The Texas Association of Registered Veterinary Technicians (TARVT) will host their annual conference at Lone Star College-Tomball June 28 and 29.
The event is an opportunity for licensed Registered Veterinary Technicians (RVT's) to earn required Continuing Education (CE) credits, but is also an enrichment opportunity for all veterinary hospital personnel and related staff- veterinarians, Certified Veterinary Assistants (CVA's), kennel help, etc., said TARVT President and LSC-Tomball vet tech graduate Donna Milner, an RVT, as well as a Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT).
"We have high quality speakers covering a multitude of topics including equine medicine, hospital management, exotic animal medicine, radiology, surgery, and laboratory animal medicine," Milner said. "Anyone with a career or interest in veterinary medicine is invited to attend."
Registration fees are $80 for the full 1.5 day seminar for TARVT members; and $120 for the full 1.5 day seminar for non-TARVT members. Attendees can pre-register by going to www.tarvt.org and downloading the form. For more information, contact Milner at (281) 723-8772.
The registration fees cover the seminar, breakfast, lunch and a reception on Saturday night at Pecos Grill which includes a live performance by Miss Leslie & the Juke Jointers.
"Entertainment is highly unusual for a technician seminar - especially live music," said Milner. "But the attendees will be working hard and learning a lot - they will deserve some down time and an opportunity to exchange ideas."
Milner said LSC-Tomball is only the second college to host the conference (McLennan Community College in Waco was the first) which has historically been held in hotels.
"We have a variety of live animals that we use in our conference," said Milner. "It just made sense to take advantage of the facilities we have available to us at the various member colleges."
"It's better for our members to get hands on training versus seeing procedures on a screen in a hotel meeting room," she said.
Sponsors of the conference include Hill's Pet Food, MWI Veterinary Supply, BCP Veterinary Pharmacy, Boehringer-Ingelheim and Purina.
Lone Star College-Tomball - which has the only accredited veterinary technology program in the LSC district as well as the entire southeast Texas area- is proud to showcase their program, said Veterinary Technology program Director and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine George W. Younger.
"It's an honor for us to be able to host members of our profession and to provide continued learning as well as hospitality," said Younger. "We hope they will come back in the future when the recently passed bond funds for our program will expand and enhance our facilities."
TARVT is an association for all Texas veterinary technicians. TARVT's goal is to promote not only RVT's, but all veterinary technicians and improve their status within the veterinary profession and beyond, said Milner.
"In addition to continuing education, TARVT offers members an opportunity to network with peer groups as well as those in related fields, promoting humane medical care and public awareness of veterinary issues," she said.
Lone Star College-Tomball is located at 30555 Tomball Parkway in Tomball.
The Lone Star College System consists of five colleges, including Cy-Fair, Kingwood, Montgomery, North Harris, and Tomball, six centers and Lone Star College-University Center. With 49,250 students, it is the largest college system in the Houston area, and third largest community college district in Texas. To learn more, visit www.lonestar.edu.