New NAVC President Laurel Kaddatz Views NAVC Experience Through Eyes of the Veterinary Practice Team

GAINESVILLE--The NAVC Presidency baton has been officially passed to Laurel Kaddatz, DVM, a private practitioner in Pound Ridge, New York. Dr. Kaddatz, who was steeped in a love of animals from his childhood on a small dairy farm in Minnesota, is now hospital manager and co-owner of the Pound Ridge Veterinary Center located in Westchester County, New York. His practice philosophy is client- and patient-centered, an approach that he plans to transfer to his role of guiding the development of the NAVC in the coming year.

"In the hospital I try to respond to the needs evoked by the experience of the patient on the table and the client. I intend to apply that approach to initiatives and strategies for the NAVC, that is, seeing the experience through the eyes of the continuing education participant," says Dr. Kaddatz. He notes that he follows in an NAVC tradition of responding to the practitioner's needs and notably in the footsteps of three prior NAVC presidents who are themselves in private practice. "When members of the practice team think continuing education, we want them to think of NAVC, so we also need to keep on the cutting edge in terms of not only topics that we address but in the formats and venues of our offerings."
 
In keeping with this philosophy, the NAVC has recently signed a contract to bring the Asian Pacific Veterinary Conference (APVC) to Bangkok, Thailand in 2012. The new international undertaking follows in the successful wake of the Latin American Veterinary Conference (LAVC) and the Southern Europe Veterinary Conference (SEVC). Similarly, to respond to the constant demands of veterinary practice and the difficulty in getting away, Dr. Kaddatz has formed a new committee to focus its efforts on distance learning opportunities. "We are also planning some different learning formats at the NAVC Conference 2012, mixing the typical 45-minute sessions with 20-minute and 75-minute programs to provide quick 'sound bite' learning with more in-depth presentations suited to the topic and the particular needs and style of the learner." The staggered break times afforded by this scheduling will allow participants to make the most of their time by interspersing sessions with visits to the exhibit halls and enjoying some leisure time throughout the day.
 
Planning for the NAVC Conference 2012 is well under way, and the many other 2011 NAVC program offerings are still to come, including the NAVC Institute, intensive week-long learning experiences to develop higher level skills and knowledge in selected areas of practice in May; NAVC Expeditions to the Amazon and to learn about the Macaws of Tambopata in May and June respectively; and the LAVC in Lima, Peru and the SEVC in Barcelona, Spain in the fall. Add that to the hallmark January Orlando conference just completed and its OnCampus Program, and the diversity of NAVC opportunities for continuing education for every member of the veterinary practice team is unsurpassed. For more information about the entire NAVC Experience or upcoming events or a photo of Dr. Kaddatz, contact Meghan Costigan, mcostigan@NAVC.com.