The 2017 InVeST - International Veterinary Simulation in Teaching – conference from 10 to 12 April 2017 is hosted by the Skills Laboratory of the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria. The conference ends today.  

Hosting the conference is a significant achievement seeing that the Faculty’s Skills Lab is a relatively new member of the international Veterinary Education and Veterinary Simulation in Teaching community. Not only does the newly-developed facility have much to offer in this exciting and important developing field, it has managed to become a world-class teaching facility in a short period of time since its opening in April 2015.

The conference will indeed go a long way to raise the University’s and country’s profile in this exciting and important developing field and focus the international society’s attention on one of the Faculty’s flagship facilities.

InVeST represents an informal international group of veterinary educators dedicated to promoting and advancing the use of simulation in veterinary education. The main purpose of the conference is to share innovations, advances and best practice in the exciting and rapidly developing field of veterinary simulation in teaching.

It was started in August of 2011 following a very successful Veterinary Simulation Exchange symposium hosted by the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. The group has grown immensely through communications on the clinical skills and simulation page hosted by the NOVICE project, reconvening in 2012, 2014 and 2015 for the InVeST conference.  This conference has provided an international forum for learning and networking between researchers, developers and educational institutions on the rapidly growing use of simulation in veterinary education while encouraging research regarding its use and effectiveness. Since 2011 the number of attendees and countries they represent has grown significantly.

The 2017 conference will continue in the tradition of successful conferences, previously held at Colorado State University, USA; Calgary University, Canada; Ross University, West Indies and Hanover University, Germany. The InVeST 2017 conference will provide an excellent opportunity to engage with an extensive network of experts, to form new partnerships and share knowledge as well as the latest research in Veterinary Simulation.

International delegates from six continents will be exposed to a wide variety of exciting topics ranging from the newest developments in teaching simulations, to the use of e-porfolios, to the development of educational applications, to the creation of e-books, to 3-D printing, to hands-on silicone model development and many more. A model and simulator display area open to all delegates for the duration of the conference will engage delegates to discuss new ideas and may be create possibilities for future collaborations. The four invited keynote speakers are well-known experts in the field of veterinary education.

“We are very excited and proud to welcome Dean Hendrickson, Sarah Baillie, Rikke Langebaek and Harold Bok”, says Dr Annandale, manager of the Onderstepoort Skills Laboratory, Faculty of Veterinary Science, UP and chair of the local organizing committee of InVeST 2017. “Coincidentally, the InVeST conference fits perfectly in the UP 2017 priority to pursue and advance teaching and learning and creates a fantastic opportunity to engage and collaborate with experts in the field of veterinary education.”

Apart from the keynote addresses, workshops, oral presentations and additional sessions which include a tour through the Onderstepoort Skills Laboratory and an open access demonstration to show the use of technology to create simulations, will all form part of the conference. Many delegates are first time visitors to South Africa. To ensure that they enjoy their stay beyond the scientific program, InVeST 2017 is held in the spirit of “umoya”, a Zulu word meaning team spirit, at the Intundla conference venue in the rolling African bushveld.

Click here get more information on the scientific program at the conference

For more information about the conference, please visit the InVeST website at http://investconf2017.com/ or contact Dr Annett Annandale at (012) 529 8259 or [email protected]