• SVMA Online Classroom

    Welcome to the Saskatchewan Veterinary Medical Association's Online Classroom 


    This site is dedicated to providing online continuing education to veterinary professionals and the SVMA licensing course.

     
    As is the case with all continuing education events and materials, all online courses must be completed to be eligible for CE credit. 

    All registrations for courses in the online classroom will be valid for one year, meaning all courses registered for must be taken and completed within a year. Automatic un-enrollments occur after 365 days. The exception is the SVMA Licensing Course which must be completed prior to application approval or by a determined deadline. 

    Veterinary professionals from other jurisdictions may request access to the classroom by emailing svma@svma.sk.ca
    Please use the subject line: Classroom Access Request


Available courses

Dr Lewis will discuss what associates want, how to navigate their expectations to fit your needs and how the retention market is a new monster!

Speaker - Dr Keelan Lewis

One hour of continuing education for veterinarians and veterinary technologists.

The problem of antimicrobial resistance will be summarized, and an overview of how these drugs interact with their microbial targets will be presented. We will critically explore how to interpret antimicrobial susceptibility profiles, incorporate evidence into prescribing decisions and biases that influence therapeutic choice/dosing regimen.

Speaker – Dr Joe Rubin

Two hours of continuing education for veterinarians and veterinary technologists.


This lecture will focus on patient assessment / stabilization, principles of equine wound management, considerations for surgical reconstruction, involvement of sensitive structures, and guidelines for referral.

Speaker – Dr Ryan Wolker

One hour of continuing education for veterinarians and veterinary technologists.


Topical therapy is often under utilized in veterinary medicine. Topical therapy can be used to remove debris and exudate, reduce the microbial load as well as allowing a more focal treatment. The development of multi-drug resistant bacterial strains has also lead to a need for veterinarians to consider alternative therapies.

Speaker - Dr Charlie Pye

One hour of continuing education for veterinarians and veterinary technologists.

Pig Health: An Introduction to basic swine diseases and challenges with a practical approach to treatment.

Speaker – Dr Kelsey Gray

Two hours of continuing education for veterinarians and veterinary technologists.

This lecture will cover the diagnosis and characterization of corneal ulcers in animals. We will discuss appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic techniques for corneal ulceration based on ulcer type. This will include updated information based on recent literature as well as new therapeutic options.

Speaker – Dr Lynne Sandmeyer

One and a half hours of continuing education for veterinarians and veterinary technologists.


During the remote session, Dr Dickinson will discuss collection techniques to optimize lymph node sample quality and discuss diagnostic options beyond microscopic findings for lymph node tissue. Live microscope session and select images will be used to help guide practitioners to see what a pathologist is looking for to help rule in nefarious disease processes such as metastatic disease for various tumour types. Findings from primary lesions and their correlation to lymph node findings will be included. The focus will be practical cytopathology, though histopathology/biopsy section slides will be included to help illustrate key architectural features.

Speaker – Dr Ryan Dickinson

Two hours of continuing education for veterinarians and veterinary technologists.


This lecture will discuss suspicious indicators of animal cruelty and key steps for the veterinary team. Determination of non-accidental injury (cruelty) vs. accidental injury will be presented. Discussion will include considerations and actions regarding reporting suspected abuse including key aspects of history taking. Development of a practice standard operating procedure to handle potential cases including managing risk within the hospital setting will be presented. The lecture will include video examples of veterinarian-client communication and interaction in commonly encountered scenarios. The zone of owner discretion and how it can serve as a guide for reporting will be discussed. Documentation is the cornerstone of legal cases, there are additional rules and considerations for admissibility in court. Evidence collection and forensic testing will be presented.

Speaker – Dr Melinda Merck

One and a half hours of continuing education for veterinarians and veterinary technologists.


Despite shrill cries for increasing animal rights and for eliminating animal protein from human diets, there remains not only a residing and deep affection for animal companions but also an economic and even environmental basis for animals as part of our biosphere, especially as we seek to feel our way out of the COVID pandemic. A "care economy" (and all that comes with it) is emerging for human health.
Can we expect the same for animals and their health care providers? This session examines the delicate balance between humans, the animals we live with and societal rules that have regulated this balance and suggests what we might expect in the future.

Speaker – Dr Don Buckingham

One and a half hours of continuing education for veterinarians and veterinary technologists.


Prevention of dystocia is the goal for nearly every beef and dairy herd owner, but a zero-dystocia incidence every year is highly unrealistic. Veterinarians must be skilled in not only assisting clients in preventing dystocia’s, but also in treating them. There are various techniques suggested for assisting a cow with a dystocia. The Utrecht method is a time-tested technique that reduces the stress on the cow, calf and technician before, during and after the delivery process.

Speaker – Dr Mark Hilton

One and a half hours of continuing education for veterinarians and veterinary technologists.


Zebras of pathology. What seems like a straight forward and routine diagnostic case can sometimes take an unexpected twist. Every so often those hoof beats you hear in the night are zebras. This will be a brief trip through interesting and unusual diagnostic cases that have come through the pathology service.

What’s new in the world of pathology? Diagnostic tests, procedures and tools change all the time. This talk will be a brief tour through what’s new, why we use it and how it can help you. Other topics touched upon will be changing features of animal disease as we see it through the diagnostic lab.

Speaker - Dr Bruce Wobeser

Two hours of continuing education for veterinarians and veterinary technologists.


Veterinary professionals are often the first called to assist with large animal rescue. However, many of us have no formal training in large animal rescue, making these tense situations even more stressful. This webinar will review a case of equine rescue (during the COVID pandemic) and use it as an example to highlight things that worked, things that didn't, and what the author might do differently next time. Of note, this was the first rescue that Dr. Robinson was involved in. Discussion and questions from the audience is encouraged.

Speaker – Dr Kate Robinson

One hour of continuing education for veterinarians and veterinary technologists.


Poultry Vaccination - Corona Virus (IBV): Not in this flock!

This webinar aims to provide veterinary professionals with information regarding the vaccination of small flock/backyard poultry including reasons to vaccinate, vaccine administration, which vaccines to administer, ordering poultry vaccines, and serology.

Speakers - Dr Tyra Dickson and Dr Stephanie Smith 

One and a half (1.5) hours of continuing education for veterinarians and veterinary technologists.


This lecture will focus on some of the biggest problems and diseases in small ruminant practice. Covering everything from husbandry practices and how they influence disease processes to the clinical presentation of some of the most common diseases you will encounter, this discussion aims to provide you with the tools necessary to tackle many small ruminant challenges. This a lecture that EWE DOEn’t want to miss!

Speaker - Dr. Michael Pesato

Three hours of continuing education for veterinarians and veterinary technologists.

This is a hematology centered presentation. including the steps for reviewing a blood smear to complement automated results. Case study includes examining the analyzer print out and deciphering what it means and compare it to what it looks like on a smear. 

Speaker – Brianne Bellwood, RVT, VTS (Clinical Pathology) CCRVN 

Two hours of SVMA approved continuing education for veterinarians and veterinary technologists.

Since 2018, the SVMA has made available education on provincial and federal regulations and procedures pertaining to animal welfare. At a recent Council meeting a motion was passed requiring all registered SVMA members to complete the 'Animal Welfare: What Every Veterinary Professional Should Know' course available in the SVMA Online Classroom. This will ensure all members have an opportunity to review the legislation and gain a renewed appreciation of our role in ensuring animal welfare within the province of Saskatchewan.

All members that need to take the course have automatically been enrolled in the course on the SVMA Classroom.

This course is complimentary and contains 2 hours of continuing education. 

Ministry of Agriculture Regional Specialists Catherine Lang and Rachel Kraynick will provide an overview of the services they offer, including water and feed testing and programs available to producers through the Canadian Agriculture Partnership (CAP).

The information on these services will be helpful to veterinary practice staff to assist clients, and for those SVMA members who are also livestock producers.

This session is available for any member of the veterinary team.

One hour of continuing education for veterinarians and veterinary technologists.

This course was developed by the SVMA staff to help practices keep in compliance with Narcotic/Controlled drug storage, recording and other regulations. 
This course is worth one-hour of continuing education. 

Animal abuse and neglect affects all of us. As veterinary professionals, we see animals in distress every day and we do our best to relieve them of their suffering. But how do we determine when that distress should prompt us to report a case of suspect animal abuse or neglect? What if you are called to attend an animal welfare investigation with an animal protection agency - do you feel prepared to attend? Finally, how can the records you prepare help to strengthen an investigation that goes to court, or even avoid the need for you to testify in court? These questions and more will be addressed through the Veterinary Forensics course.

This course will include the following topics:

  • How to identify animals in distress
  • How to report a suspect case of abuse or neglect
  • How to properly document a history and physical exam
  • Understanding chain of custody for evidence
  • The process for acting as an expert witness
  • The human side of abuse and neglect

This course will help veterinary professionals in the following areas:

Because of the addition of all medically important antimicrobials to the prescription drug list small poultry producers and backyard breeders will be turning to veterinary practices for assistance. These are not under this jurisdiction of the Poultry Extension Veterinarian and will require veterinary practices to diagnose and prescribe treatment.

Your practice may even be receiving prescriptions from the Poultry Extension veterinarian for the poultry barns under their oversight. This will give you insight on how to dispense those medications.

This course offers 5 hours of continuing education.

On December 1, 2018, Health Canada's recent changes to the Food and Drug Act go into effect. Several medically important antimicrobials have been moved to the veterinary version of the Prescription Drug List (PDL).  This means many antibiotics previously sold as over-the-counter (OTC) products will now require a prescription.

This course addresses the legal and ethical obligations that veterinary practitioners are bound to follow when using, prescribing, dispensing and selling drugs and biologics. The video portion will be followed by questions to be answered for one hour of AMS CE credit.


Since 2018, the SVMA has made available education on provincial and federal regulations and procedures pertaining to animal welfare. At a recent Council meeting a motion was passed requiring all registered SVMA members to complete the 'Animal Welfare: What Every Veterinary Professional Should Know' course available in the SVMA Online Classroom. This will ensure all members have an opportunity to review the legislation and gain a renewed appreciation of our role in ensuring animal welfare within the province of Saskatchewan.

All members that need to take the course have automatically been enrolled in the course on the SVMA Classroom.

This course is complimentary and contains 2 hours of continuing education.