Its a CPD day like no other . . . for starters, its held in a post-mortem laboratory and is always so popular that every available seat and stainless steel bench is occupied with vets; the talks are delivered by four vets currently practising in Northern Ireland and the best presentation is traditionally chosen by the President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.  This year we welcome Dr Bradley Viner along to perform this difficult task and to present the beautiful Frank Mullan trophy to the winner.
Topics will include bovine liver biopsies, common types of lameness in racehorses, the advantages of myostatin testing and practical applications for MRI in small animal practice. The talks are followed by the AVSPNI AGM (members only) and a three course dinner at the Silver Birch Hotel. For full details please see the flyer and don’t forget to REGISTER by close of play on Monday 4th January if you plan to attend.  Demand is expected to be so high that we will once again relay proceedings through to the staff-room at AFBI where there will be over-spill accommodation – once that is full we may have to turn away any unregistered delegates.

Here are a few pictures from last year’s event (January 2015)  showing winner Carolyn Perkins receiving her trophy from RCVS President Stuart Reid, the handover of the AVSPNI Presidency from Alan Gordon to Melanie Spahn, vets listening to the presentations and our four speakers.

Omagh733 The new President of AVSPNI Melanie Spahn is congratulated by Alan Gordon outgoing President.

Its a CPD day like no other . . . for starters, its held in a post-mortem laboratory and is always so popular that every available seat and stainless steel bench is occupied with vets; the talks are delivered by four vets currently practising in Northern Ireland and the best presentation is traditionally chosen by the President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.  This year we welcome Dr Bradley Viner along to perform this difficult task and to present the beautiful Frank Mullan trophy to the winner.
Topics will include bovine liver biopsies, common types of lameness in racehorses, the advantages of myostatin testing and practical applications for MRI in small animal practice. The talks are followed by the AVSPNI AGM (members only) and a three course dinner at the Silver Birch Hotel. For full details please see the flyer and don’t forget to REGISTER by close of play on Monday 4th January if you plan to attend.  Demand is expected to be so high that we will once again relay proceedings through to the staff-room at AFBI where there will be over-spill accommodation – once that is full we may have to turn away any unregistered delegates.

Here are a few pictures from last year’s event (January 2015)  showing winner Carolyn Perkins receiving her trophy from RCVS President Stuart Reid, the handover of the AVSPNI Presidency from Alan Gordon to Melanie Spahn, vets listening to the presentations and our four speakers.

Omagh733 The new President of AVSPNI Melanie Spahn is congratulated by Alan Gordon outgoing President.

A very successful CPD meeting was held in VSSCo , Ballinderry Road, Lisburn last Thursday evening, 5th November 2015. The meeting was so popular that it was fully booked two days before the event with many vets being disappointed at not being able to attend.
The evening got off to a great start at 7.30 pm with a delicious supper provided by Alex Berry. Many of the vets attending were able to catch with their colleagues
An excellent presentation by Rick Sanchez, Lecturer in Veterinary Ophthalmology then followed. Rick’s topics covered:
Corneal ulcerative disease 1: What is the cornea telling me and how should I respond?
Corneal ulcerative disease 11: taking the fear out of re-evaluation “and now what?”
As you can see (pardon the pun) Rick addressed a captive audience. His presentation lasted approximately an hour and a half and was followed by a question and answer session. Rick proved to be a very popular, interesting speaker.
President of the AVSPNI formally closed the meeting by extending her thanks to Rick for coming over to Northern Ireland to deliver his talk.
The popularity of this meeting emphasises the need to register early for any meetings in order to avoid disappointment. This can be done by contacting the VetNI office using the information detailed on the flyers.

The annual AVSPNI Summer CPD & Social Event was held on 10^th June 2015 on a gloriously warm, sunny day at Andy Oliver’s Race yard in Co. Tyrone. Andy specialised as an Equine Vet before becoming a very successful trainer.

Approximately 40 Vets attended this AVSPNI Summer CPD meeting. It was a spectacular sight to behold the race horses, with their coats gleaming in the brilliant sunshine, head out to the Gallops. The event commenced with a delicious cold buffet lunch provided by Simply Irresistible accompanied by beer brought by the main sponsor Norbrook – the Ballyedmond family are diversifying into brewing. Once replete, the vets broke up into two groups. One was given a personal guided tour by Andy who informed them about the day to day running of his race yard. Andy also described in detail the various techniques (both veterinary and training) he uses in order to get the best from his racehorses. This was followed by a question and answer section. The second group received a clinical talk on “Gastric ulcers in foals and horses” from Dr Rebecca Froehlich-Kelly from Norbrook. Mid-afternoon, after some light refreshments, the groups swapped over. Mrs. Melanie Spahn, President of AVSPNI, delivered some closing words, thanking Andy for hosting the Summer CPD Day which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. She also thanked the principal sponsors, Norbrook and Sean from Botanica who also provided sponsorship and gave a short talk on his products. Following the CPD element of the day, the vets travelled to the nearby Ryandale at Moy for a lovely dinner, chat and “post mortem” on what proved to be a thoroughly enjoyable day.