Category: Career Interview/Q&A
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Ellie Lee BVSc MRCVS – Director, Manchester...
Salary
We're not currently paying ourselves a full salary but once the finances are more stable we'll be on £50k each, increasing that as the practice grows
Travel
None
Values
Going the extra mile for clients & patients Being an empathetic employer
Region
Manchester but you can open your own practice anywhere!
Essential Skills
Confidence in the clinical side of the job Good interpersonal skills
Ellie Lee BVSc MRCVS
Check out our Career Q & A questions below to take a deep dive into this career path. If you’re interested in this type of career but unsure how to take the next step, click below to learn more about our services designed to support you.
My first job was at Vale Vets in Kidderminster, an independent small animal only practice in the West Midlands. I worked there for two years and feel very lucky to have started my career in such a lovely, supportive practice. I learned so much from some amazing vets and nurses and at the time we did our own out-of-hours which, although I didn’t love it at the time, taught me a lot and really helped my confidence. I then locumed in the UK for a few months before moving to Wellington, New Zealand to work at the SPCA for a few months, followed by some travelling, then returning to the UK as a locum based in Manchester.
My husband and I had been locuming in the Manchester area for a couple of years and felt that we would never really be ready to settle down into a permanent job again unless someone opened a cat-only practice in Manchester. We’d sort of joked about doing it ourselves but had never really been serious about it until November 2021 when I was in a pub in Gloucester with some other BSAVA volunteers and the subject of opening a practice came up. I chair BSAVA North West Regional Committee and sit on Council, so I’d travelled down to BSAVA HQ after work ahead of a Council meeting the next day. The vets I was speaking to were so encouraging and supportive of the concept of me opening a practice that it went from being a bit of a joke to a serious idea and I went home the next day wanting to seriously look into it. We booked onto Onswitch’s Open Your Own Practice course and one thing led to another and now we’re practice owners!
We had to make a business plan to get loans for equipment and premises renovations (we used a company called Vector Finance who were fantastic). We were very lucky that there was a veterinary surgery which had closed in 2020 very close to where we live – it had been a vets since 1948, sold to a corporate in 2018 but the previous practice owner retired and the practice closed due to staffing issues and Covid. The corporate had been paying rent on an empty building for a few years by the time we came along and were very keen to break their lease. Our landlord is a retired vet who was very happy for us to take over.
I love the feedback from staff and clients about how nice the practice is. Multiple times a day clients will tell me that they’ve never been to a vets like ours and that both them and their cats are so much more comfortable here. We really do our best to go the extra mile and I think the way we’ve renovated the practice and made it much less clinical and more friendly really makes a big difference. We’ve also been very lucky to have recruited an absolutely brilliant group of people who are a pleasure to work with
I’d say my day is pretty typical for a small animal vet except I only see cats, which is such a treat. I get a lot less scratches and bruises than I used to and the practice is much quieter and calmer than anywhere I’ve ever worked.
The management side has been a big learning curve and the admin burden has been absolutely huge but we’re getting into the swing of things now and have been able to delegate a lot of things to the rest of the team. We’ve just recruited for another vet and RVN as we’ve been so busy that we’ve needed to grow really quickly. My husband and I have been working 50-60 hours a week since we opened but we should actually be able to have a day off once the new vet starts which we’re very excited about.
Someone who doesn’t mind a big admin burden and is very organised – there is just so much to think about and do on top of all the clinical work. We expected to start off fairly quiet but we were pretty much fully booked from the get go, and by all accounts that’s not unusual, a lot of other startups have also been doing really well.
It also really helps to be a people person, not only for managing the team but also clients really like to see a vet at the face of an independent practice and really appreciate getting to know you. We get a lot of comments about how much they want to get to know a regular vet and see a familiar face, and our social media posts get a lot more engagement if they have our faces on it. It can feel a bit weird to put yourself out there (especially after we’d been fairly anonymous locums for a few years) but clients really appreciate it.
We didn’t have any money! We’d got married the year before and bought our first house the year before that so we had no cash at all. Thankfully vets are seen as very safe businesses to lend to and we were able to borrow £240k for cash and renovations based on our business plan alone. We continued to locum through the same limited company that we were using to open the practice so some of what we were earning went towards the costs of setting up the practice too. It was a bit of a scary leap and even though we’d done the maths and had good accountants we still felt a bit like we were winging it and it was a big relief to get all of the bills paid without running out of money.- Onswitch’s “Open Your Own Practice” course
- Onswitch’s “Managing & Coaching Teams” course
- Speak to people who own their own practice
Do the “Open Your Own Practice” course from Onswitch – I can’t express enough how hugely helpful not only the course was but also the massive amount of help we’ve had from Alison Lambert and Ruth Gray since then. We could not have done this without them and they still give us so much advice and support. It also introduced us to a network of people in the same boat as us who we get a lot of support from. It makes a huge difference being able to speak to people who are going through the same thing and get answers to the millions of questions we had.Newsletter
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Mary-Anne Frank – Vet and Co Founder...
Salary
Tangible - it may take a while to build up but don't forget to pay yourself. There is no upper limit to earnings.
Travel
Occasional conferences
Values
Freedom, Helping others, Creativity
Region
Wherever you choose!
Essential Skills
Creativity, Empathy, Service
Contact
Mary-Anne Frank
Check out our Career Q & A questions below to take a deep dive into this career path. If you’re interested in this type of career but unsure how to take the next step, click below to learn more about our services designed to support you.
I started out in mixed practice and moved to a busy small animal practice to increase my caseload while studying towards a Certificate in Small Animal Medicine. I struggled with my energy levels and was completely wiped out on my days off. It felt like everyone else was managing, why was I unable to cope? After having kids the extra workload intensified this issue and I felt very stuck and unable to figure out a solution.
During Covid I had time to dig deep and figure out what my strengths were. I realised that I needed to do more with my natural creativity and that I wanted to start my own business.
In 2021 I was under huge pressure with an increase in demand from our clients who all got new pets during Covid. Then due to Brexit, the pet travel scheme changed and clients who wanted to travel with their pets needed a 12 page form filled in by their vet. These forms were taking me over an hour and heaven forbid I make a mistake leading to border dramas. OVForm was born because I found filling in the forms very stressful and difficult and it was taking time away from other important jobs. I mentally broke the form down into it’s simplest components and asked my husband if he could create software to edit the pdf documents. We tested the concept and it worked. I now had a solution I could use but we needed a website so that other vets could use it. The website was created by my brother and so OVForm was born and is still run by the 3 of us.
Starting a business is easy, you can learn from other entrepreneurs through courses and mentorship. I had about 50 ideas but picked the one that was easy, profitable and had potential to scale. It was important to me that the people I work with can work in their “flow” and knowing what my strengths and weaknesses were made it easier to choose partners who could fill in the gaps and add technical expertise.
My business model and role are very intentional. I work in practice 2 days a week, I keep bees, I have 2 young children. The business has to fit into about 10 hours a week. If I spent more time on it it would probably get results faster but I pick the one or two tasks that move us forward each week. I ditch, delegate and automate tasks where possible and try not get stuck in the weeds of working in the business itself.
Neurodiversity is the secret sauce that is both the reason why OVForm exists and why it is so good. When we all work in our flow it generates results that exceed expectations, that is for me the best bit!
I usually work 10am – 3pm Monday – Wednesday. I do an “overview” look at all areas then pick a couple of tasks for the week based on what I feel is going to be the most impact. Right now that would be getting 2 more people on board to do customer services and marketing and setting up onboarding emails and videos for a corporate that has just joined.
Someone creative, a problem solver, with genuine desire to serve the people they are selling to.
I am a massive introvert and it took a lot of “inner” work to reprogram mental barriers and limiting beliefs that were holding me back particularly when it came to telling people about my idea. I used Neuro Linguistic Programming for this and it worked very quickly.
- Network with others on the same path
- Find out what you are really good at and make it a part of your business
- Find out who you want to help and find out what they are struggling with
Solopreneurism is overrated, find people with the right skills to work with and your life will be much easier
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Julie Kerr – Locum RVT
Salary
36-40k CAD. It is extremely variable as I can increase my yearly salary by working more.
I work 35-50 hours per week depending on contract + business needs. This is valid for when I am on contract, which is approximately 6 months/year. During downtime I work more like 20-30 hours/week.Travel
I choose to travel to locum. Depending on location, it may or may not be necessary to travel
Values
Integrity, inclusion, empathy. Sharing knowledge. Supporting myself and colleagues.
Region
Julie is based in Canada but locum RVT/RVN work can be completed anywhere
Essential Skills
3-5 years clinical RVT experience
Good communication and a willingness to develop
Confidence in yourself and your professional abilitiesJulie Kerr
Check out our Career Q & A questions below to take a deep dive into this career path. If you’re interested in this type of career but unsure how to take the next step, click below to learn more about our services designed to support you.
After graduating as a Veterinary Technologist, I worked in remote general practice in a northern Canadian community for 6 years. We provide services of a general practice, and also emergency and on-call services. I learned a lot, while also working a lot. Ultimately, very quickly my work-life balance became too heavily weighted on the side of work, including the emotional burden of vet med itself, and I experienced burnout. After a lot of deliberation, I chose to leave the field, but after a couple years of healing, I recognized how much I still loved veterinary medicine. When I decided to return to vet med, I chose to do so as a locum RVT.
I was looking for a way to return to veterinary medicine that would allow me to maintain healthy boundaries while being able to support colleagues with additional help, as well as working to my passions. Locuming seemed like the right fit to my needs.
Veterinary Technology degree
Experience in the field
Set up as a self-employed businessThe two very best parts for me are the freedom to clearly lay my boundaries and to provide support to my colleagues when I work as a locum in a vet clinic, which I find exceptionally rewarding.
Some of the downsides are that in order to locum from my base in the Yukon, every time I work I must leave home, as well as the uncertainties that are inherent in self-employment.
Something that is both one of the best bits and is also a downside is the constant adaptation required when joining new teams at a vet clinic. Fun and challenging at the same time!
Because I travel, I tend to locum in a large chunk of time, then return home and have downtime.
When I am providing locum services, then I am doing RVT tasks, and every clinic I go to has me do slightly different things.
My typical day may include working in GP, sometimes in ER. Some clinics request me to run anesthesia, some prefer me to run RVT appointments.
Sometimes I’m the only RVT in the clinic on certain locum contracts, which means I do a bit of everything.
But always, I build rapport with my colleagues, build trust with animal-patients and communicate with pet owners.
My regular tasks as a self-employed locum also include answering emails, sales/marketing my services, booking locum shifts, dealing with accounting such as sending invoices.
In my downtime, I explore other professional interests. I write a blog about my locum experiences, I take the opportunity of time to volunteer with spay/neuter/exam clinics as I can, I have begun speaking on the how-to’s of being a locum RVT.As a locum RVT, I think it’s helpful to be a person who is open to different ideas and to change. Communication is also a very important skill to develop.
There are many ways to provide locum services, and I think that anyone who is interested in locuming has the potential to make a niche for themselves based on their particular strengths, but change is a strong theme in locuming, so being open to change is important, in my opinion.
Starting up as a self employed business felt like a barrier. It felt scary to transition from being an employee to being self-employed, with all the inherent uncertainties. I found it difficult to find advice online on how to start as a locum RVT, so I adapted what I could find on being a locum vet (not quite the same for an RVT, though some similarities), and also contacted my provincial and national VT associations and got advice from them. And then I worked through the steps and kept moving forward until I was out locuming. I remember feeling a lot of fear and panic as I was getting set up. I’d been out of the field for nearly 3 years by the time I was setting up as a locum, and so that all added to my feelings of uncertainty.
- Experience in the field to develop confidence in technical skills.
- Network.
- Start your business.
My best advice for someone looking to start as a locum RVT is to just begin. Just begin researching the path and to understanding both the pros and the cons of locuming, just begin the steps to become self employed, just begin…and then be kind to yourself as you learn and grow. Have confidence in yourself and know your value.
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Bhanu Kaur RVN – Clinical Case Manager,...
Salary
36-40k (with overtime & Locum pay), 41 hours per week
Travel
I travel to the office once every few months, mainly for socials
Values
Kindness, Compassion, Respect, Independence, Supportiveness
Region
Remote working
Essential Skills
Veterinary experience/background
Organisational skills
Proficient communication skillsFIRSTNAME LAST NAME
Check out our Career Q & A questions below to take a deep dive into this career path. If you’re interested in this type of career but unsure how to take the next step, click below to learn more about our services designed to support you.
I was pretty lost in life and found a patient care assistant (PCA) job with Medivet. I knew I always wanted to work with animals, I just never considered veterinary nursing because I did not know much about it. My PCA position kept me on my toes and gave me real insight into just how much RVNs do in practice, and I loved that there was always something new to learn, no matter how much experience you had. I was lucky enough to become an SVN within 8 months, then qualified as an RVN 3.5 years later. I haven’t looked back since, it’s set me up for life.
After being a HRVN throughout covid, I fancied a bit of a break from practice and was trying to find a work from home job. I came across a temporary role within VetCT and thought it was the perfect opportunity. Little did I know I’d fall in love with the company so much!
Veterinary experience, preferably with a professional qualification such as MRCVS/RVN or a veterinary radiographer
The best bit is that I get to chat with radiologists, specialists and colleagues from all over the globe. I have built strong friendships with people I have never even met before and I love that. I have never worked for a company with such an awesome culture, too. Everybody is so darn nice.
The downside would be that I do not get to see my colleagues everyday. It can be quite isolating.A typical day would be ensuring XRs/CTs/MRIs/Fluoros are assigned to the correct radiologists and get back to the clients on time, troubleshooting cases, liaising with clients, triaging cases. Liaising with colleagues if a radiologist raises concern over image acquisition (if client needs further support/advice with protocols). And generally keeping radiologists/specialists happy 😊
A sociable, friendly, fast-paced & organised person who doesn’t shy away from anything IT/Tech related 😊
- Keep checking job bulletin boards for new roles with VetCT such as Indeed & LinkedIn
- Educate yourself on image acquisition
Give yourself enough time to get your head around all the different SOPs/workflows… there are A LOT!
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Aldara Eiras Diaz – Internal Medicine Consulant...
Salary
60k+
Av 40h weekTravel
Only to european congresses but not as part of my role
Values
Compassion and problem solving
Region
Specialist positions are available across multiple locations
Essential Skills
Veterinary degree
12 months rotating internship at an ECVIM approved referral centre
3 years Internal Medicine Residency at an ECVIM approved referral centreContact
Aldara Eiras Diaz
Check out our Career Q & A questions below to take a deep dive into this career path. If you’re interested in this type of career but unsure how to take the next step, click below to learn more about our services designed to support you.
After my graduation in Spain I performed a rotating internship at the Vet School (Santiago de Compostela) and decided that I wanted to pursue specialisation in Internal Medicine
After working alongside my university professors at the Vet School during my rotating internship decided I really enjoyed reading about Internal Medicine and decided I would like to specialise in that field
I decided to move to the UK because there are more opportunities to apply for a residency programme than in Spain. I worked in first opinion practice for 2 years while I was improving my language and clinical skills, and in the meantime I started a Internal Medicine certificate at Liverpool University. I then completed a rotating internship at a private referral hospital, after which I obtained an internal medicine residency in a different private referral hospital. After my residency I started working at Southfields and alongside my clinical work I started to coordinate the rotating internship programme here. I passed my certifying exam and became a diplomate in 2022.
Being able to work on the area of small animal medicine I like the most, with interesting cases every day. I also love to teach and supervise interns and residents and help coordinate the internship programme
We start clinical rounds at 9am and after that we see consults and supervise clinical cases of residents and interns. In the afternoon, we perform the workups and procedures from the hospitalised patients. We do rounds at 5pm in the evenings
A person that is passionate about improving their knowledge and skills in a certain area of veterinary medicine, and that would be committed to give that knowledge back to the veterinary profession by training and teaching of interns, residents and the veterinary community.
I had to get use to the way of working in clinical practice and referral hospitals in the UK, and to keep improving my internal medicine knowledge and language skills.
- Acquire some experience in first opinion (at least 1 year)
- Attend CPD, consider starting a certificate, visit referral hospitals
- Apply for a rotating internship
- Study a lot and visit referral hospitals to get to know specialists working on your are of interest
- Think hard about where you want to pursue your training and why
- Don’t give up applying for internships/residencies if you are committed to this career path
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Kishan Sharma – Rotating Intern at North...
Salary
31-35k - This is a heavily above average salary for an internship. Hours:: 50-84 hours depending on rotation and weekend shifts
Travel
None - on site
Values
Teamwork, Communication, Resilience
Region
Internships can be found in multiple regions, I'm at North Downs Specialist Referrals
Essential Skills
MRCVS
1-2 years in practiceKishan Sharma MRCVS
Check out our Career Q & A questions below to take a deep dive into this career path. If you’re interested in this type of career but unsure how to take the next step, click below to learn more about our services designed to support you.
“Internships are hard but I am loving it! If anyone is thinking about applying for a rotating internship and want some more information then send me a message on LinkedIn or an email. Good luck!!”
I went into a busy first opinion practice which had a high medical and surgical caseload, which also had a wide selection of equipment. I really enjoyed my job and I developed my skills quickly.
Around the 18-24month mark after graduating I started to feel that I wasn’t enjoying general practice as much as I used to. I think I’ve always known I’d want to pursue the referral setting to provide a higher level of care.
Rotating internships generally require a minimum amount of time in general practice (1-2 years) and having good teamworking, communication and time management skills.
I am loving the internship, every day I’m absorbing lots of knowledge from the clinicians. The team at NDSR is very friendly and everyone is happy to help you learn. The main downside of any internship is the long hours that can sometimes come with it!
Generally the interns would arrive at 8am, help the nurses with any admits, patient checks, issues etc. From 9am we will be helping the specific discipline we are assigned to with cases including diagnostic procedures. We help write the referral letters and developing a plan for each case.
Internships can be brutal at times but someone who has a good sense of humour, resilience, time management, a good attitude and a want to learn would make a good intern!
There are lots of people applying for the same spots so there’s a lot of competition. Showing off your individuality in the interviews is the best advice I can give.
- Spend the first few years developing your skills as a day one vet before considering applying as you need to learn to implement your knowledge in general practice.
- Spend time researching the company you’ll want to apply for and why you’re selecting that specific hospital.
- Don’t be disheartened if you don’t get it! Keep applying as you’ll be getting more experienced as time goes on.
The main thing to realise is that you are going into an internship to learn and you won’t have an extensive knowledge of every single discipline. I was never the cleverest of vets but I’ve felt that going into the internship with an open mind to learn has really helped me. The more you put in, the more you’ll get out!
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Rebecca Smith – Lecturer in Veterinary Professional...
Salary
36-40k (starting salary for full time)
Travel
Some travel between Harper and Keele campus.
Values
support, creativity, personal growth
Region
WFH available, time required at Harper & Keele
Essential Skills
- Veterinary degree
- Teaching experience
- Communication and presentationRebecca Smith
Check out our Career Q & A questions below to take a deep dive into this career path. If you’re interested in this type of career but unsure how to take the next step, click below to learn more about our services designed to support you.
After graduating as a veterinary surgeon I worked full time in small animal clinical practice. Developing and honing my clinical skills in my first job, completing a medicine certificate in my second job and eventually taking on a senior position as the lead veterinary surgeon. This provided maternity cover for the clinical director and gave me insight into this role.
Then the COVID pandemic shook the world and made leading a clinical team that little more challenging. I was part way through my covering role and had started to explore what my career would look like after this. Did I want to be a clinical director? The profession felt like it had reached a crisis point and I realised I really wanted to be part of the solution. I knew I enjoyed mentoring and coaching the new graduate students, but found I was often unable to give it the space I felt it deserved in practice. I had a huge passion for education and spent time volunteering for BSAVA. So I started looking for roles in academia.
I found and applied for a clinical teaching fellow role at The Harper and Keele Veterinary School. Following interview I was offered a position and within the first few weeks I knew I had made the right move. I was part of a team who shared my passion for learning, education and supporting the next generation. The role was part time and I maintained my clinical role for the rest of the working week.Whilst working as a clinical teaching fellow I obtained a teaching qualification and was encouraged to follow my interests, contributing to developing teaching material as well as facilitating delivery.
The curriculum at Harper Keele embraces and champions the importance of professional skills which hugely aligned with my personal values and interests… so when the role of lecturer in veterinary professional development was posted I was bursting with excitement.
Except… I had just gone on maternity leave to have my little boy. After giving myself a talking-to and putting my big girl pants on (quite literally) I applied anyway. The opportunity was too perfect for me to take myself out the race.Veterinary degree
Teaching experience
Teaching qualification (can be done on the job)
The best bit is being part of a great team with a shared vision and common goal.
It is hard work and very busy especially being a new course with a constantly growing and evolving team. I’d say you need to be flexible, adaptable and accepting of change.- Planning and developing teaching material
- Design and development of the curriculum
- Responding to student queries
- Liaising with colleagues to ensure smooth delivery of course components
- Grading/ providing feedback to students.
Someone who is organised, thorough and enjoys teaching or supporting others.
You have so many transferable skills as a vet and can often undersell your skills and experience. Most of the barriers are in your own head. I interviewed for this post at a few weeks post-partum. I found caffeine, extremely big nickers and a very willing nanny helped me overcome that one.
- Get involved in mentoring and supporting junior members of the clinical team, look for opportunities to develop teaching material (owner talks, in house training etc)
- Consider further relevant qualifications
- If you aren’t already then start looking at entry level positions in academia
Go for it!
Stop getting in your own way.Newsletter
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Clare Cripwell – Lecturer in Veterinary Professional...
Salary
41-45k (36-42 approx. depending on entry level (salary scales and spinepoints available on Keele website))
Travel
minimal unless wishing to do more i.e. training opportunities, conferences etc
Values
Autonomy, Progression in a field you are passionate about, the value of great collaboration and team work and its ability to make real change
Region
partial work from home - time on campuses required
Essential Skills
BVSc MRCVS
Educational experienceContact
Watch Clare Here
Watch back this panel with the Harper Keele Vet School Team – discussing the brand new role of the clinical preceptor in higher education
Clare Cripwell
Check out our Career Q & A questions below to take a deep dive into this career path. If you’re interested in this type of career but unsure how to take the next step, click below to learn more about our services designed to support you.
Initially worked in small animal clinical veterinary practice 2011-2019 including locum work more latterly. Enjoyed more autonomy associated with locum placements, alongside visiting different practices and seeing different team dynamics, approaches.
2019 move into post as lecturer and course manager in Higher Education – including on BSc(Hons) veterinary nursing BSc equine science & BSc animal science programmes. Enjoyed transition, new challenges and exploring educational sector. Rewarding seeing, and helping students to learn, develop, achieve. Enjoyed input to creation and development of new BSc(Hons) Veterinary nursing programme and being able to get involved in development of new content, module creation, assessment design. Also allowed achievement of PGCert(LTHE) and Fellowship of the Higher Education Authority, alongside qualifications in workplace assessment.Step to progress into an exciting and evolving role focusing on education specifically of veterinary students. Initially clinical teaching fellow position at HKVS with progression into position as Lecturer in Veterinary Professional studies. Also recently taken on role of ‘Clinical Teaching Fellow Team Lead’ for the Keele campus
BVSc MRCVS
PGCert(LTHE) FHEA
Experience as previous Lecturer and Course Manager in Higher Education- Love the opportunity to be involved in curriculum planning and design
- Making a difference, collaborating on (sometimes big) ideas and seeing them come to fruition
- Love working as part of a forward thinking, supportive and collaborative team
- Love the opportunity to make a real difference to the education of future veterinary professionals
- Downsides – high marking workload, sometimes pinch points with multiple demands on time – often nature of Higher Education work and academic year design
Collaborative meetings relating to curriculum development, refinement and planning. Creating module content including lecture material, tutorial sessions and guided online learning sessions. Liaising with guest speakers and external organisations and stakeholders to arrange learning activities and engagement opportunities. Academic mentor meetings with students to check progress, respond to queries and/or signpost support.
Someone who loves to be involved in change, especially around the Veterinary curriculum, and likes being organised. Someone who enjoys both autonomy and working as part of a team.
Initially when transitioning into a lecturing role the fear of lecturing to large cohorts and ‘not knowing all the answers’. Overcame this by trying it, then becoming more familiar – did feel unnatural at first! Also by realising that its okay (and actually human) sometimes not to know, and a good opportunity to delegate research tasks and/or admit you are human.
Some previous teaching experience – already achieved
Valuable to have PGCert(LTHE) FHEA although support to work towards if neededExplore the field. Reach out and try it!Explore the field – try it out and have a go.
Guest lecturing is often a really great way to ‘dip your toe’ into the water and see if you enjoy it – Reach out!Newsletter
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Cecilia Tat – Intern at the World...
Salary
< £15k, It is an unpaid internship, and will need to be funded by oneself.
Travel
Train/underground to commute to the office for work, can work from home when necessary.
Values
Independent learning, Communication & Teamwork
Region
UK/Japan
Essential Skills
Background in, or working towards an animal-related qualification, ideally veterinary medicine;or in disease-related qualification
Contact
Cecilia Tat
Check out our Career Q & A questions below to take a deep dive into this career path. If you’re interested in this type of career but unsure how to take the next step, click below to learn more about our services designed to support you.
Read Cecilia’s blog article on the BVA- Joining the one health army
Explore the WOAH website
Explore the One Health EJP website
The Academy of Medical Sciences – INSPIRE Program
During my veterinary studies, I was engrossed with One Health after my fourth year module on One Health and Epidemiology, and more so due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The concept of “One Health” recently became more prominent in the public eye as a result, which affected every aspect of our lives. Following this, I was involved in a research project about ‘SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in wildlife in the UK’ in the CORVIN project with the OHEJP (One Health European joint programme) in the summer after fourth year going into my final year of vet school. For my final year rotations, I elected for the ‘One Health’ elective which opened up an opportunity to attend a One Health Summer school in Uganda prior to my graduation.Throughout my final two years of vet school, I had emailed to apply for the internship, and been in contact with the World Organisation for Animal Health’s office in Japan. And after a lot of correspondence, I started my internship after graduating as a veterinary surgeon with the World Organisation for Animal Health, Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific.Currently, the best bit is enhancing my knowledge by ten-fold as to how international organisations work, what work they do and how they execute it. WOAH Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific typically communicates with a lot of individuals from countries in the region in arranging technical and capacity-building support. Being a part of these activities is fulfilling as it will further benefit more people in these countries. Another great point about being an intern here is to be able to have an opportunity to develop skills in other fields other than just in a certain field (i.e. One Health). For example, I am also picking up skills in communications as well as knowledge of international relations.
There are not many downsides at the moment! I would say sitting in an office is a little bit of a downside but the desks can move up and become a standing desk so that isn’t too much of an issue!Throughout the week I am tasked by my mentor and other colleagues, if they require assistance, in assisting their projects/missions in different countries. I mainly have to help logistically if they are arranging an in-person or online activity/mission, help proofread official documents, and write articles/reports if necessary on their activities to be posted on the site. Occasionally there may be a conference to attend as a representative of WOAH, and in this case, I was able to attend one in Fukuoka which was kindly funded by the INSPIRE award.Someone who is really interested in One Health and how it is operationalised, in international work, and in political/global relations.Trying to get the visa, as well as sorting out funding to come here. I was gratefully funded by the Turing scheme as well as the INSPIRE award.1. Get engrossed with One Health related activities (at university for example!)2. Read up on One Health related issues/ literature3. Be interested in the region you’ll be working in!Newsletter
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Amber Fielden – Sales Executive for Meetings...
Salary
£31-35k (starting salary for someone inexperienced)
Travel
Have to travel for every meeting once I have booked them. I am reimbursed for any travel.
Values
Independence
Region
UK
Essential Skills
Previous customer facing role, Confidence & Time management skills
Amber Fielden
Check out our Career Q & A questions below to take a deep dive into this career path. If you’re interested in this type of career but unsure how to take the next step, click below to learn more about our services designed to support you.
I worked as a nursing assistant when I was 15 after school until I went to university to do my veterinary nursing degree. I absolutely fell in love with the veterinary profession and applied to university to do veterinary nursing.After 8 years of being qualified, I decided I needed a new career, with a better salary and less stress. I applied for multiple jobs however I decided to do work experience at the hotel I work at, just to learn more about the events profession. A few months later, a job came up and I applied and got offered an interview as I was proactive in doing the work experience.I had limited sales experience and no experience in coordinating events and meetings. There are some degrees and courses you can do to have a better chance of entering the profession but I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity.I am now a sales executive for meetings and events at a hotel in Farnborough. This role is very sociable and I get to meet lots of people, as well as attend networking events and entertain new and current clients. I reach out to a lot of companies via email every day as well as event planning agencies. I arrange meetings to then introduce myself and the hotel, showcasing what we have to offer here.Someone confident, charismatic and loves meeting new people.Yes. I had no experience in this profession but using proactiveness and initiative landed me this role.1. Work experience at a few places to get a feel for the profession2. Look at the different roles within this profession as there are so many I’d never even heard of3. Be confident – you can learn on the job to a certain degreeI knew that if I left the veterinary profession, I would really have to work hard to make it work. I have a mortgage and my own animals to look after, so I couldn’t fail – which was the reason I did the work experience first.Newsletter
We send out regular updates with articles about creating a sustainable career in vet med, along with job opportunities and more. Employers, we’ve got great articles for you too!