Small Animal Emergency Medicine and Surgery
Online - TBC
Think like an emergency vet and achieve better outcomes for your patients
Emergencies are stressful situations that often fill veterinarians with dread. This feeling results from the fear of the unknown and the realization that one decision can make the difference between life and death. Improve International’s postgraduate program in Emergency Medicine and Surgery has transformed to provide you with the knowledge and confidence you need to deal with these situations and think like an emergency vet!
This e-learning CE program is brought to you by worldwide specialists, all diplomates from European or American colleges. Content includes key emergency medical and surgical procedures around the major organ systems and has been peer-reviewed and expanded to include new topics and give you more time to study. The course is built around 14 online modules, each containing an introductory video from the tutor, 9 interactive lessons for you to work through, case studies, notes and pre and post-module questions.
This programme is delivered in collaboration with RECOVER (Reassessment Campaign on Veterinary Resuscitation).
RECOVER is an initiative, a collaborative project supported by the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society and the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care.
Fees for the programme include access to online RECOVER Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support courses, providing an additional 8.5 hours of CPD. Improve International will also be running optional practical RECOVER attendance courses in the UK for delegates wishing to gain their BLS/ALS Rescuer certification. There will be an additional charge for these attendance courses.
Upon registration to this program, Improve International will request permission to share delegate contact details with RECOVER in the USA to grant access to RECOVER materials.
At the end of the program, you can also choose to attend three optional hands-on attendance modules, which will cover emergency ultrasound, surgical techniques, and several emergency procedures.
Our new CE offers you the perfect mix of online and practical learning. The world-leading online platform will allow you to immerse yourself in each subject through interactive materials and high-quality videos featuring different procedures. Advance your learning at your own pace, with 24/7 access whenever and wherever you are, and gain the confidence to deal with any emergency situation.
This program is accredited by ISVPS, allowing you to achieve a globally recognized qualification.
Program Features:
14 varied modules
Covering key clinical subjects in emergency medicine and surgery delivered over 18 months
3 face-to-face modules
You can choose to attend 3 optional practical modules at the end of your program, covering emergency ultrasound, surgical techniques, and emergency procedures
Support from the Module Tutor
The specialist in the subject area will provide online support during each module and will be available to answer all your questions
Interactive learning experience
Presentations, written notes, diagrams, interactive quizzes and exercises which test your knowledge as you work
Discussion forum
A discussion forum for conversation, debate and sharing cases with your peers and Module Tutors
Recognized Course Director
Ludivine Boiron MSC DVM DACVECC DiplACVECC MRCVS American Specialist in Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care oversees the program ensuring that you have access to the latest content
Four sessions per month
Each module consists of four sessions spread over one month. Sessions comprise separate lessons and case-based studies to work through at your own pace
100% online
Giving you access 24/7 via our world-leading Learning Management Platform
Regular assessments
Pre-module and post-module assessments encourage you to reflect on your learning and evaluate your progress
Dedicated CE Tutor
A dedicated tutor who will support you every step of the way
Interactive and engaging modules
Which allow you to absorb the learning materials in an online environment
Know-How
Join the global veterinary e-learning CE specialists and benefit from our know-how and high-quality resources
CE Program Details:
Modules summary
- The Initial Approach to the Emergency Patient
- Supporting the Emergency Patient and Monitoring
- Laboratory Diagnosis, Clinical Pathology and Transfusion Medicine
- Anaesthesia, Analgesia, Sedation and Therapeutics
- Neurological Emergencies
- Toxicological Emergencies
- Urological, Reproductive and Paediatric Emergencies
- Cardiovascular Emergencies & CPCR
- Endocrine and Metabolic Emergencies
- Respiratory Tract Emergencies
- Principles of Surgery and Approach to Trauma and Wound Management
- Emergencies in Rabbits, Rodents and Cage Birds
- Ophthalmological Emergencies
- Gastrointestinal Emergencies and Nutrition in the Critically Ill Patient
Please note the module order may be altered..
Qualifications
The Emergency Medicine and Surgery Online Learning Program offer you a comprehensive range of structured learning with the ultimate flexibility to access the training you want while working around your busy practice life and the possibility of working towards a recognized qualification. All professionals will also have the opportunity of requesting, at any moment of the program, a statement regarding their earned credits to present to their respective board.
General Practitioner Certificate (GPCert)
By attending the full online structured program and following the successful completion of the International School of Veterinary Postgraduate Studies (ISVPS) assessments, including an examination, you can gain the GPCert awarded by ISVPS. Only registered veterinary surgeons who have been qualified for a minimum of one year can apply to undertake a General Practitioner Certificate.
Postgraduate Certificate (PgC)
A route to a PgC in Emergency Medicine and Surgery is available through our partnership with Harper Adams University (HAU). For more information about this, please contact us.
The course includes
This program has been submitted to RACE for approval. The course prices include ISVPS registration and examination fees.
Small Animal Emergency Medicine and Surgery
01 - The Initial Approach to the Emergency Patient
TBC | OnlineKey learning objectives:
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Appreciate triage systems and detail a suitable initial patient assessment
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Explain emergency vascular access techniques including sites, catheter placement, preparations and complications including jugular and intraosseous techniques
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Recognise the principles of initial pain management, stabilisation, and monitoring (including the rule of Kirby)
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Review health and safety concerns and precautions including managing a situation involving potential zoonoses and nosocomial infections in the ICU
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Recognise the pharmacokinetics, potential interactions, and adverse effects of common therapeutics agents: anti-microbials and anti-parasitic drugs (CYTP450 mechanism, MDR1 mutation, species-specific enzyme mutation/deficiency)
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Use of physiotherapy, general nursing of CIP
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Recognise the administrative, legal and ethical issues involving the critically ill patient
02 - Supporting the Emergency Patient and Monitoring
TBC | OnlineKey learning objectives:
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Recognise the techniques to monitor organ function (arterial blood pressure, pulse oximetry, capnography
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Identify the procedures to maintain the body temperature
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Assess, recognise and treat shock
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Develop a strategy for the treatment of shock
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Develop your appreciation of the indications for the different types of fluid therapy with their advantages and disadvantages and the need for electrolyte supplementation
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Explain the need to monitor for complications during treatment and to record central venous pressure
03 - Laboratory Diagnosis, Clinical Pathology and Transfusion Medicine
TBC | OnlineKey learning objectives:
- Recall sampling techniques, processing, storage,and data recording•
- Apply knowledge to using the microscope to examine blood smears, urinary sediment and basic cytology and be able to diagnose common acute conditions seen in general practice
- Assess haemostasis•Interpret clinical laboratory medicine information including haematology, biochemistry, electrolyte,and arterial and blood gas analyses
- Consider when transfusion should be considered
- Select appropriate blood products and protocols to minimise adverse outcomes
- Manage common conditions leading to haematological abnormalities requiring transfusion
- Define and explain the concept of massive transfusion
- Identify the diagnosis, pathophysiology,and treatment of acute traumatic coagulopathy
04 - Anaesthesia, Analgesia, Sedation and Therapeutics
TBC | Online-
Compare the advantages and disadvantages of sedation and anaesthesia
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Approach to patient stabilisation prior to anaesthesia
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Select an appropriate parenteral, inhalational or mixed anaesthetic regimes and appreciate their relative advantages and disadvantages
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Recognise the main anaesthetic equipment and monitoring techniques, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages
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Explore different analgesic techniques (NSAIDs, local anaesthetics, opioids and other analgesics) and when to use them in the emergency patient
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Decide about the use of other drugs including neuromuscular blocking agents and sedatives in the emergency patient
05 - Neurological Emergencies
TBC | OnlineKey learning objectives:
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Describe how to perform a neurological examination
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Select appropriate diagnostic tests and apply them to individual cases, including radiography and CSF analysis
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Manage common neurological emergencies including head trauma, traumatic brain injury, MUO and seizures
06 - Toxicological Emergencies
TBC | OnlineKey learning objectives:
- Triage poisoned patients, recalling the general principles of intoxication
- Recognise the clinical signs and management options fortoxicities caused byinsecticides, molluscicides, rodenticides, herbicides, household preparationsandplants
- Assess the prognosis of patients presented with the common poisonings
07 - Urological, Reproductive and Paediatric Emergencies
TBC | OnlineKey learning objectives:
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Apply diagnostic techniques including laboratory investigations and imaging to these cases
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Investigate and manage common renal and urinary tract emergencies, namely urethral obstruction, ureteral obstruction and management of nonsurgical acute kidney injury
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Recognise the principles of renal, ureteral, bladder and urethral surgery
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Recall the steps to correctly perform a cystocentesis
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Identify the limitations, principles of placement and maintenance of urinary catheters
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Recall the normal reproductive physiology
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Identify the physiological aspects involved in the conversion from foetal to neonatal circulation
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Diagnose and establish a management plan for common reproductive and paediatric emergencies, namely C section, mastitis, pyometra and prostatitis
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Diagnose and establish a management plan for common paediatric emergencies, including hypothermia, hypoglycaemia, failure in passive immunity and malnutrition
08 - Cardiovascular Emergencies & CPCR
TBC | OnlineKey learning objectives:
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Describe the cardiovascular assessment and management of patients presented with cardiovascular emergencies
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Utilise and interpret a range of diagnostic techniques including ECGs, radiographs, echocardiographs, and laboratory data
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Diagnose and manage acute canine congestive heart failure, feline cardiomyopathy, and aortic thromboembolism
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Recognise and manage pericardial disease including pericardiocentesis
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Identify and manage cardiac arrhythmias
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Consider the predisposing factors likely to result in cardiac arrest, how this changes the approach to CPR and determining prognosis following CPR
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Identify the various components of CPR (DABC) and their importance
09 - Endocrine and Metabolic Emergencies
TBC | OnlineKey learning objectives:
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Detail the common metabolic conditions requiring urgent or emergency therapy
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Recognise the impact of metabolic disturbances on the patient’s major body systems
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Devise an approach to the diagnosis and management of common diseases including hypoadrenocorticism, DKA, thyroid storm and metabolic diseases related to hypoglycaemia
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Appreciate the complications encountered during therapy, their prevention and management
10 - Respiratory Tract Emergencies
TBC | OnlineKey learning objectives:
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Recall the concepts and procedures involved in a general approach to dyspnoea
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Triage and create a management plan for patients in respiratory distress
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Utilise and interpret a range of diagnostic techniques for respiratory patients including auscultation, radiography, endoscopy and arterial blood gas analysis to localise the underlying cause
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Appreciate the methods of oxygen delivery and be able to monitor the efficacy of treatment
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Review the problems associated with oxygen delivery
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Explain the techniques available for drainage of the pleural cavity
11 - Principles of Surgery and Approach to Trauma and Wound Management
TBC | OnlineKey learning objectives:
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Stabilise a patient prior to surgery, plan surgery and manage complications
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Appreciate the indications for immediate surgical intervention
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Define damage-controlled resuscitation and identify the cases where it applies
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Recall surgical asepsis, theatre protocol and the rational use of anti-microbials in surgical patients
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Approach the acute management of haemostasis, abdominal and respiratory trauma
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Approach external soft tissue wounds, myocardial injury, and musculoskeletal trauma
12 - Emergencies in Rabbits, Rodents and Cage Birds
TBC | OnlineKey learning objectives:
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Interpret the practical findings of a physical examination
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Formulate a diagnostic approach to common presentations of emergency conditions
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Manage common emergency conditions
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Approach the anaesthesia and analgesia of these species in emergency situations
13 - Ophthalmological Emergencies
TBC | OnlineKey learning objectives:
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Describe how to perform a systematic ophthalmological examination
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Recognise normal features and variants
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Formulate a diagnostic approach to common presentations including the red eye, ocular pain, ocular discharge, blindness, proptosis and retinal detachment
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Manage common ocular conditions including corneal ulceration, uveitis, and glaucoma
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Identify ocular manifestations of systemic disease
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Select ocular medications based on their therapeutical principles
14 - Gastrointestinal Emergencies and Nutrition in the Critically Ill Patient
TBC | OnlineKey learning objectives:
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Approach the “acute abdomen”
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Recognise common emergency conditions affecting the oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, and pancreas
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Formulate a diagnostic plan, including the use of imaging modalities, and effective monitoring strategies for these cases
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Select the appropriate surgical intervention
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Assess acute malnutrition
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Recognise the procedures to provide enteral, total parenteral and partial parenteral nutrition
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Create a diagnostic and management plan to approach the refeeding syndrome
Small Animal Emergency Medicine and Surgery
At the end of the Emergency Medicine and Surgery Online Learning Program, you can choose to book three optional attendance hands-on modules, delivered by Lorraine Fleming BVetMed CertVOphthal MRCVS at our state-of-the-art training venues in Swindon (UK). These modules (details below) will be delivered at our state-of-the-art training venue using the latest equipment and limited to a maximum of 12 participants.
Entry Requirements
Initial registration for the optional practical attendance modules is open on a first come first serve basis to delegates booking onto the Emergency Medicine and Surgery Online Learning Program until 1st December 2021. Any bookings made thereafter will be subject to review and acceptance. Improve International has the right to refuse a booking if it does not meet the entry requirements stated above. Please contact us for further information.


01 - Practical Day 1
TBC | SwindonKey Learning Objectives:
During this practical session you will have an opportunity to practise the following techniques:
- CPCR
- Feeding tubes placement
- Arterial blood collection
- Central venous catheter placement
- Nasal cannula placement
- Venous cut down
- Tracheotomy and chest drain placement


02 - Practical Day 2
TBC | SwindonKey Learning Objectives:
During this practical session you will have an opportunity to practise the following techniques:
- Emergency abdominal surgery including the approach to the acute abdomen and peritonitis, enterotomy and enterectomy
- Gastric dilatation/ volvulus and gastropexies
- Splenectomy
- Perineal urethrostomy in the cat


03 - Practical Day 3
TBC | SwindonKey Learning Objectives:
- Recall the evolution of POCUS in veterinary medicine: from FAST to VetBlue protocol
- Describe normal and abnormal images
- Recognise pneumothorax, B lines (and their significance), shred sign and lung hepatisation
- Review literature
- Practical component:
- The thorax
- Review the different windows to perform a TFAST
- Assess the pulmonary and cardiographic views
- Recognise the glide sign, the curtain size and the caudal vena cava
- Perform an approach to the heart considering La/ao view and ratio
- The abdomen
- Review the different windows to perform a AFAST
- Interpret the scoring system