Computed Tomography of Equine Skull and Distal Limbs

50-minute Lecture • 1 scientific credit

This lecture will highlight common indications for the recommendation of computed tomography (CT) of the distal limbs and skull. Advantages and disadvantages of CT in comparison with radiographs and MRI will be explored, and acquisition options, including standing CT, will be reviewed. The discussion will be largely case-based.

Jane Renee ‘JR’ Lund, DVM, MS, MBA, DACVPM, DACVR (DI, EDI), hails from central Wisconsin and has worked as a veterinarian across the globe, including with the United States Army Reserves. Jane completed her DVM and MS in Comparative Biomedical Sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine in 2007. After a yearlong rotating equine internship at Arizona Equine Medical and Surgical Centre, she practiced as an equine ambulatory veterinarian in Maine and Wisconsin. She went on to teach at a veterinary technology program and spent time as a small animal emergency veterinarian. In 2020, she completed her Diagnostic Imaging residency at the University of Wisconsin (UW), where she stayed on as a Clinical Assistant Professor in Diagnostic Imaging for two years. During this time, she completed her board certification in Equine Diagnostic Imaging. Currently, she’s an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor in Diagnostic Imaging at the UW and provides telemedicine service through her business for small and large animals.

Equine PET CT, Dynamic Endoscopy & Radiation Therapy

50-minute Lecture • 1 scientific credit

10-10:25 am – Equine PET (Dr. Lund)
PET is a new and exciting functional imaging modality that’s quickly becoming available to equine practitioners. This lecture will provide a basic understanding of how this modality works, focusing on distal limb musculoskeletal cases.

10:25-10: 50 am – Dynamic Endoscopy & Radiation Therapy (Dr. Le)
Dynamic endoscopy can be an important part of an upper airway workup. This session will discuss indications for an under-airway examination and go through a case highlighting the procedure’s utility.

Advanced cancer treatments are often limited in equine patients for a variety of reasons. This lecture will discuss a new injectable radiation therapy that has been newly approved for use at UWVC.

Jane Renee ‘JR’ Lund, DVM, MS, MBA, DACVPM, DACVR (DI, EDI), hails from central Wisconsin and has worked as a veterinarian across the globe, including with the United States Army Reserves. Jane completed her DVM and MS in Comparative Biomedical Sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine in 2007. After a yearlong rotating equine internship at Arizona Equine Medical and Surgical Centre, she practiced as an equine ambulatory veterinarian in Maine and Wisconsin. She went on to teach at a veterinary technology program and spent time as a small animal emergency veterinarian. In 2020, she completed her Diagnostic Imaging residency at the University of Wisconsin (UW), where she stayed on as a Clinical Assistant Professor in Diagnostic Imaging for two years. During this time, she completed her board certification in Equine Diagnostic Imaging. Currently, she’s an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor in Diagnostic Imaging at the UW and provides telemedicine service through her business for small and large animals.

Kayla Le, DVM, DACVS-LA, completed her doctorate of veterinary medicine at Kansas State University before completing an equine surgical residency at Iowa State University. She’s currently an assistant clinical professor of large animal surgery at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Dr. Le enjoys all aspects of large animal surgery with a particular interest in upper airway and minimally invasive surgery. She’s the faculty advisor for the Equine Club and is currently investigating biomechanical properties of mandibular fracture repair and novel radiation therapy for equine cancers.

MRI of the Equine Distal Limb

50-minute Lecture • 1 scientific credit

Participants will learn the advantages of MRI examination of the equine distal limb, with a focus on the foot and its soft tissue structures. Dr. Levine will provide examples of common diseases imaged with MRI, such as navicular bone degeneration and deep digital flexor tendinopathy. And she’ll compare and contrast high-field and low-field MRI, highlighting the advantages of each.

Gwendolyn J. Levine, DVM, DACVP (Clinical Pathology), DACVR-DI, DACVR-ED, received her DVM from Texas A&M University in 2006 and stayed on for a rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery and a residency in clinical pathology before joining the faculty as a Clinical Assistant Professor at Texas A&M. She completed an alternative track radiology residency at Texas A&M University in 2022. She’s boarded in diagnostic imaging and equine diagnostic imaging and recently joined the diagnostic imaging team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Veterinary Medicine as a Clinical Associate Professor. Her professional interests include equine MRI and CT and small animal ultrasound and MRI, and she’s completed research in the area of neurologic biomarkers in small animals. Gwen has two dachshunds, Quark and Proton, and a horse, Chase.

Ultrasonography of the Equine Abdomen

50-minute Lecture • 1 scientific credit

Dr. Kowalski’s lecture will cover the basics of equine abdominal ultrasonography, including image optimization, indications, and limitations. A comparison between a full and FLASH (fast, localized, abdominal sonography of the horse) protocol will be discussed, emphasizing normal and briefly touching on abnormal sonographic findings.

Alycia Kowalski, DVM, is originally from Southeast Michigan and has traveled extensively over the course of her veterinary education and career. Alycia completed her veterinary degree at the Royal Veterinary College in London, England, in 2015. After graduation, she traveled to the heart of horse country (Lexington, Kentucky), where she completed a 16-month internship in equine surgery. She then completed a rotating internship in Pennsylvania along with a research fellowship investigating equine laminitis. Switching gears from surgery to internal medicine, Alycia made her way to Wisconsin to complete a residency in Large Animal Internal Medicine. She stayed at UW-Madison as a Clinical Instructor for one year and was hired on as a Clinical Assistant Professor in Large Animal Internal Medicine. Alycia enjoys all aspects of large animal internal medicine with a special interest in critical care, GI disease, and respiratory disease.

Ultrasonography of the Equine Abdomen

50-minute Lab • 1 scientific credit

This lab, held in the UW SVM’s new Large Animal Arena, will utilize concepts acquired from lectures and provide practical, hands-on imaging of the normal equine abdomen in live horses. A tailored learning experience will ensure that participants get the imaging insights they need to enhance their practices immediately.

Equine Track participants will cycle through three 50-minute sessions between 2 and 4:50 p.m.: the Abdomen Ultrasound Lab, a tour of the WVDL, and a tour of the UW SVM. Each group will experience all sessions during this time, and CE credit will be given for both tours.

Drs. Kowalski, Lund, Levine, and Diagnostic Imaging Residents Drs. Katie Ernst and Margo Ryan

Alycia Kowalski, DVM, is originally from southeast Michigan and has traveled extensively over the course of her veterinary education and career. Alycia completed her veterinary degree at the Royal Veterinary College in London, England, in 2015. After graduation, Alycia traveled to the heart of horse country (Lexington, Kentucky), where she completed a 16-month internship in equine surgery. Following this, she completed a rotating internship in Pennsylvania along with a research fellowship investigating equine laminitis. Switching gears from surgery to internal medicine, Alycia made her way to Wisconsin to complete a residency in Large Animal Internal Medicine. She remained at UW-Madison as a Clinical Instructor for one year and then was hired on as a Clinical Assistant Professor in Large Animal Internal Medicine. Alycia enjoys all aspects of large animal internal medicine with a special interest in critical care, GI disease, and respiratory disease.

Jane Renee ‘JR’ Lund, DVM, MS, MBA, DACVPM, DACVR (DI, EDI), hails from central Wisconsin and has worked in numerous places throughout the United States and the world as a veterinarian and veterinarian with the United States Army Reserves. Jane completed her DVM and MS in Comparative Biomedical Sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine in 2007. After a yearlong rotating equine internship at Arizona Equine Medical and Surgical Centre, she practiced as an equine ambulatory veterinarian in Maine and Wisconsin. She went on to teach at a veterinary technology program and small animal emergency veterinarian. In 2020, she completed her Diagnostic Imaging residency at the University of Wisconsin, where she stayed on as a Clinical Assistant Professor in Diagnostic Imaging for two years. During this time, she completed her board certification in Equine Diagnostic Imaging. Currently, she is an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor in Diagnostic Imaging at the UW and she also provides telemedicine service through her business for small and large animals.

Gwendolyn J. Levine, DVM, DACVP (Clinical Pathology), DACVR-DI, DACVR-ED, received her DVM from Texas A&M University in 2006. She stayed on for a rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery and a residency in clinical pathology, then joined the faculty as a Clinical Assistant Professor at Texas A&M. In 2018, Gwen was able to pursue an alternative-track radiology residency at Texas A&M University, which she completed in 2022. She is boarded in diagnostic imaging and equine diagnostic imaging. Gwen has recently joined the diagnostic imaging team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Veterinary Medicine as a Clinical Associate Professor. Her professional interests include equine MRI and CT and small animal ultrasound and MRI. She has completed research in the area of neurologic biomarkers in small animals. She has two dachshunds, Quark and Proton, and a horse, Chase.

Katie Erst, DVM, grew up in Millerstown, Pennsylvania spending her time either at her family’s dairy farm or in her father’s veterinary clinic. She earned her BS in Biology at Wake Forest University and was also part of the Field Hockey team. Katie then attended the Michigan State College of Veterinary Medicine, where she earned her DVM in 2021 and met her husband, Nate. Katie and Nate were both food animal predominate veterinarians at Marshfield Veterinary Service for 2 ½ years before Katie joined the UW Diagnostic Imaging team. They spend what spare time they have hiking, scuba diving, and running their business, “Two-Doc Livestock,” raising show lambs for 4-H and FFA kids. Katie found her calling to pursue diagnostic imaging as well as teaching and is excited to work with the next generation of future veterinarians.

Margo Ryan, DVM, was born and raised in Dallas, TX, where she developed a love of horses at a young age, competing in 3-day eventing and show jumping through her college years. After graduating from Oklahoma State University with her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 2019, she spent 2 years at Elgin Equine Hospital in Austin, TX, handling internal medicine, sports medicine, and surgical cases under the guidance of several board-certified equine surgeons. She then spent a year completing a small animal and equine imaging fellowship at Animal Imaging in Irving, TX, where she was directly involved in the acquisition and preliminary interpretation of numerous equine diagnostic imaging studies, including high and low field MRI, CT, bone scans, ultrasonography, and radiography under the guidance of several board-certified equine diagnostic imaging radiologists and a board-certified equine surgeon. Margo then spent a year in Houston, TX, at Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists, completing a small animal internal medicine internship before starting a radiology residency at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in July of 2023. Following completion of her residency, Margo hopes to join a diagnostic imaging team in academia where she can contribute to interdisciplinary case collaboration and to the education of veterinary students, interns, and residents.