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Society of Companion Animal Practitioners of Sri Lanka

c/o 30/42 Longdon Place,
Colombo 7,
Sri Lanka

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT
Dr. Ganga de Silva
255/1 Kaldemulla Road, Kaldemulla, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
E-mail : gangadesilva@hotmail.com

NAME AND ADDRESS OF WSAVA REPRESENTATIVE
Dr. Nalinika Obeyesekere
15, Lauris Road, Colombo 04, Sri Lanka
PHONE :

E-mail : oeshi@vinet.lk, nalinikao@gmail.com

Membership: 2011- 30 (although the number of regular annually paid membership is around 30, for seminars and workshops a large number of veterinarians participate on event based registrations, sometimes up to 100)

Vision
The principal vision is to address the needs of the growing number of companion animal veterinary practitioners and facilitate the push towards improving veterinary medicine in Sri Lanka to international standards.

Mission
To increase the access to knowledge, promote continuing professional development (CPD) and thereby improve the standards and professionalism of companion animal practitioners in Sri Lanka.

The Society of Companion Animal Practitioners (SCAP) of Sri Lanka was established in 2003 by a group of enthusiastic veterinary surgeons who understood the great demand for quality veterinary services and a need for veterinary clinicians to update their knowledge to meet the current trends as well as to advance and develop companion animal practice.

We are dedicated to increasing access to knowledge; promoting continuing professional development of the veterinarian and to uplift the country’s veterinary profession to international standards.

We increase access to knowledge by organizing seminars and workshops for companion animal practitioners. We keep seminar/workshop fees low/nominal as much as possible to allow and encourage higher number of veterinarians to attend. This is especially important as we understand that Sri Lankan veterinarians’ incomes are low, as the veterinary profession is not well developed in the country.

We have been instrumental in popularizing continued professional development in Sri Lanka. Most of the Sri Lankan veterinarians are not in the habit of improving and updating their knowledge after graduating from the university. Outside of SCAP there are very few continuing education opportunities available for companion animal clinicians. Our seminars and workshops have provided such opportunities to upgrade and advance knowledge. We facilitate advancement of the veterinary profession in the country by inviting international consultants from all over the world to hold clinically pertinent seminars and workshops.

SCAP was able to organize the following continued professional development (CPD) programs during 2010 for its members:

1. Seminar on Clinical Pathology & Ophthalmology

Dr Neil Hordagoda, Senior Veterinary Pathologist Research, University of Sydney, Australia conducted a seminar on the following topics:
 Clinical pathology aids in the diagnosis and treatments of anaemia in dogs
 Fundamentals of oncologic surgery: a pathologist view

Dr Vimukthi Kumaratunge, a veterinary surgeon from UK conducted a seminar on the following topics:
 Small animal practice in the UK
 Basic ophthalmic examination and diagnostic techniques

A total of 90 veterinarians attended this seminar.

2. Seminar on Small Animal Medicine

This seminar was conducted by Dr Raj Packianathan, BVSc(Hons), MVSc, MACVSc(Medicine), CMAVA. He is the Managing Veterinarian at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), New South Wales, Australia.

Dr. Raj Packianathan is a Sri Lankan with permanent residency in Australia. He generously agreed to conduct a CPD during his short vacation in Sri Lanka.

He conducted a very informative and useful session on
 Analgesia for Emergency Patients
 Canine Babesiosis
 Erlichiosis
 Evidence Based Systemic Therapy
 Bacterial Skin Diseases
 Otitis Externa
 Otitis Media

A total of 27 veterinarians attended this seminar.

3. Seminar on Feline Medicine

Dr Miranda Josephson BVSc, MRCVS, from Cornwall, UK conducted a seminar on practical approaches to common problems of cats including;
 Oral
 Cardiovascular
 Lower urinary tract
 Renal
 Endocrine and
 Locomotor systems.

A total of 24 veterinarians attended this seminar.

4. Seminar on Business Management & Animal Welfare

This seminar was conducted by Dr Ray Butcher, MA, Vet MB, MRCVS. UK

Dr. Butcher’s seminar covered the following topics:

 Introduction to Business planning
 Team concept
 Image and client communication
 Promoting the clinic/Does all this work?
 Introduction to ethics and welfare
 Humane dog population management
 Quality of life and euthanasia
 Neutering programs – welfare implications

A total of 23 veterinarians attended this seminar.

5. Workshop on Clinical Dermatology

The SCAP together with Mars India Ltd and Stassens Exports Ltd, conducted a workshop on Clinical Dermatology.

The speaker for the workshop was Dr Kallahalli Umesh, Regional Waltham Communications Manager, South Asia.

The focus was on problem-oriented approach (Assessment and Medical Management) to clinical syndromes like

 Pruritus,
 Alopecia,
 Interdigital dermatosis and
 Recurrent pyoderma.

This workshop consisted of clinical rounds and discussion on dermatological cases presented. This was supported by hands on practice on microscopic examination, cytology, biopsy, intradermal skin tests and other diagnostic tests.

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