This month the Skin Flint team invited outgoing WAVD President Kenneth Kwochka onto the show to discuss what the WAVD does and how vets and nurses around the world can benefit from their work.
Show Notes
Introduction
(00:00) John introduces the podcast with producer Paul and European leading dermatologist Sue Paterson, who herself introduces the guest, the retiring president of the WAVD, Ken Kwochka.
Chapter 1 - What is the WAVD?
(02:58) Sue introduces Ken and asks him to introduce himself. Ken says he is a US-based vet with 40 years of experience, who is now the head of dermatology at Elanco and current president of the WAVD - retiring and handing over to our own Sue Paterson very soon.
(04:19) Sue asks Ken to clarify what WAVD is and he clarifies it is the World Association for Veterinary Dermatology, which has existed since the mid-to-late 1980s in order to promote the worldwide advancement of Veterinary Dermatology.
(05:06) Sue then asks whether the WAVD is truly global and Ken confirms this, saying whilst it was initially strong in Europe and the US, they looked to take it out to the rest of the world with the first meeting for this purpose in Dijon, France in 1989 (involving 600 people from 35 different countries!). It now is supported by two organisations in the USA, one in Canada, one in Latin America, two in Europe, one in Australia/New Zealand and two in Asia.
(07:11) Sue asks how well Veterinary Dermatology is developed in other parts of the world and Ken does say some areas are playing catchup with the US and Europe, but that there is great interest in advancing it from within in those areas. This is the primary role of the WAVD: Education, Education, Education as dermatology is the second biggest reason to vaccinations for people to bring their pets to the vets.
Chapter 2 - What does the WAVD do?
(09:07) John asks what type of work WAVD does in this area and Ken says this has expanded greatly in the last 15-20 years. Initially it was primarily a World Congress of Dermatology every 4 years, but some people had difficulty getting to this, so WAVD now provides 20-30 vets from those underserved areas a scholarship to attend, in order to help the outreach. These then return and teach the information to their colleagues in order to grow dermatology in their regions. Also one of the WAVD affiliated groups, the Global Veterinary Dermatology Education Group provide education by going to those countries and educating in dermatology in places such as Africa and Eastern Europe.
(11:49) Sue asks about Vet Nurses or Vet Technicians, and what place they have with WAVD; Ken totally agrees on the importance of Vet Nurses/Technicians in dermatology and shares that there are training recourses for them, including another WAVD affiliate group, the Academy of Dermatology Veterinary Technicians which is global and provides training for Nurses/Techs interested in dermatology, allowing them also to become certified in dermatology as vets can be.
(14:29) Sue asks what other resources are available for people and Ken suggests people go to the WAVD website and look at the list of member organisation for their own geographic region; also on the site is the WAVD Foundation Course which consists of 31 foundational webinars free of charge, designed to cover the core principles needed to practice Veterinary Dermatology. Clinical Consensus Guidelines are also available from the WAVD, whereby experts have reviewed important recent studies in order to give guiding principles for clinicians in key areas of dermatology, as well as proceedings from the World Veterinary Congress; all are available for free.
(17:34) Ken and Sue clarify the nature of the foundation course and those delivering the content as part of its great value, discussing how is is useful for vets, nurses/techs and specialists; Veterinary Schools have even used this course for educating their students, as they the lecturers are a world authority.
(20:30) John and Ken clarify again this is all available on the WAVD website and their Facebook page. John asks how you would become a member of WAVD and Ken clarifies, as it is global and made up of affiliate/member groups from different regions you don’t become a direct member of WAVD but become a member of those organisations.
(23:00) John asks when the next World Congress is and who can go, to which Ken replies that the next event is in Boston (USA) in July 2024, which is open to all vets and nurses/techs with an interest in dermatology. There will be lectures and workshops over 4 days along with social events in the evenings, with all profits from the organisation go back into the education work the WAVD does, including supporting the local member groups.
Chapter 3 - Where does the WAVD go now?
(25:58) John asks what Ken’s work involves and what Sue has to look forward to. As part of the first congress in 1989, Ken says it has been a rewarding role of setting the agenda for the organisation, developing projects and continuing to improve and develop the field of dermatology over the world.
(27:58) Sue shares her excitement at the recent involvement of the Indian Dermatology Group, stating that this is a great development and they discuss the development of the WAVD work all over the world - including Ken sharing that this information is two way, with those types of regions sharing diseases which existing WAVD member regions haven’t yet experienced.
(30:12) Sue asks how Covid had changed the way people work in dermatology and Ken says this real challenge has led to more remote working, but this has been beneficial in developing this remote way of working and educating and in turn this allows more people to be involved; so Ken feels a hybrid model, for example with the World Congress, will be the way moving forward to reach even more areas.
(32:58) Sue and John say farewell to Ken and ask for a final thought on where Ken would like to see Veterinary Dermatology in 10 years, Ken says seeing less developed areas in Veterinary Dermatology become on par with for example the US and Central Europe in dermatology would be his wish.
Outro
(36:20) Sue, John and Paul wrap up the podcast talking about the job ahead for Sue as WAVD president, as well as discussing the upcoming podcasts in 2022 with Skin Flint. John and Paul invite people to send their requests and feedback to hello@elearning.vet or via the Elearning.Vet social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn.
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