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Veterinary Technician Conference draws record number of participants

Mike Artaud, a technician with the small animal surgery service, facilitates a bandaging lab for participants at the veterinary technician conference held at UF on Oct. 17. (Photo courtesy of Danielle Jonas)

The annual Veterinary Technician Conference sponsored by the University of Florida Veterinary Hospitals drew more than 200 attendees — a record number — to Gainesville on Oct. 17 for a full day of continuing education.

The event, now a hospital tradition, is Florida’s only technician-specific continuing education conference and continues to draw an increasing number of participants, with this year’s roster of attendees up more than 25 percent over last year’s number. In addition, this year UF veterinary technicians provided the lion’s share of the presentations.

“Our goal is to move toward 100 percent of the content being provided by our technicians at this conference and we are gradually moving toward that,” said Danielle Jonas, the hospitals’ veterinary technician manager. “This year, we only had eight doctors speaking out of the 21 options, and many of the labs were solely run by technicians as well.”

Conference offerings grew this year to include 12 options for small animal morning talks and four options for the large animal talks, Jonas said.  In addition, five lunch sessions were specifically geared toward communications and 13 labs and masterclasses were provided in the afternoon, she added.

The conference was held at the culmination of Veterinary Appreciation Week, during which the UF Veterinary Hospitals management team also held an appreciation breakfast and an ice cream social for technician employees.

Photos from the conference are posted on Facebook here.