International Meeting on Emerging Diseases and Surveillance Vienna, Austria • IMED • November 4 – 7, 2016

Posted on by

vienna_night_sm

Since its inception, IMED has been a summit that unifies our approach to pathogens in the broadest ecological context. Drawing together human and veterinary health specialists, IMED serves as a true One Health forum where those working in diverse specialties and diverse regions can meet, discuss, present and challenge one another with findings and new ideas. While pathogens emerge and mutate, our methodology for detection, surveillance, prevention, control, and treatment also continue to evolve. New approaches to vaccination and isolation the uses of novel data sources and genomics, novel laboratory methods, rapid point-of-care diagnostics, risk communication, political and societal responses to outbreaks have all seen innovation and change that will be explored at IMED 2016.

Target Audience: Healthcare professionals including physicians, and veterinarians, public health specialists, epidemiologists, research scientists, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, journalists, other interested persons.

Topics: Planned session topics include: • Disease Surveillance, Detection, Reporting and Outbreak Modeling • Ethics of New Methodologies of Disease Surveillance • Vectorborne and Zoonotic Diseases • Foodborne and Waterborne Infections • Infections Related to Travel and Migration of Humans and Animals • Animal Reservoirs for Emerging Pathogens • Agents of Bioterrorism/Biological Warfare • Laboratory Biosafety and Emerging Pathogen Research • Specific Disease Threats: Pandemic Influenza, Anthrax, C. difficile, Q fever, Rift Valley Fever, MERS, West Nile Virus, Zika Virus, Hemorrhagic Fevers, Bluetongue, Chikungunya, TSEs, Healthcare Associated Infections, and Others • Antimicrobial Resistance • Vaccines and Diagnostics for Emerging Diseases • Submitted Abstracts (Oral and Poster) Reg. No.: ATU10902102, commercial court Vienna FN 9129a

We (they) look forward to welcoming you in Vienna!

Source: http://imed.isid.org/

Unreal Veterinary Careers! – an interview with Dr Helen Fairnie

Posted on by

Main photo credit: Helen Fairnie – Dr Helen Fairnie and Dr Brian McErlean.

Today Michele and I have the honour of showcasing an interview with Dr Helen Fairnie, someone who has been a great influence in my (Emma’s) career since we re-started the Vets in Public Health Special Interest Group (AVPH SIG) of the AVA together around 2007 – Helen is a huge contributor to our profession and is someone I personally find very inspiring…  Emma

helen-5

  1. Hi Helen – What are you working on at the moment?

Working on at the moment? I am officially retired, however:   a b** book on women vets- trying to get it published; the Wellness Centre at AVA Conference; stress and suicide in veterinarians; Rotarian secretary   (I used to run an Arts Market for Rotary once a month but found it hard to get volunteers); 100 Women- a philanthropic giving circle of 100 women supporting projects involving women- we try to give 3 grants of $40,000 each year.   Saving African Rhinos from poaching.    Am on subcommittee of this and also lead safaris to Zimbabwe.  I am also supervising two students from Georgetown University who want exposure to Aborigines.  I will mark their assignments.

 

helen-1

helen-2

Photo left: 2016, With colleagues at the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust and Sanctuary

 

Photo right: 2016, with a village leader at Kariba Village.

 

 

 

2. What drives you?

I have always been driven to help my colleagues. I remember being cross when Doug Blood, our former Dean at Melbourne, wrote me a reference which said I was more interested in people than animals. Consequently I have an interest in preventing injury, disease and stress in veterinarians. Also reducing suicide in veterinarians.

3. What have been the major transitions in your path?

Getting married to Ian Fairnie

Running a veterinary practice in Northam WA and having two children.      I found I couldn’t cope with son #2 who screamed.     Had to close the practice down. Probably had a nervous breakdown because I had little contact with veterinary colleagues.   Ian sent me off to a Practitioners Branch meeting while he would babysit.   We were 1 1/2 hours from Perth.    First meeting there were about 20 vets there and me, the only woman.      If I recollect, it was the Annual General Meeting and they dobbed me in a secretary.    I was such a mess I didn’t say no.    Came home and told Ian I would call them and decline but he (the bully) wouldn’t let me.    After a couple of years, I became President of Perth Branch.    That got me onto the Divisional Committee of AVA.    I became secretary and then President which put me onto AVA Council and ultimately I became President of the AVA National body. I was the first female president of the AVA.

I did a Master of Philosophy at Murdoch and got a job at Curtin (then WAIT) and was there for 31 years.      I because involved with international students and recruited from Asia mainly.    Led study tours for 10 years to every Asian country you can think of. Ultimately I did a PhD on Stress, Suicide and Disease etc. at Curtin.

Dr Mike Bond

4. What goals are you working towards?

My main goal is to publish the bloody book on women vets, stop vets killing themselves, stop rhino killing and have a long rest.

5. What advice would you provide a younger you?

Advice for a younger me:    Don’t bite off too much.    Take it easy.    Probably wouldn’t change much.      I blame my husband for my AVA activities.

Photo Courtesy of Helen Fairnie: Comment –“this is me and Mike Bond receiving a kangaroo from Perth Zoo to send to Russia as a gift for the previous World Veterinary Congress. We ran the XXII in Perth. Mike Bond was Secretary and I was Vice Chair.”

 

Thanks for your time today Helen.

…ends….

The James Herriot centenary: a vet who changed his profession

Posted on by

 PHOTO: James Herriot with his dogs CREDIT: JULIAN CALDER

By: Pete Wedderburn 26 SEPTEMBER 2016 • 11:00AM

It’s rare for one individual to affect an entire generation of a profession, but that’s exactly what Alf Wight managed to do. Despite his significance, Alf’s name never became widely known by the public, and there’s a simple reason for that: he wrote under the pseudynom of “James Herriot”.

James Herriot would have been a hundred years old on 3rd October, so this is a time when many people are remembering him. He qualified as a vet from Glasgow in 1939, and spent his working life in the Yorkshire Dales. It wasn’t until he was 53, in 1969, when recovering from clinical depression, that he began to write books about his life as a veterinary surgeon. Sales were slow at first when these were published in the UK. It wasn’t until 1972, when his American publisher merged the first two books into a single volume titled “All Creatures Great and Small” that his writing began to receive widespread acclaim.

“All Creatures Great and Small” made household names of the actors

To use current parlance, his books went viral, becoming global best sellers. James went on to write eight volumes of semi-fictionalised autobiography about his life as a vet in mixed practice, alongside colleagues Siegfried and Tristan Farnon, and his wife Helen. The BBC television series “All Creatures Great and Small”, based on his books, crowned his success. The ninety episodes , between 1978 and 1990, made household names of Robert Hardy (Siegfried), Peter Davison (Tristan), Christopher Timothy (James), Carol Drinkwater and Lynda Bellingham (who played Helen at different times).

Christopher Timothy and Robert Hardy in All Creatures Great and Small  CREDIT: MOVIESTORE/REX SHUTTERSTOCK

The books – and television series – had a widespread appeal across all ages, presenting a charming, nostalgic view of life as a vet in mixed practice. He wrote about people, animals, landscapes and science, with adept use of language and self deprecating humour. I was in my early teens when his books were published, and I remember eagerly waiting for each one to reach the shops. I am one of those “born to be a vet” people: I knew that it’s what I wanted to do from the age of five. But James Herriot’s books confirmed my choice: I wanted to live the life that he wrote about.

The “Herriot effect” has changed the profile of the veterinary profession

I wasn’t alone: there’s a phenomenon known as “the Herriot effect” that’s blamed for the huge increase in popularity of the career as a vet which started in the mid-Seventies. Back in the sixties, a typical vet student was son of a vet or a farmer, and there was no need for academic prowess to get a place at vet school. By the time I was a student in the early eighties, most of us had no rural background and straight “A”s were needed in school exams. The gender balance changed too, with females now making up 80 per cent of new veterinary graduates. The glamorisation of the job by Herriot has played a role in these changes. Budding vet students soon learned that it didn’t help their chances of success to mention the books in selection interviews.

Most vets still recognise the many truths in his writing

When I took up my first job as a mixed practice vet, in the Scottish borders, I experienced many parallels with his books: I even gleaned useful practical tips from them (such as pouring sugar onto a cow’s prolapsed uterus to shrink it down before stuffing it back in). I had the same types of experiences with farmers, both good (hearty breakfasts in the farmhouse after a successful calving) and bad (I used Herriot’s trick of reversing the car into the farmyard to allow for a rapid exit in an uncomfortable situation).

Christopher Timothy has narrated an audio version of the Herriot books CREDIT: REX FEATURES

I ended up leaving farm practice, disheartened by the trend away from smallholdings towards large scale production, ending up attending to pets as my full time job. Herriot’s tales ring equally true in this line of veterinary work: every small animal vet has clients reminiscent of “Mrs Pumphrey” and her beloved Pekes, and we’ve all had occasions when we have difficulty understanding what a client is saying because of a local brogue (in Herriot’s case it was a strong Yorkshire dialect, but there are variations on this theme across the world).

A hundred years on, Herriot is still entertaining and informing

Alf Wight didn’t make his hundredth birthday: he died at the age of 78 from prostatic cancer. I’m currently listening to the audio version of his books, narrated by Christopher Timothy. If you are one of the few who aren’t familiar with his work, do have a listen. James Herriot lives on in his books: his writing made such a big impact that he’ll be remembered for many more years.

Source: The James Herriot centenary: a vet who changed his profession

Unreal Veterinary Careers! Dr Ilana Mendels from VetPrac

Posted on by

Today we get to hear from one of my favourite young veterinary entrepreneurs – Dr Ilana Mendels…

Thanks for your time today Ilana – so may I ask…

  1. What are you working on at the moment?

At the moment, I am working on the plans for 2017:

So far we’ve got:

– Stifle Surgery Workshops

– Orthopaedic Training (Shoulder and Pelvic Surgery)

– Soft tissue workshops (Head and Neck, Perineal and Abdominal Surgery)

– Bootcamp Practical Essentials (3 days of ECC, Dentistry and Laparotomy – a Practical Extravaganza)

– Wellness and Success Training

– Difficult Discussion Training

– Equine Lameness

– Abdominal Ultrasound

– Intermediate Ultrasound Techniques

– Dentistry for Small Animals

– Personalised Programs for Larger Practice Groups

– Annual International Surgical Delegation from Japan

I’m also growing a human right now… eep!

img_8537

Prof. Christine Zink and Ilana at the Canine Sports Medicine Workshop

  1. What drives you?

The idea that for good things to happen we have to be the active drivers of positive change and development. And that when we light a spark that inspires change others will hopefully add to it.

Also, no matter what – every day is chance to start again.

  1. What have been the major transitions in your path?

Tough question!

Getting people to join in is the biggest challenge:

We have not had one person in over 1400 participants in 5 years walk away without learning useful tools for practicing better self-care and animal health care. It’s funny to me that some people still haven’t heard of VetPrac! Still if 10% of the vet community have been positively affected by what we do, then that’s really exciting for us…
Finding the right help at the right time adjusts how effective we can be:

We get lots of good ideas, and we need partners in training and educators who have the right skill set to be involved. It’s not a one-woman show, by any means. A workshop for 30 people usually has an education team of about 8 on site and a lot of resources involved to ensure it has a lasting positive effect on the participants’ experience.

Ethical and WHS considerations are a big transformer:

It’s been important at VetPrac that our workshops are in line with Australian ethical standards. This has stopped us from running some workshops in more convenient settings sometimes and overseas. It has stopped us from doing some training in certain fields too. And it costs a lot more money to be ethical. I think we have a good balance at the moment in Australia. Not sure how long it will last… we are a considerate nation. Being involved in these conversations has been really interesting.

  1. What goals are you working towards?

I am working on constructive veterinary solutions to advance animal health in association with other similarly minded professionals.

I would like general practice veterinarians in Australia, NZ and SE Asia to be empowered with stronger skill sets that are valued by their communities and for this to set in motion a chain of respect and integrity within and for our community that makes us valued consultants, employees and employers across different fields. I would like that empowerment to influence our professional culture so we can be protected against the drivers of disillusionment, depression and suicide.

Also;

I’m working towards being a better business woman and better people manager.

I’m working (with my partner) towards becoming a mother and a wife.

I’m working towards returning to clinical practice myself as soon as possible after the birth of my child

I’m working towards practicing mindfulness daily, and remembering to take breaks, and catch up with friends as often as I can, which is really hard in this day and age!

  1. What advice would you provide a younger you?

Oh boy… Where to start?

Go for every dream you want, but please… try to space them out a little so you have some time to adjust. You will live a very fruitful life if you want it. Make a fruit-salad, not a smoothie of life so you can taste the flavours!

Trust yourself. If something feels uneven, it will be somewhere… Take a step back when that happens, don’t be fooled by what your eyes see or what people tell you, if you get that funny feeling. If you look for it, you will find the source and be able to fix it, if you want to… Let yourself be bothered.

Ask as many questions as you need to, of as many people as you need to, to gain understanding about anything. You never know where it will lead and who you will meet. Curiosity is the bridge across naivety and frustration and patience is the virtue that allows things to unfold gracefully.

Make fear your friend. Learn to listen to it, and teach it to walk next to you on every adventure you go on. It will keep you safe, from over confidence and external pressures. And be adventurous, really adventurous!

Only work with people who want to work with you. Know what your role is, and do it well. Get training to do your job better. If you can’t do these 3 things stand up for yourself and get out of the situation as fast as you can. People who speak to you badly, probably speak to themselves badly too so be kind to yourself and to others.

Well done for taking advantage of every chance to dance in the moonlight, the x-ray room and the random cafe’s that play good music. Well done for running through the rain barefoot and taking time with friends and family. Well done for loving deeply and openly. Well done for laughing when you could have cried… And crying when you needed it too. Even whole days spent in front of the television have been good. You’re living a good life… 😉

From removing pre-molars to building a business… As Dory says “Just keep swimming” You’ll get there in the end, and it will all be fine… I promise.

sam_0681-1

 

Emma: Thanks Ilana 🙂

 

ends…

 

 

 

 

 

Chief veterinary officer appointed in New South Wales – ABC Rural 

Posted on by
NSW COUNTRY HOUR

PHOTO: Christine Middlemiss has worked in the public and private sectors.

A Scottish veterinarian with a background in sheep genetics in private practice in the United Kingdom, as well as in animal health in the public sector, has been appointed to the role of chief veterinary officer with the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries.

Christine Middlemiss comes from a farming family in the south of Scotland, with a background in beef cattle and sheep.

She has experience in the private and public sector aspects of veterinary medicine.

Dr Middlemiss said she was attracted to the concept of working within a system that had a reputation for high standards in quality and high health status of livestock and exports.

“For me to be able to get into that space and understand, from field to fork, how that happens is a great opportunity,” she said.

As well as having responsibility in terms of biosecurity, the chief veterinarian takes a lead role in the development of animal health and welfare policy, and operations at a state and national level.

Dr Middlemiss said animal welfare was a topic that continued to attract growing interest.

“We see that everywhere. I am very familiar with this from the UK,” she said.

“Ask anybody on the street anywhere and they all have an opinion about it.

“I suppose fundamentally for me, good welfare is synonymous with good health; it helps our exports, it helps our productivity, it helps socially. People have an interest.

“So animal health and animal welfare can’t be devolved.”

Source: Chief veterinary officer appointed in New South Wales – ABC Rural (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)