Nourishing your mind at one of the many seminar and course offerings available to veterinarians is a wonderful thing...but we think that it's just as important to nourish your body and spirit while you learn.

That's why our seminars and courses are different.  We offer a unique learning experience at our lakeside learning center.  We’re located on the largest private lake in Illinois, up near the Wisconsin border.  If you want to stay right at the center, we offer dorm-style accommodations and family-style meals around a big table.  No breathing stale hotel room air and eating fast food that tastes like cardboard!  As a recent seminar participant told us: I didn’t even need to use an alarm clock - I woke up to the smell of coffee and bacon every morning!

You won’t have your butts in a chair all day at our seminars, either.  For nine years, we’ve started each day with an hour of meditation or QiGong instruction.  Lunch time is extended to allow time for sunning, napping, swimming, or boating.

After class?  Evenings, for attendees staying at the lakeside center, feature great dinners, wine, spirited conversation with our speakers and your classmates, and outrageous desserts.  Later, you can stretch out on a couch and chat with your housemates, enjoy quiet time alone in our meditation room, or relax with an instructional video from our extensive medical video collection.  If you’re feeling energetic, round up those housemates, fire up the campfire, and toast a marshmallow!

Our seminars are top-notch, because we love to learn, too.  We keep them small, so that you are always able to feel comfortable about asking questions and interacting with our instructors.  About 16 participants is our maximum.  We welcome you to bring cases, and we allow ample time to discuss them in small groups.  We frequently bring in patients for your evaluation, too.  We choose instructors and topics based on what interests and intrigues us.  Some of our seminars are co-sponsored with other groups, such as the American Academy of Veterinary Acupuncture; others we host ourselves.  CE credits for IVAS and AAVA generally apply for our courses.

We usually have an eclectic mix of attendees, ranging from those new in veterinary practice, to university professors, to those long established in practice.  Despite our casual setting and recommended casual attire, we require our instructors to present their topic in a professional manner, with a polished audiovisual presentation and full notes for you.

If this sounds like something you’d enjoy, please explore our course offerings.