Companion collection - Interviews

 Johanna Forsyth became the first graduate of the BSAVA’s new Master’s Degree in Clinical Veterinary Research (MRes) at Congress 2019. Johanna talks to Companion about her career progression.

  Denis Novak has been elected the new president of FECAVA, the pan European small animal veterinary association, at its 25th EuroCongress in St Petersburg, Russia (4–7 September). The clinical skills that he employs in his Belgrade-based practice have been finely tuned through contact with professional colleagues throughout Europe, including the UK where he has been a regular visitor.

A degree certificate bearing the unfamiliar designation BVMSci was not the only thing that the first cohort of veterinary graduates from the University of Surrey took away with them in the summer of 2019. According to Professor Chris Proudman, the man who planned their route through the previous 5 years, they will have also emerged with the mental equipment necessary to tackle any challenge that presents itself in their professional career.

  Carla Finzel set up the first UK district veterinary nurse (DVN) service in Sussex in 2015 and hopes to develop the concept nationally. She sees her work as the embodiment of the One Welfare – One Health ideal in providing help for the pets of owners who may be too frail themselves to bring the animal in for clinic-based veterinary care. Carla was born in Madrid and grew up in Spain and Ireland. She is the adopted daughter of a musician father, and mother who is a nurse.

Brendan Godley is a marine biologist and self-confessed ‘turtle geek’. His research has taken him around the globe to many of those countries with breeding populations of this ancient reptile group. He has worked to help ensure the survival of turtles in Cyprus, Ascension Island, the West Indies, Brazil, Congo and Gabon… all places a very long way from the Glasgow veterinary school where he began his scientific career.

Rick LeCouteur emerged from the Sydney veterinary school in 1974 with a case of the wanderlust that so commonly afflicts young Australians. He went on to work in academia in Canada and the United States where he now lives. In April he will be in Birmingham to give a series of lectures at BSAVA Congress on his chosen specialism, neurology. But after that he could be anywhere, through his new career organizing wildlife-watching tours for his fellow vets.

Last month the BSAVA announced a move to Manchester for its Congress from 2021. This month Angharad Belcher, Head of BSAVA Congress, explains why.

Canine Arthritis Management (CAM) is an educational initiative set up by Sussex practitioner Hannah Capon to improve the quality of life for the 80% of older dogs in the UK with joint disease. Hannah spoke to Companion about efforts she and her team are making to dispense advice to pet owners to help them better recognize signs of pain, and advise their vets on how they can do more to remedy the problem.

Jen Palfreyman, a third-year student at the Liverpool vet school, received the undergraduate Student Inspiration Award from the Kennel Club Trust in June. This recognized the value of her vacation project looking at the possibility of a novel parasite becoming established in the UK. She told John Bonner about this threat to canine health and welfare.

Natalia Pérez Ramos has carved out a career for herself translating veterinary literature from English into her native Spanish. She explains how she found her way into such a niche area, how she spends her working days and how Brexit may affect her work.

‘Poacher turned gamekeeper’ is the phrase normally used to describe someone who crosses a professional divide in midcareer. But in Emma Dahm's case, it will be more a matter of ‘critic turned performer’ when she takes up a place as an undergraduate at the Nottingham veterinary school later this year.

David Burton has been a fixture on the Burtons Medical Equipment stand since he joined his father's company in the mid-1980s. He tells John Bonner about his Plan Bee for the next phase of his career.

Samantha Elmhurst is a professional member of the Institute of Medical Illustrators and is the artist responsible for many of the illustrations that appear in the BSAVA manuals. She comes from a family of animal lovers in a house with many pets, and as a young girl was lucky enough to have her own pony when the family relocated to Norfolk. After training as an artist in London, she eventually returned to Norwich where she set up her own company; Living Art.

Laura Muir always puts in top class performances whether she is wearing the white vest of the Great Britain athletics team or the blue surgical scrubs of her chosen profession. But how does this final year student at the Glasgow Veterinary School find the time and energy to keep her two parallel careers on track?

Surrey practitioner Wolfgang Dohne was born and educated in Kiel in Germany. He credits the 1960s television series Daktari as an early influence on his choice of career. Having served as the BSAVA’s representative for FECAVA he is now President of the pan-European association.

Ellen was born and brought up in Belgium; she graduated from the University of Ghent in veterinary medicine. She owns her own practice and finds time to juggle work and family life around travelling to the UK to study for the BSAVA Postgraduate Certificate in Small Animal Ophthalmology – and complete it in the shortest time possible.

Andy Sparkes was one of the first UK vets to train as a specialist in feline medicine. Now, as Veterinary Director of International Cat Care, he is making sure that colleagues abroad have the same opportunities he had to explore the mysteries of our most enigmatic domestic species.

Andrew was born in Penryn in Cornwall into a family that was dominated by sport – mainly rugby union. He went to Falmouth Grammar School and then to the Royal Veterinary College.

Sue Murphy is a specialist in clinical oncology at the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket and has now become Chair of the BSAVA Congress Programme Committee.

Alex is President of the British Veterinary Dental Association and teaches university and postgraduate courses in the UK and abroad, and is a member of a number of oral associations.

Judy Puddifoot was born and raised in Hertfordshire. By her own admission she was a late developer academically, having left school at 16. But driven by a deep desire to become a vet, she eventually achieved her goal.

Penny Barker is going on a 3000-mile trip across the US as she aims to be the fastest female finisher in next year’s event and to raise considerable sums of money for her two favoured charities.

An interview with one of the directors of Abbeydale Vetlink Veterinary Training, a private training provider based in Monmouth. Samantha Morgan was born in South Wales, growing up between home in Cardiff and the family’s small farm in Barry. She has a younger sister, and growing up they shared a love of animals with their uncle, a veterinary surgeon at Park Vets in Cardiff.

An interview with the BVA’s next president exploring gender equality in the veterinary profession.

James Greenwood, a Veterinary Surgeon at Viking Vets, Bristol talks about his career, how he developed his interest in ceramics and how he coped with the resulting public attention.