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OPEN FOR ENROLLMENT
TO
VETERINARIANS

    
VIN CE Course BHVR105-1214: Senior Pet Behavior
The lecture for this course will be presented in a predominantly audio format.
Please come prepared to listen.

Enrollment is closed.

Instructor(s): Meredith Stepita DVM, DACVB (Veterinary Behaviorist)
Course Open: December 2-19, 2014
Real Time Sessions (RTS): Tuesday, December 9, 2014; 9:00-11:00 pm ET (USA)
Course RTS Times in Your Area: World Clock Converter

Practice Sessions: In order to prepare you for a successful experience in your CE course, we request you attend a Practice Session prior to the first Real Time Session. Please arrive promptly at the start time; each Practice Session is up to 1 hour in length. For more information, please visit the CE Practice Area.

*The instructor for this course will be using audio which will require you to have a headset or speakers to listen. If you have any concerns regarding your computer's audio capabilities, please be sure to attend one of the Practice Sessions.

Level and Prerequisites: This basic course is intended for small animal practitioners with an interest in behavior and geriatrics.
VIN CE Course: Open to veterinarians and veterinary technicians. This course has been submitted for RACE approval for veterinarians and veterinary technicians. The Veterinary Information Network (VIN) is RACE Provider #22.

Course Description:
As medical advances prolong our patient's lives and pet owners are willing to go the extra mile to keep their aging pets comfortable clinicians are seeing more older pets with challenging medical and behavior problems. Sometimes it can be difficult to determine if clinical signs are medical, behavioral or a combination. During this lecture we will discuss behavioral clinical signs geriatric pets typically present for, how to determine if the cause is medical or behavioral, and treatments options tailored to older pets. Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome will be discussed in detail including clinical signs, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment. The goal of this lecture is to help clinicians provide holistic care for senior patients through a comprehensive understanding of diagnosis and treatment of common geriatric behavioral problems.

This course consists of one (1) 2-hour Real Time Session, supplemental library materials, interactive message board discussions, and a mandatory end-of-course test. Successful completion (scoring 80% or better) on the end-of-course test is required to earn a certificate of completion for the course.

To learn more about the requirements for earning a CE certificate, please refer to Receiving Your CE Credit and Course Completion Certificate.

*The lecture portion of this course will be an audio presentation, please be prepared to listen.

Upon completion of this course, the participant should be able to Course Materials: Course materials will be available in the course library prior to each Real Time Session.

Required Textbook(s): There is no required textbook for this course.
Recommended Textbook(s): About the Instructors:
Dr. Meredith Stepita received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Tennessee in 2006. She then completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Southern Arizona Veterinary Specialty and Emergency in Tucson. After working in general practice in the Phoenix area for a year, she entered into the Clinical Veterinary Behavior Residency Program at the University of California-Davis, becoming board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists in 2011. She is the owner of Veterinary Behavior Specialists and spends most of her time in the San Francisco Bay Area seeing behavior cases and helping pet owners improve their pet's behavior problems. Her research involves the frequency of parvovirus in puppies attending puppy socialization classes, finding that vaccinated puppies attending these classes were no more likely to be diagnosed with this deadly disease than those not attending these classes. She lectures on various behavior-related topics locally and nationally. Her areas of interest include canine and feline anxiety and aggression, the human-animal bond, and animal welfare.

Course Outline:
Week 1 (Real Time Session December 9, 2014)
Content: This lecture will review behavioral clinical signs geriatric pets typically present for, how to determine if the cause is medical or behavioral, and treatments options tailored to older pets. Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome will be discussed in detail including clinical signs, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment. The goal of this lecture is to help clinicians provide holistic care for their senior patients through a comprehensive understanding of diagnosis and treatment of common geriatric behavioral problems.

CE Credits: 2

Tuition: Member $42 ($38 early bird special if enrolled by November 18, 2014)
Non-Member $103 ($93 early bird special if enrolled by November 18, 2014)

*To ensure participants are ready and prepared for classes, enrollment will close at 5 pm ET on December 9th or when the maximum number of participants is reached.
*For more information on how online CE works, see the Participant Resource Center.

To Enroll:
Enrollment is closed.
  1. Enrollment qualifications: VIN CE courses are open to VIN member and non-member veterinarians. Veterinarians enrolling in a VSPN CE course must be a VIN member. Veterinary support staff must be a VSPN member to enroll in a VSPN CE or a VIN CE course open to VSPN member enrollment.
  2. Each enrollee must be able to receive emails from @vspn.org and @vin.com addresses. Email is our major form of communication with participants; personal emails are highly recommended rather than clinic/hospital email addresses.
  3. Each person is individually responsible for his/her own registration. To ensure that all information received is secure and correct, please do not enroll for a course on behalf of another individual.
  4. For further assistance call 800-846-0028 ext. 797 or email CEonVIN@vin.com. Please include the course title, your full name, and contact information in your correspondence.
*Note: "This course is submitted for approval for 2 continuing education credits in jurisdictions which recognize AAVSB RACE approval; however participants should be aware that some boards have limitations on the number of hours accepted in certain categories and/or restrictions on certain methods of delivery of continuing education." Call VIN CE at 800-846-0028 ext. 797 for further information. (Attendees are encouraged to check with their licensing jurisdiction(s) for information regarding recognition by their board).

Course withdrawal and refund policy: A complete refund of the paid course price will be issued when your withdrawal request is received prior to the listed start date of the course. If you wish to withdraw after the start date please contact the VIN office 800-846-0028 ext. 797 to discuss eligibility for a pro-rated refund.
* Note: To ensure rapid handling of your request for withdrawal, we recommend that you call the VIN office at 800-846-0028 ext. 797.

*For more information on VIN's upcoming CE courses, check the VIN Course Catalog.

The CE team:

Katherine James, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM)
VIN Education Coordinator

VIN CE Services: CEonVIN@vin.com
800-846-0028 or 530-756-4881; ext. 797
or direct line to VIN/VSPN from the United Kingdom: (014522) 26154
or direct line to VIN/VSPN from Australia: 011 +61 26 145-2357

800.700.4636  |  CEonVIN@vin.com  |  530.756.4881  |  Fax: 530.756.6035
777 West Covell Blvd, Davis, CA 95616
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