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CPD: Continuing Professional Development
At Mill Rd we take the business of keeping up - to - date very seriously.
Vet Scholar
We are great fans of the NZ Veterinary Association’s Vet Scholar courses. These are innovative on - line learning programmes for vets and vet nurses. These courses cover all sorts of topics, and include forums where vets can post questions or current cases for discussion with other vets around Australasia.
They all finish with an on - line exam, to keep us on our toes! Over recent months Julie has studied Clinical Pathology (in - depth analysis of blood test results). Leanne and Michelle have done a course on ECGs (an important diagnostic tool in heart disease). Michelle has also done a number of medicine courses, with topics covered ranging from blood transfusions to cancer and Leanne is currently studying surgery - fractures of the hindlimb and chest surgery.
Debbie has undertaken urogenital and spinal surgery modules and nurses Chani and Sandi have both done an anaesthesia & analgesia (pain relief) course.
VSG : Veterinary Specialist Group
Didier recently spent 2 days in Auckland working with Chris Warman, the diagnostic imaging specialist at the Veterinary Specialist Group. As well as honing his skills in ultrasonography, he was able to establish a system with Chris where - by he can scan patients in Whangarei and send captured images to Auckland for an immediate specialist interpretation when required.
Leanne has also spent a day at the VSG, in the surgery department. She “scrubbed in” with the surgical specialist operating o n one of our referred patients, then spent the rest of the day with the surgical team, gaining knowledge & experience.
Specialist Visit
As part of our affiliation with the Veterinary Specialist Group in Auckland, Mark Robson, the internal medicine specialist, recently had another day at Mill Road. He sees medical referral cases from around Northland on these visits, but the day also becomes a day of CPD for all the Mill Road vets.
We start the day with a “journal club” where we have an in - depth discussion and analysis of new research articles. The rest of the day revolves around the discussion of medical cases we have on - the - go, with Mark’s input being valuable not only to the vets, but also the patients involved. Think “House” here, if you’re a fan of the TV show!!
"Boston” benefits from the combined input of 6 vets!!
VIN: Veterinary Information Network
Mill Rd is a member of VIN: an online resource that enables us to be part of the worldwide veterinary community. It gives us instant access to vast amounts of up - to - date veterinary information.
Message boards enable us to post a question, which will be answered by one of a large number of veterinary specialists on subjects ranging from behaviour to oncology, nutrition to emergency medicine. Or we can enter a specific topic and search through previous message boards and discussion forums, conference proceedings and journal articles.
Gone are the days of a shelf full of dusty old textbooks!!
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