Thousands of veterinary professionals from around the globe registered to come together for The Webinar Vet’s 10th Virtual Congress, the world’s largest and longest running online veterinary congress. The event took place between 17 to 22 January with delegates from 157 countries. For the first time the event also featured The Green Awards which celebrate individuals and practices which embody green credentials.
The Green Awards, which were hosted in collaboration with Investors in the Environment (iiE), had two categories and were open to individuals and practices who demonstrate sustainability in their work.
With over 30 nominees there was a difficult choice for the judging panel of Anthony Chadwick, founder of The Webinar Vet, Gudrun Ravetz, chair of Vet Sustain, and April Sotomayor, national lead for iiE. The award for Green Veterinary Individual of the Year was shared by Ellie West and Laura Higham who each received £500. The Green Veterinary Practice of the Year award was shared by Old Hall Vets and Davies Veterinary Specialists who each won £1,000.
Ellie West, environmental sustainability lead at Linnaeus and an RCVS and EBVS European specialist in veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia at Davies Veterinary Specialists, said: “I am humbled to have been honoured by The Webinar Vet for my work on environmental sustainability in the veterinary profession, alongside the incredible Laura Higham.
“Congratulations to all the finalists and nominees. We can only make a difference to the environment if we share our ambitions and ideas, and I am so proud of all the people working towards the world we want tomorrow.”
Laura was equally thrilled with the results: “I’ve just jointly won the Green individual award at The Webinar Vet’s inaugural Sustainability Summit this evening, together with the amazing Ellie West! I’ll take this one home on behalf of everyone behind the scenes at Vet Sustain and kudos too to everyone who is making changes for sustainability in our profession.”
But the Green Awards were just one part of what was happening during the congress which was free to attend at the time. It featured 24 sessions discussing topics ranging from mental health to sustainability, diagnostic imaging and cytology. It also took in issues around staff well-being, as well as that of the animals they treat.
Among the renowned speakers were Professor Mike Herrtage of the Cambridge Veterinary School and an expert in diagnostic imaging. His sessions introduced a range of clinical cases along with their imaging findings which were used to demonstrate how to get the most out of imaging modalities and to recognise the advantages and limitations of these techniques. He also gave advice as to when advanced imaging is required to make a diagnosis.
Dr Stacey Newton, senior veterinary clinical pathologist at Nationwide Laboratories, gave a presentation on hypercalcaemia in dogs and cats. The webinar focused on pathogenesis and discussed parathyroid dependent as well as parathyroid independent hypercalcaemia, the difference between total calcium and ionised calcium along with its use in diagnosis and also covered sample management and submission.
The session “Sustainability in Practice” presented by Justine Shotton, BVA president, and Becky Sedman, member of the Vet Sustain Practice Toolkit committee, gave practical advice to vets in practice as to how to become more sustainable using templates and examples in the Greener Veterinary Practice Checklist. It also talked about making your own sustainability pledge.
Speaking about the virtual congress, Anthony Chadwick, BVSc, CertVD, MRCVS, founder of The Webinar Vet, said: “I am delighted that so many delegates attended our 10th Virtual Congress. It has always been our mission to bring accessible and affordable education directly to the world’s vet professionals.
“As this was our 10th anniversary, we decided to make all of the content free during the week of the congress so that all in our hardworking profession could take advantage of the opportunity to attend and learn more about the latest thinking and innovation in the industry. It is also a further demonstration of our commitment to creating the world’s most confident veterinary professionals.”
For those who missed the live event, recordings are available to purchase.
