BARCELONA–This year’s Southern European Veterinary Conference (SEVC)–the cooperative venture between the Spanish veterinary association, AVEPA and the NAVC–reached all-time highs. The SEVC, cast in the highly successful mold of the NAVC Conference, attracted a total attendance of nearly 4700. Attendance by veterinary professionals seeking world-class veterinary continuing education included 2830 registrants to the overall scientific program as well as 208 workshop and 550 precongress symposia attendees. The international registration totaled 856, representing 47 far-ranging countries from Europe and beyond.
The SEVC mission is to present the latest advances in animal care to the veterinary community in a professional but fun environment. This year’s conference, September 30 through October 3, offered more than 200 lectures by 100 international experts from Argentina, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. All sessions were simultaneously translated into English and Spanish and many into Polish. Sessions on wide-ranging clinical science topics were complemented by the most extensive practice management program in a European veterinary conference–2 1/2 days of discussion from experts from all over the world. In keeping with the NAVC Conference experience, the SEVC combines a diverse array of hands-on workshops with didactic sessions, supporting the educational preferences and needs of everyone. NAVC Executive Director Colin F. Burrows, BVetMed, PhD, HonFRCVS, DACVIM, said “The NAVC is pleased to extend its educational reach into Europe and is proud of the educational experience that the SEVC has achieved in such a short time. We look forward to working with the SEVC to grow and improve the congress in the years to come.”
In addition to the scientific program, the SEVC offers the attractions of Barcelona history, beauty, and fine weather as well as Spanish-style entertainment from the SEVC and an outstanding exhibit hall that this year featured 106 companies, including representatives from France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom as well as Spain. In addition to the congress party night, entertainment included a traditional Flamenco Show hosted by Hill’s. According to Joaquin Aragones, VetMed, MBA, General Executive Director of the SEVC, “On its fourth anniversary the SEVC has already reached the goal it set in 2005: to become a truly international veterinary conference. It is now the largest international small animal veterinary conference in the world in terms of percent of international delegates.”
