In-person modular training with continuous online mentorship in between modules

• September 12-13, 2026 - Zagreb
• November 28-29, 2026 - Bucharest
• January 16-17, 2027 - Prague
• March 20-21, 2027 - Bucharest
• May 15-16, 2027 - Cluj

Learning Objectives

By the end of this module, participants will be able to:

• Perform a structured pre-anaesthetic assessment and assign ASA classification
• Identify patient-specific risk factors influencing anaesthetic drug selection
• Understand the pharmacology and clinical use of commonly used anaesthetic drugs
• Formulate balanced sedation and anaesthetic protocols tailored to patient and procedure
• Select appropriate induction and maintenance strategies based on clinical context
• Apply inhalational anaesthetic principles safely in clinical practice
• Translate theoretical pharmacology into practical, supervised anaesthetic management
• Safely conduct and monitor anaesthesia during routine surgical procedures

Course Description

The Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia Mentorship Program is a comprehensive, postgraduate-level continuing education course designed to guide small-animal veterinarians from foundational principles of safe anaesthesia to confident clinical application.

The program runs from September 2026 through May 2027 and is delivered across multiple European locations. It combines on-site teaching, simulation-based training, supervised practical experience, and continuous online mentorship to ensure progressive learning, consolidation of skills between modules, and durable clinical competence.

Across five modules, participants progress from equipment checks, monitoring, thermoregulation, and ventilation to pharmacology and protocol design, peri-operative pain management and cardiopulmonary cerebral resuscitation (RECOVER-based), loco-regional techniques, and the recognition and management of anaesthetic complications in patients with common comorbidities. The program concludes with a summative theory and practical examination using a simulator-based format.

Practical training is delivered through an ethically robust framework, including high-fidelity simulation scenarios (e.g., changes in heart rate, blood pressure, capnography, and oxygenation), task training using phantoms, cadaver-based anatomical and block technique training, and a welfare-positive live clinical module involving routine canine castration of shelter animals in collaboration with local partners. All live-animal practical activities are performed under direct veterinary supervision and in accordance with local legislation and welfare standards.

The overarching goal of the program is to enable veterinarians to plan and conduct anaesthesia safely, interpret monitoring trends accurately, anticipate and manage complications promptly, and implement effective analgesic strategies and resuscitation protocols aligned with current best practice.

Teaching philosophy and program structure

The Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia Mentorship Program is designed as a competency-based, longitudinal educational program aimed at improving both theoretical understanding and practical clinical performance in small animal anaesthesia. The teaching philosophy is grounded in the principle that safe and effective anaesthetic practice requires the integration of physiology, pharmacology, monitoring, technical skills, and clinical judgement, rather than isolated knowledge acquisition.

The program therefore adopts a spiral learning model, in which key concepts are introduced early and revisited throughout subsequent modules with increasing complexity, clinical context, and responsibility. Core topics such as patient assessment, monitoring interpretation, ventilation, analgesia, and management of complications are reinforced across multiple modules using different teaching modalities, allowing participants to progressively build confidence and competence.

Teaching is delivered through a combination of:

• Structured, evidence-based lectures
• Interactive case-based discussions
• High-fidelity simulation training
• Supervised practical sessions (live clinical cases, phantoms, and cadavers, depending on module)
• Ongoing mentorship and feedback between modules

This blended approach ensures that participants not only acquire knowledge, but also learn how to apply anaesthetic principles in real-life clinical scenarios, including crisis situations and patients with concurrent disease.

A central pillar of the program is patient safety and ethical responsibility. Practical training is carefully designed to minimise animal use while maximising educational value. Where live-animal procedures are included, these are performed within a clinical context that directly benefits animal welfare (e.g. routine castration procedures in cooperation with shelters), under close specialist supervision, and in full compliance with local legislation and ethical guidelines. Simulation, phantoms, and cadaver-based training are extensively used to allow repetitive skill acquisition without unnecessary animal involvement.

The mentorship structure extends beyond the in-person modules. Between modules, participants are expected to actively engage in:

• Submission of clinical cases and reflective exercises
• Review of anaesthetic records and monitoring data
• Participation in structured discussions on complications and decision-making

Feedback is provided by experienced veterinary anaesthetists, focusing on clinical reasoning, safety, and practical improvements rather than purely theoretical knowledge. This longitudinal mentorship model is intended to support sustained changes in clinical practice, rather than short-term course-based learning.

Overall, the program aims to create a supportive but academically rigorous learning environment, enabling participants to develop the skills required to deliver safe, evidence-based, and ethically responsible anaesthesia and analgesia in small animal practice.

The Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia Mentorship Program is led and academically overseen by Dr Manuela Pascal, EBVS-recognised Specialist in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia (Dipl. ECVAA), who acts as the primary mentor and program lead throughout the duration of the course. Dr Pascal has extensive experience working within teaching hospital environments, having held academic and clinical teaching roles at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Bucharest and subsequently within multiple UK referral and teaching hospitals, including during and following her ECVAA residency training.

Her professional background combines clinical excellence, academic involvement, and structured postgraduate teaching, with long-standing experience in supervising interns, residents, and postgraduate veterinarians. This background informs the mentorship-based design of the program, ensuring that teaching is not limited to didactic instruction but is embedded in clinical reasoning, reflective practice, and longitudinal skills development.

As program mentor, Dr Pascal is responsible for:

• Oversight of curriculum content and educational standards
• Supervision of practical training and simulation-based teaching
• Guidance and feedback on participant case submissions and reflective exercises
• Ensuring alignment with ethical, welfare, and patient-safety principles

This mentor-led structure ensures academic consistency across modules and provides participants with sustained access to specialist guidance, mirroring the educational standards and support structures found within recognised veterinary teaching hospitals.

Educational Objectives

By the end of the mentorship, participants will be able to:

1. Understand the fundamental principles of veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia, including relevant physiology, pharmacology, and anaesthetic equipment.
2. Perform a structured pre-anaesthetic assessment and risk stratification in dogs and cats, including interpretation of comorbidities and anaesthetic implications.
3. Select appropriate anaesthetic protocols tailored to the individual patient, procedure, and risk profile, using evidence-based drug selection and dosing.
4. Safely induce, maintain, and recover patients from general anaesthesia, applying correct airway management, oxygen delivery, and ventilation strategies.
5. Set up and interpret standard anaesthetic monitoring (ECG, blood pressure, capnography, pulse oximetry, temperature), and recognise abnormal trends.
6. Identify, prevent, and manage common anaesthetic complications, including hypotension, hypoventilation, arrhythmias, hypoxaemia, and delayed recovery.
7. Apply mechanical ventilation principles and adjust ventilator settings according to patient physiology and monitoring data.
8. Assess pain and implement multimodal analgesic plans, including the use of systemic analgesics, constant rate infusions, and locoregional anaesthetic techniques.
9. Apply current resuscitation guidelines and crisis management algorithms (e.g. cardiopulmonary arrest, severe hypotension, anaphylaxis) in simulated clinical scenarios.
10. Adapt anaesthetic management for patients with common systemic diseases (e.g. cardiac, respiratory, renal, neurological conditions).
11. Integrate anaesthetic records, monitoring data, and peri-anaesthetic events into structured, concise, and clinically meaningful documentation and communication.
12. Apply ethical principles, patient safety strategies, and evidence-based reasoning to optimise anaesthetic outcomes and minimise peri-anaesthetic risk.

Between-Module Mentorship

Each participant is continuously mentored between modules throughout the duration of the Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia Mentorship Program. Between in-person modules, delegates are expected to actively engage with the mentorship process by submitting clinical anaesthesia cases, anaesthetic records, and reflective assignments for review by the faculty team, under the academic oversight of the program mentor.

Submitted material may include anaesthetic protocols, monitoring trends, complication management reflections, and peri-anaesthetic decision-making. Individualised feedback is provided by specialist anaesthetists, focusing on patient safety, clinical reasoning, monitoring interpretation, and optimisation of anaesthetic management.

In addition, participants can take part in structured one-to-one mentoring calls during the program, allowing discussion of challenging cases, complication management, and personal learning goals. This longitudinal mentorship approach ensures that skills and clinical reasoning are progressively consolidated, preventing skill attrition between modules and supporting sustained improvement in everyday anaesthetic practice.

Evaluation and Certification

Assessment within the Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia Mentorship Program is based on four complementary components, designed to evaluate both theoretical knowledge and practical clinical competence:

• Intermittent online theory assessments between modules
• Practical assignments, including submission of anaesthetic cases and reflective exercises with mentor feedback
• A final written examination covering all theoretical content of the program
• A final practical examination using simulation-based scenarios, assessing monitoring interpretation, complication management, and clinical decision-making

Participants who successfully complete all modules and pass the final assessments are awarded the Skillvet Certificate in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia. The program is designed to be eligible for continuing education credit in accordance with relevant accreditation and CPD frameworks.

Faculty

• Dr Manuela Pascal, DVM, MSc, PhD, MRCVS, Dipl. ECVAA
  Program Head and Lead Mentor.
  EBVS-recognised Specialist in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia. Responsible for academic oversight, curriculum development, mentorship structure, and maintenance of educational and ethical standards throughout the program.
• Dr Lucy Miller, DVM, Dipl. ECVAA
  Instructor.
  EBVS-recognised Specialist in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia. Contributes to case discussions and aids in the delivery of practical teaching
• Dr Erica Daly, MVB, MRCVS, AFHE
  Instructor
  ECVAA Resident in Anaesthesia and Analgesia. Contributes to case discussions and aids in the delivery of practical teaching
• Dr Carlos Millan, MRCVS
  Instructor.
  Post-ECVAA residency clinician. Contributes to case discussions and aids in the delivery of practical teaching
• Dr Alina Nechifor, DVM
  Instructor
  Contributes to case discussions and aids in the delivery of practical teaching

All instructors are present during teaching sessions relevant to their tasks to ensure consistent supervision, direct interaction with participants, and a high instructor-to-delegate ratio, supporting a safe, supportive, and academically rigorous learning environment.

Instructional Methods

• Theoretical lectures supported by clinical anaesthesia cases and monitoring examples
• Live demonstrations and instructor-guided simulation and practical sessions
• Small-group practical rotations (maximum five participants per station)
• Case-based discussions, structured peri-anaesthetic planning exercises, and mini quizzes
• Between-module submission of anaesthetic cases and reflective assignments with personalised feedback
• One-to-one online mentoring sessions
• Final written and practical (simulation-based) examinations

The program is vendor-neutral, ensuring participants learn universal principles of veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia that are applicable across different anaesthesia machines, monitoring systems, and clinical settings.

Educational Integrity and Rationale

This mentorship program was developed to address the need for structured, evidence-based, and clinically applicable training in veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia. Unlike short standalone courses, this extended mentorship format allows participants to develop true clinical competence through repetition, supervised application, feedback, and progressive challenge.

All educational content is grounded in current best practice and reflects internationally accepted standards in veterinary anaesthesia, analgesia, and patient safety. Teaching emphasises physiological understanding, appropriate monitoring, and systematic clinical decision-making, rather than protocol-driven anaesthesia.

Instruction is entirely independent and free from commercial bias. While different anaesthesia machines, monitors, and simulation platforms may be demonstrated, no manufacturer sponsorship or commercial influence affects curriculum design or content delivery.

Expected Outcomes

Upon completion of the Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia Mentorship Program, graduates will be able to:

• Independently plan, deliver, and monitor general anaesthesia in dogs and cats
• Implement multimodal analgesic strategies tailored to the patient and procedure
• Interpret anaesthetic monitoring data and respond appropriately to abnormal trends
• Prevent, recognise, and manage common anaesthetic complications
• Apply resuscitation and crisis management algorithms in peri-anaesthetic emergencies
• Produce clear, structured anaesthetic records and peri-operative documentation
• Communicate anaesthetic plans, risks, and outcomes effectively with clients, colleagues, and referral centres
• Practise veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia at a professional standard consistent with current international guidelines

Conclusion

The Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia Mentorship Program (September 2026 – May 2027) provides a comprehensive and progressive educational pathway from the fundamentals of anaesthetic practice to advanced clinical application and complication management.

With Dr Manuela Pascal acting as Program Head and Lead Mentor, supported by an international team of specialist instructors, the program offers a unique combination of academic rigour, practical training, and longitudinal mentorship. Delivered across multiple European centres and incorporating simulation, live clinical experience, phantoms, and cadaver-based training, the program equips veterinarians with the knowledge, skills, and clinical judgement required to deliver safe, evidence-based, and ethically responsible anaesthesia and analgesia in small animal practice.

Registration fees

• Early bird, until 31st of July 2026 - €3750
• Standard, after 1st of August 2026 - €4250