Registration Opens for AABP Recent Graduate Conference
The 7th Annual American Association Bovine Practitioners Recent Graduate Conference, targeted for those veterinarians who have graduated between 2016 and 2023, as well as AABP-member credentialed veterinary technicians, will take place Feb. 9-10, 2024, in Knoxville, Tenn.
Registration for this in-person-only conference is now open at http://aabp.org/recent_grad/ (you must be an AABP member and log-in to register).
This year’s conference theme is “Keys to Unlocking Longevity”. “As a new graduate in bovine veterinary practice, you quickly learn the physical and mental demands of the job, time commitment, and financial returns you are bringing to your practice,” says 2024 Recent Graduate Conference Program Chair Dr. Nicholas Shen. “You occasionally see and hear about fellow peers wanting to leave practice for various other reasons, despite their love for being a bovine veterinarian. The 2024 Recent Graduate Conference planning committee has put together an excellent program to help provide a solution to keeping recent graduate bovine veterinarians in practice for years to come due to their success.”
Shen notes that this year’s program has an array of new dairy and beef presentations, topics for the mixed animal cattle practitioner, utilizing a veterinary technician, and numerous practice financial decision-making presentations for whether you are an associate or practice owner. “An additional goal is for attendees to gain knowledge and understanding and bring the tools back with them to apply immediately to their practice.” Keynote speaker Dr. Marissa Hake will address “Good Husbandry of the Cow Vet”.
The AABP Recent Graduate Conference provides practical continuing education for the recently graduated cattle veterinarian. “This conference is targeted to the AABP member recent graduate to continue to develop their skills to make them successful and retain them in bovine practice,” says AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich.
“In addition, the networking and collaborating with peers at a similar stage in their career is an unparalleled opportunity to achieve our goal of engaging these colleagues in AABP and retaining them in bovine practice. We also welcome our credentialed veterinary technicians to join us at this conference so they can learn skills that they can apply in their practice as well.”
This year’s conference offers 15.5 hours of CE in beef, dairy, clinical skills, practice management and small ruminant topics (see the full schedule at http://aabp.org/Recent_Grad/schedule.asp).
The conference also offers four preconference seminars available, three of them hands-on, on Feb. 8 (see them at https://aabp.org/Recent_Grad/preconference.asp). Preconference seminars include Practice Ownership! Starting, Buying & Buying Into; Milk Quality (held off-site at the University of Tennessee dairy farm); Bull Breeding Soundness Exams (held off-site at the University of Tennessee Veterinary School beef farm); and Thinking Through Lameness Protocols (held off-site at the University of Tennessee Veterinary School). Exhibitors will also be present at the conference to showcase products and services.
The conference is going to be held in Knoxville again due to its great location and excellent facilities at the University of Tennessee for preconference seminars, Shen says. “The downtown convention center offers a fun place to explore and catch up with fellow classmates, friends in our profession, and the opportunity to make new ones.”
Conference attendance is limited to current AABP members, so make sure your dues are current when you register. Visit http://aabp.org/Recent_Grad/default.asp to see an overview, schedule and register for the conference – you must be logged onto the website to register.