FSAVA conference

I was lucky enough to represent the CVA at the latest FSAVA conference from 11-14 August in the Gold Coast, Australia. This small animal and exotics conference had 8 concurrent streams of lectures over 6 sessions for 4 days, giving delegates the option of almost 50 different lectures each day. The topics covered were everything from dentistry to surgery and internal medicine. The speakers were excellent and leaders in their fields , giving up to date information in all subject areas. I found the content enlightening and reassuring that what we (my colleagues and I in Wellington, New Zealand) do in practice, is very much in line with current diagnosis and treatment regimes across the globe. The conference notes were available a few days prior to the event via a mobile app which helped me with lecture selection. Unfortunately a hard copy was not produced, this would have been handy for future reference but the lectures can be printed off from the on-line format thus saving money and the environment!

Many veterinary small animal suppliers attended in the exhibition hall (over 70). This was a great space to network with others from around the world. Some delegates had heard of the CVA, which was pleasing, but others had not stressing the importance of councillors keeping in contact with their associations as to the latest CVA activities. I would encourage all councillors to email the CVA’s PowerPoint presentation to their country associations.

Dr Deb Kirton
CVA Treasurer