ALTM301-0914: The Other Side of Veterinary Medicine: Healthy Clinicians Make Better Practitioners Module I
The lectures for this course will be presented in a predominantly audio format.
Please come prepared to listen.

Enrollment is closed.

Instructor(s):
Michele Gaspar, DVM, MA
Katherine James, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM)
Bree Montana, DVM
Gwendolyn Jeun, DVM

Course Open: September 8-October 9, 2014
Real Time Sessions (RTS): Mondays, September 15, 22 and 29; 8:00-10:00 pm ET (USA)
Course RTS Times in Your Area: World Clock Converter

Practice Sessions: In order to prepare you for a successful experience in your CE course, we request you attend a Practice Session prior to the first Real Time Session. Please arrive promptly at the start time; each Practice Session is up to 1 hour in length. For more information, please visit the CE Practice Area.

*The instructors for this course will be using audio which will require you to have a headset or speakers to listen. If you have any concerns regarding your computer's audio capabilities, please be sure to attend one of the Practice Sessions.

Level and Prerequisites: This basic course will be open to veterinarians and veterinary support staff who have a desire to learn new ways of increasing one's physical and psychosocial health, as well as that of the veterinary hospital team. There are no academic requirements. Participants should be sufficiently committed to improving body/mind health, so that they actively engage in assigned readings, classroom discussions and on the course message boards.
VIN CE Course: Open to veterinarians and veterinary staff. This course has been submitted to VHMA for CVPM credits. This course has been approved by RACE for veterinarians and veterinary technicians. The Veterinary Information Network (VIN) is RACE Provider #22.

Course Description:
The first of two modules in this unique and ground-breaking course that contains topics not traditionally covered in veterinary curriculums or other continuing education offerings. The course, which features a number of instructors from disciplines outside of veterinary medicine, is designed to help clinicians, from new graduates to those about to enter retirement, learn how to take better care of themselves physically and emotionally. It blends information from a variety of disciplines, including human nutrition, sleep and exercise physiology, psychology and other social sciences into a unified whole. The course premise is that healthy clinicians are better able to provide excellent patient care and client service. While it is not a substitute for personal medical care or psychotherapy, the course seeks to enhance information and insight and provide new perspectives and recommendations on issues common to clinical practice. These include compassion fatigue, burnout, isolationism, perfectionism, working with chronic illnesses and death of patients, client engagement and loss of control. Those taking this course can look forward to being intellectually challenged in exciting ways and develop new tools for dealing with physical and psychosocial stressors.

This course consists of three (3) 2-hour Real Time Sessions and supplemental library materials.

To learn more about the requirements for earning a CE certificate, please refer to Receiving Your CE Credit and Course Completion Certificate.

*The lecture portion of this course will be an audio presentation, please be prepared to listen.

Upon completion of this course, the participant should be able to

• demonstrate an understanding of the physiology of sleep and develop better sleep hygiene, using new information from sleep science.
• better utilize food selection and nutritional information to enhance well-being and support a healthy lifestyle.
• move more efficiently during the course of the clinical day, to avoid injuries and maintain good posture.
• use breath work and movement to counteract stress and fatigue.

Course Materials: Course materials will be available in the course library prior to each Real Time Session.
Required Textbook(s): There is no required textbook for this course.
However, participants are expected to complete a list of online reading assignments provided by the instructors in advance of each week's Real Time Session.

About the Instructors:
Dr. Michele Gaspar is a VIN consultant (Feline Internal Medicine Folder) and has a Master's in pastoral counseling from Loyola University / Chicago. She has had a personal mindfulness meditation practice for 13 years and completed the certificate program in Mindfulness and Psychotherapy from the Institute of Meditation and Psychotherapy in Newton, MA. She is a member of Ancient Dragon Gate Zen Center in Chicago. Michele is currently completing the two-year certificate program in adult psychoanalytic psychotherapy through the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis and is a part-time staff therapist at the C. G. Jung Center in Evanston, Illinois. Her interests include the use of meditation as an antidote to professional burnout, compassion fatigue and stress. Michele has lectured on mindfulness meditation to veterinarians, veterinary support staff, and shelter personnel.

Dr. Katherine James is a VIN consultant (Urology and Nephrology) and has a PhD in veterinary medicine with a focus on nutrition in chronic kidney disease from the University of Minnesota. She is a self-proclaimed sleep and nutrition geek. Her special interests are in the application of functional medicine principles to veterinary medicine and the study of clinical reasoning/cognitive errors in medical practice. She has personal experience with polysomnographic sleep studies, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, and oral appliance and CPAP therapies for obstructive sleep apnea. Her ongoing interests in nutrition include nutrigenomics, the examination of nutritional wisdom and myths with science, and the development of personalized nutrition to let "food be thy medicine."

Dr. Gwendolyn Jeun is graduate of Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph and is currently an associate veterinarian at the Emeryville Animal Hospital in Ontario, Canada and a registered Yoga teacher who combines her two passions in her blog called Downward Dog DVM-Just a small animal vet trying to live her yoga. She is also a board certified veterinary acupuncturist.

Dr. Bree Montana is a small animal practice owner in North Lake Tahoe, California. After paying her way through undergrad and vet school teaching fitness classes, master classes, and personal training, she reduced her fitness training classes schedule and continued teaching due to her love of movement and teaching. Currently, Bree rides (dressage), mountain bikes, hikes, snowboards, skis, and fences (foil and sabre) practices yoga for entertainment and to combat the stressful aspects of being a Mom, Wife, and working Practice Owner (en garde!) She is also a board member of the VIN Foundation (http://www.vinfoundation.org/) which is dedicated to helping veterinary professionals navigate the challenges of their careers in order to foster a healthier animal community.

Course Outline:
Week 1 (Real Time Session September 15): Sleep
Instructor(s): Katherine James, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM)
Content:

• Mechanisms of circadian rhythms of the body and the cells
• Consequences of disrupted circadian rhythms
• Behaviors that improve your circadian rhythms
• Biological need for sleep
• Consequences of sleep deficiency
• Control of the sleep cycle including sleep pressure, wake pressure and melatonin
• Characterization, diagnosis and therapy of common sleep disorders
• Sleep hacking

Week 2 (Real Time Session September 22): Nutrition
Instructor(s): Katherine James, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM)
Content:

• Take care of yourself so you can take care of others
• Nutrition as a journey
• The importance of being a nutrivore: you are what you eat... and what you eat ate (you can't exercise your way out of a bad diet)
• Let food be your medicine- using nutrition to heal disease
• Busting common myths
• Is gluten really bad for everyone? Epidemiology, testing and the science so far
• Artificial sweeteners
• Is fructose the problem? The work of Robert Lustig
• Elimination diets

Week 3 (Real Time Session September 29): Mindful Body Movement
Instructor(s): Bree Montana, DVM and Gwen Jeun, DVM
Content:

• Ergonomic improvements allow you to work smarter, not harder.
• Simple, Inexpensive changes allow your staff to work more comfortably and effectively.
• Learn to use optimal biomechanics throughout your workday.
• Find the aspects of your workday that aren't working for your body, and brainstorm solutions that allow you to head home without back, foot, or neck pain.
• Yoga is for everyone.
• Learn simple poses, with proper alignment, to help your posture.
• Find calmness through yogic breathing techniques.
• Get resources that will help you do yoga at home.

CE Credits: 6

Tuition: Member $126 ($113 early bird special if enrolled by August 25, 2014)
Non-Member $211 ($190 early bird special if enrolled by September 15, 2014)

*Enroll in both modules (ALTM301-0914) and (ALTM302-1014) by September 15, 2014 and receive a discounted rate: Member $321   Non-Member $497

*To ensure participants are ready and prepared for classes, enrollment will close at 5 pm ET on September 15, 2014 or when the maximum number of participants is reached.
*For more information on how online CE works, see the Participant Resource Center.

To Enroll:
Enrollment is closed.

1. Enrollment qualifications: VIN CE courses are open to VIN member and non-member veterinarians. Veterinarians enrolling in a VSPN CE course must be a VIN member. Veterinary support staff must be a VSPN member to enroll in a VSPN CE or a VIN CE course open to VSPN member enrollment.
2. Each enrollee must be able to receive emails from @vspn.org and @vin.com addresses. Email is our major form of communication with participants; personal emails are highly recommended rather than clinic/hospital email addresses.
3. Each person is individually responsible for his/her own registration. To ensure that all information received is secure and correct, please do not enroll for a course on behalf of another individual.
4. For further assistance call 1-800-700-INFO (4636) or email CEonVIN@vin.com. Please include the course title, your full name, and contact information in your correspondence.

*Note: "This course is approved for 6 continuing education credits in jurisdictions which recognize AAVSB RACE approval; however participants should be aware that some boards have limitations on the number of hours accepted in certain categories and/or restrictions on certain methods of delivery of continuing education." Call VSPN/VIN CE at 1-800-700-4636 for further information. (Attendees are encouraged to check with their licensing jurisdiction(s) for information regarding recognition by their board).

Course withdrawal and refund policy: A complete refund of the paid course price will be issued when your withdrawal request is received prior to the listed start date of the course. If you wish to withdraw after the start date please contact the VIN/VSPN office 1-800-700-INFO (4636) to discuss eligibility for a pro-rated refund.
* Note: To ensure rapid handling of your request for withdrawal, we recommend that you call the VIN/VSPN office at 1-800-700-INFO (4636).

*For more information on VIN's upcoming CE courses, check the VIN Course Catalog.

The CE team:

Katherine James, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM)
VIN Education Coordinator

VIN CE Services: CEonVIN@vin.com
800-846-0028 or 530-756-4881; ext. 797
or direct line to VIN/VSPN from the United Kingdom: 01452226154

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800.700.4636  |  CEonVIN@vin.com  |  530.756.4881  |  Fax: 530.756.6035 777 West Covell Blvd, Davis, CA 95616 Copyright 2002, Veterinary Information Network, Inc.