PRESENTED BY: Colleen Best, DVM

FRIDAY, February 28th | PRICE: $35

Navigating the stressors of the veterinary profession while providing high-quality patient and client care is incredibly demanding. Unfortunately, this workshop can’t change that. What it will do is provide practical information about how stress and fatigue impact our physiology, as well as support your unique knowledge of your stress responses. It will delve into the ideas of self-compassion and self-care and discuss practical ways to insert them into one’s day-to-day life as ways to enhance well-being. You will gain insight on how to remain compassionate and empathetic to your clients, your colleagues, and yourself. The strategies and tools shared will be relevant to all tough situations in practice, including burnout and compassion fatigue. Participants will leave with a new perspective on how to manage stress in their lives and feel empowered to effect meaningful change.

PRESENTED BY: MARTHA RUSK, RVT

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28th | PRICE: $35

Dermatology cases make up a large part of the patient caseload in general practice. The RVT plays an important role in solving a dermatology mystery. An RVT’s knowledge and skill set are vital to the success of the dermatology investigation and owner compliance beyond the exam room. In this interactive workshop, you will become detectives of the veterinary world, working together to crack the code of a dermatology mystery. As we navigate through real-life case studies and scenarios, you will have the opportunity to put your knowledge into practice.

PRESENTED BY: LYNDSAY JOHNSTON, RVT, BSc

SATURDAY MARCH 1ST | PRICE: $35

This workshop is designed to give veterinary staff the tools they need to adopt patient-friendly handling techniques for routine feline procedures in the veterinary clinic. Using a combination of slides, videos, and live demonstration, participants will observe the techniques, practice the techniques on models, and complete “case studies” to apply their skills and critical thinking to real-time scenarios. Emphasis will be placed on choosing techniques based on individual patient body language, making adjustments to patient response, safety, and efficiency.

Presented by: Colleen Best, DVM

Saturday, March 1st | Price $35

This workshop will explore how to use values, boundaries, and self-compassion as a framework to foster resilience and help you navigate everyday life in practice. We’ll address each concept individually, and then discuss how they are interconnected, and work through activities to increase our self-knowledge in these spaces.

This session will provide practical tools and strategies that you can use to shift how you engage with yourself and others with the goal of reducing your stress and being intentional about how you direct your time and energy. 

PRESENTED BY: ROBIN SAAR, RVT, VTS (Nutrition)

SATURDAY, MARCH 1st | PRICE: $35

Pets eat every day, making nutrition an integral factor in a health care plan. RVTs are ideal team members for completing a nutrition assessment, discussing nutrition plans, and following up with clients to improve the health outcomes for patients.

Creating nutrition-focused RVT appointments and including nutrition in RVT wellness appointments can seem daunting. How do I propose this to my manager? How do I set protocols? What is the best way to start?

This session will review some key steps when including nutrition in RVT appointments, with a team approach for establishing protocols within the team, creating healthy pet and disease management programs, preparing for your appointments, completing a nutrition assessment, and answering challenging questions.

Presented by: Rebecca Talbott

Saturday, March 1st | Price: $35

This workshop presents four cases highlighting common and complex anesthetic complications and considerations, including hypotension, arrhythmias and ventilatory concerns. After a brief presentation of the case and the intra-operative complication, the RVTs will discuss prevention and treatment options in small groups. Following each case, I will present current best practices for each example case.

Presented by: Shoshana Verton-Shaw, RVT, VTS (Nutrition)

Saturday, March 1st | Price $35

Attendees will go on a scavenger hunt to assess randomly selected pet food labels.

PRESENTED BY: Shoshana Verton-Shaw, RVT, VTS (Nutrition)

FRIDAY, February 28th | PRICE: $75

This lab will use custom models to allow attendees to practice the placement of feeding tubes. The models are equipped to allow for the placement of nasogastric/ nasoesophageal, esophagostomy and orogastric feeding tube placement. Attendees can verify placement, simulating radiographic confirmation.

Additionally, attendees will have the opportunity to get messy (scrubs encouraged, but not required!), with an opportunity to handle and blend diets.

PRESENTED BY: Andrea Steele, MSc, RVT, VTS (ECC) & Scarlett Wong, RVT, VTS (ECC)

Friday, February 28th | PRICE: $75

In this hands-on lab session, RVTs will learn essential skills to effectively manage common emergencies, including triage techniques, initial stabilizations, critical thinking, and team coordination. Participants will engage in scenarios designed to mirror actual clinical situations, such as trauma and anesthesia complications. They will also practice using monitoring equipment, setting up CRIs, and delivering fluid boluses.

By the end of this lab session, participants will be able to:

1. Recognize clinical signs of common emergencies, including shock symptoms.
2. Implement initial stabilization, including monitoring setup, fluid therapy, oxygen administration, and other drug therapies.
3. Develop effective communication and teamwork skills by participating in simulated scenarios that require critical thinking and problem-solving.

Presented by: Jennie Tait, RVT, AHT, VTS (Dermatology)

Friday, February 28th | Price: $75

It’s not rocket science, it’s just dermatology. This hands-on lab will take you step by step through the best techniques for in-house sample collection and interpretation. Mastering these basics will up your derm game and improve the care your patients receive. If you are a fellow Derm Nerd, then this is for you: cytology sampling, culture collection, skin scrapings, fine needle aspirates, biopsies, and more!

PRESENTED BY: Felix Portelance, Dispomed

Saturday, MARCH 1 | PRICE: $75

This immersive hands-on lab, covering anesthesia machines, dental units, autoclaves, and microscopes is designed to provide you with a holistic understanding of veterinary equipment. Learn valuable tips and tricks to deepen your understanding and autonomy in troubleshooting & saving valuable time in critical situations. Work through scenarios on the actual equipment to gain actionable tips that make a real difference in your day-to-day operations.
All delegates will receive a take home binder.

Presented by: Andrea Steele, MSc, RVT, VTS (ECC) & Scarlett Wong, RVT, VTS (ECC)

SATURDAY, MARCH 1st | Price: $600

Attend this full-day, hands-on lab to receive your RECOVER Veterinary CPR certification. The certification process consists of an online course followed by onsite training at the conference. Because of this, participants must have successfully completed the RECOVER online BLS (Basic Life Support) and ALS (Advanced Life Support) courses available at www.recoverinitiative.org. Successful completion of this course grants certification as a RECOVER BLS and ALS Rescuer. Human medical professionals certify in human CPR. Veterinary medical professionals should certify themselves in veterinary CPR!

The cost of this lab includes access to complete the pre-requisite online courses. If you have already successfully completed the online modules, you may be eligible for a discount. Please reach out to events@oavt.org.