why it matters
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Providing an In-Person Content Hub for Veterinary Nurses and Technicians

By Keith Loria

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n 2023, the North American Veterinary Community (NAVC) launched NAVC HiVE, a collection of in-person events aimed at connecting the veterinary community with top-tier education provided by some of the brightest minds in the field.

“This all began with the NAVC’s mission to build a world in which the entire veterinary healthcare team thrives,” says Dan Read, NAVC’s senior vice president of special events. “We looked at what more we could do for the industry and the large community, particularly here in North America, and we saw significant opportunities in the content itself and the delivery methodology.

“Additionally, the NAVC wanted to do it on an in-person basis to bring these members of the community together and give more opportunity in the most accessible way—both geographically and economically—to discuss the issues and get access to learning from a leading provider such as the NAVC, and be as nimble as possible,” Dan adds.

At the end of 2024, the NAVC will have completed six events under the HiVE banner, half of them focused on veterinary nurses, technicians and assistants. The events were crafted with opportunities for veterinary nurses and technicians to become the best versions of themselves, offering RACE-approved sessions that focus on clinical skills, medical skills, and professional and personal development.

“We knew that launching this entirely new special events operation could help more people connect with others in the veterinary community, and spotlight unique topics, trends, and issues that are top-of-mind amongst the industry,” Dan explains. “We are dedicated to immersing ourselves within the industry and perpetually examining evolving needs. It’s a constant process of evolution.”

The first HiVE event, held last year in Austin, TX, was the Vet Nurse+Tech HiVE, which was geared towards veterinary nurses/technicians, offering help and advice for them to grow professionally and personally.

woman on a stage at the HiVE Event giving a presentation

Photos provided by NAVC

“Ultimately the nurses, technicians, and assistants group is the largest population based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics across the whole industry,” Dan shares. “Where there are roughly 110,000 DVMs, we’re looking at a population of almost 250,000 in the veterinary nurse, technician, and assistant category.”

However, when you look at the total number of veterinary professionals in the U.S., only a small percentage of them are attending the big veterinary events, which is another reason the HiVE events were formed. That’s why making it accessible to all was a primary concern, so the NAVC looked for those underserved places that hadn’t had the opportunity to attend in-person events.

“Looking at the data sparked conversation with the community,” explains Dan. “What are the reasons people aren’t going to events? What needs to be different? And what needs to change? We knew there was an opportunity to deliver something unique for this very large community.”

One of the things that makes these HiVE events unique is the makeup of the content, which includes clinical education, but also professional and career development as well as personal development content.

“We have seen when it comes to attendance at these sessions, soft-skills content is better attended than the clinical content,” Dan shares. “We’ve increased that content; we’ve increased those areas we see are more popular, because that’s what people are crying out for. It’s also content that’s less easy to find online. These are supposed to be boutique events and allow people to interact and have the conversations they want and get value out of it.”

two women seated at a couch and having a conversation at the HiVE Event
people seated at a presentation in a ballroom
The topics are also not afraid to tackle the difficult conversations, which is why past events have dealt with suicide awareness, confrontation management and side-hustles technicians have to help ends meet.

“We are presenting real-life examples for the people who look and sound like them and have had those experiences,” Dan adds. “We shine a spotlight on these so people can share their experiences and help build a community,”

Another facet of the HiVE events is a mentorship program, with peer-to-peer flash mentoring available. For instance, at the most recent HiVE event this past November, Alyssa Mages, BS, CVT, and Mariel Hendricks, MVEd, BS, RVT, led an engaging mentoring program that focused on professional skills and strategies to lead sustainable careers as veterinary nurses and technicians.

Looking ahead, NAVC plans to continue improving the HiVE events and is incorporating feedback it gets from attendees—80% of whom have never attended events before.

“We are invested in what we’re doing,” Dan says. “This is about continued development and continued learning. We want to continue to bring these opportunities to people who haven’t had those chances previously and create a community for them.”

For more information on upcoming HiVE events, visit navc.com/hive.

headshot of Keith Loria
A graduate of the University of Miami, Keith Loria is a D.C.-based award-winning journalist who has been writing for major publications for close to 20 years on topics as diverse as healthcare, travel and food. He started his career with the Associated Press and has held high editorial positions at publications aimed at entertainment, sports and technology.