This fall, Dr. Bryden Stanley, associate professor for the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, delivered a keynote presentation at the American College of Veterinary Surgeons’ Surgical Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada. At her standing room-only keynote, she presented her research regarding the clinical progress in evaluating and addressing issues of the upper airway and pharyngeal chiasma of dogs and cats.

“I emphasized the importance of accurately assessing the area and developing consensus on what surgeons see and how it is described in literature,” says Stanley. “This is important because in human medicine, there’s an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialty, but there’s nothing like that in veterinary medicine, at least not yet. It is likely that we will start a Veterinary Ear Nose & Throat (VENT) specialty.”

Recently, Stanley also was confirmed as a member of the ACVS Board of Regents; as such, she will be helping to shape the future of the specialty of surgery in veterinary medicine.

“I would particularly like to work on using the Delphi system to develop consensus statements in particularly controversial or challenging conditions, and also to develop a more formal mentoring program within the American College of Veterinary Surgeons. These strategies will provide important direction for veterinary surgeons and improve surgical efficacy and patient quality of life,” says Stanley.