Kara Burns
MS, MEd, LVT, VTS (Nutrition), VTS-HON (Internal Medicine and Dentistry)
Saturday, September 23
- Plush Pets: New Approaches to Managing Your Overweight Patients
- FLUTD: New Treatments for an Old Disease
- Communication Skills that Matter for Veterinary Technicians
- Getting Cats to Eat: It Is More Than Just Pouring Food in a Bowl
- Critical Care Nutrition
Kara Burns is a licensed veterinary technician with a master’s degree in physiology and a master’s degree in counseling psychology. She began her career in human medicine working as an emergency psychologist and as a poison specialist dealing with human and animal poisonings.
Kara is the Founder and Past President of the Academy of Veterinary Nutrition Technicians. She teaches nutrition courses around the world. Kara is an independent nutritional and well-being consultant, the Director of Veterinary Nurse Development for WellHaven Pet Health and is the Editor in Chief of Today’s Veterinary Nurse.
She is a member of many national, international, and state associations and holds positions on many boards in the profession: American Academy of Veterinary Nutrition executive board; Western Veterinary Conference Technician Education Manager; NAVTA Past President; EveryCat Health Foundation (formerly Winn Feline Foundation); and the first technician to be President of the Pet Nutrition Alliance, to name a few.
She has authored many articles, textbooks, and textbook chapters and is an internationally invited speaker, focusing on topics of nutrition, leadership, and technician utilization.
Ms. Burns has been featured on the cover of the Veterinary Technician Journal and the NAVTA Journal and most recently has been featured in PetVet Magazine. She was named the North American Veterinary Conference Technician Speaker of the Year in 2013, 2016, and in 2021. She was granted an honorary VTS (Internal Medicine) in 2011. She was also granted an honorary VTS (Dentistry) in 2012. She is the 2010 NAVTA Veterinary Technician of the Year, as well as the 2011 Dr. Franklin Loew Lecturer.
Kelly Vearil
MEd, RVT, VTS (Dentistry)
Sunday, September 24
- How to Master Full Mouth Radiographs
- Dental Technician Superpwer: Complete Dental Cleaning and Oral Exam
- The Dental Patient Client: How to Ease Their Fears
- The Benefits of Oral Regional Nerve Blocks
Kelly is a Registered Veterinary Technician and full-time professor at the University of Cincinnati Veterinary Technology Program. She obtained her VTS in Dentistry in 2014, and Master in Education, Curriculum and Instruction in 2021. She enjoys teaching future vet techs, as well as teaching and lecturing in dentistry nationally. In her spare time she is usually at the softball field traveling with her 15 year old daughter who plays for the Ohio Hawks national team, or spending time with family swimming or hiking. She has a white Boxer named LuLu and a grey cat named Edward.