VET RECORD | 22 September 2018 i Careers It’s great to feel you have a good grasp of current knowledge DESPITE my job title ‘honorary teaching fellow at the University of Bristol’, my job is that of a typical cattle practitioner. I enjoy an eclectic mix of routine fertility work, proactive health planning and emergency work, with a little TB testing and the odd sheep or goat thrown in to keep me on my toes. Since 2012, however, I have also been studying for a diploma with the European College of Bovine Health Management. This is something that vets can undertake in practice as well as at a university. It has enormously enriched my career, both in terms of future prospects and interest level in my day-to-day work. Studying for a qualification involves a lot of work – research projects, reading and writing articles, public speaking and passing on knowledge to undergraduates and colleagues, spending time on externships both at home and abroad. It’s a lot to balance with a busy job and a young family, but it is doable! My career Aſter qualifying from Bristol, I worked in mixed practice in Devon and, unusually for a new graduate, I stayed in my first practice for six years! At the time, I had no plans beyond being good at my job and hopefully one day being a partner in, or owning my own, practice. For me mixed practice was difficult. My heart was always in farm practice and unless you can devote virtually all of your working time to learning the bit of the job that interests you, you end up struggling to be good at all aspects of it. At least that was my experience. Aſter six years I moved jobs to a large cattle-only practice. It transformed my career in terms of job satisfaction. Shortly aſterwards I took a job working at Bristol vet school; it was there that I became interested in research and teaching and decided to undertake the diploma. I was lucky to receive an MSD Animal Health Research Bursary, which not only provided me with funding that allowed me to do some research, but I also gained contacts and support from a network of researchers. This was a massive help – it allowed me to take my first steps towards the diploma, and designing and conducting the project made me realise how interesting research can be. I never enjoyed statistics at university but I do now, and it’s great to be able to critically appraise current literature and adapt it into practice. A typical working day I imagine that my day is similar to many other practitioners’. It can get chaotic at busy times of the year. When you’re studying, every spare moment has to be filled with something useful, so getting up early, before my family is up, to work on my diploma is a pretty common occurrence. One of the many fun aspects of being a farm vet for me was always listening to music between calls. Music is my other great interest alongside cows! These days, though, I’m much more likely to be listening to research papers using a text-to- speech app. The best bits of my job We have endless opportunities for learning (you can never know everything as a vet), which in turn makes every case interesting. Individual animal – medical or surgical – cases used to be more of a chore, but having spent time learning at some leading bovine hospitals, they are now far more fascinating. Likewise, for herd health cases, it’s great to feel you have a good grasp of current knowledge. Doing the diploma has allowed me to meet some fantastic people who are experts in their field – nutritionists, pathologists, surgeons, researchers and so on. Best of all, though, is a successful calving. Seeing a live healthy calf being mothered by a cow is to witness one of nature’s miracles. ‘Studying and working enriches my career’ Vet Ian Glover describes how he fitted studying for a diploma in bovine health management alongside clinical work. Here, he reflects on his career, the skills he has learnt and the advice he would pass on. MY CV • 2004-2010: Mixed, predominately farm, practitioner at West Ridge Vet Practice, Devon • 2010-2011: Cattle practitioner, Lambert Leonard and May • 2011-2012: Clinician, University of Bristol farm animal practice • 2012-2016: Farm animal practitioner, Vale Veterinary Group • 2016-present: farm animal practitioner, West Ridge on November 26, 2020 by guest. Protected by copyright. http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ Veterinary Record: first published as 10.1136/vr.k3998 on 20 September 2018. Downloaded from