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UF VBMA plans spring business conference

The University of Florida Veterinary Business Management Association will host its fourth annual all-day business conference at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine on March 5, 2016.

The event will offer continuing education aimed at building and enhancing practice management within the veterinary profession. Attendees will receive five free continuing education credits by attending talks that will be offered by four speakers, each offering a unique perspective on how to make a practice successful, what successful entrepreneurship looks like, and practice management strategies.

Practitioners, veterinary students and practice managers are all invited to attend the event, which will begin at 8:30 a.m. and will take place in the new auditorium behind the academic building at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine in Gainesville.

The conference is free for VBMA members, as well as for Florida veterinarians and practice managers.

“This year’s conference will be slightly different from years past in that each morning lecture will have a corresponding afternoon lab to provide attendees with a more comprehensive experience,” said Kelly Huth, UF VBMA’s conference coordinator.

Speakers in the morning sessions will include Dr. Wendy Hauser, Debbie Boone and Michelle Guercio-Winter. Stith Keiser will present an afternoon lecture with a lab specifically geared toward students.

Boone and Hauser will present jointly in the morning, providing a broad overview of preventive care plan concepts. The first session will examine necessary components for a successful preventive care plan, and the second will explore the most common pitfalls that cause preventive care plans to fail.

Boone has trained thousands of veterinary team members in communication and service while inspiring them to live a life of purpose as animal champions, her bio states. She believes veterinarians should find ways to help clients afford quality patient care and is the co-author of “The Veterinarian’s Guide to Healthy Pet Plans.”

Hauser established Peak Veterinary Consulting in January 2015 after working as an industry technical services veterinarian. She practiced for 26 years as an associate and practice owner and is highly engaged with the American Animal Health Association in new initiatives and leadership. She is a co-author of “The Veterinarians Guide to Healthy Pet Plans” and regularly provides consulting services and workshops on topics including hospital culture, leadership, client relations and operations.

The third morning speaker, Guercio-Winter, is an education development management specialist with Patterson Veterinary, where she creates the content for and leads the team of instructors for the Patterson Veterinary University courses. She also is an adjunct instructor at the UF veterinary college, where she developed the course materials for and teaches the Entrepreneurship for Veterinarians course offered as part of the business certificate program.

Keiser, the afternoon speaker, is the founder and manager of My Veterinary Career for the American Animal Hospital Association. This program is a veterinary matchmaking firm that matches veterinarians and practice managers with all types and sizes of practices across North America. His industry experience includes facilitating workshops and speaking at national and state veterinary conferences. He also writes for industry publications and websites.

Patterson Veterinary will be sponsoring the event.

Registration for the conference can be made online via the VBMA’s website. The deadline for registration is Jan. 31. Anyone seeking more information can email ufvbma@gmail.com.