Final year veterinary student, Yuliia Zaruda, tells us about life as a vet student in Kyiv. With a lack of modern teaching resources and infrastructure to support the profession, vet students are working as qualified vets before they graduate and are taking self-directed learning to a whole other level. After completing an internship here in the UK, Yuliia hopes to one day bring her surgical skills back to the Ukraine to build a future for equine vets in her home country, and to enable the horses there to have access to the veterinary care that we so often take for granted here in the UK.

A rundown of the most important news from the last month that you need to know as an equine veterinary professional.

Further information on each news item can be found at the following links: 

• Genetic testing for type 2 polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM2), myofibrillar myopathy (MFM) or Muscle Integrity Myopathy

Accusations IVC "placing profits before people" over jobs axe threat

Five- versus seven-day dosing intervals of extended-release injectable omeprazole in the treatment of equine squamous and glandular gastric disease"

Tania Sundra of Avon Ridge Equine Veterinary Services, Australia, reveals how much the community we foster within our profession enables us to feel safe, satisfied and supported through out careers. We are all accountable for our own experiences, but by reaching out to others and building a professional network we can achieve so much more within our own lives and within the industries we work in.

Links

Avon Ridge Equine Services

BEVA Leg Up Career Coaching

Come and network at BEVA Congress!

Naomi Mellor talks to us about how 'networking' is the key to discovering opportunities within the equine veterinary profession. With so many ways to network nowadays, how can we '"kick open the doors" to finding a career which works for us as individuals, and have fun in the process!

Council member, Sophie Eaden, speaks to Mental Health First Aid trainer and equine vet, Kirstie Pickles, about the role mental health first aid can have in embracing a practice culture which is supportive of good mental health. Having both had times where their mental health has suffered while in equine practice, they know the impact the team around you can have. Passionate about making that experience less painful for others, they discuss what individuals and practices can do to make it better.

Olly King has experienced first-hand how reluctance to change the way a practice runs can cripple employees' happiness and erode business's bottom line. He has set out to help others understand how involving the whole team, being innovative and being willing to make changes, can create people-first cultures that co-nurture team and business success.

Links:

The Meraki Initiative

Watch our story

Search Meraki map 

EMS Grants 

Instagram 

LinkedIn

Facebook

Sarah Freeman and Katie Lightfoot, have both been working on student engagement at Nottingham vet school. The 'Stable Footing' initiative has been pivotal in opening up the door to career paths in equine practice. By breaking down the barriers which are invisible to so many of us already in the field, this team have made it an inviting, accessible and welcoming route to take, with equal opportunities and even funding available for those who need it. If we want to see the equine profession thrive going forwards, we all have a duty and responsibility to invest in the future workforce, and this starts with students 'seeing-practice'. How we interact and engage with students can be the 'make or break' for whether they choose a career in equine or not. Our actions could be putting off our best colleagues of tomorrow, but the good news is, there are simple ways we can avoid being 'that person'. Shining a light for those who come after you can be as rewarding for you as it is for the person you are helping.

On Saturday 29th April 2023, World Veterinary Day will be celebrating 'EDI'. For those who don't know, this stands for equality, diversity and inclusion. But what does EDI look like in equine practice, and perhaps even more importantly how can you identify its absence? Council member Sophie Eaden discusses the topic with Adeel Khan and James Whitmore.

A rundown of the most important news from the last month that you need to know as an equine veterinary professional.

Further information on each news item can be found at the following links: 

• Equine Disease Surveillance EHV report

Other links:

• Full list of BEVApod episodes

Florrie Clark, 4th year vet student at Cambridge, talks to us about how students are desperate for the opportunity to hone their skills in equine, which they feel lag behind their small animal skills. While the disparity is 'the nature of the beast', with a bursting curriculum and the difficulty of getting 'hands on' during equine EMS, there are plenty of other skills to be practiced and opportunities to be had. Observing procedures, working with the nurses, understanding case management and talking to clients, are all just as valuable. The key for new graduates and their employers and colleagues, is accepting the different starting point to that of a small animal vet. Nuturing confidence should be a priority, and can be done in the right environment with the right people. We all need to take up that gauntlet in order to create a profession which people want to be part of.