Planning the RVN/SVN year

We can start our good intentions now! Let’s make 2014 the year of pre-planning and proactive rather than reactive decisions… promise?

To help, here’s a few dates we already know:

• RCVS diploma exams – written and OSCE [link].
• City & Guilds (C&G) and Central Qualifications (CQ) exams are held “in-house”, so you should contact your college for dates. Historically, C&G OSCEs have been about two weekends after the RCVS dates – a rough guide for your diary.

CPD DATES 2014

• North American Veterinary Conference – Jan 18-22
• The College of Animal Welfare (CAW) TP Congress (for those clinical coaches out there) – March 17-18
• BSAVA Congress – April 3-6
• Scottish BSAVA – August 29-31
• BVNA Congress – October 10-12

You won’t have much time left on the rota after those, so for free or low cost online CPD you could try the following:

FREE ONLINE CPD

• Free webcasts from eCPD-vetnurse: nutrition, equine, dog cruciates… 30-60 mins on average.
• The Dechra Academy: fluids (SA and equine), hyperthyroidism, hyperadrenocorticsim, ear cytology – 2 hours each on average.
• Central CPD: ultrasound imaging. Provided by BCF Technlogy and aimed at vets, but also good for nursing! 2 hours.

LOW COST CPD

• Tutorials with free course notes from eCPD-vetnurse: 30-60 minute webcasts on various topics (obesity clinics, teaching clinical skills, feline heart disease, etc.) with printable course notes, from £8.33.
• The Webinar Vet: Learn in the comfort of your own home – some webinars are free, others start from £35! 1-2 hours on average.

So, with a bit of reading and getting diary entries in now you can plan for the next 12 months. You can even get 15 hours CPD for free from the above providers!

If any of you would like to help support students with clinical skills and live in the south-east, please feel free to email me jdavidson@caw.ac.uk and I can tell you of my plans!

Happy 2014 everyone!