Wednesday 7 April,  Novotel Birmingham Centre, Broad Street, Birmingham.

Now in its 15th year, the TMS Spring Seminar will once again feature speaker presentations covering a range of business-critical issues for those tasked with the business aspects of running a successful veterinary practice

Would you like to meet up with old friends again? At BSAVA Congress 2010, you will have the chance to meet with all your old friends on Thursday 8 April at the Bristol University Alumni Cocktail Party.

Congress wouldn’t be the same without Dodgy Pfolk. So the band made up of veterinary professionals will once again be packing them into the Malt House on the Saturday of BSAVA Congress from 8pm till closing time.

The BSAVA Congress includes the world’s largest exhibition for companion animal veterinary professionals. Held in Birmingham, UK, the arena at the NIA becomes a huge commercial venue where vets from all over the world come to access industry expertise and purchase everything they need for their practices. The 2010 exhibition which takes place 8-11 April, is assured to grow on the success of previous years and there is only one exhibition stand left in the main exhibition arena.

The Congress 2010 BSAVA lecture takes place on Thursday 8 April 2010 between 4.30pm and 5.30pm. The lecture itself will take place in Hall I ICC, entry to the lecture is free but tickets must be booked in advance. The BSAVA has great delight in informing delegates that the speaker for this address will be leading motivational speaker Joe Simpson.

The Birmingham Convention Bureau (BCB) is the approved accommodation partner for BSAVA Congress, and will help you find the accommodation to suit your requirements and budget. BSAVA negotiates a special discounted rate at many hotels, but is not able to handle accommodation bookings for delegates directly. The 2010 hotel reservation form is now available on www.bsava.com and profiles a range of hotels within walking distance of the Birmingham ICC, where the majority of BSAVA Congress science is delivered.

Come and get involved in Congress 2010 which takes place between the 8th and 11th of April 2010. If you are a student or veterinary nurse and you are available between the 6 and 11 April 2010 then the BSAVA wants to hear from you!

Each year, the British Small Animal Veterinary Association presents awards during a special ceremony on the Thursday of Congress. These awards are in recognition of the contributions made by individuals working in the field of small animal medicine and surgery. So, give your colleagues and peers the recognition they deserve. Nominations for 2010 BSAVA awards are now open and will close on Friday 13 November 2009. You can submit your individual nominations online through the BSAVA website.

You can now submit your abstract online up until the 29 October 2009 at 5pm. Clinical Research Abstracts are a valuable feature of Congress. They consist of a series of 12-minute oral presentations (plus 3 minutes for discussion) on recent research into various aspects of clinical medicine and surgery.

Within two weeks of the 2009 stand application pack being put online, we had already received applications which totalled requests for over half of the arena space. We are sure that this year’s Congress will be just as successful.

The 2010 Congress Scientific Programme is now available in draft format and will be amended on an ongoing basis. The programme for 2010 will continue to provide continuing education of the highest standard to all our delegates, ensuring you keep up to speed with RCVS CPD guidelines. The programme is being carefully designed for veterinary surgeons and nurses with a variety of interests and areas of specialization.

More than 180 delegates were on hand to enjoy a weekend of lectures, workshops, exhibitions – and more than a little socialising – at the 24 h Annual BSAVA Scottish Scientific Congress at St Andrews. The event took place between the 8th and 10th May, 2009 and had the theme of ‘raising the bar in small animal practice for veterinary surgeons and nurses.

Once again due to the continued success of the MP3 downloads, all of the Scottish Congress MP3s are now available as full recordings.

The BSAVA (NI) and BVNA (NI) Conference takes place at the Slieve Russell Hotel and Spa Resort, Ballyconnell, Co. Cavan between the 5th and 7th June 2009. The three day conference will cover the theme of veterinary emergencies in everyday practice and will include a veterinary and nursing stream, full social programme and kids programme.

BSAVA Congress is over for another year and we couldn’t let the week pass without saying a huge ‘thank you’ to all of you. Thank you to the delegates, the lecturers, the affiliated groups, the exhibitors, the entertainers and the officers who produced over 250 lectures across four packed days. Thank you to all who attended BSAVA Congress 2009 at the NIA and ICC in Birmingham.

The prize draw to ‘Win a day at BSAVA Congress’ for all Practice Mangers was distributed by way of the veterinary practice management mailing and the competition closed on Monday 2 March 2009.

The Dick Vet is hosting a drinks reception for all its alumni attending the BSAVA Congress in Birmingham between the 2nd and the 5th April, 2009.

The Birmingham Convention Bureau (BCB) will be present at this year’s Congress and can be located in the Olympian Suite on Thursday 2 April, 09.30 – 18.00 and Friday 09.30 – 16.00.

SAVSNET: a national programme to investigate disease in the UK small animal population. A. Tierney, K.P. Coyne, S. Dawson, R.M. Gaskell, J. Bryan, R. Newton and A.D. Radford

Join Dr.Karen Felsted, Chief Executive Officer of the National Commission of Veterinary Economic Issues, for a series of veterinary practice business talks. Dr. Felsted is a graduate of the University of Texas with a degree in Marketing and an MS degree in Management and Administrative Science.

11.00, Friday 3 April 2009 at BSAVA Congress, Austin Court, Birmingham. The BSAVA and BVA present the science behind the argument to keep the rabies and Echinococcus control measures in place – informing the policy makers in the EU that the UK veterinary and medical professions believe in the importance of the derogation for reasons of human and animal health. Expert speakers, followed by lively discussion.

Due to increased demand for Congress exhibition space, we want to remind members that BSAVA is relocating to the balcony this year with Petsavers and the VIN computer services joining us and the new Concourse Café offering somewhere to relax on the first floor of the NIA

Friday 3 April 2009, Kingston Room, Austin Court, Birmingham, BSAVA Congress.

Thursday 2 April 2009, Novotel Birmingham Centre, Broad Street, Birmingham.

Veterinary Masterclasses are offered in topics such as diabetes mellitus: from bench to cageside, canine brain tumours, mitral valve disease, advanced ophthalmic imaging and minimally invasive surgery in private practice allow interaction with experts in small group settings.

Stephen Grant will once again host the Comedy Club at BSAVA’s Party Night, with special guest and hot comic of the moment Frankie Boyle guest starring. Tickets are priced at £24.50; you would rarely be able to see Frankie Boyle alone at this price, let alone with further performances from The Hoosiers, The Saw Doctors and a late night video disco.

The BSAVA has put together a series of Congress lectures that are ideal for support staff and new professionals. The four lectures will run as part of a communication stream, delivered on the Saturday of Congress from 14:25. The lectures will demonstrate that if you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, then you will be an asset to any veterinary practice.

This year’s nursing programme covers topics such as Orthopaedics, Dermatology, Imaging, Opthalmology and a specific Feline Stream. Nursing Masterclasses allow delegates to study in more detail. Topics include: anaesthesia; effective monitoring and warning signs; dental supportive care; tubes, nutrition and “all bleeding stops eventually”.