkness. Once they reach the end, they get a food reward. It ends up taking Fen 43 seconds to get through the maze, being guided by the voice of his owners. Oediupus, however, takes 5 seconds. Watch it here: You may know why cats see so well in the dark, but do your clients? Give them this fun tidbit from the Catster.com article, “Four Cool Facts About Your Cat’s Eyes:” Our feline friends can see well …
UW-Madison Wins Statewide Healthcare CompetitionMarch 3, 2016Second-year veterinary student Frances Goglio at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was part of a team that recently won first place in the 2016 Interprofessional Healthcare Case Competition. The annual event, hosted by the Wisconsin Area Health Education Centers, invites students from any Wisconsin college/university to compete in a case competition, which is designed to demonstrate the complexity of the healthcare delivery system and the value of collaboration between healthcare professionals. Teams need to comprise of four to five students from any health professions degree or discipline and include at least three different degrees/professions represented in each team. Goglio’s team included Paria Sanaty Sadeh (pharmacy), Hillary Kirking (nursing), Torie Grover (pharmacy) and Justin Meyers (medicine). They won $3,000 for taking first place. First-year veterinary student Laurel Myers was part of a second-place UW-Madison team that received $2,000. Her team included Amber Facktor (nursing), Allison Tutkowski (nursing), Kate Berlin (pharmacy), Marnie Janson (pharmacy) and Pamela McGranahan (team advisor).
Mediation Next for Vet Who Bragged of Killing CatMarch 2, 2016The disciplinary case against Texas veterinarian Kristen Lindsey, DVM, who admitted using a bow and arrow to kill an outdoor cat, is headed to mediation. Catherine Egan, the administrative law judge who was scheduled to hold a hearing March 8 on the state’s attempt to revoke Dr. Lindsey’s veterinary license, referred the case to fellow judge Howard Seitzman, who will preside over a mediation period potentially lasting until April 20. Egan’s order was co-signed by another administrative law judge after a prehearing conference Tuesday. The hearing was postponed indefinitely pending the mediation. Lindsey’s lawyer, Brian Bishop, commented briefly on the change of direction. “Dr. Lindsey and I look forward to mediation and we are hopeful that we can resolve everything, and everybody move forward,” Bishop said. A spokeswoman for the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners stated only: “The matter is headed to mediation, and at this time we do not have any comment.” The case exploded in April 2015 after Lindsey posted news of the killing on her Facebook page. An accompanying photo showed Lindsey holding an arrow aloft, the cat impaled between the eyes. One of her comments was: “My first bow kill … lol. The only …
