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Bringing together people working at the cutting edge of small animal and equine osteoarthritis treatment with the companies driving technology, supplies and services, the Veterinary Osteoarthritis Congress is open to both VOA members and non-members, including veterinary surgeons, nurses, physiotherapists and others engaged in hydrotherapy and rehabilitation.
Day 1 has two small animal streams – session headings include ‘Managing OA’ and ‘Dealing with chronic pain’; and an equine stream looking at ‘Multidisciplinary management of OA’, ‘OA treatment options’ and ‘Unusual presentations’.
On day 2, ‘Biomodulation in OA’, ‘Working dogs’, ‘Mobility clinic’, and ‘Feline OA focus’ will run alongside sessions on ‘Rehab in action’, ‘Surgery in OA’ and ‘Dietary supplements’.
There’ll also be case presentations and interactive sessions on both days, with demonstrations and lectures from some of the leading firms.
Seven sessions in each stream offers two days of CPD.
After the first day’s sessions there’ll be a happy hour followed by a gala dinner in the Kings Hall. The event is being sponsored by Animalcare (Platinum), TVM UK and the Canine Hydrotherapy Association (Gold) with more to be announced soon.
Professor Stuart Carmichael, co-founder and director of the VOA, said: “Exciting developments are happening in veterinary OA, so we felt now is the right time to put this event on.
"There’s nothing specialist about osteoarthritis treatment and management: every small animal and equine practice deals with OA every day.
“There’s a real need and enthusiasm for bringing the latest thinking to as wide an audience as possible, so VOACON offers sessions for all members of the practice, whatever their interest is, along with rehab and physio teams.
"It’s actually been pretty difficult fitting everything in, but we’re confident we’ve got a great programme offering real, practical CPD that will benefit practices, their clients and their patients.”
Delegate rates for VOA members are:
Non-members (who can join the VOA when booking to qualify for members’ rates):
Rates include a hot buffet lunch, congress book and CPD certification.
To book or to download the programme, visit www.vet-oa.com/voacon.
The project, which has been supported by Zoetis, came about after 45 vets from 35 CVS practices identified osteoarthritis (OA) as the main clinical area their practice team wanted to develop over the next 18 months.
As a result, the VOA and CVS came together and signed a Memorandum of Understanding under which the VOA will support CVS with training, resources and research.
The goal is to improve the care of OA patients by engaging the whole practice team and clients in their pets’ care.
Professor Stuart Carmichael, VOA Director said: “VOA’s aim is to provide access to the latest research, evidence and technologies and facilitate a multi-professional collaboration supporting practices wishing to improve their management of osteoarthritis.
CVS practices participating in this project will become eligible for accreditation by the VOA in recognition of the training they've undergone.
As the project develops, CVS says it will assess the results of the initiative, learning more about strategies that can improve and enhance management of OA.
This should translate into the development of better long-term approaches for the management of OA that can be used across the profession.
Meantime, the Veterinary Osteoarthritis Alliance (VOA) has a practice accreditation scheme which is available to any practice which is looking to improve its management of OA.
Further information is available at: vet-oa.com