Fiona Farmer BVSc MRCVS summarises the action at this year’s fully-loaded, topical and inclusive BEVA Congress.
BEVA Congress 2022 was an informative, engaging and inspiring three days that showcased the excellence in the work of equine vets and had a feeling of positivity without shying away from the important questions and issues in the equine veterinary world. A well thought out schedule included sessions on surgery, orthopaedics and medicine as you would expect, along with discussions surrounding recruitment and retention, the future of equine practice, and exploring different equine veterinary careers.
A theme of collaboration
The opening address saw BEVA’s outgoing President, Huw Griffiths, give his thanks to his inner team and wider BEVA council. Huw made reference to a talk he gave 22 years ago, as a student, where he saw the future of equine vetting being predominately female vets and with part time or flexible working. At the time, his vision was dismissed, but two decades on Huw led a congress to a profession which is over 50% female and an industry which is adapting rapidly to accommodate flexible working.
Huw’s opening was followed by the Peter Rossdale Plenary lecture by Dr Celia Marr. Celia paid homage to Peter, and his passion for evidence-based medicine, and demonstrated the application of evidence-based medicine in neonatal foals. She ended her talk with a quote from Peter on how research and clinics cannot be separated “The duty of clinicians to publish is one, which in many respects, is as strong as that of the duty of care of the individual patient.” This idea of collaboration and working together set the tone for the entire congress.
International colleagues
Unsurprisingly there were a host of excellent lectures presented by colleagues eager to share their experience. We were treated to insights from speakers all over the world, as BEVA delivered several ‘carbon neutral’ sessions where speakers joined virtually. The Infectious Diseases Outbreaks session included presentations from Anne Courouce in France, Lutz Goehring from Kentucky, Anne Cullinane from Ireland and John Pringle from Sweden. This BEVA congress offered something for everyone – lectures for the orthopaedic enthusiasts, surgery updates, nursing sessions, antibiotic stewardship and more. I was also thrilled to see sessions on procedures that the majority of vets carry out regardless of their personal interests, such as the Pre-Purchase Examination. This session opened a great dialogue of the values of imaging in PPEs, when and where to image (or not!) and gait analysis. It is also worth mentioning that one of the speakers, Rhiannon Morgan, was there with her 3 month old baby. Kudos to both her and BEVA, who provided multiple parent and baby rooms.
Recruitment and retention
The ’Recruitment and Retention’ session was well subscribed, and despite an extra-long Q&A being allocated, there is still much to be said, and many conversations stemming from this set of lectures. Chris Proudman explained the new format that Surrey University is using to select students, using digital advancements to reduce bias. Bradley Hill presented the BEVA Recruitment and Retention survey 2022 which showed the top three reasons for equine vets to consider leaving their current position being work-life balance, family and salary. While this topic may feel cloaked in negativity, the same survey in 2018 listed management being one of the top three reasons, so this survey indicates management styles and approaches have improved in recent years. A take home message from the Q&A came from a point raised by a student – that unwillingly perhaps vets are putting students off equine practice when students are seeing practice for their EMS. It raised a valid point, that if we want to encourage more vets into equine practice, of course we must show students the reality of the job, but to take care we are not overly negative.
Varied equine careers
A fascinating session was ‘All Equine Careers Are Not the Same’. This included six speakers talking about the areas in which they have journeyed – Sally Cobbald, who talked about her work in rehabilitation, Gemma Pearson who is well known for her work in behaviour and Kieran Rowley who has set up a dedicated dentistry practice. Ian Bellis explained the OOH service provider Equicall, Nicky Jarvis talked about her job at equine charity centre, Redwings, and Naomi Mellor described her career path from racehorse vet to podcaster. It is great to see so many directions an equine veterinary career can go in, should clinical practice not be the right fit.
The exhibition hall was full of fantastic stands with plenty of interaction. At all times the hall was buzzing, and it was clear that many people had missed the ‘back to normal’ face to face conversations such events are always sure to deliver. Again, this year BEVA was run as a hybrid event, meaning delegates could log in and watch lectures from home. This is a great idea if it’s not possible to make it to the event physically, but I really would recommend attending in person for next year’s congress if you can – there is so much value to be found in those informal conversations between friends and colleagues, old and new, in between lectures or over lunch. Not to mention the fantastic social schedule organised for the evenings!
Feel-good factor
The whole congress exuded a real feel-good feeling. There was a thorough mix of independent vs corporate representation, as there was specialists and GPs. The BEVA stand maintained a constant source of conversation, and ex-president Lucy Grieve held many interviews on this platform, as well as chairing sessions and presenting lectures – she delivered an excellent presentation on obesity as part of the laminitis session. The Congress App made planning out personal schedules incredibly straightforward. Questions to speakers could also be submitted through the app – perfect for those less inclined to ask questions normally.
If you attended BEVA Congress 2022 you will find the lectures are still available to re-watch via the app or online until February 2023. If you missed it, head on over to www.bevacongress.org to find out more and be sure to keep an eye out for BEVA Congress 2023 in Birmingham.
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