Professional

Practice and beyond: different career paths as a farm vet

A career as a farm veterinary surgeon is versatile and provides many skills that can be used and transferred both within farm practice and beyond — we hope that by sharing our experiences we can help...

Post pandemic problems

I hope I'm not putting the cart before the horse when I say (I hope) that life may be entering a new ‘normal’ as we learn to live with COVID-19. BCVA Congress provided the first chance in 2 years to...

Control of bovine tuberculosis and Johne's disease in cattle

Does OTF status mean that a herd is actually free of endemic M. bovis infection or is the skin test failing to identify infected animals, particularly in herds that have recently regained OTF status?...

Responsible medicine use: but who is responsible?

There is good reason why many medicines are prescription only (POM-V); in the case of antibiotics this is to ensure they are not misused resulting in the rapid development of antimicrobial resistance...

Models for charging in practice: how should farm veterinary surgeons earn their living?

During my 25-year professional career, there has always been a certain tension around how farm veterinary surgeons earn their keep. Traditionally, one would say, medicine sales have supported income...

Evaluating evidence in practice

The word value is very difficult to define, as whatever an individual gets from an object or process, is extremely variable and dependent on that individual's wants or needs at the time of asking....

Would a veterinary surgeon manage COVID-19 this way?

The difficulties in controlling the coronavirus pandemic is a reflection of the unmanageable biosecurity risks of large numbers of people moving between populations and dispersing within those...

Getting more out of farmer meetings: a practical guide for advisors

Holding a meeting or workshop is a resource-heavy exercise; they take time to plan and organise, require materials, a venue, sometimes food, and usually persistent advertising and marketing. Engaging...

Evidence-based veterinary medicine: searching the evidence in practice

Evidence-based veterinary medicine techniques can be of enormous value to the general practitioner. There are some key processes to apply in order to search and find the science behind questions that...