Faculty enjoy invites to share their expertise from New England to New Zealand, Austria to Australia, Dubai and beyond
The World Veterinary Association has designated April 24, 2010 as World Vet Day to celebrate the contribution of the veterinary profession to society. At University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine, almost any day could be celebrated as World Vet Day. Penn Vet researchers and clinicians are in demand to present papers, lead workshops and share their knowledge with other veterinarians, as well as human medical doctors, across the US and around the world.
During the winter, while most of the area was hunkering down for snowfall after snowfall, faculty members representing the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine travelled to New Zealand, Paris and Austria. Over the course of the school year, they will also land in Hong Kong, Australia, Atlanta and Dubai.
Dean Richardson, DVM, Chief of Large Animal Surgery at New Bolton Center, Penn Vet’s Large Animal campus in Kennett Square, PA, for example, gave two lectures in Austria in February at the annual meeting of the Association of Austrian Equine Practitioners. The surgeon, who gained international fame when he led the team that cared for the injured race horse Barbaro, spoke about evidence based medicine and arthritis therapies and the pathophysiology and treatment of osteoarthritis. His upcoming travel roster includes a trip to Hong Kong and Brisbane, Australia among other destinations.
During the winter months, Virginia Reef, DVM, Director of Large Animal Cardiology and Diagnostic Ultrasonography at New Bolton Center, travelled to Edinburgh, Scotland where she spoke on cardiac diseases and poor performance in horses; Helsinki, Finland where she and colleague Joann Slack, DVM, gave a three-day lecture and laboratory course in equine cardiology and ultrasonography; and Roissy, France to conduct a seminar on the advancements in equine thoracic and abdominal ultrasonography in the last decade.
Lawrence Soma VMD and colleagues from New Bolton Center’s Department of Anesthesiology presented nine papers at the at 18th International Conference of Racing Analyst and Veterinarians, Queensland, New Zealand dealing with techniques for assessing the use of non-sanctioned drugs and related issues in race horse industry.
Veterinarian Alexander Reiter, Assistant Professor of Dentistry and Oral Surgery and Chief of the Dentistry and Oral Surgery Service, Ryan Hospital, on Penn Vet’s Philadelphia campus, gave presentations at the 18th European Congress of Veterinary Dentistry in Zurich, Switzerland and at the 24th Annual Meeting of the Association of Austrian Small Animal Practitioners in Salzburg, Austria. Dr. Reiter also recently presented courses in palate surgery in Halmstad, Sweden and in oral and maxillofacial surgery in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Gail Smith, VMD, PhD and Founder and Director of the renown Pennsylvania Hip Improvement Program (PennHIP) and Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, along with PennHIP research fellow Georga Karbe Med. Vet presented the first-ever PennHIP seminar in the UK in Cambridge, England in December, 2009. More than 50 UK veterinarians attended the seminar.
“Members of our faculty are constantly striving to improve the care and treatments available to animals and their owners,” says Joan C Hendricks VMD, PhD, Dean, School of Veterinary Medicine. “Penn Vet's mission includes sharing scientific advances and improvements in caring for animals, preventing disease, and improving their health and welfare. I am very proud that our faculty write the textbooks, share the new knowledge around the world and train the specialists and faculty who lead the profession.”
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