In addition to a lineup of fantastic speakers, industry partners will be at the Expo Market Place, showcasing the latest products and services available.
The VHA Expo features an opening keynote, four program tracks, and closing keynote, covering content for all members of your veterinary team! The 2026 VHA Expo is worth up to 6 CE credits.
Date: Friday, November 13th, 2026 | 8am – 4:30pm
Location: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Bloomington
Pricing:
Early Bird – ENDS October 9th!
Member: $100
Non-Member: $150
General Admission (after October 9th)
Member: $140
Non-Member: $200
Click Here to Book Your Room at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Bloomington!
Cancellation Policy:
Cancellations received on or before November 6, 2026 will receive a full refund. Cancellations after this date are non-refundable. All cancellations must be submitted in writing to [email protected].
Speaker – Sarah Wooten, DVM, CVJ
Dr. Sarah Wooten, DVM, CVJ is a licensed veterinarian and certified veterinary journalist with extensive experience in clinical practice, veterinary media, education, and brand advisory work. She works as a veterinary content strategist and brand advisor at the intersection of animal health, marketing, and regulatory responsibility.
Sarah helps pet brands earn trust through clear, evidence-based communication and works at the intersection of animal health, marketing, and regulatory responsibility, translating science into messaging that is accurate, credible, and human.
Keynote – “Permission Slip: A Veterinary Keynote for People who Forgot They’re Allowed to Want More”
Be perfect. Be useful. Don’t take up too much space. Don’t disappoint anyone. Sound familiar? In veterinary medicine, the invisible rules we live by often end up quietly running our lives.
In this funny, heartfelt, and energizing keynote, [Name] shares stories from their remarkably non-linear veterinary career to challenge the script we’ve all been handed. Together, we’ll explore the messy realities of burnout, identity, and confidence—and rediscover what happens when we stop waiting for permission to build a career (and life) that actually fits.
Learning Objectives:
Speaker – Paul Burke
Paul Burke has over 30 years of sales and marketing leadership managing local, corporate, and global teams. He has also been an entrepreneur; owning, leading, and successfully exiting several businesses. Paul enjoys working with entrepreneurs and leadership teams as a teacher, facilitator, and coach, helping them get more out of their business and work life, “Putting the fun back into dysfunctional.”
Serving as an Officer in the U.S. Army and as a Company Commander during Operation Desert Storm, he learned the value of great leadership, teamwork, and the critical importance of execution. Without those elements all the best plans in the world become just words on a page.
Paul has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business & Speech Communication from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Business Administration in Entrepreneurial Management from the University of Dallas.
Keynote – “Creating Your Game Changing Customer Experience”
Every business operates in a competitive environment. To succeed we need to be
intentional about how we retain and grow our current clients and continue to bring in
new clients on a regular basis. We also must make sure we are gaining and retaining
the right clients for our business. A great client experience reflects your organizations
culture and requires activation at all levels of your organization.
Participants will walk away with a clear understanding of:
Track – Spectrum of Care
Speaker – Kate Boatright, VMD
Dr. Kate Boatright is a speaker, author, and practicing small animal veterinarian with a passion for connection with colleagues and clients. Since graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 2013, Boatright has worked in rural Pennsylvania as a general practitioner and emergency clinician. She began speaking and writing in 2019 and has since published numerous articles in veterinary trade magazines and academic journals, self-published the Veterinary Mentorship Manual, and is a contributing author to several upcoming textbooks. She has lectured at veterinary conferences around the country and is a frequent presenter in industry webinars and veterinary schools on the topics of spectrum of care and mentorship. Her passion for access to care and creating partnerships with clients keeps her in the clinic part-time, allowing her to consistently adapt and enhance her teaching with client and patient stories. In her remaining time, she stays busy training for her first marathon, reading, and watching movies with her husband, son, and cats.
This presentation will provide general practitioners with a practical, step-wise approach to the assessment and stabilization of small animal emergency cases. Considerations for patient transfer to an emergency/specialty hospital as well as communication tips with emergency clinicians will be discussed. A case-based approach will be used to discuss common case presentations including trauma, respiratory distress, blocked cats, and more. A practical approach to fluid therapy, pain management, and other emergency treatments will be reviewed in a case-based format. Key client communication points for common emergency presentations will be discussed. Limitations of general practice in managing emergencies will be acknowledged.
Emergencies are inevitable in veterinary practice, and they often create immense financial stress for pet owners. A 2025 survey found that 65% of pet owners could not pay more than $1,000 for life-saving treatment. Unfortunately, standard estimates for treatment of common emergencies–such as pyometra, feline urethral obstruction, parvovirus, and foreign bodies–often exceed this amount, even in a general practice setting.
When the difference between a life-saving procedure and euthanasia comes down to the client’s bank account, veterinarians must get creative. Spectrum of care practice offers us a solution. Instead of feeling like we must either approach a case “by the book” or do nothing, we can partner with the client to offer alternative plans that are more budget-friendly and meet the individual client’s goals.
But these alternative plans may make us uncomfortable at times. You may find yourself asking, ‘Does letting the sun set on a pyo and waiting to do surgery the next day open me to increased liability?’ In short, the answer is no–as long as you educate clients on the available options and obtain informed consent with the plan that is chosen. As available literature supporting spectrum of care options grows, veterinarians can increase their confidence in approaching cases in an alternative way.
This session will review a practical approach to common emergencies including GI obstruction, blocked cats, pyometra, and parvovirus. We will review the current evidence for a spectrum of care approach for each of these conditions and the key components of obtaining informed consent when pursuing a non-traditional option. You’ll leave this session with a practical game plan you can use to help more pets in your practice, even when finances are tight.
As general practitioners, we often find ourselves balancing patient quality of life with client limitations. While these are often financial, other concerns such as caregiver burden, patient cooperation, and scheduling limitations can also impact the success of the treatment plan. Join an experienced general practitioner for a discussion of managing chronic diseases in practice with a focus on navigating client limitations. We will review the current evidence for a variety of management strategies for conditions such as Addison’s disease, congestive heart failure, Cushing’s disease, and more.
Rising costs of veterinary care and client financial limitations can make antimicrobial stewardship feel like a dream rather than an achievable goal. Ideally, veterinarians combine physical examination findings with diagnostics like cytology, culture, and laboratory testing to guide antibiotic use—but each test comes with a price tag. As more practitioners embrace spectrum of care medicine, they are challenged to balance judicious antibiotic use with budget-conscious treatment plans. At first glance, these two priorities can feel at odds.
The good news: they don’t have to be. In this session, we’ll explore why the tension between antimicrobial stewardship and spectrum of care arises and how to navigate it in daily practice. We’ll discuss how to use available tools—such as practice guidelines and antibiograms—to make informed prescribing decisions, even when ideal diagnostics aren’t possible. Finally, we’ll share client communication strategies that educate pet owners on the value of testing while remaining compassionate about their limitations.
Attendees will leave with practical tools and a renewed confidence that it is possible to treat patients and support clients with a spectrum of care approach and be a good antimicrobial steward.
Track – Neurology
Speaker – Jessica Wagner, DVM, MS, DACVIM
Dr. Wagner is Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery at the University of
Minnesota. She received her DVM from Mississippi State University in 2016. Following
internships, Dr. Wagner worked relief for several general practices around Philadelphia, PA.
She completed her Neurology and Neurosurgery residency at University of Illinois in 2025.
An overview of the neurological exam and neurolocalization for
the busy practitioner, including how to use exam findings and simplified rationale for accurate localization, differentials, and treatment plans.
Learning Objectives:
The quirks and tips for performing a neurological exam on the (sometimes difficult) feline patient, also including feline specific neurological diseases and neurological manifestations of systemic disease in cats.
Learning Objectives:
This presentation will cover primary differentials for acute myelopathies in the dog, utility of in-house diagnostics, and when to refer. Includes information from the 2022 ACVIM Consensus Statement on diagnosis and management of acute canine thoracolumbar intervertebral disc extrusion.
Learning Objectives:
This presentation will review canine idiopathic epilepsy, choosing and adjusting medications, and reasonable rescue interventions, with a focus on forming personalized plans for individual patients, rather than a “one size fits all” approach. Includes information from the ACVIM Consensus Statements on management of seizures.
Learning Objectives:
Track – Hematology
Speaker – Holly Brown, DVM, PhD, DACVP
Holly Brown, DVM, PhD, DACVP began her veterinary career in small animal practice before completing a residency and PhD in clinical pathology. Dr. Brown remained as a faculty member in academia until joining a busy hybrid practice as an on-staff clinical pathologist. More recently, she joined Antech Diagnostics as their Chief Veterinary Educator.
Anemia is one of the most common CBC findings in our sick veterinary patients. This case-based session will challenge attendees to utilize the entire CBC, including both automated data and cytograms, as well as blood film changes to properly diagnose a variety of causes of anemia.
Learning Objectives:
Diagnostic blood work, and its proper interpretation, is vital in helping our sick patients. In this case-based session, tips will be shared for evaluation of CBC, including important leukogram patterns and paired microscopic review of WBCs on the blood film to recognize key morphologic changes. Learning will be case based to engage attendees and provide practical and immediately useful knowledge for everyday practice.
Learning Objectives:
Diagnostic blood work (and its appropriate review) is vital in successfully managing the bleeding patient. In this interactive session, multiple cases will be presented that emphasize the importance of understanding blood work results, in particular evaluation of reported thrombocytopenia and tips for coagulation testing.
Learning Objectives:
The CBC is discussed as a single test, when in truth it is comprised of 20-25 different values, as well as important details about cell morphology to complete the picture. Understanding each component of the CBC, as well as the associated cytograms produced by our current automated hematology analyzers, is essential to sensitively and accurately diagnose and trend disease. In this case-based session, I will review the entirety of the CBC data, including some of the newer but lesser understood reported parameters that guide proper interpretation. Additionally, the paired cytograms will be reviewed, in technology and interpretation, to provide essential clinical insights beyond the numbers, such as detection and trending of inflammation and identification of immature and activated cell populations. Finally, for each case, key microscopic findings will be discussed, building your confidence around what the morphologic changes mean for your patients.
Learning Objectives:
Track – Mindful Management
Speaker – Sarah Wooten, DVM, CVJ
Dr. Sarah Wooten, DVM, CVJ is a licensed veterinarian and certified veterinary journalist with extensive experience in clinical practice, veterinary media, education, and brand advisory work. She works as a veterinary content strategist and brand advisor at the intersection of animal health, marketing, and regulatory responsibility.
Sarah helps pet brands earn trust through clear, evidence-based communication and works at the intersection of animal health, marketing, and regulatory responsibility, translating science into messaging that is accurate, credible, and human.
This session helps veterinary teams recognize what is really happening when clients, coworkers, or even team members become reactive. Attendees will learn how fear, caregiver burden, unmet needs, and fight/flight/freeze/fawn responses show up in veterinary practice, and how simple triage tools can reduce drama, strengthen professionalism, and help teams respond instead of react.
Learning Objectives:
Building on Mindful Management 101, this session turns the mirror inward. Attendees will explore what happens inside their own nervous system during stressful interactions and identify their go-to response patterns under pressure in a fun, relatable, “oh no, that’s me” kind of way. The focus is on building self-awareness, emotional choice, and personal control so veterinary professionals can respond with intention instead of letting stress run the show.
Learning Objectives:
This is a communication and conflict-management session that helps veterinary teams recognize emotional escalation patterns and choose responses that protect the client relationship, team morale, patient care, and practice flow.
Learning Objectives:
This session zooms out from the individual interaction to the whole team. Attendees learn how stress spreads through a hospital, how venting and emotional contagion can turn one hard moment into an all-day culture problem, and how to interrupt spirals, debrief cleanly, reset the team, and prevent one difficult interaction from taking down the whole day.
Learning Objectives:
