Dr. Ashley Bourgeois, The Derm Vet and KeraVet Bio Advisor, is a regularly featured speaker and presenter for a multitude of conferences all around the country, but she feels especially connected to those put on by DVM360 called “Fetch”.  It’s been a goal of hers for years to not just present at Fetch conferences, but to be invited as a keynote speaker.

After years of manifesting her goal, it became a reality and she was invited to be the keynote at the 2022 Kansas City Fetch Conference.  Besides being a Fetch conference, the location was particularly meaningful.  Growing up an “Air Force brat” Ashley has lived many places but one of her favorites was located an hour outside of Kansas City. Her DVM degree was even obtained from the University of Missouri, about two hours from Kansas City.  Her connections with Kansas City made this keynote feel like a homecoming.

However, the journey took an unexpected turn. A few months before the keynote, Ashley’s 3-year-old son was diagnosed with leukemia. To be involved with his treatment and protect his immunosuppressive state, Ashley took a medical leave from work and cancelled most of her speaking engagements include the keynote. Though difficult, she knew it was the right decision to focus on her son and family during an unexpectedly tough situation.

Though her son is still in treatment, he has reached the maintenance phase allowing a more normal life and the Fetch KC 2023 is providing another opportunity at the keynote. Her keynote isn’t about what it would have been a year ago. This year it will be about the life lessons she has learned since becoming a caregiver, and advocate, for her son and how this affects her empathy for client’s dealing with the burden of their pet’s dermatologic disease  It’s about how to understand the weight one carries when they are serving as a caregiver to a child with cancer, a pet with a chronic disease, an elderly parent and everywhere in between and how that weight can impact their interactions in the veterinary clinic.

If you’re ready for even more of a KC Fetch 2023 Keynote teaser, check out The Derm Vet Podcast. 

Registration for Kansas City Fetch is OPEN! Kansas City Fetch is taking August 25, 26 and 27. Click here to register.

Learn more about KeraVet Bio Advisor, Ashley Bourgeois, DVM, Dip ACVD, veterinary dermatologist for Animal Dermatology Clinic in Portland, professional speaker, and The Derm Vet podcast host by visiting her on LinkedIn.