It is with great pride that we welcome you to the 2020 Veterinary Cancer Society’s Technician Workshop presented on a virtual platform. Due to the virtual nature of this year’s workshop, the schedule has been altered. Lectures will be available both live and on-demand, with many presenters at the ready to answer your questions. Although we cannot meet in person, our goal is to provide you with as much of an interactive experience as possible!
This year’s workshop opens on Thursday evening with a presentation from Amatheon Pharmaceuticals. Following this will be the ever-popular cytology lab presented again by Drs. Davis Seelig and Daniel Heinrich of the University of Minnesota.
The workshop continues on Friday with a presentation from one of our fabulous sponsors, Epicur Pharma. We will then dive into our keynote presentation. Kara Burns, MS, MEd, LVT, VTS (Nutrition) will discuss nutrition and the cancer patient. With growing client awareness of the importance of nutrition, this lecture will help give technicians a better understanding of nutrition in the cancer patient, and will provide tools to help guide clients in dietary choices.
The workshop offers advanced and beginner tracks on Friday. These topics have been tailored to fit the needs of all types of oncology technicians and will include discussions on chemotherapy side effects and extravasation, paraneoplastic syndromes, lymphoma versus leukemia, molecular diagnostics, cryosurgery, and electrochemotherapy. Speakers for the day include expert technicians and doctors. Other Friday highlights include a presentation by Elias Animal Health, as well as a lecture on chemotherapy safety. We finish out the day with our radiation therapy workshop, presented by radiation oncologist Dr. Kelsey Pohlmann. We are both very excited for this workshop which will include discussion of the “ins and outs” of radiation therapy—a sort of “technician’s guide to radiation therapy,” if you will.
Our final day of the workshop will include a Technician case report on feline gastrointestinal lymphoma presented by Racheal Rail, RVT, as well as case studies presented by our friends at Best Pet Rx. We will continue with a schedule packed full of varying lecture topics and dynamic speakers to include (but certainly won’t be limited to) cancer grading and staging, oncology emergencies, anesthesia and analgesia, and treatment of mast cell tumors. The closing session will dive into a skill necessary to all veterinary oncology technicians—communication through grief. Danielle DeCormier, LVT, VTS (Oncology), CCFP, will lead our discussion on how to effectively communicate with clients during their pet’s journey through cancer. After this enlightening lecture, be sure to bring your “happy hour treat” and join us for an informational, LIVE discussion on applying for your VTS oncology license led by your Technician Liaison, Brooke Quesnell, CVT, VTS (Oncology). The conference concludes at 7:30 p.m. with our Closing Event, Awards and Membership Meeting.
We are very excited to be hosting such a wide variety of expert speakers, as well as lecture topics designed specifically based off of feedback from YOU! While we are unable to meet in Daytona Beach, we are still looking forward to this educational, exciting, and well-rounded conference. We hope you are, too!
Aspen Schreiner, CVT and Casey Mobley, CVT
Program Co-Chairs