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News release - University veterinary schools liasion group, October 2008.

Nigel Gibbens, CVO for the UK, met with former CVO, Professor Jim Scudamore at Liverpool Veterinary School in October at the Government Veterinary Surgeon (GVS) – University Veterinary Schools Liaison Group meeting, to receive an update on the work of the Universities. Following the meeting Nigel commented, ‘ The work of all the veterinary schools I have visited so far this year is remarkable – the research focus at Liverpool as well as their commitment to high quality education are equally impressive.’ The Liaison Group, chaired by Megan Power, brings together government and veterinary school representatives with interests in the fields of research, veterinary public health and population medicine.  ‘We’re very pleased to have Liverpool host the group which has now met in all seven vet schools in the UK. This demonstrates the level of interest and support by the schools for the work of this group’, she said.

Malcolm Bennett, recently appointed Dean for Liverpool, hosted the event and participated in the range of discussions which focussed on the veterinary public health curriculum and access to extra mural studies for students in government and in the food industry. Eleni Micolopoulou, lecturer in VPH, outlined new approaches to teaching at Liverpool, ‘We try to take the students to a range of different environments where VPH can be taught and discussed in context. We’re fortunate to be able to work closely with local farms, the Meat Hygiene Service and local abattoirs to support our teaching programme.’

Lewis Grant, MHS representative, outlined changes to the structure of the service and described how this may benefit teaching in the future. ‘The new role of the lead veterinarian to support vets in abattoirs should also provide better links for teaching in the future’ he said. Some schools are already making use of the new cluster approach. Cambridge and the RVC are now looking to link with the cluster in their region to support teaching across the schools.

To support better teaching in VPH the group has produced a new Protocol for EMS in abattoirs, based on an original version developed by Billy Steele at Glasgow Veterinary School. This provides a resource which can be utilised by students and teaching staff as well as staff employed in the food industry to support learning in VPH.

The GVS have also produced a joint Guide to ‘Getting Experience in Government’ which provides an overview of opportunities for students outside private practice. Clair White and Hannah May, both from Liverpool, gave a presentation to the group on their month as interns in Defra. ‘We were able to talk to and work with a huge number of people both in Defra as well as taking visits to the VLA and Animal Health’ they said ‘The range of issues being managed was amazing and we were involved in everything from the veterinary services working group to being given a project on TB in Deer.’ 

A visit to the new small animal hospital at Leahurst was conducted by John Innes and was a glimpse into the state of the art provision for animal medicine and surgery. A description on disease control procedures was of particular interest to the group. The group has also just launched a student competition as part of EU Veterinary Week which is a joint initiative of the FVE and European Commission. ‘I’m very pleased that we have been able to support raising awareness on the veterinary role in biosecurity through the series of events planned as part of EU Vet Week.’ Megan explained, ‘The Veterinary Public Health Association is also supporting this competition in addition to their own essay prize this year.’

Page last modified 24 October, 2008