Disaster - College of Veterinary Medicine - Texas A&M University

Communicating
Continuing Education
program presents first
farmed deer conference,
among other new trends
FThis year, the Continuing Education Office of the Texas A&M
College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM)
held a conference focusing on “Veterinary Opportunities with
Farmed Deer.” This is the first time this topic has been highlighted
in continuing education efforts in any veterinary college
across the nation. Attendees arrived from all over the country
to learn how they can diversify their veterinary medical practice
and improve their bottom line.
The conference resulted from a collaboration between the
Texas Deer Association (TDA) and the Continuing Education
Office and provided education for veterinarians about the growing
farmed deer population and the implications for this new
growth area on the veterinary industry. Since its formation in
1999, TDA has seen a huge growth in whitetail breeders in Texas
from 350 to 1200 today. In a 2007 study, agricultural economists
from Texas A&M discovered that farmed whitetails ranked
sixth in agricultural products bringing in $652 million to the
Texas economy. The national economic impact is in excess of $3
billion.
With growth brings the opportunity to expand veterinary
medical practices to fulfill the demand for large animal specialization,
especially as the farmed deer industry continues to
seek veterinary expertise and support. The conference focused
on practices, health issues, regulations, treatments, and discussions
for the farmed deer industry, as well as how these may be
incorporated into large animal veterinary practice. The overall
message, however, was very clear—the opportunity to add a
valuable client base to established large animal clinics is a way to
keep practices growing in difficult economic times.
with clients, students, veterinarians,
other scientists, & the public
by Elizabeth Janecka
In addition to the deer conference, the Continuing Education
Office offers a wide variety of learning topics throughout the
year.
“We want the Continuing Education Office of the Texas A&M
University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
to be the premiere learning experience for veterinarians who
need to receive their continuing education,” said Beth Johnson,
coordinator of continuing education. “We offer world renowned
faculty and state of the art equipment to help teach the courses.
We have also worked really hard to provide topics and content
that will accommodate most, if not every, veterinarian. While
some topics are offered every year with a different focus, we try
our best to offer new conferences to best feature the latest trends
in veterinary medicine.”
“Last year, there were 859 individuals from all over the country
who attended our conferences,” explained Johnson. “We awarded
310 continuing education hours to veterinarians. Each veterinarian
is required to have 17 hours a year from the Texas Board of
Veterinary Medical Examiners, while a registered veterinarian
technician is required to have five hours. We keep all of their
contact information and continuing education hours in a database
so that at anytime an attendee can call and get that information
verified. We try to provide a supportive environment so that
we can be as helpful as possible to the attendees.”
Please refer to the CE website (vetmed.tamu.edu/ce) and the
Continuing Education Calendar on page 5 for upcoming events
and new conference dates.
CVM Today • Summer 2010 • 11