Hello, it's Anthony Chadwick from the webinar vet just welcoming you to another episode of Vet Chat. Very fortunate today to have Doctor Alex Davis, who's just been named Young Vett of the Year at BVA for his fantastic work that he's doing with that mentor. So thank you so much for coming on, really appreciate it.
How are you, Alex? Hi, how are you? Thank you for inviting me.
Thank you for that lovely introduction. Yeah, really excited to talk with you today. Yeah, I mean it'd be lovely to, to tell us a little bit about that mentor and, and what made you sort of set it up.
So perhaps a also a little bit about where you've come from, from. Why you wanted to be a vet and what vet school you went to? Yeah, so, well, Vet Mentor is a nonprofit organisation completely dedicated to applying vet students, but also aims to kind of increase veterinary aspirations from a much more diverse population of students than we've seen.
We know that there are systemic workforce issues in the veterinary profession right now, and diversity and accessibility are also major problems, so. Everything that we do aims at solving these issues and making sure people know how amazing these careers are and make a really informed decision to pursue them. So Vet mentor has actually been around for some time.
We're actually part of an umbrella organisation including Medic Mentor for human medics, and dental mentor for dentists. We like to think of ourselves as a one health team, so looking at the same problems from different perspectives, and the veterinary side really over the last year has completely booed. I've just taken over as president of Vet Mentor, which is really exciting.
We've done loads of different projects now, and the one, which, allowed me to win, BVA Young Vet of the Year, was our virtual work experience programme that stemmed from, COVID. Students, of course, need work experience to get into vet school. It's one of those things that we all have to sacrifice so much time to get all of that work experience done and thousands of.
Students came to vet mentor with anxiety that they weren't going to get in because they couldn't get work experience anymore because of the COVID restrictions. So I decided really that we had to take work experience to them. So I quite frantically got a team together of some amazing media experts and some other incredible vets and vet students from across the country, and we started filming real vets working with clients.
And the animals doing what vets do on a day to day basis to try and give people almost like the big brother impression of what the vet profession looks like and and they watched that from the safety and comfort of their own homes. It was very high fidelity, so they really did feel like they were in the room with us. And we followed that up with some teaching sessions, which is what I did.
And you know, when I graduated from vet school, I told my staff I, I would never go and work with farmers. Animals or horses again, I was solely smallies, that was it for me. But I found myself on a stables at 7:30 in the morning on my director's chair, with an amazing team trotting up horses and lunging them.
And I was back on a farm lambing as well, which was also an amazing thing to be part of, again, knowing that it could inspire so many of the students. The, the most amazing session that we did for me was one that we focused on professionalism. Veterinary ethics and animal welfare and I hosted that and taught it in collaboration with er Doctor Mandisa Green and Doctor Kate Richards from the president and senior vice president of the Royal Veterinary College, where we had some quite difficult discussions that were being had between vet and the the.
About difficult cases, so we had somebody wanting to have their vaccine record forged. We were breaking some bad news about a potential euthanasia and quality of life and talked about really how vets deal with all of these things in a really constructive way, . And the nice thing about that is we were exposing students to what well-being actually means and how you can start addressing your own well-being right now as an applying student, because, you know, we, we all have stress.
I remember when I was an applying student, I, I experienced stress. So if maybe if I was taught some more strategic and logical ways to solve that, when I've when you get through vet school, maybe. You can manage those things better.
So we were exposing students from an early age to some difficult themes, but in a really productive way. So that was the most inspiring day for me, and I, I wonder how much more inspired I would have been to sit there and watch the president of the RCBS tell me about the amazing profession when I was younger. So that was an amazing session.
But vet mentor do so much other educational things for students. We have a virtual veterinary society, lots of e-learning modules and conferences for applying students, at summer schools, we have a mentor magazine. There, there's just so much going on and the organisation has grown and grown and grown, which is a, hopefully a positive.
Sign that we're helping nurture new vets into the profession, raise aspirations and from the data that we're getting, we're seeing a more diverse pool of applicants as well. Well, this is music to my ears, cos you'll probably guess I quite like virtual stuff as well. I kind of, I think my claim to fame is I walked around BSAVA in 2010 and said to the various companies, you should be doing webinars, and the majority of them, well, I think all of them actually said.
They didn't tell me to shove off their stand, they said, what's a webinar, now it's one of the most common ways that we, we learn, and it's a great way of saving time, but also getting that information, leveraging it, not 1 to 1. I, I did an interview or was chatting to a prospective vet student the other day over the phone, and that's 1 to 1, whereas you can be talking to hundreds of thousands of people. You know, with only using that same time, so leverage is, is so powerful, isn't it?
Yeah, I no, I agree. I, I think work experience can come in so many ways, you know, I certainly remember placements that I went on that I loved and was inspired, but some I potentially felt a little bit bored as an applying student because. The vets maybe weren't used to having students with them or didn't really have time to invest in them, so what we were able to ensure is the quality was there every time and all of the students almost on a level playing field with the experience that they get.
Now of course we. We made it virtual because of COVID, you were virtual far before COVID was a thing, you were the king of virtual before that. COVID inspired us, but what we noticed that we were attracting students to, to get inspired and learn about the veterinary profession that regardless of COVID, wouldn't have done it unless it was a virtual opportunity because of the circumcircumstance and where they come from.
No, that's great, yeah. That's really great. I mean, obviously the profession is very white.
I think it's fair to say, and probably middle class. Obviously coming from quite a working class background myself, it's, it's important that we can broaden it. Tell us a little bit about why you wanted to become a vet and, and what your experience was, did you, did you come from a manor in the country somewhere, Alex?
No, I, I grew up in a place called Baver just outside Pontypridd, I went to my local comprehensive, the same school that my parents went to, and I was always intrigued by animals all the way throughout school. I, I can't say that I always wanted to be a vet, but animal science always intrigued me, . And then I did that year 10 work experience that we all have to go and do a week and I just absolutely loved it.
I was in my local practise, I was really lucky to have got a placement from the mother of one of my friends in the local scouts group. So I was lucky to have a connection there, because some students don't have those connections to get work experience. And because I know, knew her son, from Scouts that I had an amazing time and was allowed to do.
So much that maybe a 15 year old would never be able to do these days. So I had a great time, and then I knew straight away I wanted to be a vet. I, I found A Levels difficult, and knew that there was going to be academic challenge there.
But what I didn't know that there's almost an academic and a non-academic criteria to get into vet school, so obviously you need your A's and your A's. Stars and whatever it is for for your universities, but you also need to know all these things about interview skills and reflective writing and learning about your work experience and having a really good insight into the role of the vet. And I think that's where my application was really lacking.
And above that, I, I couldn't really get any support from my school because they've never had a vet, graduate or or go into vet school from my school. The their advice to me was, give up every single piece of time or amount of time that you have to do work experience, . And I, I tried my very best, and eventually that detrimented my grades because I was giving up too much time and I didn't get in.
So I didn't actually get into vet school the first time, and I went to the University of Liverpool and did an undergraduate degree in bio veterinary science. And for about a year and a half into that degree, I'd given up on this dream of becoming a vet, . It really didn't seem like it was achievable at all until I discovered research and research at Liverpool is a, is a, a brilliant institution for research.
And I got involved with a study looking at the genetics of liver fluke, which was a really weird one, but what I'd actually knew was a big problem in my local area in South Wales in the sheep and cattle there. So I started the. Research and then this fire relit inside me where I knew I'd want to become a vet again and I got into the RVC on their graduate programmes.
So it was a long journey for me. And once I got to the RVC research never disappeared. I, I, I've still got a passion for research.
I'm working on two different studies at the moment. I've published, whilst I was a student, really passionate about it. And I found vet mentor whilst I was there as well, and the aim is to make sure that no student ever has my experience that I had going through vet school, you know, if you believe in yourself and if you have good mentors, good advice, and good programmes available to you to help inspire you and help you learn, then you can do it.
You, you just have to believe in yourself. Well, I was the same as you, Alex. I didn't get my A Levels the first time.
I got A Levels, they weren't the right grades. So I went back and resat them and then I had to change boards to London, got my results, which were good enough in the March, and then I went off to a, to a stud farm and to a, to a, a sheep farm. So I got more experience.
I had gone, I was going to go to Edinburgh, they wouldn't have me, because I had not passed my A levels first time. And Liverpool said, we'll, we'll have you and I love the city, I'm from Liverpool anyway. And I wanted to be a vet, so I was more interested in the degree.
Than I was in the city, so I think sometimes that shows more commitment, and I wonder whether by only taking in A star students, is that another part of the diversity that we, we limit too much by, Do we need absolutely super academics to do the veterinary job? It's an interesting one, isn't it, you know, a lot of the universities now do have er contextual offers for students from widening access backgrounds, so there will be a reduction in grades as as a way of saying we know that your circumstances, will, will make you less advantageous than other students. But no, I, you know, I agree, I think becoming a vet is more.
Than the academics and that's where this non non-academic criteria come in, you know, it's somebody who's passionate about animal welfare, somebody who's a leader, somebody who's a logical thinker and a good problem solver, somebody who's really empathetic and a good communicator who loves teamwork, that's a vet, you know, it's not the academics, that's really what it's all about. Yeah, I think I agree, you know, we can concentrate too much on the IQ and not enough on the EQ, which, you know, the EQ allows you to communicate with people who will often, you know, not be university people, so you have to communicate at a level to make sure that they understand. The issues with their animals.
Just a little bit more history about Bet Mentor, you're obviously the president, which is fantastic. So how long has that mentor been going on as an entity, and do you know a bit about the history of when it started and so on? Yeah, so it's around, so originally the organisation was just called Medic Mentor and Vet Mentor was just a well it wasn't even called Vet mentor, it was just the vet part of Medic mentor, so we had all of these humans.
Doctors and a few vets in a very small cohort of applying students. That was around 5 years ago, and the vet side was growing. We've had some amazing vets.
Doctor Sherri Anne Pegg was fundamental in establishing a vet mentor, and we've got a load of other amazing vets. Doctor Laya Thompson, one to look out for, I'm sure she'll win BVA Young Vett of the Year next year for what she's doing. And Doctor Shannon Calik, another amazing vet that I've lucky to work with, and another, somebody who's taken over social media is Doctor May, who's just graduated from Cambridge and already inspiring so many people.
Vet mentor as an organisation started really just before COVID, we, we launched an an independent organisation. Because there is a big difference between, well, a bit, a big difference I would say between what's needed to become a doctor and what's needed to become a vet. So, we, we've branched off and now we have our own vision and our own idea of what's needed to make a really sustainable, diverse and committed next generation of vets.
Well, I'm really inspired by what you're doing. It, it sounds fantastic. And obviously we've, we've got that potential because we want to do the same, you know, with when students become vet students, we've got Wikiett as well, so I think there's all sorts of possibilities that to collaborate and it's one of my favourite words because I think when we work together as a profession, we can achieve so much more than if we work.
You know, separately, and I know before we started this, we were talking about some of the potential future ambitions for Vet Mentor. Do you want to talk a little bit about that as well? Yeah, so we've got two streams that I'm personally developing, but like some of those other vets I mentioned are all going off and doing amazing things themselves as well.
They could have their own podcast with you to talk about those too. For me personally right now, we're going to grow the work experience programme, so we're going to expose students to different types of the profession and different jobs, in a really high fidelity simulated way so they can see it and feel like they're in the room. So the next big one is we're actually going to be filming some badger vaccinations for TB and, yeah, I, something I never.
Expected to see, and so I'll be filming some of those, and we'll link that into TB testing and TB as a day, you know, it's a big topical issue and they'll get to see it really practically. So that's one example. I've got, Alex, they've got sharp teeth and long nails, so don't get scratched or bitten by them.
I'll be behind the camera, I don't think I'll be the one vaccinating them. So that's the first thing we're going to grow that, but also change the way in which we deliver the programme. We were delivering it as live sessions once a month.
But you know, for an applying student, giving up one day a month, and a whole day could interfere with their personal life and their academic studies. So we're actually going to create a virtual, platform to release those episodes so students can watch them and learn from them and benefit from them in their own time around their own commitments and to hopefully help with productivity. Wellbeing and make sure that they're getting the most from the sessions.
So that's the first thing, and the next thing is the establishment of the veterinary inspiration hub. It's going to be the place that any student from any background can go to to learn about the veterinary profession, topical issues, what skills are needed, . You know, hear from different vets and their stories and journeys, have an idea about what type of careers are available to them once they graduate, and generally just get a sense of, just get inspired and learn about what this profession's all about.
So that's the, the next thing, and Doctor Kate Richards, who's the president of the RCBS said to me when we were together was, Her ambition and message for her year as presidency was connections that count, and I've definitely stolen that saying because that I think all of us want that right now, we all want to connect with other vets, and make and collaborate and make a difference that's really impactful and has a long lasting legacy on on our profession. And the two things I suppose, the beauty of what you're doing again virtually is, it isn't just for the UK and we have an obligation to pass our information to, you know, other countries as well. So this will, I mean, webinar vets, I think we've had vets from well over 100 countries watching and nurses watching our webinars.
I think you'll go on the same journey, and I, I love that you're speaking to wise people like Kate Richards. This is very useful R&D and of course, very similarly to you, my definition of R&D is rip off and duplicate, so never, never be afraid of using other people's lives. Absolutely, and we actually had students streaming in from America, who wanted to be vets, but they didn't just want to become vets, they were American students.
They wanted to come to vet school in the UK because they wanted to learn about our standards and learn how to become a UK vet with our RCVS standards, which I thought, wow, that that that's amazing. And that's brilliant, and I know the RVC has quite a large . Quota of American students every year, which I suppose has been affected by COVID, but hopefully it's settling down again.
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, but it's, you know, they, again, having that diverse student community can really add something, but you know, we're also going to be nurturing our own homegrown vets from across all of our amazing cities and towns and villages across the country, you know, anyone who's interested in this, I just need them to know that they can do it, that you can absolutely do it. You just need to know where to look and who to help you, but it's all there for you. You just have to reach out and ask.
Alex, that was splendid. Thank you so much for all that you're doing for the profession at such an early stage, as well as also learning how to do all the clinical stuff. So it's amazing what you're doing, and I know you've got a 4 o'clock surgery, so I better let you go because we don't want you to be late for the for the first vaccination this evening.
Thank you very much, Antony, it was lovely to come and chat to you today and hopefully we'll work together soon. Yeah, take care, thanks Alex. Bye bye.
