CAPNA is a group of veterinary hospitals owned and operated by Veterinarians that share the same vision: to provide the highest quality care for our patients.

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Fall ‘Distinguished Associates’ Meetings Focuses on ‘Courageous Conversations’ and Presentation Skills.

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Press Release – November 17, 2011

Thirty CAPNA Veterinarians attended an east and west coast CE workshop addressing how to plan and deliver ‘Effective Presentations’ and how to manage ‘Courageous Conversations’ with colleagues, staff members and clients. The sessions were held in August and September of 2011 in Atlanta and Las Vegas.

Instructors Jay McNaught of Pfizer and Cliff Hebard of H&A Learning Systems delivered comprehensive two day sessions designed to better prepare Veterinarians for public speaking as well as fine tune communication skills in various practice settings. Attendees were coached on how to pre-think ‘difficult encounters ‘with clients and staff by using ‘self’ knowledge and ‘active listening’ to encourage trust and encourage open dialogue.

Participants prepared numerous two minute presentations and delivered them to the group during the two day session. “Videotaping us during our presentations was such an amazing idea” commented ‘Dr. Ray Cox, of Deercreek Animal Hospital. ’I always learn a great deal about how I can connect better with people by changing my posture and voice inflection. Seeing yourself on video and getting genuine critiques from your peers is a great learning experience”.

“It was interesting and fun to see everyone improve with each presentation. We took home a flash drive to review ourselves presenting. Cliff actually called us to follow-up. The session was really valuable to me”, commented Dr. Alicia Oakley, of Irvine Veterinary Services.

“We are very grateful to Pfizer Animal Health for providing us with this great opportunity”, commented Dr. Frank Puccio, the Director of the CAPNA Distinguished Associates program. “The ability to communicate effectively in practice is fundamental to being a competent Veterinarian as well as a good leader. At CAPNA we believe in developing our Associates as competent and skilled doctors but also as future leaders in practice, in our communities , and in the veterinary community’.

For further information please contact CAPNA directly.