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RCVS VN council election manifesto: Wendy Nevins RVN

WENDY NEVINS RVN

Operations manager, The Webinar Vet

T: 07809 702074

E: wendy@wendynevins.com

Wendy began her VN career in 1991 as a trainee at a small animal practice in Surrey. On qualifying, she moved to Yorkshire and started work in mixed practice, and after becoming head nurse, left to relocate to Germany with her forces husband.

Back in the UK in 2000, Wendy moved to Devon and spent two years at a two-branch, small animal practice as a nurse, VN assessor and eventually, practice manager.

Moving to the north-west in 2002, she worked as a nurse in a small animal practice before becoming the Veterinary Nursing Approved Centre coordinator at Myerscough College. After four years there, she returned to practice part-time, where she started working for Anthony Chadwick at his Skin Vet practice. During this time, Anthony launched The Webinar Vet, and, once established, sold up. Wendy stayed behind as operations manager and is often known as “Webinar Wendy”.

In her role, Wendy organises CPD for vets, nurses and SQPs. She also deals with dermatology referral clients and spends at least one day a month working in practice.

Why is she standing?

Wendy says she is “extremely proud” to be a veterinary nurse and wants to take an “active part” in ensuring the profession moves forward.

“I feel I have gained valuable experience throughout my different career roles, which will benefit the role requirements of an elected member and our cause as a whole,” she said. “I have a very good understanding of the varying levels of our profession and I am in a privileged position of having contact with members daily, ranging from students to the most experienced VNs.”

On education, Wendy says she feels “passionately”, and has a “wide exposure”, thanks to her time at Myerscough and The Webinar Vet.

“I believe I will also add value… establishing and reviewing schemes for post-qualification and CPD for VNs. This also includes recommending to the council amendments to the rules relating to the registration, conduct and discipline of veterinary nurses, if required. I am widely accessible to nurses due to my current role, so I can offer effective communication between VNs and the council. On future challenges and issues? You tell me. I aim to be an effective voice for the nurse in practice – an effective voice for you.”

Hustings highlights

Wendy tackled lack of VN engagement in the RCVS in her passionate video, citing poor voting turnout figures and calling the electorate to action. “I want to help increase engagement, hopefully by… carrying on communicating with nurses via social media and within my role at The Webinar Vet,” she said. “Voting in an election is important.

Can you get other VNs to vote? Do you know nurses who don’t vote? If everyone who votes gets one more VN voting, we can increase that [2015 turnout] 11 per cent to 20 per cent.

“It would be great if you voted for me to represent you on VN council, but more importantly though – please, please vote.”

March 24, 2016
RCVS council election manifesto: Thomas Lonsdale

THOMAS LONSDALE

BVetMed, MRCVS

PO Box 6096, Windsor Delivery Centre, NSW 2756, Australia.

T +61 2 4577 7061

M +61 437 2928 00

E tom@rawmeatybones.com

PROPOSERS: Roger Meacock, Andrew Stephens

1980s – woke from vet-school induced stupor to realisation junk pet-food industry relies on bogus science and negligent vet “profession”.

1991 – Blew whistle on junk pet food cult.

1993 – Preventive dentistry PGCVS.

1994 – Feeding versus nutrition, Aust Vet Practice.

1994 – Cybernetic hypothesis, J Vet Dent (postulates ecological theory of health and disease as extension of Gaia Hypothesis).

1994-7 – Junk pet food cult brought four disciplinary actions before New South Wales vet board.

1995 – Periodontal disease and leucopaenia, JSAP.

2001 – Raw Meaty Bones: Promote Health published.

2004 – Nominated for ACVSc award.

2014 – Most supportive vet award; FOI research: junk pet food grease in seven Australian vet schools.

2015 – Science death experiment.

Manifesto

Pompous, arrogant, mouthing incantations, the vet high priests worship at the altar of bogus science. Founded on fallacy, they oversee the junk food poisoning of pets, betrayal of consumers and brainwashing of vet students.

They must be stopped.

Morgan Spurlock embarked on a risky experiment. For 30 days he ate junk food at every meal. He gained 11kg, his liver turned to fat, cholesterol shot up and he doubled his risk of heart failure. Fortunately for Spurlock, he escaped addiction to junk food, followed his doctor’s orders and stopped the experiment.

The medical profession tells us carbohydrate-laden junk food injures health; that periodontal inflammation and obesity are precursors of systemic disease and early death. By contrast, the junk pet food industry controls the veterinary agenda. Vet schools deliver industry-funded propaganda on diabetes, periodontal disease and obesity – while simultaneously ensuring pious mumbo-jumbo obscures the despicable, lamentable truth.

Vet “experts” jet about the world spruiking the latest concoctions; extolling the alleged benefits of elaborate treatments instead of declaring that junk food contaminates all aspects of vet science, teaching and practice. According to them, natural food, as determined by evolution, is dangerous while their paymaster’s industrial junk represents the pinnacle of excellence.

For 20 consecutive RCVS elections, I’ve called for our “self-regulating” profession to act with integrity and honour. Alas, the high priests refuse even to consider. Time, then, for the courts to decide. I recommend legal proceedings against the RCVS, junk food companies, veterinary schools and individuals in respect to animal cruelty, breach of contract, theft and fraud.

Please vote in support; instruct your lawyers and brief the media. Pets, pet owners and the wider community need our help. Thank you.

March 24, 2016
Finding the words
I’m a bit of a grammar Nazi, so getting involved in editing has been a lot of fun.

I enjoy writing about my experiences, but I also enjoy reading about others. I’m also a bit (or a lot) of a grammar Nazi, so getting involved in editing over the past couple of years at university has been a lot of fun.

I started by subediting the University of Glasgow’s student newspaper and proofreading emails/letters for fellow students on the organising committee for a charity event, before taking on the role of editor for the student vet magazine (JAVS), which goes out to all UK veterinary schools.

This is something I love doing, but it does have its downsides – and it sometimes feels like trying to draw blood from a stone. The past few editions of JAVS have seen a serious deficiency of contributors, but each one has been saved by my persistent chasing of articles, rallying people I know have an interesting story to tell, and reassuring those who’ve been asked to write but lack confidence in their ability.

Now this begs the question: why do veterinary students not want to write?
- Are they too busy and see it as pointless extra work that won’t be recognised or count towards their degree?
- Are they worried about not producing an item good enough to publish?
- Do they lack confidence in their linguistic abilities?
While the vet degree is insanely busy and students will count every precious moment of free time they have, there are considerable advantages to having a piece of writing published – be that in print or on the internet.

Getting your name out there

“Writing for a student publication is a great start in order to get into the swing of things without strict word counts or other constraints.”

It’s surprising how far an article or blog post can reach. People with seemingly nothing to do with the veterinary profession or, alternatively, those higher up in the profession may see them.

Social media provides a particularly excellent platform for getting your work out there – many of the student written articles published on the AVS (Association of Veterinary Students) Facebook page have received “likes” or comments from BVA and RCVS presidents.

For those looking to publish in the future, whether through research or journalism, writing for a student publication is a great start in order to get into the swing of things without strict word counts or other constraints.

Even if you have no interest in writing as part of your career, having your name on an article can have other advantages. Who knows, maybe in a few years your future employer may have been intrigued by something you’d had published – which could make the difference between being asked to interview or not.

Spread the word

Sharing ideas with other students allows writers the opportunity to pass on information that could benefit other parties as well. For example, if someone undertakes EMS with a charity he or she feels is a particularly worthwhile cause and needs extra help, writing an article to raise awareness could give the organisation a huge boost. It will also make fellow students aware so they could go and have the same great experience as others before them.

Even sharing hints and tips for other things vet related might help other students avoid common mistakes or guide them more smoothly through the maze of the veterinary degree.

Don’t be scared

“Don’t be scared. Bite the bullet. Put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and just go for it,” says Jordan.

It has been suggested many veterinary students don’t want to write because they don’t think they have anything interesting to say, or worry their finished piece won’t be good enough for publication – and I appreciate writing doesn’t come naturally to everyone, but that’s where I come in.

I can’t magic up the entire content for a whole magazine, but if students give me some ideas to work with – regardless of how scrambled they may be – they can be edited into fully formed articles.

It may be that self confidence is the issue, but don’t worry, everyone has to start somewhere. Your first attempt wont necessarily be the next Harry Potter phenomenon, but I guarantee that most veterinary students do have interesting experiences or ideas to talk about – so don’t be scared. Bite the bullet. Put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and just go for it.

Getting published can open a lot of doors you didn’t even know were there, so I would encourage every veterinary student to try to get their names out there. After all, the veterinary world is smaller than you think, and you never know who might be reading.
October 30, 2015
Intuition works

I recently had a male cat presented that was “just a bit quiet” – it wasn’t moving much and, uncharacteristically, had not eaten breakfast that morning.

The owner had barely removed our feline friend from the carrier when I thought: “This guy’s got a blocked bladder.”

Abdominal palpation confirmed my intuitive diagnosis.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently – what does it mean? Am I just getting old and have a subconscious feel for what’s coming in through the door?

Then I heard a programme on Radio 4 (that confirms my age!) that said “gut feelings” were actually learned behaviour, and were your subconscious popping ideas into your conscious brain.

So my tip would be to go with those hunches – you might just be right!

November 3, 2014
How far is too far?

Noel Fitzpatrick runs one of the most advanced veterinary practices in the UK.

In my interview for Glasgow vet school, I was asked the question “how far is too far?”, and recent episodes of The Supervet on TV had me musing on the topic again, particularly as I had used The Bionic Vet as an example in my answer.

At the time I discussed kidney transplants in cats in the US and, in the UK, the inspiring work and pioneering techniques being carried out at Fitzpatrick Referrals.

Arguably the most famous patient of Noel Fitzpatrick’s is Oscar the cat who, after having both back paws cut off by a combine harvester, had prosthetic legs specially engineered and fitted (see video below). Oscar’s surgery was the first of its kind, and a huge step for orthopaedic veterinary medicine worldwide.

While this type of surgery was a world first in cats, prosthetic limbs are not an alien concept in human medicine – and, at a time when the emphasis on “One Health” becomes stronger every day, why shouldn’t routine or even rare human procedures extend their applications to our domestic species too?

But at what point do we say that medical advances are not ethically suitable for animals? A person may have a reasonable quality of life in a wheelchair, but that doesn’t mean a dog with wheels for back legs would. Such a “cart” would dramatically effect the quality of life of cats like Oscar, but his new legs have given him the freedom to continue to “be a cat”.

Each individual case is different, and the benefits and risks of undertaking a new, advanced technique would have to be weighed up accordingly. I don’t believe the point at which we draw the line on “going too far” is set in stone – every case is unique.

Kidney transplants in humans are life saving, and yet not seen in the UK in cats. A cat with kidney failure would gain a lot from a transplant, providing the risk of rejection was reduced to minimal. The ethical issue here lies with the health and welfare of the donor cat and the fact the donor can’t consent to its healthy organ being taken.

Answering the question “how far is too far?”, Stephen King’s classic 1989 film Pet Sematary is available to buy from www.amazon.co.uk

In the US, donors are often cats from rescue shelters and the recipient cat not only gains a new organ, but also an adopted friend who will come to live with them after the surgery. I think this is an excellent compromise on the consent dilemma – both cats get a second chance at life.

But it is not just the ethical question of whether we should perform such surgeries on our pets, we also have to consider the practical aspects of these procedures (i.e whether we could carry them out if we decided it was ethically acceptable).

There will be a limited number of vets with sufficient surgical experience to attempt such innovations, especially if a certain type of procedure has never been attempted in a particular species yet (such as Oscar’s legs). Financial constraints are also extremely relevant – owners that would love to give their animals the chance to receive such surgery if needed may be limited by the cost that comes with them.

Personally, I think the work of the surgeons at Fitzpatrick Referrals is exceptional and a real inspiration to vets across the country. I would love to see the day that treatment options for our animals routinely match those available in human medicine, and really hope the work of Noel and his team encourages those interested in such developments to continue and further research in order to make it a possibility – within ethical limits, of course.

July 15, 2014
The key to your new career
vetsonlinejobs – the key to your new career
Image © iStockphoto.com/scyther

Regular vetsonline users (or at least those with an interest in changing their career path) may have noticed a change to the site in the past couple of months – specifically our recruitment section.

What was initially a fairly basic affair with a handful of job listings has been transformed into an all-singing, all-dancing recruitment platform that is set to revolutionise the veterinary recruitment process for both employers and job seekers.

For those looking to hire new staff, vetsonlinejobs makes it simpler, easier, faster and cheaper to find the right person for the role. For job seekers, the site – which can be found at www.vetsonlinejobs.com – offers the ability to upload your CV and search the very latest job ads from around the country.

More than that, however, we’ve tried to make sure vetsonlinejobs is a site that suits ALL the needs of the employment seeker. As such, we also offer a growing selection of articles to help you win the job of your dreams – from basic CV writing tips through to advice on what to wear to your interview (not a clown outfit, apparently – but then, you probably already realised that!).

Some of our latest articles include:
- Interview nerves? How to calm yourself before an interview – If sweating and nerves can cause a politician to lose a presidential election, then they can surely hurt your job interview. Simple techniques to control your nervousness in interviews are available.
- Creating an alluring covering letter – The main aim of a covering letter is to encourage recruiters to read your CV. However, it needs to do a lot more than say, “here is my CV!”. In short, it is the biggest chance you have to sell yourself.
- Jobseekers: be prepared for the tough questions – Interview jitters can make it difficult to come up with great responses on the spot, so try to anticipate the questions your interviewers will ask you and have the perfect answers ready in advance.
- Creative approaches to bagging that perfect job – The weird and wonderful methods potential employees have used in an attempt to help them get noticed… but not always for the best!
More articles are being added on a weekly basis, so be sure to visit vetsonlinejobs regularly. Alternatively, get them posted straight to your social media streams by following @vetsonlinejobs on Twitter, or “liking” www.facebook.com/vetsonlinejobs, which both also feature the latest job listings.
June 13, 2014
Glasgow Vet School Rodeo
My responsibilities included poster/flyer design.

The Glasgow Vet School Rodeo is an annual charity event organised by vet students. It is traditional for second year students to make the event happen, and so this year, I was involved in its organisation.

My responsibilities included taking minutes at weekly meetings, correspondence with print media for advertising, compiling the programme and poster/flyer design.

Each year, we support several (usually animal-related) charities with the aim of hosting a fun-filled family day out while raising money for worthy causes. The year, the final total raised came to a huge £16,162.74, which will be split between the charities [see bottom of page for a full list].

The 54th annual Rodeo was held within the grounds of Glasgow Vet School on April 12.

After the committee was soaked to the skin while unloading and directing exhibitors to their pitches in the morning, the rain (but unfortunately not the wind) stopped just in time for the gates to open at 11am – much to everyone’s relief.

The day included falconry, dancing, duck-herding and husky demonstrations in the main arena, with SMAART horse, Trec and horse rescue demonstrations in the horse arena. There was also a dog show, which offered all owners the chance to enter their dog in a variety of classes, as well as an animal tent, reptile tent and pony rides.

Jordan (left) and “friends”

If that wasn’t enough, there were craft stalls in the marquee, bouncy castles, horse and carriage rides, and local animal charities also came along to promote their work.

As has become traditional, we ended the day by drawing our “rodeo raffle”. We had some fantastic prizes, such as a family pass for Blair Drummond Safari Park, afternoon tea at Hilton Glasgow, “Tee Time” at Royal Troon Golf Club and many more – we are grateful to the various organisations for providing these.

Despite battling through the fury of Scottish weather in the morning, and relentless wind throughout the day (resulting in many stalls being relocated into one of the marquees), the committee felt the day was a success overall. After eight months of planning, we pulled it off, and celebrated that evening in true Scottish style with a ceilidh open to students at Glasgow Vet School.

The charities being supported this year were:
- World Horse Welfare, which is an international horse charity that ‘improves the lives of horses in the UK and around the world through education, campaigning, and hands- on care’.
- Blue Cross, which “finds the right homes for unwanted pets throughout the UK, treats sick and injured animals at their hospitals when owners can’t afford private fees, promotes animal welfare and provides the Pet Bereavement Support Service”.
- Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, which helps people experiencing hearing loss throughout the UK by creating “life-changing partnerships between deaf people and specially trained hearing dogs”.
- Veterinary Development Fund: the James Herriot Scholarship fund will enable Glasgow Vet School to award scholarships to excellent undergraduate and postgraduate veterinary students who, through financial constraints, may otherwise not be able to study at Glasgow.
- Inti Wara Yassi is a Bolivian charity that works to rescue wildlife by confiscating illegally kept wild animals or by offering sanctuary to animals that are voluntarily brought to the charity. These animals are cared for in one of three parks throughout Bolivia (I also volunteered at two of the parks last summer).
- Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue, is a charity in North Ayrshire, Scotland, that aims to rescue, treat, rehabilitate and release birds and animals back to the wild.
- Students for Animals In Need is a charity made up of veterinary students from the University of Glasgow who work together to provide treatment to sick or injured animals that might not otherwise be treated, due to financial difficulties.
- Riding For the Disabled Association (RDA): Glasgow RDA provides equine therapy to more than 300 children and adults with disabilities from across the greater Glasgow area.
April 30, 2014
Media in the veterinary world
Media savvy vet, Pup Aid founder and #wheresmum author Marc Abraham.

In January, I attended my first AVS (the Association of Veterinary Students) congress. It was a fantastic event, featuring inspiring talks and lectures, fascinating practicals and the infamous AVS ball.

I would strongly urge any vet student to attend congress at least once during their time at vet school – aside from all the events available during the weekend, it’s a great opportunity to meet students from other vet schools and make valuable contacts that you may well need in the future. It certainly opened my eyes and made me realise just how small the veterinary world can be.

TV vet Mark Abraham opened the event with a talk to illustrate his achievements and work to date. He talked briefly about his Pup Aid campaign, which aims to prevent puppy farming in the UK and promote obtaining puppies from registered breeders or rescue centres only.

In addition, he gave some valuable advice: fight for a cause you believe in and use the media to your advantage.

He reiterated the importance of media within the veterinary world, which includes not only journals and papers within the profession, but other forms such as TV and social media that are more accessible to the general public.

In particular, he emphasised the impact that Twitter has had on spreading the word about the Pup Aid campaign. With the support of well known celebrities “retweeting” the link to the online e-petition, Marc gained the required number of signatures, and puppy farming is currently being debated in Parliament as a result.

A recent storyline on Eastenders involved breeding a dog and selling the puppies as a way to make money. This is a crucial example of the impact the media can have on public opinion. After seeing this, many viewers may be inspired to do the same in order to make a bit of spare cash, which is exactly the sort of attitude that the Pup Aid campaign is trying to abolish.

In today’s age of technological advancement, there are so many media platforms available to bring the veterinary world into the public eye. We must use this to our advantage, whether that is to promote campaigns such as Pup Aid, raise awareness of veterinary issues or even to promote individual practices and the services they provide.

The media is a powerful thing, and we must not forget that just because it sometimes feels like we live in a bubble that is the veterinary world.
- Marc’s petition to ban the sale of young puppies and kittens without their mothers being present runs until 02/05/2014 – SIGN THE PETITION HERE!
February 17, 2014
And so it begins…

Original image ©iStockphoto.com/ChrisCrafter

After months of speculation about when the trial badger culls would begin, the fateful moment finally arrived on August 27 when marksmen armed with high velocity rifles stepped into fields throughout Somerset.

In a letter to NFU members, president Peter Kendall called the pilots – which will see around5,000 badgers in Somerset and Gloucestershire culled over the next six weeks in an attempt to control bovine TB – “an important step” for both cattle farmers and the entire farming industry.

But not everybody sees it that way – and you can’t seem to turn on the television or open a web browser without being deluged with outpourings of grief and outrage sparked by the unnecessary deaths of these “beautiful creatures”; while the mainstream media is filled with the ire of organisations like the RSPCA, social media streams have become clogged withcountless pictures of tiny badger cubs and pleas to sign yet another petition to “stop the cull NOW!!!”

Unfortunately, however much this outrage is sparked by those supposedly “in the know”, the true torchbearers in this campaign are those who do not truly understand the plight of UK farmers and their cattle, but simply find the thought of killing a fluffy creature abhorrent.

“Vaccinate cattle” they say, unaware that such a solution is at least a decade away. “Culling won’t work” they say, ignoring the fact that ministers wouldn’t even consider this option if they knew for a fact that this was true (or would they?).

But too many of those who beg for the lives of the Government’s black and white adversaries do so with no real knowledge of the situation other than what they’ve heard on Twitter or Facebook – and what chance do rhyme and reason have against cutesy badger pictures or morality-rousing internet memes featuring Bill Oddie?

August 28, 2013
Who’s afraid of the big bad dog?

Status dog, or just misunderstood?

If recent genetic studies are to be believed, domestic dogs evolved from wolves around 11,000 years ago when our ancestors stole wolf cubs, domesticated them and trained them to help hunt for food.

However, other than their shared genealogy, both animals are very different nowadays – particularly when it comes to temperament. The wolf is in every sense a “wild” animal, while the dog is obviously far more suited for the domesticated life of chasing sticks and tummy rubs.

Despite this, media reports of dog attacks, combined with the trend among certain elements of society to own vicious “status dogs”, have led to a situation where many Brits are afraid of strange dogs and people are becoming increasingly wary of our canine companions in general.

A poll of more than 1,000 adults (commissioned by behaviour product supplier The Company of Animals) found that 71% of people are nervous around dogs they don’t know, while more than half (54%) are worried by particular breeds.

Around 20% also admitted to having become more afraid of dogs over the past decade.

This news comes as a shock, and it would be a huge shame if man’s best friend was to slowly find himself usurped by the cat, spelling an end to walkies as we know it and guaranteeing you’ll only ever get your stick back if you retrieve it yourself.

Mind you, we can but wonder what a “status llama” might look like.

July 31, 2013