Professor Jill Maddison is the Professor of General Practice at the Royal Veterinary College, as well as a successful editor of several small animal publications. Since the inception of the London Vet Show in 2009, she has also been the brain power behind the acclaimed RVC Companion Animal Clinical streams - which is back with a bang this November at the ExCeL. 

Each year, Jill brings together some of the world’s best veterinary educators to present the most sought-after small animal veterinary CPD across three theatres; and 2021 is no exception. However, with 36 sessions amongst more than 200 hours of CPD at the London Vet Show, it can be hard to figure out just how to plan your time. So earlier this month, we caught up with Jill to hear about her predicted highlights and hear more about the 2021 line-up. Here’s what she had to say …... 

More Than One Option 

“The mini-theme this year is More Than One Option - so look out for these sessions. We’ve done What’s Plan B before i.e. what's plan B if the plan A doesn't work, but there are disorders where there's not absolute cut and dried answers.The idea with this mini-theme is we don’t say this is how you manage lymphosarcoma or this is how you manage the patient with epilepsy. I have asked the speakers to give lectures that provide a range of options with the pros and cons presented, and where the differences in opinion might lie. When experts present on their pet topic, they'll talk about how they think it should be managed or in the evidence that they have that it should be managed that way; and that's fine. But there's almost always some other ways as well. Sometimes those options are dictated by the client finances or the client themselves and the situation that they're in so we need to be prepared.” 

More Than One Speaker

“A few of the sessions will be presented by a panel of experts. It’s inspired by the fact that at the RVC we pride ourselves on exceptional, multidisciplinary teamwork in our hospitals that are full of teams of specialists in particular areas. So at LVS, we have a few sessions like Saving lives; A multi-disciplinary approach to the patient with haemoabdomen. Reason being -  there are various reasons why a patient might have blood in their abdomen. But probably the two major reasons would be trauma or cancer of spleen. Either way, the treatments can be challenging and require a team of experts in different disciplines. So presenting the lecture will be Simon Cook, one of the RVC’s ECC specialists, Vicki Lipscomb - one of our soft tissue surgery specialists, Tamara Grubb from the States whose specialty is anaesthesia, and Irina Gramer who is one of our specialists in veterinary oncology. 

Again, this type of panel education is perfect for sessions like: The Jaundiced patient - is it medical or surgical? These patients could be treated medically or surgically and we need to use clinical pathology and diagnostic imaging to help make clinical decisions about what is the most appropriate approach to treatment . So presenting will be Karla Lee (specialist in soft tissue surgery), Helen Dirrig (specialist in diagnostic imaging) and myself (focusing on the diagnostic approach to clinical signs and clinical pathology).”

Clinical Professional Skills

“I always put in a few sessions that aren't directly clinical and more related to professional skills. This year, Zoe Belshaw (Consultant at EviVet Research) is presenting on balancing the quality of life for the patient and the owner. Zoe has done a lot of research on owners with geriatric dogs and the impact of the pet’s condition on the owners. What's best for the pet might not be best for the owner and vice versa. 

We also have a session called Black Box Thinking for vets: Why we make mistakes and how we can learn from them with Catherine Oxtoby (Veterinary Risk Manager at Veterinary Defence Society). I met Catherine at a joint meeting (pre-Covid) for vets and medics about patient safety and she presented some really fascinating insights about patient safety and medical errors.”

And some final advice for London Vet Show delegates? 

Jill recommends talking; “Discussion post-learning is key. It goes into the realm of active learning and that means retention of what you have listened to will exponentially increase. Whenever I do my introduction at LVS, I always say, don't just sit in the lectures. We obviously talk with friends that are at the show but keep the conversations going. Go back to your practices and talk about the sessions you attended. As well as spreading the love, it will increase your retention of what you’ve listened to and learned.” 

Click here to get your ticket to see Jill and the rest of the RVC Clinical Theatre 1, 2 and 3 line-up at the London Vet Show 2021. Book before 30th April and pay just £269+VAT (BVA/BEVA members receive further discounts).