The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) has appointed two new postgraduate deans to help guide recently graduated veterinary surgeons through their first few years in practice.
Mary de Las Casas and Shona McIntyre were appointed to the positions at the beginning of August and will help graduates during the Professional Development Phase (PDP), a period of structured learning and development to help the transition between student and practice life.
Mary graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2003 and has worked as a mixed animal veterinary surgeon both in the UK and New Zealand.
Until recently she has been in practice at Chapelfield Vets in Norfolk.
She has recently been appointed as a lecturer for the veterinary nursing course at the Central College of Animal Studies in Ipswich where she will also be helping to develop a course aimed at graduate vets.
Speaking of her appointment as postgraduate dean she said: “I have always enjoyed and gained a lot of satisfaction helping the new graduates who have started at our practice. It saddens me to hear of vets leaving the profession early in their career.
“As a dean, I hope I can use my experience to become part of a structured development phase to help and support new graduates develop the skills and experience they need to enjoy a life in the veterinary profession.”
Shona graduated from Glasgow University in 2006 and has primarily worked as a small animal practitioner since then. She is currently the clinical standards manager and a small animal clinician at a mixed practice in Fife, Scotland, where she is involved in training veterinary nurses, performance management for clinical staff and assisting new graduates in their transition into practice.
Regarding her appointment, Shona said: “Having reached the 10 year milestone in my career I wanted to start giving back to the profession and help new graduates develop into the veterinary surgeons of the future. I want to help provide them with the best start they can have in their career and felt becoming a dean was a stepping stone to achieving this.”
