WVC Vegas 2027

Best US Veterinary Conferences and Courses for Hands-On Surgical Training

Viticus Group — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 15:26:16 GMT

If you want to build your surgical skills, a lecture isn’t always the best way to gain information. Sometimes, you need to pick up the instruments and work through the technique with an experienced instructor there to guide you.

That’s what makes hands-on surgical training such a valuable part of many veterinary conferences. Along with continuing education (CE) credits, the right event can give you practical experience, introduce you to new animal health innovations, and create opportunities for professional development and veterinary career growth.

If you’re considering which United States veterinary events are worth your time and investment, look beyond CE hours. Consider what you will learn from the experience, and how it can benefit your patients and practice.

How to evaluate veterinary surgical training

When your goal is to strengthen surgical skills, not all veterinary learning options offer the same experience. Before registering for a veterinary conference, consider what you want to gain from the experience and how easily you can apply the knowledge you gain once you return to practice.

What to consider	What to look for
Hands-on surgical training	For surgical training, practicing a technique can be far more valuable than simply watching a video or seeing someone demonstrate the procedure. Look for conferences that offer small-group labs, opportunities to work directly with instructors and time to practice the procedures yourself.
Continuing education credits and value	CE credits are an important part of any veterinary conference investment, but the number of hours is only part of the equation. Consider whether the available sessions align with your clinical interests and whether the overall program gives you enough relevant education to justify the time and travel involved.
Clinical relevance	The most useful education is something you can apply to your patients and practice. Look for sessions that focus on techniques, procedures and clinical decision-making you are likely to encounter in everyday work.
Professional growth	Conferences can offer learning opportunities that extend beyond the classroom. Connecting with instructors, fellow veterinary professionals and others working across the animal health industry can introduce new perspectives, ideas and opportunities.

When you want more than a veterinary conference session

If you want to strengthen a specific procedure or skill, a broad veterinary conference schedule may not be enough. Viticus Group Academy offers a more focused approach to hands-on veterinary education, with courses designed around specific surgical, procedural and diagnostic skills.

Academy courses are offered in Las Vegas and Nashville and provide RACE-approved CE in a hands-on lab environment. Participants work in small groups with experienced instructors, allowing them to ask questions, practice techniques and receive direct guidance rather than simply watch a demonstration.

The course lineup covers a wide range of clinical interests. Current offerings include TPLO skills labs for orthopedic training, flexible and rigid endoscopy, soft-tissue and general surgical procedures, dentistry, ophthalmic surgery, fracture stabilization, and abdominal and cardiac ultrasound.

Some courses also allow participants to spend substantial time practicing a skill. For example, the four-day flexible and rigid endoscopy course combines lecture with hands-on laboratory sessions covering flexible GI endoscopy, foreign body retrieval, biopsies and rigid procedures including laparoscopy, rhinoscopy, video-otoscopy and urethroscopy/cytoscopy.

Combining conference-scale CE with hands-on training

For veterinary professionals who want the breadth of a major veterinary conference without giving up the opportunity to practice new skills, WVC brings these experiences together. The conferences combine a large, multi-specialty CE program with hands-on labs, workshops, learning tracks and other educational formats, allowing attendees to build an experience around their own clinical interests and professional goals.

WVC Vegas

WVC Vegas is Viticus Group’s flagship conference experience, bringing hundreds of hours of veterinary education to the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. For 2027, the program includes 900+ hours of RACE-approved CE, plus more than 60 hands-on labs, workshops, learning tracks and Side-Quests.

The hands-on component takes place close to the main conference floor at Viticus Group’s Education Centers. These small-group labs are designed around active learning, with direct instructor guidance and topics ranging from surgical and procedural skills to diagnostics and other techniques.

WVC Nashville

WVC Nashville extends the veterinary conference experience to another location while maintaining the combination of broad CE and practical training. The inaugural WVC Nashville 2026 offered more than 400 RACE-approved CE hours and 15+ hands-on labs, giving attendees access to education across a wide range of clinical and professional topics.

The hands-on labs were held at the Viticus Group Education Center in Nashville and were designed for small-group instruction and active skill development. The offerings included surgical, diagnostic and procedural training, with direct access to instructors.

Whether in Las Vegas or Nashville, the value of the WVC model is the ability to choose how you learn. You can use veterinary conferences to explore new ideas and earn CE, and also go a step further with hands-on training that lets you practice a skill with expert guidance. For surgical education in particular, this combination can help ensure you carry valuable knowledge and new skills back to your clinical practice.

If you’re looking to strengthen your surgical skills, hands-on labs and focused instruction can turn CE into practical experience you can use as soon as you return to the clinic.

What to Look for in Veterinary Conferences for CE

Viticus Group — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 14:45:11 GMT

Choosing among veterinary conferences can feel a little overwhelming.

There are lectures to consider, continuing education credits to earn, new products and technologies to explore, and opportunities to connect with other veterinary professionals. While completing your CE obligations is important, a good veterinary conference can offer much more.

The right veterinary conference can give you practical skills you can use when you return to work, introduce you to animal health innovations or spark ideas that change how you approach a case, your team or your career. Depending on your goals, that might mean seeking out hands-on surgical training, exploring a new area of veterinary medicine or finding opportunities for professional development and veterinary career growth.

Here are some things to consider when deciding which United States veterinary event is the right fit for you.

What are your CE goals?

When comparing veterinary conferences, it can be tempting to focus on the number of continuing education credits offered. But a high CE count doesn’t necessarily mean a more valuable experience. The more important considerations are whether the education fits what you want to learn, how you prefer to learn it and what you hope to bring back to your practice.

Start by looking at the quality and relevance of the education. A conference may offer hundreds of hours of CE, but you won’t benefit from sessions that don’t align with your clinical interests or career goals. Consider whether the program includes the topics and specialties that matter to you, as well as a mix of lectures, interactive sessions, workshops and small group experiences. A lecture can be a good way to learn about a new topic or hear from an expert, while a workshop may allow you to work through a technique and ask questions as you go. If you’re hoping to build a particular skill, look for conferences that offer hands-on learning rather than relying entirely on traditional lecture formats.

Also think about the investment. Registration fees are only part of the equation. Travel, lodging, time away from the practice and the number of days you’ll be away from home factor into the final cost. Before committing to a conference, review the full program to determine whether the experience is worth the financial and time commitment.

Do you want hands-on training?

Some information is better understood and processed when you get to practice it. This is especially true for surgical techniques and other skills that depend on coordination, instrument handling and repetition. Hands-on surgical training allows veterinary professionals to move beyond watching a procedure and work through the technique themselves.

Depending on the veterinary conference, hands-on opportunities may include surgical labs, wet labs, workshops or smaller skills-based sessions. These formats typically give participants more time to work through a procedure and ask questions than a traditional lecture allows. Small-group instruction can be particularly valuable because participants have more opportunities to interact directly with instructors and receive feedback as they practice.

When evaluating a hands-on session, look at what you’ll be doing, how much practical time is included, how much instructor support is available and whether the course is designed for your experience level.

Are you looking for new products or services?

A veterinary conference should also offer opportunities beyond the lecture room. The exhibit hall can be a useful place to see what’s new across the profession and get a closer look at animal health innovations that may be useful to your practice.

The exhibit hall also provides chances to talk directly with the people behind new products and technologies. A conversation with a product specialist can answer practical questions about how a tool is used, what types of practices it’s best suited for and how it could fit into an existing workflow. Understanding what’s available can help you make informed decisions when a need arises in your practice.

Do you want to grow your network?

Some of the most valuable conversations at veterinary conferences happen between sessions. Stepping outside your usual practice environment gives you a chance to meet veterinary professionals with different experiences, interests and perspectives, and those connections can become an important part of your veterinary career growth. A conversation over coffee or after a session might introduce you to a new clinical area, a different approach to practice or someone who can offer guidance as your career develops.

These events can also be a good place to find potential mentors or discover opportunities you hadn’t considered. If you’re interested in developing leadership skills, moving into a new area of veterinary medicine, pursuing additional training or taking on a different role within the profession, talking with people who have followed those paths can provide a useful perspective.

In addition to providing the necessary CE hours, the right veterinary conference can help you build practical skills, discover new ideas, explore animal health innovations and make connections that support your career long after you head home. Before you register, consider what you want to learn, who you want to meet and what you hope to bring back to your practice so you can find the event that provides the best opportunity to make those goals a reality.