News Releases

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine hosts the 8th World Congress of Veterinary Anesthesia (WCVA) September 16-20, 2003. This is only the second time since its inception in 1982 that the Congress has been held in the United States.

The Congress fosters collaborative research and disseminates information that is beneficial to clinical anesthesiologists and teachers. Dr. Tom Doherty, an anesthesiologist with the college’s Large Animal Clinical Sciences Department, is chairperson of the Congress. He says the international Congress will address changing trends and advances in veterinary anesthesia. “We will have approximately 250 attendees from 30 countries and all are involved in anesthesia and the management of pain in animals.” Topics at the WCVA include inhalation and intravenous anesthetics, pharmacology, peri-operative and chronic pain management, and critical and emergency care.

The newly formed International Academy of Animal Pain Management is sponsoring a pre-Congress workshop on local and regional analgesia.

Dr. Doherty says the Congress will provide the College of Veterinary Medicine a greater visibility in the area of veterinary anesthesiology and research and should attract more applicants to the college’s newly established anesthesiology residency program. Currently, there is a shortage of veterinary anesthesiologists in the United States.

The University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine was established in 1974 and is one of 28 veterinary colleges in the country. It is home to the Center of Excellence for the Center for Management of Animal Pain which was created in 2000.

For more information about the WCVA, visit www.vet.utk.edu.

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Contact: Sandra Harbison, Media Relations, UTCVM, 865/974-7377, 865/974-8222 (fax)