Judy Scrine MA VetMB MRCVS qualified from Cambridge in 1991 and worked for several years in mixed, mainly equine practice in the north-east before becoming a partner at Mayes and Scrine Equine Vets in 2003 where she was a Clinical Director until a cervical disc injury brought her practical veterinary career to an abrupt end.
She is an obsessive adventurer and traveller, which she combines with a penchant for marathon running in crazy places to raise funds for the charity Breast Cancer Now, for which she has raised over £50,000 to date.
In November 2022, her book The Thinking Man’s Survival Guide to Managing a Menopausal Partner, was published through Clink Street Publishing under the pen name Tiggy Bailey, with a percentage of any profits being donated to Breast Cancer Now.
Please could you start by telling us a bit more about your career to date?
I was intent on becoming a horse vet from the age of three, if not earlier, and remained pretty set on this track, with only slight deviations towards being a professional showjumper (no talent) or an authoress (now’s my chance!). This made school choices a lot easier and, despite hitting the “James Herriot Effect” at its height, and my school doing its best to scupper my application to vet schools, I landed a place at Gonville and Caius, Cambridge.
Loved Cambridge. It was a magical time. On qualifying, it seemed the world and his wife wanted to be an equine vet, competition was fierce, and one needed experience to get an equine job, but how did one get that experience? So I went north and worked in mixed practice which was the best thing I could have done. It was in at the deep end stuff – on duty at Redcar races on my second day in practice and equine general anaesthetics from day one – but having the client handling and surgery experience of small animal, the obstetrics and economic pressures of production animal and of course the plentiful equine work stood me in very good stead. It was however incredibly intense. I lasted three and a half years, before taking time out to scratch that travel itch and visit more than 20 countries in 6 months.
Back to the south-east for a predominantly equine role in a first opinion practice, then I joined Ben Mayes in 2001 when he bought what is now Mayes and Scrine from the true gentleman and old school vet that was Colin Bond. Assistant, then partner, then co-director and finally clinical director when we sold the practice to VetPartners in 2019. I’m at a complete crossroads now, having been forced to abruptly step away from clinical practice due to my disc injury. It’s an exciting time deciding what I shall do next. When one door shuts, start looking for all those that are open.
What inspired you to write The Thinking Man’s Survival Guide to Managing a Menopausal Partner?
Purely a chance remark from my then fiancé, now husband, Totters. I can’t now remember exactly what this remark was! Just that it was a completely inappropriate thing to say to a menopausal lady, and deserved only to be laughed at.
Where does your pen name come from?
Tiggy was my dog, sadly RIP in May this year. The only Transylvanian Horror Hound on the planet, she was a rescue and came with that name. Bailey is my father’s middle name. Tiggy Bailey became my social media name to allow me to have an identity away from the veterinary world.
It’s clear that you aim to entertain, but is there also a more serious message behind your writing?
Initially the book was purely to do just that, to entertain, but as I continued to add to it, I became hopeful that humour might be a way to help men understand what ladies are going through when menopausal, and to get that message home without resorting to harping on and lecturing, or nagging and shrewish behaviour. It has been quite useful getting Totters to read bits “for approval” for this very reason.
What’s the takeaway message about menopause that you would like to communicate to men?
We are still approachable and can be managed and understood. There are ways. We have not been overtaken by an alien – or not for forever anyway. You chaps can know in your heart of hearts what you know, but keep that knowledge secret and act a little bit for the sake of peace and harmony. Anything for a peaceful life all round. It will be worth it and you can be smug in this knowledge.
How do you think the veterinary profession could improve retention of women in practice?
Serious head on now. This is a huge subject and very relevant to the retention and recruitment crisis we are suffering, across the board in veterinary practice, but particularly amongst vets. Practice principles must accept that the world is a different place from when they were recently qualified. We can’t expect people to work the same rotas or live to work in the same way we did. Work life balance is critical. Mental wellbeing is so important. The suicide rate has always been terrifyingly high in vets, and women are way overrepresented. There must be more acceptance and accommodation of part-time and flexible working arrangements and no suggestion by senior staff that this represents any less of a commitment. It’s great thing we can talk openly about mental health and wellbeing now.
We should address the elephant in the room of how to combine a veterinary career with motherhood, and also the effect it has on team members who don’t have children who inevitably take up the slack. I’ve been there and it wasn’t fun. I realise I am being controversial here and I really don’t know the answer to this one.
Female vets seem far less keen to take on senior roles and practice leadership. Is this because women perceive that their work life balance will become untenable if they take on these roles? I doubt it’s due to any lack of ambition. As women predominate in the profession and with the reluctance to take on practice leadership roles, corporate ownership becomes the only route for succession in many practices. It certainly was for us – either that or give one’s life work away on a plate as I’ve seen others do.
We should encourage women to take on senior roles still within a flexible working or part time arrangement. Financial considerations come into play here – it is far harder to buy into a practice when only working part time, and I feel we must look at this.
“We should encourage women to take on senior roles still within a flexible working or part time arrangement. Financial considerations come into play – it is far harder to buy into a practice when only working part time.”
We must also train the animal owning public into understanding that derogatory social media campaigns against professionals just put too much pressure on. If this sort of pressure doesn’t reduce, we are going to be very short of vets, and GPs and other professionals too. Of course all professionals should be subject to fair scrutiny, but ‘trial by Facebook’? It must stop. I’d love to get more involved with BEVA, with the VDS and with others to help with this issue and to get the message out there.
Mentorship of junior vets is something I’m very keen to do something about. I see young vets struggling to get the mentorship they deserve whilst the senior staff they are looking to think that they are exemplary mentors and are doing the job well. Often, they are not. Young vets are leaving the profession in droves because they sink rather than swim. Resilience may be less than it used to be, but the world is far harder and less forgiving too. To this end, I am working with several of the corporates to try and set up a mentorship role, aiming to provide clinical advice, back up clinical decisions and assist with client handling, but particularly provide pastoral support for young vets. We see them doubling up to go to calls, effectively halving the practice veterinary workforce. This only adds to the pressure on the senior vets, reducing further their time and energy for mentoring. A vicious cycle I’d like to help to break.
MPs have called for menopause to become a protected characteristic in the workplace. If this isn’t abused, it can only be a good thing. Ironically, having written a book on menopause, I’ve had a pretty easy ride so far (though my husband might disagree), but combining brain fog, insomnia, moodiness, fatigue, and other such symptoms with a difficult job can’t help anyone and it’s great that this is at last being recognised and allowed for.
Do you have any tips for vet teams about starting a positive conversation about menopause with their colleagues?
The ol’ loo door poster has been rather overplayed, but perhaps it might be a way forward here, and it should include sources of help and advice, and who can be approached confidentially within the practice. Perhaps mentorship schemes could include pastoral support for such ladies, taking the subject out of the practice for them, especially if there’s any embarrassment with discussing the menopause with colleagues.
Thank goodness menopause is no longer the taboo subject it once was and I really hope bringing some humour to the situation will help bridge the gap.
You recently suffered an injury which has required you to explore career diversification options. How have you approached such an unexpected challenge?
I have been very philosophical about it. As I said before, when one door shuts, I look for all the doors that are going to open. The veterinary training and veterinary life experiences are great door openers. I have the chance now of a clean slate, and it is much easier to leave clients and colleagues behind because you have no choice, rather than because you just want a change. I was pretty much on burnout and if this injury had to happen at all, then the timing was optimal.
I have the opportunity to give something back, in the way of mentorship, and hopefully addressing the issue of social media pressure on vets. I am getting involved with veterinary sustainability too. Let’s just hope that one isn’t too late, though I fear it is.
“I am so excited to be re-inventing myself now.”
Waking up one morning and realising I’ll never have to be on call again was a truly magical thing. Unless you’ve worked in an emergency service, it is probably very hard to understand this. I need never be late to things anymore. I can plan my diary months ahead and not wait for the rota. I am so excited to be reinventing myself now.
I have learnt huge amounts about the pitfalls of Income Replacement Insurance, and I hope I can use the negatives I have experienced to save as many others as possible from the same expensive pitfalls and traps. And I thank my lucky stars that it happened at this stage in my career, and not when I was an idealistic young horse vet with no other ambitions. Bucket list here I come!
This bucket list? What is on there?
So many things! And now I have time to do them. As much travel as possible, to the craziest destinations I can find, combined with marathon running as long as I can keep doing it before I fall apart completely. Luckily, having had surgery for my disc now, I can start training properly again. I’m currently working on the A-Z list of Countries, running a marathon in a country beginning with each letter of the alphabet. 11 more letters to do, P = Portugal in a couple of weeks’ time. I wish to add “lowest” to my existing collection of first woman on the planet to complete northernmost, southernmost and highest marathons. Don’t get me started on this one. We’ll be here all day.
Many other hobbies that I now have time to take up. I’ve always wanted to do silversmithing. I’m doing that now. Photography. Blacksmithing. You name it.
I also intend to bring my interest in poor performance investigation in horses to humans by qualifying as a sports masseuse. I intend to combine this with the acupuncture and gait assessment training I have from my career, and the knowledge of endurance sports injury from personal experience and from the marathon world.
And of course, more books. As long as enough people want to read this one!
What do you consider the most valuable learning you have gained from this experience?
That I should have worked harder for my mental health and wellbeing, not pushed myself so hard physically in my job, and beaten myself up a lot less. Absolutely no one is indispensable. I’ve always worked on the principle “One life, just live it”. I’m totally going to do that now. In spades.
What three personal attributes do you feel have served you best in your career so far?
Dogged resilience and aiming to be the best that I can be
A growth mindset
Endless curiosity
Finally, if you could give a piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Worry an awful lot less about what people think of you. You can’t change them, but you can change the effect they have on you.
The Thinking Man’s Survival Guide to Managing a Menopausal Partner, by Tiggy Bailey is available to pre-order at Amazon.
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