RCVS supports new veterinary career diversity event

Representatives and staff from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) will be attending the inaugural Vets: Stay, Go, Diversity (VSGD) Live! event this April to showcase its work on leadership, innovation and mental health.

The VSGD event – inspired by the Vet Futures project – takes place on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 April at CodeNode, a community events venue in the City of London, and will have an estimated 250 delegates in attendance, as well as online delegates, to discuss veterinary career diversity.

Members of RCVS council and the college’s officer team will be taking part in a number of talks and workshop/ panel discussions.

On Saturday:

• RCVS council member and junior vice president elect Niall Connell will be giving a talk called ‘Discovering life after ill-health retirement’ about how he has continued to work in the veterinary sphere after his multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2010.
• RCVS senior vice president Chris Tufnell, who runs the college’s ViVet innovation project, will be giving a presentation entitled ‘Playing our part in world progress through science, innovation and caring’.
• Rob Pettitt, senior lecturer in Small Animal Orthopaedics at the University of Liverpool, will be delivering a talk on behalf of the college’s Mind Matters Initiative titled ‘Mind over surgical matter’ in which he will talk about his own experiences of mental ill-health.
• Chris Tufnell will be joining RCVS council member Danny Chambers and the BVA’s Simon Doherty and Gudrun Ravetz in a Q&A panel session titled ‘What have the RCVS and BVA ever done for us?’

On Sunday:

• Professor Stuart Reid, chair of the Mind Matters Initiative, will join RCVS Council member Jo Dyer in a workshop titled ‘We are all human: healthy minds for medics and vets’.
• Chris Tufnell will also take part in a workshop called ‘Practice makes perfect: Starting a veterinary business’.
• Chris and Danny will be taking part in a panel discussion titled ‘Advocating for the profession in practice’.

Ian Holloway, director of communications at the college, said: “We are delighted to be engaging with this new event which has grown out of a very popular Facebook group in which vets of all stages of their careers gathered to share stories and ideas on how to make the best of their veterinary education and experience.

“As well as taking part in many of the talks and workshops the college will also have a stand at the event where we will be promoting our ViVet innovation programme which aims to ensure that the veterinary profession is at the forefront of technological and business innovation in the animal health space.

He added: “Furthermore, we are very pleased to be promoting the new RCVS Leadership Initiative which aims to instil everyday leadership for veterinary professionals at all career stages through a massive open online course on leadership development inspired by the NHS Leadership Academy.”

For more information about the event, including purchasing tickets, visit www.vsgd.co