Remi Onabolu, a veterinary nurse and fourth year student at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) who took a less traditional route into veterinary studies, is well-placed to encourage others to consider a career in veterinary medicine.
She stars in a new video resource that has been launched to provide guidance for secondary school pupils considering veterinary careers. Entitled, ‘So you want to be a vet or veterinary nurse?’, the video is available free of charge, is aimed at 13 to 16 year olds and is suitable for school careers presentations as well as for work experience students in practice. Designed to inspire and empower, the video explains how Remi navigated obstacles in her path to gain a place on the veterinary medicine course at the RVC.
Alongside her studies, Remi currently works as a locum veterinary nurse as well as for the veterinary careers group, Vets: Stay, Go or Diversify. She is passionate about encouraging students to follow their veterinary career goals and explains that the cause is very close to her heart, “I wasn’t the typical straight A student and I certainly had set-backs along the way. I hope my story will inspire students to aim high and have confidence in themselves. In particular those students who aspire to a career in the veterinary profession but currently think it is out of their reach. I firmly believe that if you can see it, you can be it!”
Data from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons shows that in 2019, only 37.9 percent of veterinary surgeons attended non-selective state schools, while only 3.5 percent of vets were from black or ethnic minority backgrounds. It is hoped that the video will encourage applications from a wider demographic, opening up the profession to those who would not have previously considered it.
Filmed at Pride Veterinary Referrals, the video is a collaborative project between JHP Recruitment, Companion Consultancy, a PR and marketing agency serving veterinary business, and Scrub Mentors, an online mentoring service for students interested in a career in the veterinary or dental professions, and it aims to empower students from all backgrounds to consider veterinary medicine or veterinary nursing as a career choice.
A flyer ‘Want to be a vet or vet nurse?’ has been produced to accompany the video, which outlines where students can access the practical information and support they need to help them succeed in their chosen career path. Veterinary practices can direct work experience students, or those that get in touch to enquire about a veterinary career, to these resources.
As well as supporting students to access their chosen career, with a well-documented recruitment crisis it is hoped that encouraging applications from all backgrounds will benefit the profession as a whole. The video can be accessed here and copies of ‘Want to be a vet or vet nurse?’ can be downloaded .
To find out more, contact:
JHP Recruitment on justin@jhprecruitment.com
Companion Consultancy on susan@companionconsultancy.com
or visit www.scrubmentors.com
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