At the beginning of December Dr. Emily ‘Eddie’ Drayton (Senior Veterinary Surgeon), Ryan Marcel Sucaet (Bear & Vet Team Director) and Wen Yan (Project Development Manager) took a trip to Beijing to meet with some leading vets from different regions in China. Eddie was a key speaker at the pain management seminar.
It was a two-day event which focused on veterinary education around pain management. Over the two days, there were some very interesting discussions regarding the cultural, financial and practical barriers many vets face when getting clients and colleagues to use pain relief on their patients. There is a widespread misunderstanding of how pain manifests in animals and some distrust for western medicine.
Emily (Eddie) Drayton Animals Asia’s Senior Veterinary Surgeon said:
“While this conference did remind me that the path to change through education is slow and often frustrating, I am still hopeful that one day we will see a generation of vets in China proactively managing pain in their patients, and educating their clients about the necessity of pain management for improved welfare.”
An added bonus of the seminar was the attendance of our former intern Max, who is now the vice-president of the Chinese Veterinary Anaesthesia Association. Max along with her partner, and former volunteer, Brandon, have just finished translating the latest edition of Small Animal Anaesthesia into Chinese.
It is an honour to be able to help promote best practice pain management to vets in China and it’s especially heartening to witness the progress being made and the knowledge being shared by vets who have worked, interned or volunteered with Animals Asia in the past. Together we’re creating a new future of animal welfare across China.