Join us for an exceptional series of hands-on workshops designed specifically for veterinary professionals. The WSAVA 2026 Dry Lab Workshops and Interactive Masterclasses will help you elevate your clinical skills through immersive learning experiences. Our workshops, led by industry experts, cover a wide range of practical techniques and advanced concepts in small animal medicine and surgery.
Whether you’re looking to enhance your confidence in specific procedures or expand your knowledge in cutting-edge veterinary practices, these sessions provide invaluable learning opportunities. Get ready to engage with fellow professionals and gain new insights that will directly improve your practice.
Workshops supported by:
Workshops
| Title | Speaker | Description | Sponsor | Date & Time | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hands-On Flexible Endoscopy: Core Skills for Clinical Practice | Fergus Allerton & Gina Parkes (AM sessions) Chris Scudder & Gina Parkes (PM sessions) | This introductory, hands-on workshop is designed for veterinarians new to flexible gastroscopy and bronchoscopy. Participants will learn the fundamentals of scope handling, patient preparation and positioning, basic airway and gastrointestinal anatomy, and safe biopsy and sampling techniques. With close guidance and practical demonstrations, the workshop focuses on building confidence, avoiding common beginner mistakes, and developing a structured approach that can be applied immediately in everyday clinical practice. | Storz | 13 October (4 sessions) 9:00-11:00 11:15-13:15 13:30-15:30 16:00-18:00 | € 99.0 |
| Dental Radiography and Interpretation: Practical Skills for Everyday Clinical Use | Maggie Burley and David Clarke | This 90-minute dry lab will provide a practical, step-by-step approach to dental radiography and image interpretation in small animal practice. Following a brief introduction to intra-oral radiographic techniques, participants will practise projection positioning using non-radiation learning methods, including shadow training models. The session will then focus on radiographic interpretation, with participants reviewing and interpreting projected dental radiographs supported by concise clinical case context. Interactive discussion will reinforce key diagnostic principles and common pitfalls, ensuring attendees leave with improved confidence in both image acquisition and interpretation. | iM3 | 14 October 14:00-15:30 | € 99.0 |
| Virtual Surgical Planning & 3D Printing in Oral Surgery | Andrew Perry | iM3 | 14 October 16:00-17:30 | € 99.0 | |
| Combining knowledge and confidence: Feeding tube placement (MILA) Parkes, UK | Gina Parkes | Adequate nutrition is a basic requirement for all hospitalised patients, with early onset feeding being a key element of care. Feeding tube placement and usage is a task that the Veterinary care team can instigate to positively contribute to recovery by ensuring minimum energy requirements are being met. This session will highlight key theoretical information required to ensure correct supportive enteral feeding is implemented, as well as offering a useful practice of the steps that are required, as a ‘how to’ guide for placement and securement of common tubes. | MILA | 15 October 9:00-10:30 | € 99.0 |
| Scaling Success: Teamwork in the Dental Operatory | Maggie Burley and David Clarke | This dynamic 90-minute multidisciplinary dry lab is designed to elevate both clinical standards and team performance in veterinary dentistry. Focusing on the essential role of the veterinary nurse/technician alongside the veterinarian, the session explores how clearly defined responsibilities, effective delegation, and streamlined operatory workflows directly enhance patient safety and clinical outcomes. Participants will gain practical, CPD-focused experience in the selection, preparation, handling, and maintenance of common dental instruments and equipment, ensuring best-practice compliance and efficiency. Through hands-on stations, delegates will apply evidence-informed scaling and polishing techniques in a simulated setting and refine their approach to accurate, clinically relevant dental charting. Throughout the workshop, emphasis is placed on communication, collaboration, and real-world implementation equipping attendees with actionable strategies to strengthen teamwork, improve workflow, and raise the standard of oral healthcare within their own practice. | iM3 | 15 October 9:00-10:30 | €150 for the team (two people registering) €99 for individuals |
| Thoracostomy tube practical | Simon Cook | This practical teaches you how to safely and confidently place a thoracostomy tube using the Seldinger technique. After thinking through different scenarios and indications for placement, participants will practice each step of the procedure, from patient preparation and landmark identification to guidewire-assisted tube placement and securing the drain. Emphasis is placed on indications, tips to improve placement success and complication avoidance. | MILA | 15 October 11:30-13:00 | € 99.0 |
| Central Lines Made Practical: A Hands-On CVC Placement Workshop | Lisa Angell | This practical, hands-on workshop will guide you through the key steps of safe and effective CVC placement, from patient preparation and anatomical landmarks to catheter insertion, securing, and troubleshooting common problems. With a strong focus on technique and confidence-building, you will have the opportunity to practice in a supportive dry lab environment and leave with practical tips to apply immediately in clinical practice. | MILA | 15 October 14:00 – 14:45 | € 49.0 |
Masterclasses
| Title | Speaker | Description | Date & Time | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leadership Escape Room: Escaping Old Leadership Patterns in Veterinary Practice | Ernie Ward and Beckie Mossor | Veterinary practices increasingly experience challenges rooted not in clinical decision-making, but in leadership systems that influence communication, ethics, team dynamics, change adoption, and staff retention. Traditional lecture-based formats often fail to generate the self-awareness and behaviorual insight required for meaningful leadership change. This highly interactive, two-hour workshop uses an escape room–inspired format to immerse participants in a single, unfolding day at a fictional veterinary practice. Working in small teams, participants navigate five interconnected leadership scenarios, each reflecting a common pressure point in veterinary practice leadership. Progression through the experience requires collaborative problem-solving, reflection, and decision-making rather than role-play or clinical expertise. The workshop is intentionally designed for small-group participation to ensure psychological safety, active engagement, and high-quality discussion. Limiting capacity allows each participant to contribute meaningfully, observe leadership behaviours in real time, and participate in a facilitated debrief that connects the experience directly to their own leadership context. This session is designed for veterinarians, practice owners, and veterinary leaders seeking a practical, memorable, and evidence-informed approach to leadership development that translates directly to daily practice operations. | 14 October 9:00-10:30 | €40.0 |
| Mind Matters: Practical Psychopharmacology for the Modern Veterinarian | Katrin Jahn | Behavioural presentations and challenges are becoming increasingly common in everyday veterinary practice. From anxious pets at the clinic to owners struggling with complex behavioural issues at home, veterinarians are more frequently expected to assess, manage, and support these cases effectively. While behaviour modification and environmental management remain essential components of treatment, psychopharmacology is a unique and powerful tool that only veterinarians can prescribe—making a strong working knowledge of these medications both a professional responsibility and a clinical advantage. This comprehensive four-hour interactive workshop is designed to build practical confidence in the use of psychopharmacological medications in small animal practice. Participants will learn how to identify suitable patients who may benefit from pharmacological intervention, recognise clear indications and contraindications for safe and appropriate prescribing, and understand the foundational principles of neuropharmacology relevant to behavioural medicine. Through case-based discussion and clinical examples, attendees will correlate behavioural signs with underlying neurotransmitter systems, distinguish between long-acting and short-acting medications and when to use each, and develop a clear understanding of which neurotransmitters are targeted by different medication classes. By the end of the session, participants will feel more confident assessing behavioural cases, selecting appropriate medications, and integrating psychopharmacology safely and effectively into their everyday clinical practice. | 14 October 9:00-13:00 | €80.0 |
| HCM over time: case-based staging and management decision | Katarzyna Śmiejan | Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) remains the most common cardiac disease in cats, yet clinical decision-making can be complex and nuanced. This case-based masterclass will guide clinicians through a structured, evidence-based approach to diagnosing, staging, monitoring, and managing feline HCM — from asymptomatic patients to congestive heart failure (CHF). Participants will gain confidence in identifying treatment thresholds, applying staging systems in daily practice, and implementing hands-on management strategies that improve patient outcomes. | 15 October 14:00-15:30 | €40.0 |
| Breathe easier: A practical guide to stabilising the dyspnoeic patient | Daria Starybrat | When every breath is a struggle, your first decisions determines the outcome. This interactive session moves past the theory and into the trenches, providing a practical, step-by-step roadmap to stabilise the respiratory patient. From rapid triage to understanding ultrasound as a “visual stethoscope”, you will learn how to overcome panic and make life-saving decisions with clinical confidence. | 15 October 16:00-17:30 | €40.0 |
