What if you scheduled a conference for 50 veterinary technicians and then 250 accepted the invitation? You would find a larger meeting place. That’s what Veterinary Specialty & Emergency Center (VSEC) did after receiving overwhelming demand for the 2016 Greater Philadelphia Area Veterinary Technician Conference. The free, daylong educational event will take place Saturday at The Brookside Manor in the suburban community of Feasterville-Trevose, 20 miles from VSEC’s Philadelphia hospital. “We’ve just been completely overwhelmed by the demand,” said Scott Franco, the conference organizer and VSEC’s marketing manager. Even with seats reserved for 250 vet techs, more than a dozen other veterinary professionals were placed on a waiting list. “There are a lot of veterinary conferences with a veterinary technician’s track, but a free event like this is pretty rare,” said hospital co-owner Laura W. Tseng, DVM, Dipl. ACVECC. Five continuing-education credits will be awarded to veterinary technicians attending lectures on anesthesia, nutrition, triage, oncology and grief management. A lunchtime roundtable discussion will feature three veterinary technician specialists. The event drew support from the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association, which will staff a booth, and from corporate sponsors Antech Diagnostics, Brief Media, Elanco Animal Health, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Stokes Pharmacy, Trupanion and Zoetis Inc. VSEC, part of the BluePearl Veterinary Partners network, employs more than 40 veterinarians. A second 24-hour hospital is in Levittown, Pa.
