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Member benefits and events committee
Member Benefits and Events Committee team
Alice Watson (Chair)
Alice is a small animal vet from Suffolk and has been a member of MBEC since 2022. She graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2017 and immediately developed an interest in Emergency and Critical care, an area in which she is now an Advanced Practitioner. While doing quite a lot of OOH work for a large small animal hospital in Norwich she also enjoys laparoscopic surgery during day shifts as well as providing clinical teaching for the hospital’s new graduates. She also provides veterinary career guidance for Norfolk County Council, is a mental health first aider and is responsible for overseeing the RCVS’ Practice Standards accreditation for her practice.
Yasmin Abou-Amer
Yasmin graduated as a vet in 2022, but before this trained in the legal and social work fields, followed by a career in social work. She continues to practice as a social worker within the family courts today, whilst working as an emergency out of hours vet. Many of the skills she developed in her earlier career have transferred to her vet work, and identifying animals where animal welfare and human safeguarding is a concern. As a BVA Young Vet representative, she is co-developing a CPD webinar on contextualised care to be delivered to early career vets in the near future.
William Brookes
Will is a small animal vet based in Warwickshire working in primary care practice. Graduating from Nottingham Vet School, he has volunteered with the BVA since 2022, including with the MBEC and is the Young Vet Network representative for the West Midlands. He has a particular interest in surgery and post-operative rehabilitation. Will is also a Vet Sustain Champion, actively involved in developing sustainability in practice and across the profession, including particularly for Vet Students and New Graduates.
Catherine Hemingway
Catherine worked as a first opinion small animal vet for 8 years . During this time she gained the A1 Assessor award and Clinical Coach status. Catherine moved into academia in 2014 and is currently a Programme Leader for an undergraduate degree programme. She has a keen interest in programme and assessment design. Catherine gained a CertAVP in 2019, is currently studying for a MSc in Digital Education and applying to be a Senior Fellow of Advance HE.
Natasha Hetzel
Natasha is the Head of Education and Careers at Linnaeus. Natasha began her career working in primary care practice before moving to Bristol University where she completed her residency and was subsequently involved in teaching and lecturing. She later worked at Vet CPD editing their peer reviewed journal of practical CPD articles. Her current role is focused on the strategic development of undergraduate training within clinics, postgraduate training programmes and CPD delivery. She is particularly interested in interprofessional development, creating engaging, accessible education and continuous improvement from within the clinic and via online or in person CPD. Natasha has taken part in panel discussions for BVA at London Vet Show, holds a PGCert, and is working towards PGDip in Veterinary Education.
Sara Jackson
Sara is a BVA Great Veterinary Workplace accreditor and BVA Council regional representative for the Northeast. She has many years’ experience of delivering teaching and coaching to a wide range of audiences. She has spoken at conferences nationally and internationally as well as appearing on webinars and podcasts. She is currently developing two courses for the University of Lancashire post-graduate courses. Sara, who holds a Phd, has worked in leadership roles, responsible for eight clinics. She is currently working as a locum vet surgeon.
Kate Oppenheimer
Kate graduated from the RVC in 2012 and began her career in mixed practice. In 2018, she moved into small animal practice and completed a PGCert in Small Animal Medicine the following year. She has remained with the same practice since then, taking on the role of Clinical Director in 2021 and continues to enjoy clinical work. She has a strong interest in psychology, particularly the factors influencing retention and wellbeing in the veterinary industry. This led her to pursue a Master's in Organisational Psychology, completing her thesis in September 2024.
Aoife Reid
Aoife Reid graduated from University College Dublin in 2001. She spent some time in equine, mixed and small animal practice. She started working in small animal emergency practice in 2006 and has remained in this field ever since. She joined Vets Now in 2009 and her current role revolves around clinical education. Aoife has completed her CertAVP (ECC) and is an RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Emergency and Critical Care. She has a Masters in Veterinary Education and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She also works part-time for Pet Bloodbank UK and is a parent to two lively toddlers!
Sarah Rutherford
Sarah, Head of Clinical Education at CVS, has extensive experience delivering CPD through a variety of formats, including in-person, virtual, and blended learning environments. She is responsible for leading the Clinical CPD strategy across the group, including the new graduate programme and the wider CPD offering for all clinical staff. Prior to her current role, she served as Clinical Director in a busy 10-vet mixed practice, where she led significant cultural and operational transformation. Sarah holds a MSc and PhD in Veterinary Epidemiology.
Victoria South
Victoria is an equine internal medicine specialist, who worked for more than a decade as a specialist at Liphook Equine Hospital, a large referral centre in the south of England. She is working towards an MSc in Evidence Based Healthcare at Oxford University, works as a private consultant, and is also affiliated to the University of Cambridge. She is particularly interested in knowledge dissemination, and evidence literacy, and antimicrobial stewardship. She was a BEVA Council Member from 2020-2023, and is really looking forward to becoming involved with the wider profession as a BVA committee volunteer.