A PROACTIVE APPROACH TO CANINE OSTEOARTHRITIS

Speaker - Kara Burns MS, MEd, LVT, VTS (Nutrition), VTS-H (Internal Medicine, Dentistry)

This webinar is approved for 1 CEU by the MVTA

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As a veterinary technician, you play an important role in helping to recognize the early signs of osteoarthritis (OA) in your canine patients as well as educating dog owners about this common joint disease.

By proactively observing your patients and engaging with clients, you can help dog owners understand why routine OA exams are essential and help more dogs get the treatment they need. This session will pair technical information on the disease state with communication tools and techniques so that veterinary technicians will leave this presentation feeling empowered in their observations and conversations with the veterinarian and pet owners.

Learning Objectives:

1.           Review the stages of osteoarthritis (OA), the cycle of untreated OA, and goals and considerations regarding the multimodal management of OA.

2.           Understand the importance of an early assessment and address the common misconceptions about OA (e.g., age, breed, clinical signs).

3.           Recognize best practices for being proactive in OA assessment——what to look for, what is commonly missed, and tips to excel.

4.           Learn communication techniques to project a consistent message and appropriately deliver the relevant information about OA to dog owners.