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WORKING
TOGETHER
FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE...
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LIVESTOCK MATTERS
About me
I am a veterinary student in my third year
at the Royal Veterinary College. I grew
up mostly in South East London spending
every moment I could further south east
in Kent, working on farms and stable
yards. Having escaped living in London
to enjoy the fresh air of Hertfordshire with
the husband, dogs, cats, small furries,
reptiles, horses and my own small herd
of dairy goats.
All in a day’s work….
Over the course of vet school I became very interested in how
research translates into practice on farms as well as in the herd
health planning and fire fighting aspects of farm vetting.
Working at Bishopton, a farm practice that plays a really active
role within XLVets, as well as with RAFT solutions, the sister
company to Bishopton and Synergy Farm Health, I’ve already had
the opportunity to do work in all these areas on a daily basis.
I graduated from the University of Liverpool
in summer 2014 and joined the ten vet
strong, ruminant team at Bishopton Vets
shortly after. An interest in farm animal
production and the maintenance and
promotion of production efficiency was
a key factor in my decision to become a
vet and is something that I had a primary
interest in throughout vet school training,
pushing me to want to work in farm
animal practice. I started the XLVets
Graduate Programme in September 2014
alongside eleven other recently qualified
vets to help develop our skills and interests
in farm animal practice. I have a keen
interest in infectious disease control and
youngstock health and management and
would like to develop my interests and
skills in these areas further as my career
develops. I also have a strong working
link with RAFT Solutions Ltd regularly
undertaking industry led research projects
alongside clinical work. Outside of work
I enjoy mountaineering and cycling and
am a keen singer.
GRADUATE DIARY
Katherine Lumb
, BVSc MSc MRCVS
Bishopton Veterinary Group
Since I started work I have been involved in a
variety of projects, each of which require
different skills varying from the reading and
writing of scientific literature, to the collection
of blood samples for clinical trials. My main
project to date has revolved around the
impact mycotoxins are having on the livestock
industry. This involved the design and
distribution of surveys to ascertain what
experiences farmers and vets alike had of
dealing with mycotoxins. The XLVets network
was vital in being able to distribute these
surveys right across the country to help get a
better geographical representation of people’s
experiences. This project has recently come to
a close and I was invited to go and present
my findings at a mycotoxin industry meeting in
London. An early morning calving preceded a
bit of a dash, via the shower, for the train,
which typified the variety that I enjoy in my
job! The work was really well received at the
meeting and helped to highlight the
experiences and knowledge gaps of farmers
and vets on the topic of mycotoxins.
As my abilities and confidence with
ambulatory work have improved I have
started to get much more involved with regular
herd health work and I’ve enjoyed routine
fertility visits, metabolic health assessments
and in particular mastitis investigation which
has tied in nicely with my increased
involvement with the in-house mastitis
diagnostic lab we run. I hope that I can build
on this and that it can lead on to me being
able to help run XLVets FarmSkills mastitis
workshops as part of the range of farm
training courses we run at the practice.
Working as part of the XLVets network has
already given me lots of opportunities I don’t
think I would have had elsewhere. The
Graduate Development Programme really
helped to settle me in to clinical work in the
first few months of working and interacting
with other member practices, particularly as
being part of RAFT projects has brought me
into contact with lots of great people. All of
these aspects together reflect the fact that I’m
lucky enough to have a job where I can go
and get my hands dirty while at the same
time being involved in research and develop-
ment; that I hope to see in action on farms in
the years ahead.