EMS – use your placements to discover how Veterinary Public Health makes a difference

With a breadth of enforcement powers, vets working in veterinary public health are the eyes and ears of animal health, welfare, and food hygiene – a fact recognised by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). In fact, the first case of Foot and Mouth Disease of the 2001 outbreak in the UK was identified by an Official Veterinarian (OV) in a pig abattoir, Crucially, the opportunities in veterinary public health are not just limited to the food industry. 

OVs give consumers, exporters and food businesses operators crucial assurances that the food on our plates is safe and has met essential animal health and welfare standards. They make sure that the animals we care so much about receive a good death and work collaboratively with food business operators to make sure that they thrive not just survive in a hugely competitive market.  In the meat hygiene sector, OVs see more animals on a day to day basis than any other area of veterinary work, so there’s a wealth of experience to learn from.

Working is an OV is just one of the ways in which you can be involved in the wider picture of farm, animal and equine animal health and welfare. There is also a vast array of roles in private practice and civil service where vets deal with the human-animal-environment interface at an individual, national and international level (consider Alabama Rot in dogs caught from the environment and recent outbreaks of Equine flu in vaccinated animals).

Veterinary public health is perhaps the broadest specialist field in the profession and will touch on almost everyone’s careers at some point; here’s how you can make the most of its diversity and ubiquity through your EMS placements.

So, what’s on offer for EMS?

There are a range of ways for you to see more of veterinary public health as part of your EMS placements, ranging from structured intensive courses, to veterinary public health masterclasses:

• The University of Bristol offer a Student Official Veterinarian course for abattoir work. This is a usually free 12-day intensive course including animal welfare and level 3 HACCP qualifications. It is suitable for final-year students only as there is a requirement to complete practical training within a year which requires an MRCVS registration. Upon completion it qualifies you to work as an OV in meat industry, subject to completion of the 200 probationary hours (paid!) in an abattoir (usually organised by one of the main contractors. Contact Grace Grist for more information on how to apply.
• Veterinary Public Health Association (VPHA) Masterclass – this is organised jointly by VPHA and a hosting university. The masterclass is a week-long programme, exploring different aspects of veterinary public health work in food production (meat, dairy, honey etc) and animal by-products. It’s free and funded by VPHA. One place per is offered per UK vet school and two places for European students. Contact Milorad Radakovic for more information on how to apply
• EMS placements at APHA and Defra – a week long programme that where you can focus on veterinary public health, policy, field operations or border inspections. It’s free and awarded by application. For more information and to apply request an application form from your EMS co-ordinator.

Informal opportunities

VPHA are also well placed to help you find a placement through our contacts, we have contacts across:

• Abattoir/Dairy processing/Food processing business
• Regional APHA or other state veterinary medicine officers
• Border control/product import and export
• Veterinary public health research/summer studentships, which are available at vet schools from time to time – projects can be tailored around the interests of the student.

So just drop us a line on [email protected]  let us know what kind of experience you’re after, whereabouts in the country and for how long, and we can go from there. 

Seize the opportunity

Why not take the opportunity now to explore the diversity of roles in veterinary public health and where your own career interests might link with the field? A week or so spent in veterinary public health could broaden your horizons, help you to view that interesting clinical case from a slightly different perspective or simply appreciate how critical a role vets play in ensuring the health and harmony of society as a whole. All in a day’s work.