VetEd is an annual conference for veterinary educators that was established more than 10 years ago and has gone from strength to strength during this time.
The development of the conference has been described in a paper highlighting its evolution into a thriving community of practice, which continues to grow and extend its reach internationally1. VetEd has, at its heart, a culture of inclusivity, networking and support of newcomers to the veterinary education domain.
The early decision to rotate the host veterinary school annually was entirely aimed at drawing in colleagues to the conference who otherwise may not have had the time or resource to travel to an external conference. Conferences have been held at eight of the UK vet schools, Dublin and Utrecht. The format has also more recently been adopted by colleagues in Australasia and South Africa.
Format
The format of the conference has remained largely unchanged since its inception. A pre-conference workshop day for a smaller number of delegates is followed by the two-day main conference, which comprises a mixture of invited plenary speaker or panel sessions, short communications, poster sessions and further workshops. Typically, around 250 delegates attend the main conference.
Overarching themes for the conference in recent years have included “Predicting pedagogy: what does veterinary education look like in the next 10 years?” (Nottingham, 2022). and “Partnership” (Surrey, 2021).
The VetEd conference will this year be hosted by the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies between the 5 and 7 July (visit www.ed.ac.uk/vet/news-events/new-events/veted-2023 for full details).
The pre-conference workshop day will be held at the Easter Bush campus on Wednesday 5 July and the main conference at The University of Edinburgh conference centre at Pollock Halls on 6 and 7 July, to allow delegates to reside on site (if they wish), and still have ready access to the delights of the city of Edinburgh.
The conference dinner will be held on Thursday 6 July and, as we are in Scotland, will of course feature bagpipes and a ceilidh.
Theme
The theme of this year’s conference is “Sustainable veterinary education”. Plenary sessions will include panel discussions on sustainability, mental health and well-being, educating for capability and the history of veterinary education – especially significant given this is the bicentenary year of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies.
In a series of forthcoming articles, we will highlight several of the interactive workshop sessions that will take place on Wednesday 5 July – these will include sessions in immersive simulation, large animal clinical skills model development, sustainability focused campus tours and more.
We welcome delegates from all areas of the profession – the insight and context from practitioners is especially valuable and we hope that many of you will join us.
We shortly make a call for abstracts, posters, and workshops. Visit the website for updates or follow on Twitter (@VetEd2023).
The registration site is now live at www.efdelegates.ed.ac.uk/VetED2023
Submissions for posters, short comms and workshops are welcomed at https://veted2023.exordo.com
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