Continuing education

Article Outline

• Copyright

This is my 31st year of providing continuing education to veterinarians and breeders through the series of short courses offered at Colorado State University. In addition, I have also been on the banquet tour, providing continuing education to veterinarians at various venues across the country. Over the years, it has caused me to wonder: What are the current avenues of continuing education for veterinarians and which are most effective? Other questions arise, as well, such as how does a veterinarian decide which meeting to attend? Is it a matter of location, program, timing of the meeting, or possibly a combination of all of those?

With the explosion of new information being produced in the scientific arena, it certainly is a challenge for the veterinarian to stay current. In some cases, it is even a challenge for the veterinarian to stay ahead of what the horseman may have seen or read.

Several routes to continuing education are available to the veterinarian. One of these is to read the wide variety of high-quality veterinary journals, such as this one, that are available. Although, given the busy schedule of the veterinarian, you wonder how many articles are actually read from each of the journals that they might peruse.

A popular means to gain continuing education is attending veterinary meetings. Some veterinarians prefer to attend the larger meetings, such as AAEP, Western States Veterinary Conference, North American Veterinary Conference, Central Veterinary Conference, AVMA, and so forth, and others choose smaller, more specialized meetings, such as ACVIM and ACVS. I recently was a speaker at the Bluegrass Symposium in Lexington, KY. Although the theme of this meeting changes from year to year, it seems to be a very good venue for veterinarians. Generally, the topics are quite practical and focused. There also are regional and state meetings that veterinarians attend for a variety of reasons, including tradition, size of the meeting, and the camaraderie to be found amongst fellow veterinarians from the area.

Something we did not have years ago was use of the internet as a means of continuing education. Many of the journals are now available electronically and can be accessed through a home or office computer. In addition, there are specialized listservs that provide news, information, and discussions on clinical cases, such as AAEP, ACN, Reproductive listserv, and many others.

The question posed here is, “What is the best means of providing continuing education?” Maybe the answer is that with the variety of opportunities available, each veterinarian can choose his or her own best methods of continuing education, based on convenience, availability, and interests.

Ed Squires

Editor, Journal of Equine Veterinary Science