Description
This two-day workshop is designed for veterinarians who want to gain more confidence, create new enthusiasm and enhance your surgical skills and capabilities in abdominal surgery.
Our Abdominal Surgery workshops is designed to be a hands-on practical workshop to enhance your skills in various aspects of abdominal surgery. This workshop is ideal for Veterinarians wanting to spend time practicing surgical techniques. Whether you are fresh out of vet school or a seasoned vet, this work shop is for you.
- Can you perform an exploratory laparotomy confidently and easily?
- Are you able to perform an enterotomy or an intestinal anastomosis?
- Do you look forward to the surgical management of GDV?
If you answered NO to any of these questions, this workship is for you.
Key Learning Areas:
- Preparing a patient for exploratory laparotomy, drug choices – analgesia, antibiotics
- Avoiding peek and shriek (standard approach and evaluation of the abdomen)
- Tips for Gastrointestinal surgery – identifying issues, suture type/pattern choice, use of suction and cautery
- Assessing GI tissue viability
- Organ biopsy methods: liver, pancreas, lymph node, intestinal
- Simple enterotomy, gastropexy (prophylactic), gastrotomy, serosal patching, omentalisation
- Foreign body identification and management (intestinal, linear, oesophageal)
- Anastamoses – tips and tricks
- Partial gastrectomies
- GDV’s and Splenectomies
- Intussusceptions
- Diaphragmatic hernia repair
- Oesophagostomy tube placement
- Post op care
Speaker Biography
Dr. Ben Mielke BVSc. (Hons) MVetMedMANZCVS (Surgery) Dip. ECVS MRCVS

Ben Mielke is an experienced boarded surgeon who has a strong interest in teaching the “tricks and tips” that he has learnt throughout his career. He graduated from the University of Melbourne, spent time in mixed practice in Gippsland, completed several internships in the UK and then a surgical residency at the Royal Veterinary College.
He loves all aspects of surgery with a particular interest in the management of complex multi-disciplinary cases and in management of trauma. When not working you will find him in cold water of the Melbourne Bay or riding bikes with his two (soon to be three) boys.
Value to your practice
This two-day workshop is designed for veterinarians who want to gain more confidence, create new enthusiasm and enhance your surgical skills and capabilities in abdominal surgery.
You will walk away from this course being able to confidently perform and exploratory laparotomy, enterotomy, intestinal enastomosis and surgically manage GDV’s.
Event Details
Start date: May 28, 2026
End date: May 29, 2026
Start time: 08:30 AEDT
End time: 17:00 AEDT
Venue: Advanced Centre for Education (ACE) Facility
Coordinates: -33.8090606251281, 151.14915218091693
Directions: 21 Chaplin Dr, Lane Cove NSW 2066, Australia
Phone: 1800 960 300
Email: info@practicalcpd.com