Vets South conference is back on 4 and 5 March 2020 at Sandy Park stadium in Exeter, organised for the first time by Improve International. This two-day event features high-quality, engaging continuing professional development (CPD) for both vets and nurses and is the biggest veterinary conference in the south of the UK.
A total of 27 hours of CPD will be available across three lecture streams – small animal medicine, small animal surgery and veterinary nursing – giving delegates the opportunity to attend the lectures of most relevance and interest to them. Each lecture is delivered by an expert speaker, ensuring that delegates gain the latest knowledge and insights from various fields, including cardiology, oncology, ophthalmology and more.
Keynote panel
A keynote panel is organised for the end of day one, aimed at all attendees no matter what their interest. Panellists Alison Moores, Ian Ramsay and David Williams will be discussing various topics in this session entitled “The only way is ethics”.
The panel will discuss issues brought up by delegates as well as topics such as pedigree dog breeds and their welfare issues and having to conform to the cascade where finance is a problem. Delegates will be able to ask questions during the panel in person or by using interactive software Turning Point, which will be available in all sessions throughout the conference.
Small animal medicine
Those interested in small animal medicine have a diverse range of topics to learn about. On the Wednesday, hear about canine mast cell tumours with Owen Davies who explores the use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors in these cases. Delegates can also attend a series of “interactive” sessions, hosted by Ian Ramsay, on diabetes and adrenal diseases.
Veterinary Practice’s own David Williams will be giving a series of ophthalmology lectures entitled “What to see and how to see it” in which he will discuss visualisation techniques to appropriately see the cornea and the retina. This series continues on the second day with a talk about the lens.
Kieran Borgeat will explore how to take a rational approach to heart murmurs in cats on 5 March and Sarah Warren will discuss the diagnosis and management of allergic skin disease in the cat and the dog in two separate talks.
Small animal surgery
If surgery is where your interests lie, Vets South has an entire stream dedicated especially to small animal surgery. Whether you want to learn more about oral tumours or the use of acepromazine as a pre-med, the programme in this lecture stream will have something for you.
On both days of this conference, speakers will explore options for pragmatic surgical solutions and how to perform surgeries on a budget. Alison Moores will be discussing the management of skin masses on a budget on the first day, and on day two Jon Hall will explore brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome surgery on a budget. Jon Hall will also be discussing pragmatic surgical solutions to urethral obstructions.
Tom Towey will be presenting a two-part lecture on polytrauma in first opinion practice, focusing on stabilising and prioritising and Philip Witte will be discussing common canine and feline fractures, and how they might be managed.
Veterinary nursing
Talks about nursing patients affected by different conditions will be presented across the two days. Owen Davies will be discussing how oncology patients should be treated, Kieran Borgeat will discuss nursing the heart failure patient and Ian Ramsay will discuss nursing the diabetic patient.
Make sure to check out Tom Towey’s talks on day one about nursing of the caesarean patient from phone to home and neonatal resuscitation and care. He will also be presenting a lecture entitled “Knowing your parvYES and parvNOs” in which he will discuss nursing tips for the parvovirus patient.
Wound care will be a hot topic for this stream, with Amelia Sherwood exploring controversies in wound care and Shelly Jeffries discussing bandaging blunders and how to avoid them. Shelly will be ending the veterinary nursing stream on the second day of the conference with a talk on three steps for optimal wound care: prepare, promote, protect.
Bayer Animal Health UK are the lead sponsor of this event. Boehringer Ingelheim, Nova Biomedical, PLH Medical LTD and IM3 Direct are also sponsors.
For more information about Vets South 2020, visit their website.
