Presented by The Michigan Veterinary Medical Association and the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine

Do you need help improving communication, productivity, and the culture in your practice or work environment?

Are you struggling with compassion fatigue, work/life balance and finding happiness in life?

If so, the MVMA and MSU CVM Professional Competencies Certification Program is for you!

Register Online Now!
View the Certification Brochure

Getting the Most Out of Your Career: Success Strategies for Personal and Professional Growth is a year-long program based on our members’ and employees’ preferred learning models and topics. The program is open to all veterinarians, technicians, assistants, practice managers and others who work in the veterinary profession in any capacity.

The purpose of the new certification program, Getting the Most Out of Your Career, is to engage and develop veterinary professionals through a dynamic and evolving leadership experience. This program includes a series of learning opportunities and connects participants with a network of peers who have similar challenges.

This is a year-long course, and if you do not sign up to attend the October 2018 seminar you must wait and register for the 2019 program. Please contact us at 517/347-4710 or mvma@michvma.org with questions.

Join Us at the 2018 Great Lakes Veterinary Conference August 12-14, 2018 at Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island

Would you like to attend a fun CE event that’s worth driving across the state or flying in from far away? Then join us at Grand Hotel for great speakers and awesome social events! We’ve added more CE than ever before so you won’t want to miss it!

Register Online Now!
View the 2018 Conference Brochure
Print a Paper Registration Form
Make Your Hotel Reservation Now
 

Meet the 2018 Conference Speakers . . .

Andy Roark, DVM, MS
Owner, Cleveland Park Animal Hospital
Greenville, South Carolina

Dr. Roark is a practicing veterinarian, international speaker, author, and media personality. Dr. Roark has been voted Practice Management Speaker of the Year at NAVC, one of the world’s largest veterinary conferences, two out of the last three years. He also received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award from the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Practices where Dr. Roark works were named as finalists in the American Animal Hospital Association’s Practice of the Year Contest in 2013 and 2015.

Dr. Roark is fully sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health.

C. Guillermo Couto, DVM, DACVIM (Internal Medicine & Oncology)
Owner, Couto Veterinary Consultants
Hilliard, Ohio

Dr. C. Guillermo Couto is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in the specialties of Internal Medicine and Oncology. He has coauthored the best selling Small Animal Internal Medicine textbook (Elsevier), now on its 5th Edition, has published over 150 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, and 150 book chapters. He has 40 years of experience in clinical and comparative hematology, oncology, transfusion medicine, and clinical pathology, and is an expert in Greyhound and sighthound medicine.

Dr. Couto is fully sponsored by IDEXX.

Jared Galle, DVM, DACVIM (Neurology)
Owner, Dogwood Veterinary Referral Center
Ann Arbor, Michigan

A native of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Dr. Galle graduated from Mississippi State University in 1999. He then completed a small animal internship at the University of Tennessee, followed by a three-year neurology/neurosurgery residency at Auburn University. After completing his residency and receiving board certification with the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in 2003, Dr. Galle moved to Metro Detroit and has practiced locally until co-founding Dogwood Veterinary Referral Center in 2011. Dr. Galle is a Board-certified Veterinary Neurologist. His primary interests include intervertebral disk disease, spinal trauma, wobbler syndrome, inflammatory brain disease, and developmental brain abnormalities (hydrocephalus and Chiari malformation).

This event is generously sponsored by . . .

April 4, 2018: Dr. Tammy Grubb, Anesthesia & Pain Management

Register Online Now

You will want to attend this seminar by Dr. Tamara Grubb on the latest drugs and techniques in anesthesia and analgesia. Are you practicing balanced anesthesia and multimodal analgesia? Are you incorporating the newest drugs, using the most effective local anesthetic blocks and digging deep into your toolbox to treat chronic pain? In this interactive 6-hour seminar we will discuss those topics and answer all of your questions on anesthesia and pain management.

Topics covered will include:

• Pain Management
• Balanced Anesthesia
• Regional and Local Anesthesia
• New Drugs
• Multimodal Analgesia

SAVE THE DATE FOR THE 2018-2019 SAS SERIES!

• Veterinary Forensics, Melinda Merck, DVM, September 12, 2018

• Rehabilitation and Pain Management, Tara Edwards, DVM, DACVSMR, CCRT, CVPP, cVMA, October 10, 2018
• Practice Management, Wendy Hauser, DVM, November 7, 2018
• Surgery, Gary Thompson, DVM, Diplomate, ABVP Canine & Feline, December 12, 2018
• Renal and Urinary, Joe Bartges, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, DACVN, March 13, 2019
• Nutrition, Craig Datz, DVM, MS, DABVP, DACVN, April 10, 2019
  

Learn More About Registration Here!

Mark Your Calendar Now to Join Us at the 2018 Great Lakes Veterinary Conference August 12-14, 2018 at Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island

Registration Begins this Spring!

Would you like to attend a fun CE event that’s worth driving across the state or flying in from far away? Then join us at Grand Hotel for great speakers and awesome social events! We’ve added more CE than ever before so you won’t want to miss it! 

Meet the 2018 Conference Speakers . . .

Andy Roark, DVM, MS
Owner, Cleveland Park Animal Hospital
Greenville, South Carolina

Dr. Roark is a practicing veterinarian, international speaker, author, and media personality. Dr. Roark has been voted Practice Management Speaker of the Year at NAVC, one of the world’s largest veterinary conferences, two out of the last three years. He also received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award from the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Practices where Dr. Roark works were named as finalists in the American Animal Hospital Association’s Practice of the Year Contest in 2013 and 2015.

Dr. Roark is fully sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health.

C. Guillermo Couto, DVM, DACVIM (Internal Medicine & Oncology)
Owner, Couto Veterinary Consultants
Hilliard, Ohio

Dr. C. Guillermo Couto is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in the specialties of Internal Medicine and Oncology. He has coauthored the best selling Small Animal Internal Medicine textbook (Elsevier), now on its 5th Edition, has published over 150 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, and 150 book chapters. He has 40 years of experience in clinical and comparative hematology, oncology, transfusion medicine, and clinical pathology, and is an expert in Greyhound and sighthound medicine.

Dr. Couto is fully sponsored by IDEXX.

Jared Galle, DVM, DACVIM (Neurology)
Owner, Dogwood Veterinary Referral Center
Ann Arbor, Michigan

A native of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Dr. Galle graduated from Mississippi State University in 1999. He then completed a small animal internship at the University of Tennessee, followed by a three-year neurology/neurosurgery residency at Auburn University. After completing his residency and receiving board certification with the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in 2003, Dr. Galle moved to Metro Detroit and has practiced locally until co-founding Dogwood Veterinary Referral Center in 2011. Dr. Galle is a Board-certified Veterinary Neurologist. His primary interests include intervertebral disk disease, spinal trauma, wobbler syndrome, inflammatory brain disease, and developmental brain abnormalities (hydrocephalus and Chiari malformation).

This event is generously sponsored by . . .

March 7, 2018: Dr. Steve Thompson, Geriatrics
Register Online Now

Too many senior moments? Take time to keep your geriatric patients feeline fine. Dr. Steve Thompson is giving the next installment of our MVMA Small Animal Series on Geriatrics. Unique aspects and challenges in these late lifestages will be covered including integrating your team with care options and owner education. Elective anesthesia and dentistry in older patients is quite routine and we have ways to increase the owner and team comfort. A focus on supporting multimodal therapy, conservative and hospice options and combating compassion fatigue will be included as well as improving patient’s cognitive challenges and aging problem behaviors. The program will conclude with a review of hyperthyroidism and masking or unmasking chronic renal disease and IRIS guidelines for staging and therapy.

Topics covered will include:

• Senior Behavior
• Managing Comorbidities
• Hospice Care

View the Full Brochure and Print a Registration Form

March 7, 2018: Dr. Steve Thompson, Geriatrics
Register Online Now

Too many senior moments? Take time to keep your geriatric patients feeline fine. Dr. Steve Thompson is giving the next installment of our MVMA Small Animal Series on Geriatrics. Unique aspects and challenges in these late lifestages will be covered including integrating your team with care options and owner education. Elective anesthesia and dentistry in older patients is quite routine and we have ways to increase the owner and team comfort. A focus on supporting multimodal therapy, conservative and hospice options and combating compassion fatigue will be included as well as improving patient’s cognitive challenges and aging problem behaviors. The program will conclude with a review of hyperthyroidism and masking or unmasking chronic renal disease and IRIS guidelines for staging and therapy. 

Topics covered will include:

There are still openings in the March and April seminars!

March 7, 2018 Dr. Steve Thompson Geriatrics Register Online Now Topics covered will include: Senior Behavior Managing Comorbidities Hospice Care

April 4, 2018 Dr. Tammy Grubb Anesthesia & Pain Management Register Online Now Topics covered will include: Pain Management Balanced Anesthesia Regional and Local Anesthesia New Drugs Multimodal Analgesia

The 99th Michigan Legislature ended the first year of a two-year cycle on December 13, 2017. From a practical standpoint, the two year cycle only means that introduced legislation carries over into the New Year and can be considered for passage in 2018. However, the MVMA successfully amended opioid legislation passed in 2017 and can now focus 2018 efforts on other legislative issues important to the veterinary profession. The article that follows describes the package of legislation passed to combat opioid addiction and the role the MVMA played in being part of the solution.

In an effort to halt what has become a national epidemic in recent years, the legislature took a first step in taking on the rise in the number of people addicted to opioid pain killers. Legislation signed by the Governor included requirements for physicians to check a patient’s medical history to ensure they are not getting excess medications, capping prescriptions for acute pain at seven days, parental consent for prescribing controlled opioid substances under certain circumstances, improved reporting requirements, and instruction to school students on opioid abuse prevention. While the MVMA was supportive in a comprehensive solution, we also were active in stopping additional veterinarian requirements and reporting that would not assist in solving opioid abuse.

In particular, the MVMA legislative team at Karoub Associates was successful after talking with the bill sponsor, committee chairs, and Legislative leadership in getting Senate Bill (SB) 166 amended to create a partial exemption for veterinarians. As introduced, SB 166 would require all licensed prescribers to obtain a report concerning a patient/client from the Department of Health and Human Services' electronic system for monitoring Schedule 2 through 5 controlled substances, before prescribing or dispensing a controlled substance. Under the amended version signed by the Governor, the requirements would not apply under any of the following circumstances:

• If the dispensing occurs in a hospital or freestanding surgical outpatient facility and the controlled substance is administered to the patient in that hospital or facility.
• If the dispensing occurs in a veterinary hospital or clinic and the controlled substance is administered to the patient in that hospital or clinic.
• If the controlled substance is prescribed by a licensed prescriber who is a veterinarian and the controlled substance will be dispensed by a pharmacist.

Please note that SB 166 does not go into effect until June 1, 2018.

Lastly, Governor Snyder will give his annual and final State of the State address on Tuesday, January 23rd. Expect him to use the speech as a summary of what the administration has accomplished during his term as Governor and how the forward momentum will continue. While he may outline a few legislative priorities, don’t expect the legislature to act on much with this being an election year.

Register Now for the 2018 MVC

Dr. Radosta graduated from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in 2000. After completing an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Coral Springs Animal Hospital, she worked as a primary care veterinarian for 2 1/2 years. She completed a 3-year residency in Behavioral Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 2006 and passed the board examination later that year. During her residency, she was awarded the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists Resident research award two years in a row. 

In 2005, she went to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to volunteer in the efforts to help animals stranded by Hurricane Katrina. She has owned Florida Veterinary Behavior Service since 2007.  

Dr. Radosta lectures nationally and internationally for veterinarians, their staff and lay people. She has written book chapters for textbooks including Handbook of Behavior Problems of the Dog and Cat; Blackwell’s Five Minute Veterinary Consult: Canine and Feline and Small Animal Pediatrics. 

She has published scientific research articles in Journal of Applied Animal Behavior Science and The Veterinary Journal and written review articles for Advances in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, Compendium, NAVC Clinician’s Brief and AAHA Newstat. She is the section editor for Advances in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery. She serves on the Fear Free Advisory Board and the AAHA Behavior Management Task Force. 

Interviews with Dr. Radosta have been published in: Cat Fancy, Dog Fancy, Palm Beach Post, NAVC Clinician’s Brief, Sun Sentinel, Washington Post, Real Simple, WebMD and AAHA News Stat. She has appeared on Lifetime television, Laurie Live, News Channel 25 (West Palm Beach, WPBF), Mitch Wilder's Amazing Pet Discoveries, Nat Geo Wild, Animal Planet, News Channel 10 (Miami, ABC), and Steve Dale's Pet Talk.  She  podcasts for VetGirl on the Run.

Dr. Radosta has participated in tracking, obedience, herding and therapy dog work with personal dogs--always Rottweilers. Currently, she shares her life with a wonderful husband, Scott and her daughter, Isabella as well as  Maverick, her Labrador Retriever and Chewie her cat.