4 minute read
Watch Where You Are
New KSVDL webinar series delivers CE opportunities on timely topics with expert advice.
Story by Joe Montgomery
As times change, so do the services for the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (KSVDL) in its mission to provide clients with accurate, innovative and timely diagnostics and consultations. The creation of educational videos and webinars have become an integral part of the KSVDL’s outreach efforts.
“We survey our clients every other year,” explains Dr. Gregg Hanzlicek, associate director of the KSVDL. “One of the questions we ask is what form of CE [continuing education] our clients prefer. Webinars had not been a preferred mode — only about 2-6% of clients chose this method in all of our past surveys. Then, in 2019, this increased to 16.9%, which stimulated us to start discussing a plan on how we could begin to participate in this area.”
Zoom and other online meeting platforms became more widely used during and after the pandemic, which may have contributed to the growth in popularity for an online platform for CE opportunities.
“In 2022, 50.8% of our clients listed webinars as a preferred CE mode.” Dr. Hanzlicek says.
The first five cover multiple hot topics
So, in 2023, the KSVDL started offering a series of webinars for its clients. These webinars deliver a variety of topics and utilize the wealth of subject-matter experts — faculty members — who are available in the College of Veterinary Medicine. As of November, the KSVDL has offered five different webinar programs. Each of the professors are in the Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, except as indicated below.
• “Trends in Small Animal Intestinal Parasites” with Dr. Brian Herrin, associate professor
• “Small Animal Toxicology” with Dr. Steve Ensley, professor
• “Common Backyard Poultry Diseases” with Dr. Kristen Hill-Thimmesch, clinical assistant professor
• “Bovine Theileria: A Review” with Dr. Gregg Hanzlicek, clinical associate professor
• “Bovine Lead Poisoning” with Dr. Scott Fritz, clinical assistant professor of toxicology (in the Department of Anatomy and Physiology)
• “A practical guide to food-animal and companionanimal parasite diagnostics: test choice and result interpretation” with Dr. Jeba Chelladurai, assistant professor
Benefits for practitioners — and their staff
“These webinars provide a great opportunity for clinics to train staff members who may not get to attend in-person CE each year,” Dr. Herrin says. “When the whole team has received similar training, it allows for very consistent messaging in the clinic, from the front desk to the doctor. We know that consistent messaging and education is key to getting our pet owners on board with medical recommendations. Overall, it’s about empowering the staff to be a major part of the medical team!”
Within a day or two after the webinar, registered attendees will receive an email to confirm one hour of continuing education credit has been gained. Webinars are recorded and posted on the KSVDL YouTube channel: https:// www.youtube.com/@KStateVDL.
Watching the videos on YouTube will not qualify for CE credit, so clients can go to the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Continuing Education web page, watch the video and take a quiz to fulfill the CE requirements. https://www.vet.k-state. edu/onlinece/index.aspx
So far Dr. Hanzlicek says the webinars have been “a great success.” The number of viewers has ranged from 85 to a high of 267.
“For those who attend the seminar, we send out an evaluation after each session,” Dr. Hanzlicek says. “We ask what topics they would like to see us present in the future. Clients and practitioners are also welcome to email, call or text me and to email KSVDL client care with suggestions.”
The KSVDL phone numbers are 785-532-5650 or 866-512-5650. Emails can be sent to clientcare@vet.k-state.edu.
