Today's Veterinary Practice provides comprehensive information to keep every small animal practitioner up to date on companion animal medicine and surgery as well as practice building and management.
EDITOR'S NOTE Make Learning a Lifestyle
Lesley G. King, MVB, Diplomate ACVECC, ACVIM (Small Animal Internal Medicine), & ECVIM (Companion Animal)
We have some exciting news to share with our readers this issue: a free print sub- scription to Today's Veterinary Practice is now available to all third- and fourth-year students at U.S. veterinary colleges. We are delighted to welcome this new group of subscribers, who represent the future of veterinary medicine. We hope they will continue to grow and learn with us after they graduate and begin their careers.
Evolution of Education For most of us, our veterinary medicine edu- cation began in earnest when we started vet- erinary school. Education and learning were imposed and tested, a requirement for success. As students, we had few choices with regard to teaching methods used, and the quality of teaching was vari- able. However, after graduation everything changes. At that point, each veterinarian has to make his or her own personal commitment to the amount and type of continuing education to pursue.
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6 Today's Veterinary Practice January/February 2012
For veterinary graduates who pursue formal train-
ing, such as internships, residencies, or advanced research degrees, ongoing education is an automatic and expected part of the program. However, for the majority of veterinarians who enter private practice, continuing education is not built into routine day-to- day activities. Once we leave the university environ- ment, additional learning becomes a largely volun- tary process that often has to take place during our "free" time.
What Is the Motivation? Why bother? What makes us strive to stay current and continue to increase our knowledge regarding both patient care and practice development as the years go by? For most veterinarians, continuing education
becomes an integral part of their career lifestyle because best medicine is not static—new develop- ments in patient diagnostics, management, treat- ment, and care are always evolving. If we wish to continue providing cutting-edge medicine and the highest quality of patient care, which our clients deserve and expect, then ongoing learning not only allows us to do so but also makes our careers inter- esting, satisfying, and fun.