Over history, the life of a farm vet has often been shown through a romanticised lens through depiction of vets such as James Herriot, with farm vetting being once a male-dominated industry. With the rapid rise of feminisation in the profession and the shift in demographics over the last few decades, over half of all vets in the profession are female, with the focus now shifting towards what the modern vet looks like.
To look closer into this topic, Veterinary Woman has collaborated with 3 Donkeys, a family run company designed by women for women. 3 Donkeys produces 2-into-1 coveralls that are specially designed to fit women whilst also being stylish, practical and comfortable for outdoor wear. 3 Donkeys is offering Veterinary Woman readers a 10% discount on their coveralls with the code VW072110
Check out their range on their website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Veterinary Woman spoke to three vets to get their insight into their life as a female farm vet in the UK. Ami Sawran, Lucy Jerrram and Emily Gascoigne are all working as farm vets in different parts of the UK, and here we get a glimpse into their lives within the profession.
Ami Sawran
Ami Sawran is a 2011 Liverpool graduate, who is in 100% farm practice in Essex. A clinical director at Westpoint Farm Vets, Ami has had a varied career in the sector, with experience in clinical practice, management, academia and clinical teaching. Her primary clinical interests are camelid and small ruminant medicine. Outside of clinical practice, Ami paddleboards with her two dogs, Olive and Remy, and enjoys playing netball, snowboarding and theatre.
You follow Ami on Twitter @GetSet_Vet and Instagram @getsetvet.
What’s the best thing about being a farm vet?
The best thing about being a farm vet is the never-ending variety that the job offers. I’ve rarely had a chance to get bored or stuck in a rut – not just because of the wide species variation that my practice covers, but also because my job gives me the opportunity to pursue clinical, educational, research, official vet (OV) and managerial work – all in the same day sometimes!
What’s the one thing you would change about being a farm vet?
The one thing that I would change about being a farm vet is our visibility in the wider veterinary world. A lot of veterinary-focused activities are very small-animal centric, and farm vetting can often feel like an afterthought. It’s often thought of as quite a dated industry, but if there were more spotlights on the excellent people in our arm of the profession, people would see how truly pioneering and forward thinking farm vets could be. Farm is still not as diverse a sector as it could be, and I honestly think it suffers for that. I would love to see it become a more attractive and realistic prospect for people from different backgrounds. In order for that to happen, we need to better promote what it is to be a modern farm vet, and get rid of this lingering myth that you have to be from a farming background to get a foot in the door!
What are your career plans / ambitions for the future?
My latest ambition has been to slow down for a minute!
What advice would you give to anyone thinking of a career as a farm animal vet?
DO IT. Honestly, farm is such a rewarding sector to work in when you’re in a supportive team, with a practice that supports your development. Welcoming, flexible, and proactive practices are out there, and they are absolutely ready to help anyone who is interested in farm to find their groove. I appreciate farm experience can be hard to find, but keep trying and the gaps can be made up – I did most of my experience in a city farm, and I was also a real under-achiever academically when at vet school. It’s easy to listen to the doubts that farm isn’t for you because you are a woman, or if you’re not hugely academic, or if you aren’t from farming stock – anyone peddling those ideas needs to get in the sea. You could also check out Farminist on Facebook – it’s a group of women who work in farm sectors, and they’re ready to support your aspirations.
Lucy Jerram
Lucy Jerram works as a farm vet at Endell Farm Vets in Salisbury. Alongside her clinical interests, Lucy has an interest teaching students and promoting mental health and wellbeing in the profession. She is also involved in mentoring newer members of her practice team.
Follow Lucy on Instagram at @lucythecowvet.
What’s the best thing about being a farm vet?
I graduated in 2014 and have worked solely in farm animal practice in the south of England in two different practices. While there have been opportunities to leave ambulatory practice, I genuinely love my job at the moment, with the variety of individual and herd emergency medicine, on farm surgery, herd health planning, mentoring younger vets and some rotation teaching as well. It’s hard to choose one ‘best thing’ about being a farm vet but being out on the road rather than in a consulting room is a big advantage for me. Farms are spread out in Hampshire and so I spend a lot of time on the road, but luckily I enjoy driving with my spaniel co-pilot and I make the most of the opportunity to listen to podcasts – an eclectic mix of veterinary, farming, sport and nonsense in my case! I enjoy the strong working relationships that farm vets can develop with their farmers and feel lucky to be working with a number of proactive farmers who genuinely want to improve their farm. These relationships take time to build but are invaluable once created, and the friendly farmers far outnumber the rude, obstructive individuals.
What’s the one thing you would change about being a farm vet?
Farm vetting is incredibly seasonal which is something I find easier to accept some years, and harder in others! We tend to be busy with autumn calving from late August to October, then we have a breather before returning to being busy from January onwards for spring. Generally our emergency work is manageable in my area, but you certainly still end up tired and low in motivation. As a more senior vet I find spring a challenge as all the admin type jobs are lower priority than a calving but they still need doing at some point! Over the past year I have tried to be much stricter with a work-life balance, but this can lead to you feeling like you aren’t pulling your weight. In a team that works remotely it’s often more difficult to work out just how hard you are working compared to everyone else, and because you aren’t physically stepping out of the building at the end of the day it can be harder to draw the line on when to close the laptop or turn off the phone. Farm veterinary practice strikes me as being behind the curve of small animal practice when it comes to flexible working and I have seen some excellent vets leave ambulatory practice after starting a family. We need to embrace the ability to work half days or to start/finish early, but this is often limited by the time taken to drive to farms as well as the question of who then covers the sick animal calls. I now work a half day in a different role each week. I’m lucky that in the morning I spend 3-4 hours teaching and then it means I’m done for the day, so my colleagues are aware I’m not available for any calls.
What are your career plans and ambitions for the future?
The logical route now that I have my specialist status would be working in a university, and I really do enjoy teaching. However I also enjoy the ambulatory side of practice and working on making things better for my veterinary team. So a career that balances all those things would be great! A university position with a functional ambulatory practice would be ideal for me, but I do already work in ambulatory practice and I teach rotation students at least a day a week. I also mentor recent graduates and spend allocated time improving CPD provision within CVS – perhaps I’m close to achieving the ideal balance already?!
What advice would you give to anyone thinking of a career as a farm animal vet?
I wanted to be a farm vet from a really early age and still believe this is the right career path for me, but I would advise anyone considering this as a career to gain plenty of experience and ask the difficult questions about the profession so that they enter into the process fully aware of all the information. The days can be long and the work is physical, so looking after yourself is really important. But I would far rather be a farm vet who finishes at 5pm in the summer and can make the most of the long evenings than a small animal vet stuck in a consulting room until 7 or 8pm!
Emily Gascogine
Emily Gascoigne is a specialist sheep vet working at Synergy Farm Vets, a large farm-only practice. Her clinical interests include sheep and goat production, and outside of work she is also involved in several veterinary organisations.
You can follow her on twitter @Em_the_SheepVet.
What’s the best thing about being a farm vet?
I originally thought I wanted to be a vet because I loved animals. When I began to take it seriously at school, I wanted to be a vet because of my enthusiasm for science and information. After I started my specialist qualification in sheep health, it was because of a love of sheep themselves and of data. Fundamentally, the constant throughout has been my interest and willingness to engage with those who look after the animals under my care – the people! Farming can be a tricky and rapidly evolving life, so being in a role which can support, facilitate, inspire, nurture and challenge at times really gets me out of bed on the rainiest of days! Teaching one farmer a new concept can positively influence not only their own work, but the production data of a flock, the performance of a business and fundamentally the welfare of hundreds and sometimes thousands of animals. Plus, I get to work outside in a beautiful corner of the UK!!
What’s the one thing you would change about being a farm vet?
Damp days! Perhaps no explanation needed. The heaters in my van just create a sauna. A long damp day is not enviable!
What are your career plans / ambitions for the future?
I have had a busy few years to date in my career, through building the sheep work at the practice, achieving my specialist qualification and becoming an increasingly senior vet. But the most satisfying element of my role now is working with and mentoring other prospective sheep vets within my team! I was very grateful to have some wonderful mentors who took the time to support and nurture my enthusiasm, and I am a big believer in “paying it forward”. This is my next aspiration, facilitating those with a love of sheep and science!
What advice would you give to anyone thinking of a career as a farm animal vet?
Go for it! Find a supportive first role and seize every single opportunity that comes. If it doesn’t exist, ask yourself if you can make your own opportunities.
I have some equally important advice for those beginning out at vet school. Irrespective of what you think you want to be when you qualify, it’s a long time off! Be open minded, be inquisitive, challenge your own preconceptions. In my role I look after much beloved individuals and flocks of thousands of animals – with a total team portfolio of in excess of 150,000 animals. I do everything from public health, individual medicine, preventative and reactive healthcare and teaching – and all whilst having fun! Be open minded to farm animal medicine. My passion for sheep has taken me all over the world. Where could your passion take you?
Don’t forget that you can use the code VW072110 to get a 10% discount on 3 donkeys coveralls. You can check out their full range on their website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.