Our 1st biannual shelter medicine mini-conference was a success! On the afternoon of Friday, November 22nd, the 2019 Fall Cornell Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Mini-Conference took place at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, New York. Organized by Sarah Nickerson, MSMP’s Program Coordinator, this half-day workshop brought together over 40 staff members and volunteers from 12 different regional shelters to discuss “Sheltering by Numbers: Using Metrics to Save Lives”.
Shelter Medicine faculty, along with MSMP Program Founder, Dr. Jan Scarlett, each led 45-minute presentations on different topics relating to metrics and the use of data in shelters. Dr. Berliner (Director of Shelter Medicine) opened the workshop with a presentation on the importance of one day in the shelter for an animal, and ways to move them through shelters faster while still ensuring they have all they need in the process. Next, Dr. Lena DeTar (Assistant Clinical Professor) guided attendees through simple formulas to identify where shelters might be stretched (staffing, surgical budget, capacity for care, etc.) or have the ability to provide more. Dr. Jan Scarlett (Founder of Cornell’s Shelter Medicine Program) followed Dr. DeTar, sharing her knowledge of what reports matter in the shelter setting, and why they matter. She focused on metrics that can be most influential in monitoring and helping to improve the health of shelter animals. To wrap up the afternoon, our newest faculty member, Dr. Erin Henry (Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Instructor), talked about the importance of organizational charts, getting attendees up on their feet to create and describe the org charts for each of their organizations. As can be seen in the photo below, this was a crowd favorite with personnel from each organization working together to map out the structure of each of their organizations. Way to go Team MSMP at Cornell!
Our 2nd mini-conference is scheduled to take place in the Spring, on April 3rd, 2020. Be sure to save the date! We will be discussing adoption outcomes. Registration for this event will open in early March. If you would like to be added to the CU Shelter Med Mini-Conference mailing list, please email Sarah Nickerson (Shelter Medicine Program Coordinator) at SN298@cornell.edu.
(Story and photos provided by Sarah Nickerson)
#thankstomaddie
