GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The 24th annual NAVC Conference January 13-17, 2007 in Orlando, Florida promises to provide a variety of learning formats and daily activities to keep attendees busy.
With the introduction of an exotic pet “meeting-within-a-meeting, exotic animal practitioners can attend all their lectures at the Marriott World Center. This year’s program features wildlife medicine and conservation, avian problem-oriented issues and answers, aquatic medicine, rabbits, small mammal “How I Manage…,” reptiles ” snakes and chelonians and small mammal surgery and diagnostics.
A new program highlight is the interactive Dairy Reproductive Programs Masterclass that takes a new approach to the most current concepts in dairy reproduction by combining a four-week online course with a 1.5 hour discussion workshop at the NAVC Conference.
Technicians, Practice Managers and receptionists are offered a variety of tracks to meet their needs. NAVC hosts a four-day, two-track Practice Management Symposium. Receptionists can learn how to “Wow Clients Before they Walk in the Door,” and how to deal with the most difficult clients in the “Secrets to Being a Front Desk Superstar” program track. Technicians of all skill levels are accommodated with technician-only laboratories and Masterclasses and general, advanced and specialty program tracks.
Celebrating its 10th year, NAVC PrimeTime allows attendees to enjoy the very best of NAVC from the comfort of their official NAVC Conference hotel room. The round-the-clock programming features the NAVC News Journal covering daily events from the classroom to the exhibit hall, Perspectives: Veterinary Viewpoints with one-on-one interviews. PrimeTime will also broadcast the Nestle-Purina College Challenge and five full-day sessions of high interest. A CNN-style crawl will keep viewers informed of any room changes, raffle winners and late breaking Conference news.
Dr. Genny Dumonceaux from Busch Gardens will present “Elephants in Nepal,” an evening session discussing her real-life adventures in Nepal. Nightly State of the Art lectures sponsored by Novartis will feature “Advancements in the Management of Liver Disease,” “Advances in Diabetic Management,” “Molecular Diagnosis,” and “Enteric and Gastric Bacteria.”
The NAVC Case Challenge Series sponsored by IDEXX will feature experts challenging each other with unknown cases in a “What’s Your Diagnosis?” format while the NAVC “The Next Level” series sponsored by Merial centers on interactive discussions that delve into specific medical and surgical problems in the form of case presentations stressing pathophysiology and the pharmacological basis of therapy.
Among the 39 veterinary and 20 technician laboratories is “Forensics for Veterinarians” where participants learn how to conduct a special forensic necropsy examination on victims of animal cruelty including samples of fibers, fluids and other trace evidence, how to assemble a crime scene kit for onsite work and how to document photo and evidence logs. CSI for Technicians will emphasis the importance of complete blood counts, clinical chemistry, handling diagnostic samples and how to distinguish between normal and abnormal blood cells in addition to discussing outcomes with clients.
At the Keynote luncheon, presented by Hill’s and the Morris Animal Foundation, Dr. Mike Cranfield of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project will discuss the MGVP’s mission to provide much needed veterinary care to the highly endangered mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In honor of the late NAVC Past President and Board of Directors member Dr. James A. Jarrett, NAVC created a lecture series in Jarrett’s name. Join Dr. Mark Spire, the 2007 James A. Jarrett Memorial Lecturer, for “Being a Cow Doctor: Then, Now and Tomorrow.”
NAVC’s strong international outreach has led to reciprocal programming with a number of veterinary associations in which they host an “NAVC Day” and NAVC returns the favor. This year NAVC will host the GSAVA (German) Dermatology and Infectious Disease Symposium, the BSAVA (British) Gastrointestinal Symposium and the AVEPA (Spanish) Behavior Symposium.
Entertainment and social activities fill the evenings at the NAVC Conference. Do not miss the Opening ceremonies presented by Hill’s Saturday night. Join friends and colleagues at the Sunday Alumni Receptions. The renowned band Styx, famous for their arena rock shows and soaring power ballads of the ‘70s and ‘80s will entertain attendees and their families Monday night as part of the Bayer Experience. Merial brings us the soulful and harmonious Neville Brothers Tuesday night and the 24th annual NAVC Conference comes to a close Wednesday night at the Novartis Finale party.
For more information about the NAVC Conference, please call (352) 375-5672, email info@tnavc.org or visit www.tnavc.org.