ARE YOU THE BEST YOU CAN BE? Putting the ASV Guidelines for Standards of Care Into Action AND Introducing the UC Davis Virtual Consultant Cynthia Karsten, DVM Resident, Koret Shelter Medicine Program Center for Companion Animal Health U C Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Sandra Newbury, DVM Koret Shelter Medicine Program Center for Companion Animal Health U C Davis School of Veterinary Medicine virtualconsultant.sheltermedicine.com (Active link after March 2013) The ASV Guidelines for Standards of Care heightened awareness of the need and provided a defined context for shelters to evaluate their own operations and practices.

Since change comes best after problems are recognized, the Guidelines also heightened awareness that we all need a reasonably simple way to help organizations evaluate practices in their own shelter and then get the resources they need to be able to implement change.

Shelters are widely disparate in terms of resources and needs. Many have limited budgets for travel and training. Busy shelter professionals have competing demands on their time that limit opportunities to research and navigate the complex array of available information, and not all shelters have access to regular veterinary services. Even those that do may not have access to a veterinarian trained in shelter medicine - many veterinarians now in practice graduated before the field even existed, and even now most schools offer limited formal training to students. Because of the rapid expansion of knowledge, information needs to be constantly updated.

The UC Davis Virtual Consultant, our online shelter self-assessment tool, addresses many of these challenges. Through an online interface, users can pick a particular topic module to focus on or they can complete any number of modules. Users answer a series of questions regarding current practices in their consultation shelter or their own shelter. The answers signal a Hooray for “best practice” (e.g. vaccinating animals on intake) or “risk factor” (e.g. failing to vaccinate on intake) which triggers delivery of

helpful resources for practices that do not quite meet best practice. Customized output based on these answers links to existing resources to provide immediate solutions for change.

The purpose of the UC Davis Virtual Consultant is to improve shelter animal health and increase life saving by providing practical, targeted information regarding critical aspects of animal care. We have developed a web presentation system with an intuitive and appealing user interface; practical reports that meet the needs of a variety of stakeholders; and the flexibility to expand as the tool grows in the future. The tool will be freely available online, will provide shelters with immediate feedback and reports regarding animal care practices, and will allow for ongoing expansion of content and function. UC Davis KSMP staff will update the Virtual Consultant regularly as new knowledge is developed. New modules will be developed and expanded to meet new and emerging needs.

In this workshop, we will work through the process of self-assessment and developing a work plan with participants and will share some examples of how shelters have put these recommendations into action. Please consider visiting the Virtual Consultant prior to the workshop and completing at least one module for your organization, your shelter or a consultation shelter.