IVC Evidensia Launches 2nd International Graduate Academy Virtual Congress
IVC Evidensia has launched their 2nd International Graduate Academy Virtual Congress with a sustainability theme.
Nearly 500 graduate vets attended and over 1000 guests invited across the group. All were invited to attend and interact via a unique virtual platform featuring a lobby, auditorium, exhibition hall and lounge. In addition each graduate was sent a surprise ‘goodie box’ just like the ‘goodie bag’ they would have received at the regular face-to-face congress.
With over 70 hours of live and 50 hours of pre-recorded sessions, covering a vast variety of topics, the graduates were spoiled for choice. Juliet Pope, Group Graduate Academy Manager said,
“Top quality speakers from across IVC Evidensia and the wider profession were invited to speak, and the feedback we received from our graduates on the quality of their presentations was phenomenal. We were particularly pleased to have a programme covering a wide variety of small animal, farm and equine topics to ensure that all of our graduates would find something to suit their role. I personally enjoyed some thought-provoking sustainability sessions, including one from our Keynote Speaker Cal Major, who joined us while taking a break from a paddleboard adventure around the highlands of Scotland.”
Quotes from graduates when asked what they enjoyed most about the congress:
“I thought being online we would be missing a lot. We did not - it was fantastic. From start to finish it was well planned out, easy to follow and the amount of information we were able to gather was amazing.”
“Packed full of interesting talks and access for a further 90 days so that you don’t have to miss out.”
“Enjoyed the range of content, ease of accessing different streams, the goodie box and also the competitions - scavenger hunt and quiz.”
The interactivity of the virtual event had the feeling of community – a defined aim achieved by the event planning team. The event had 24,267 views of the congress content within a couple of days. There were 47,507 exhibition hall booth visits, 5147 unique booth visits and nearly 70,000 supporting documents provided by exhibitors were viewed.
IVC Evidensia worked with partners Boehringer Ingelheim, CEVA Animal Health Ltd, Dechra Veterinary Products, Elanco Animal Health, Hills Pet Nutrition, IDEXX, MSD Animal Health, Purina, Royal Canin, St Anna Advies, Vetoquinol, VetX International and Zoetis.
The virtual congress had over 60 speakers in total including 1 RCVS feline diplomate, 1 ECVS feline diplomate, 1 RCVS orthopaedics diplomate, 2 ECVS cardiology diplomates, 1 ECVS anaesthesia diplomate, ECC specialists, 2 ECVS Internal Medicine specialists, a Fellow of the RCVS, 6 Equine ECVS diplomates, 5 speakers with 2 diplomas apiece, several speakers with FHEA accreditation, and nearly 20 certificate holders.
IVC Evidensia worked in collaboration with Vets Now for the event and graduates joined from Belgium, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, the UK and Ireland.