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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.
Putting theory into practice
The fields and moors of Devon are filled with munching ewes and lively
lambs at the moment, whilst the farmers are busy silaging around
them. It's difficult as a vet not to pass without even a hint of thought
about what sort of anthelmintic regime they are on, even if we don't
admit it!
GRADUATE DIARY
Emily Francis,
BSc MRCVS BVM&S
Torch Farm Vets
It's fair to say that when I left university, I
was keen on parasitology but my
knowledge and ability to apply it was still
very much a work in process. I found the
most challenging aspect was learning all the
trade names and instantly being able to
conjure the active ingredient, and the
parasites targeted, in my head. But as time
goes on, hopefully the pace at which this
happens is improving! I am very lucky here
to have some parasitology experts on-hand
who have provided me with a wealth of
knowledge alongside my SCOPS manual,
which I try to keep handy at all times. I
have learnt that the simple task of running a
faecal worm egg count can turn into a
lengthy discussion about anthelmintic
regimes, clinically affected animals, growth
rates and hopefully some advice on how to
improve things. In the farm vet world, the
phrase ‘playing with poo’ has a lot more to
it than it suggests! Resistance is a seriously
hot topic at the moment and I am
appreciating more and more the usefulness
of resistance testing on farms, especially
with the use of white drenches, which
farmers have been using for years and may
not be aware of the efficacy of them.
Hopefully as time goes on I will continue to
help promote sustainable practices that result
in healthy ewes and nice fat lambs.
It’s not only my laboratory skills that have
been put to the test recently, my surgery
skills are frequently being brushed up on
too! I used to find the thought of a caesar
or displaced abomasum operation quite
daunting but the more I do, the more
comfortable I feel. My understanding and
patient colleagues and the lighter evenings
have definitely contributed to this! Am still
waiting for that 2.00am nightmare caesar,
however a feisty charolais heifer did put my
ability to stitch-up a moving target to the test
last week!
I graduated from the University of
Edinburgh in Summer 2015 and started
my farm vet internship programme at Torch
Farm Vets the following October. I am part
of a large team of 17 dedicated farm
vets, four TB testers and a whole host of
invaluable support staff based over five
sites covering North Devon.
My interest in pro uction a imal medicine
was well cemented before starting
university and I have not once looked
back on my decision to go straight into
purely farm animal practice. Even on rainy
days, which are a very common
occurrence in Devon, I can’t imagine
doing anything else.
I took part in the XLVets farm graduate
programme in late 2015 and it’s really
helped me get off the ground with clinical
decision making by refreshing my
knowledge and asking all those stupid
new graduate questions! I met a great
bunch of people and it’s a great way to
reach out to the wider XLVets community.
I have a particular interest in calf health,
youngstock management and the
prevention of perinatal lamb losses, I
hope to learn a huge amount more in
these areas in the following months.
Outside of work I have just joined a local
cricket club to continue my keen interest in
playing and coaching when I am not out
walking my new Springer Spaniel ‘Ted’.