Practical Sessions Return To BEVA Congress
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The return of the popular practical sessions at BEVA Congress (13-16 September 2023 at the ICC Birmingham) will give delegates the chance to hone their ‘hands-on’ skills in a variety of areas including nerve and joint blocks, wounds, behaviour change and self-defence. Advance booking for these sessions is advised as places are limited and usually go fast.
Practical sessions were last held at Congress in 2019, before the Covid pandemic precluded their continuation. Historically they have played a highly popular and important role at the event, providing vets with an opportunity to learn essential hands-on skills and techniques from the experts, in a friendly and encouraging environment.
Two (repeated) practical sessions will be held in the demonstration area of the exhibition hall every day:
Leg workshop with Ian Beamish, Bruce Bladon, Fran James, Padraig Kelly and Alison Talbot (Thursday).
Using lower limb cadavers, delegates will be able to practise and refine their nerve and joint block approaches, guided and aided by our highly experienced team of demonstrators.
Conversations around behavioural change – using active listening and supporting boundaries with Sam Chubbock, Tamzin Furtado and Bronwen Williams (Friday)
Delegates will be encouraged to open their ears and learn how to actively listen. Speakers will work with delegates to explain why this is important if we want to change the behaviour of those around us. Delegates will also be guided on how to set boundaries with clients to protect the work life balance and enable you to work with clients without causing upset.
Wounds grafting, pinch/punch and dressings with Professor Derek Knottenbelt, Fran James, and Alison Talbot (Saturday)
Delegates will be able to practise skin grafting, alongside suturing and wound care. We’ll be mainly looking at pinch and punch biopsies as these are easily carried in first opinion ambulatory practice and skin suturing patterns, dressings and how to select appropriate dressings.
“Our practical sessions at Congress have always been incredibly popular,” said Lucy Grieve, BEVA’s Veterinary Projects Officer. “Practical, hands-on learning is so important for equine vets and at Congress we make sure you can learn from the best. Remember to purchase your Congress ticket before booking on to a practical and make sure you are quick off the draw when practical session bookings open in the middle of August as places usually get booked up very fast.”
From a more personal practical perspective BEVA Congress will also be giving delegates access to a self-defence workshop. The ‘Combat Academy’ will teach self-defence techniques, in a safe environment with professional instructors.
“As equine ambulatory vets we often drive solo to unknown locations, in the dark, not knowing who we are meeting,” said Congress Programme Committee member Jessica Mullard. “Being prepared to keep yourself safe is paramount. Learning some self-defence techniques will help give you confidence to know what to do if the need arises and it gives you a useful skill for all walks of life.”
BEVA President David Rendle said: “Whether you are learning better techniques for veterinary practice or combat skills to help keep yourself safe in life there’s no better way to absorb information than by putting theory into practice. This is why our practical sessions have always been favourites with every age group at Congress.”
Congress is also including several Interactive workshops on the programme this year for the first time since pre-covid. While these don’t provide hands-on learning per se, they do provide plenty of opportunity for discussion between panellists and the audience.
Good health or good welfare? Why can’t we agree what good welfare means?: Chaired by Madeleine Campbell, with Imogen Burrows, Becky Smith, Jo Hockenhull and Isabella Wild leading the debate.
Dermatology Workshop: Chaired by Michael Hewetson with panellists April Lawson, Julia Shrubb and Philip Ivens presenting a selection of skin cases and discuss how they can be diagnosed and managed in practice.
Cardiology Workshop: Chaired by Celia Marr with panellists Charlotte Hopster-Iversen, Sarah Smith and Emmanuelle van Erck presenting a selection of cardiology cases for discussion.
Ophthalmology Interactive Workshop: Chaired by Kristopher Hughes, this case-based session will be led by three eminent clinicians experienced in equine ocular disorders - Chris Dixon, Claudia Hartley and Charlotte Dawson.
Orthopaedic workshop: therapeutics and rehab in athletic horses: Chaired by Michael Schramme with panellists: Luis Rubio-Martinez, Roger Smith, Marcus Swail, Laurie Goodrich, and Alice Croxford.
As well as providing an exceptional scientific programme of more than 90 hours of live and on demand CPD covering just about every aspect of equine medicine, surgery and practice, BEVA Congress is world-famous for its social scene and 2023 will be no exception. Four special social events have been organised and there are more than 200 pubs, clubs and restaurants within a mile of the ICC.
Individual early bird BEVA members prices are £569 for vets and £210 for nurses for all three days (with concessionary prices available for those in their first three years of graduation or earning less than £25,000). Day tickets are also available. Early bird prices end Wednesday 2 August 2023.
Practices can save on their Congress tickets with our practice passes. Option one is £1,475 providing two vet tickets, one nurse ticket and three on-demand tickets. Option two is £2,950 and provides four vet tickets, two nurse tickets and six on-demand tickets. Practice passes are available to book until Wednesday 2 August 2023.
To find out more and to book your tickets visit http://www.bevacongress.org/
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