NAVC expands its 2026 calendar with year-round team education

CURRENT FULL VERSION: NAVC is using its 2026 event slate to signal that veterinary education, and workforce support, now extends well beyond VMX. Its live calendar currently points professionals to NAVC SkillShop in Orlando on May 24-28, 2026, HiVE South in San Antonio on May 30-31, and HiVE East in Charlotte on August 1-2, alongside year-round digital learning through VetFolio. The shift is notable because NAVC is positioning these programs not as side offerings, but as part of a broader infrastructure for continuing education and team development. (navc.com)

That comes after VMX 2026, which NAVC said drew nearly 29,000 attendees and emphasized scholarships, technician-focused programming, and initiatives aimed at strengthening the veterinary pipeline. In its post-VMX messaging, NAVC explicitly connected its conference business to longer-term workforce goals, saying programs such as HiVE are meant to celebrate and elevate veterinary nurses, technicians, practice managers, and support staff. NAVC’s pre-conference messaging also made clear that VMX’s educational agenda was meant to spotlight where the profession is heading clinically, including sessions on extending animals’ healthspan through preventive medicine, nutrition, and dental care; rehabilitation and mobility; integrative and exotic animal medicine; and expanding access to care in rural and underserved communities. (prnewswire.com)

The practical details matter. NAVC’s event calendar describes a year-round education hub spanning in-person, virtual, and interactive learning. SkillShop, formerly the NAVC Institute, has been reworked into a modular hands-on training event with course options ranging from surgery and ultrasonography to anesthesia, leadership, and RECOVER CPR instruction. A recent Today’s Veterinary Practice “Inside NAVC” feature said the program is designed so attendees can mix and match short- and long-format courses, with 8 to 32 CE hours available depending on selections. (navc.com)

HiVE, meanwhile, is being marketed as a role-specific conference series for what NAVC calls the “often under recognized” members of the veterinary community. The organization says the meetings are designed for veterinary nurses, technicians, and practice management staff, with more than 10 hours of CE, real-world skills training, mentorship, and community-building. Current public listings show registration live for HiVE South and HiVE East, while HiVE West is expected in October 2026, with the location still to be announced. (navc.com)

Industry messaging around these events has focused heavily on accessibility and team inclusion. NAVC’s VMX recap tied HiVE and scholarship programming to a stronger, more connected veterinary workforce. That framing also lines up with broader conversations in the profession about how people are trained and retained. In veterinary media and podcast discussions this year, leaders have pointed to workplace-based and distributive education models, multigenerational communication challenges, and leadership development as practical pressure points for the next phase of workforce planning. Those themes sit adjacent to NAVC’s own emphasis on role-specific CE, hands-on formats, and year-round learning, even if they are not all formal NAVC programs. (prnewswire.com)

Outside observers have also pointed to HiVE as part of a growing ecosystem of smaller, role-targeted veterinary meetings that complement the large national conferences, especially for technicians and managers looking for more tailored CE and networking. Separately, leadership-focused commentary coming out of VLC and VMX 2026 has highlighted the strain that generational tension can place on team cohesion, turnover, engagement, succession planning, and knowledge transfer. That interpretation is partly inferential, but it helps explain why team-centered education and management training are getting more visible placement on major event calendars. (prnewswire.com)

There’s also a wider ecosystem around NAVC than CE alone. The organization used January to spotlight the 2025 VETTY Awards, which recognize animal health marketing work across advertising, PR, digital, events, educational materials, and campaign strategy. That is separate from the clinical education calendar, but it reinforces NAVC’s role as a platform that convenes not just clinicians, but also industry, communications, and advocacy stakeholders shaping how veterinary products, programs, and workforce initiatives reach the market. (navc.com)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, especially practice leaders, this calendar is a reminder that workforce development is increasingly being packaged as an ongoing operational priority, not a once-a-year education expense. A broader NAVC schedule gives practices more chances to send the right team member to the right format, whether that’s hands-on technical training, leadership development, or lower-friction online CE through VetFolio. For clinics facing burnout, turnover, or underutilization of credentialed staff, role-specific education can support retention and better use of team capacity. The clinical themes highlighted at VMX, from preventive care and rehab to rural access and mixed-practice realities, also show how education providers are increasingly tying CE to larger delivery-of-care challenges. (navc.com)

There’s also a business angle. NAVC says it serves a community of more than 685,000 professionals and hosts 50-plus events annually, underscoring how central large education platforms have become in shaping what topics, credentials, and workforce solutions get attention across the profession. When those platforms put technicians, managers, and support staff more visibly on the calendar, it can influence how hospitals think about CE budgets and career pathways. And when they pair that with leadership and access-to-care themes, they can also influence how practices think about team structure, communication, and service models. (navc.com)

What to watch: The next signals will be whether NAVC adds more 2026 webinar and certification offerings, releases final details for HiVE West, and continues building hands-on and workforce-oriented programming into SkillShop and the run-up to VMX 2027, scheduled for January 16-20, 2027, in Orlando. It will also be worth watching whether future NAVC programming keeps elevating the same themes seen at VMX 2026 and in adjacent industry conversations: preventive care, rehabilitation, rural and underserved access, leadership development, and the management challenges of a multigenerational workforce. (navc.com)