Introduction
Welcome to the WCVM's online continuing education (CE) series that's developed to reflect the wide variety of animal health issues facing today's veterinary teams in mixed animal practice.
From January to April 2024, veterinary team members from all areas of practice — mixed animal as well as small animal and large animal — are welcome to join our speakers for a variety pack of CE sessions.
The CE sessions take place on selected Wednesday evenings from January to April 2024. Each 90-minute session will begin at 6:30 p.m. CST. The WCVM records each session and provides the video recording link to registrants several days after the event.
These sessions are approved for CE credit for veterinarians and registered veterinary technologists.
| January 24 | Internal parasites in small ruminants | Dr. Fabienne Uehlinger, WCVM |
| February 13 | Equine neurology | Dr. Julia Montgomery and Dr. Valentina Ragno, WCVM |
| March 20 | Interpreting culture and susceptibility test results” | Dr. Trisha Dowling, WCVM |
| April 10 | Counselling clients about pet behaviour problems | Dr. Karen Machin, WCVM |
| April 17 | Common companion animal poisonings | Dr. Vanessa Cowan, WCVM |
CE sessions
Topic: “Internal parasite management in small ruminants”
Presenter: Dr. Fabienne Uehlinger, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, WCVM
Time: 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. CST
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 24
Once you register for this session, the WCVM will forward the Zoom meeting link.
About our speaker
Dr. Fabienne Uehlinger, MedVet, PhD, DACVIM (Large Animal)
Associate Professor, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences
Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM), University of Saskatchewan
Dr. Fabienne Uehlinger received her veterinary degree from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bern, Switzerland, in 2002. She subsequently moved to Prince Edward Island, Canada, to pursue a PhD degree in epidemiology at the Atlantic Veterinary College at the University of P.E.I. During her years on the island, Dr. Uehlinger also became board certified in large animal internal medicine and has been a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine since 2011.
Following some time spent in South East Asia working for Veterinarians without Borders Canada and as senior lecturer for Farm Animal Medicine at the University of Bristol, UK, Dr. Uehlinger joined the faculty at the WCVM in November 2014. There, she teaches large animal internal medicine with a particular focus on food and production animals.
Topic: "Equine neurology: common neurologic diseases in horses, their diagnosis and prevention"
Presenters: Dr. Julia Montgmomery and Dr. Valentina Ragno, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, WCVM
Time: 6:30-8:00 p.m. CST
Date: Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Once you register for this session, the WCVM will forward the Zoom meeting link.
About the seminar
Neurologic cases are perceived as challenging by most veterinarians. You are not alone!
With the aid of case examples, this talk will review common infectious and non-infectious neurologic conditions of horses.
We will walk you through the approach to lesion localization, and we will discuss diagnostics for select viral and clostridial diseases as well as the importance of preventive strategies. Common non-infectious diseases — including cervical vertebral myelopathy (CVM or wobbler syndrome) and equine motor neuron disease (EMND) — will also be reviewed.
About our speakers
Dr. Julia Montgomery, MedVet, PhD, DACVIM (Large Animal)
Professor, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences
Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM), University of Saskatchewan
Dr. Julia Montgomery is an associate professor in the Western College of Veterinary Medicine’s (WCVM) Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences and a board-certified specialist in large animal internal medicine at the WCVM’s Veterinary Medical Centre in Saskatoon, Sask.
After graduating from the School of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany, in 2003, Dr. Montgomery undertook a one-year clinical internship at Virginia Tech Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg, Va. Her next move was to the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown, P.E.I., where she completed a three-year residency in large animal internal medicine and a PhD degree at the Atlantic Veterinary College.
Dr. Montgomery worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the WCVM’s Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences from for two years before joining the college’s faculty and clinical team in 2013. Her teaching areas include large animal internal medicine as well as veterinary anatomy with a focus on large animal comparative anatomy. She has a special clinical interest in respiratory, gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases of horses and equine nutrition. Her current research includes two research streams in the areas of equine internal medicine (equine asthma; equine metabolic syndrome; use of capsule endoscopy in horses) and equine rehabilitation.
Dr. Valentina Ragno, DVM, MSc, DACVIM (Large Animal)
Clinical Associate, Equine Field Service
WCVM Veterinary Medical Centre
Originally from northern Italy, Dr. Valentina Ragno attended the University of Turin (Torino, Italy) where she completed her veterinary medicine degree at the university's Department of Veterinary Sciences.
After graduation, Dr. Ragno completed equine internships in Italy, Ireland and the United States. She went on to complete a large animal internal medicine residency and a Master of Science degree at the University of Saskatchewan's Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM). She also became a board-certified specialist in large animal internal medicine.
Dr. Ragno was an assistant professor of large animal medicine at the WCVM for one year before joining the WCVM Veterinary Medical Centre's Equine Field Service — first as a locum and then as a clinical associate. She has also served remotely as sessional lecturer in large animal medicine for the University of Calgary. Her research efforts currently focus on equine endocrinology and infectious diseases.
Topic: “Interpreting culture and susceptibility test results”
Presenter: Dr. Trish Dowling, Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, WCVM
Time: 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. CST
Date: Wednesday, Mar. 20
Once you register for this session, the WCVM will forward the Zoom meeting link.
About our speaker
Dr. Trisha Dowling, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Large Animal), DAVCP
Professor, Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences
Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM), University of Saskatchewan
Dr. Trisha Dowling is a professor of veterinary clinical pharmacology in the Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM). She studies the impact of disease on the fate of drugs in animals. She is also the co-director of the Canadian Global Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank (CgFARAD), a national food safety database to help veterinarians ensure that drug residues from treated animals do not end up in the human food supply.
Topic: "Beyond the meds: counselling clients about pet behaviour problems"
Presenter: Dr. Karen Machin, resident of clinical behaviour and assoicate professor, Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, WCVM
Time: 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. CST
Date: Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Once you register for this session, the WCVM will forward the Zoom meeting link.
About our speaker
Dr. Karen Machin, DVM, PhD
Associate professor, Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences
Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM), University of Saskatchewan
Dr. Karen Machin, an associate professor in the WCVM Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, is completing a residency in animal behaviour with Dr. Sagi Denenberg, a board-certified behaviour specialist in Thornhill, Ont. Dr. Machin also provides animal behavioural services at the WCVM’s Veterinary Medical Centre (VMC).
Topic: “Common companion animal toxicities — diagnostics and collaboration with veterinary toxicologists”
Presenter: Dr. Vanessa Cowan, Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, WCVM
Time: 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. CST
Date: Wednesday, April 17
Once you register for this session, the WCVM will forward the Zoom meeting link.
About the seminar
During this presentation, Dr. Cowan will talk about common companion animal poisonings and discuss diagnostics where applicable and how to best utilize the toxicology service at Prairie Diagnostic Services.
About our speaker
Dr. Vanessa Cowan, BSc (Toxicology), PhD, DVM
Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences
Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan
Originally from Saskatoon, Sask., Dr. Cowan completed a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree and a PhD degree — both in toxicology — at the University of Saskatchewan. Her PhD research focused on the subclinical toxicological effects of ergot alkaloid mycotoxin exposure in beef cows and bulls.
In 2019, Dr. Cowan began her veterinary studies at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM). After graduating in 2023, she joined the WCVM faculty as an assitant professor of veterinary toxicology in the Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences.
Registration
Cost: $25 per session or $100 for all five sessions (a cost savings of $25 plus tax). Click here to register. All sessions will be virtual using Zoom.
Have questions for our speakers? Please include your questions in the registration form or send your questions to myrna.macdonald@usask.ca.
Once you register for a session (or the full series), the WCVM will forward Zoom meeting links to all registrants.
Questions
Please contact:
Myrna MacDonald
Communications, WCVM
myrna.macdonald@usask.ca | 306-291-9950