BEVA Council Member Safia Barakzai BVSc MSc DESTS Dipl. ECVS FRCVS is an internationally recognised specialist in equine surgery.
She is a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons (ECVS), holds both Certificate and Diploma in Equine Soft Tissue Surgery from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) and is a RCVS and ECVS recognised surgical specialist. She has also been an associate member of the European College of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging (ECDVI).
Safia founded Equine Surgical Referrals as a mobile surgical consultancy in 2017, consulting on cases and operating on horses in collaboration with other veterinary practices. Her clinical research includes over 80 peer reviewed publications, textbooks and textbook chapters. She also sits on the Editorial Consultants Board for Equine Veterinary Journal and is regularly invited to speak at veterinary conferences.
Safia will be delivering sessions at BEVA Congress 2022 on radiographic identification of sinus abnormalities and complications of sinus surgery, as well as chairing streams on imaging and general surgery.
What do you enjoy most about speaking at BEVA Congress?
It’s always an honour to be asked to speak at any conference and represents that your peers recognise and are interested in your research record and clinical work. For me, BEVA congress is special because it is so social and you get to meet up with old university friends and work colleagues whom you might not bump into otherwise.
Which sessions in the Scientific Programme are you particularly anticipating this year?
I usually enjoy the short communications sessions the most as they offer a soundbite of the latest research that is going on – so you get a glimpse into projects many months before they are published.
Have you got any advice for others considering specialisation?
Do it! The route to specialisation takes short term sacrifices – in terms of salary, work-life balance and often geography too. But for me, and all the others I know that have done it, it’s undoubtedly been worth it.
How did you decide to start your mobile surgical consultancy, and was it daunting taking the leap out of practice?
I had wanted to start up on my own as a peripatetic surgeon for many years before I actually did it – fear of poverty and failure stopped me on several occasions! I finally decided to do it because I had somehow landed in a practice whose moral and ethical standards really didn’t match my own, and I knew I had to make an exit strategy. Within a month of starting Equine Surgical Referrals, I knew that I had made the right decision and I haven’t looked back. Sometimes what seems at the time like a negative push that forces you out of your comfort zone and makes you take the leap is actually a really positive thing.
“Sometimes what seems at the time like a negative push that forces you out of your comfort zone and makes you take the leap is actually a really positive thing.”
What most excites you about your work?
I still enjoy doing surgery and fixing horses – particularly the more difficult procedures – and hopefully I am doing a good job at that and providing a reliable and efficient service to my referring vets.
What career challenges have you learned the most from?
Setting up my own business. I would encourage anyone who wants to start up their own practice to grab the bull by the horns and do it – with a friend if you can but on your own is definitely achievable. “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure” (Paulo Coehlo).
It’s an amazingly positive feeling to work for yourself, be in charge of the type of cases and clients that you see, to manage your diary as best suits you and to directly reap the rewards from a really long or hard day’s work, rather than put it in the pocket of shareholders or other employers. The business side of things is daunting to start off with because as vets we are not educated about it, but it really is not that complicated to learn. I do wish there were more available avenues within the veterinary profession to get small business advice from – I might have set up my consultancy much sooner if there had been.
I think that at the moment, the RCVS out of hours provision rules are one of the things that puts off a lot of disgruntled equine vets starting up their own practices – let’s hope that this outdated regulation is moderated in the ongoing RCVS ‘under care review’.
Finally, what is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
My old boss and mentor Prof Paddy Dixon gave me so much good advice including ‘if surgery was easy everyone would be doing it’, ‘sinusitis is forever’, ‘always acknowledge an email promptly’, ‘you’ve got to work hard to be successful’ and finally, ‘get a taxi’.
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