This site is about you! We want to inspire you and help you to develop the confidence to overcome challenges and follow your passions. In our feminising profession we want to encourage women to aspire to be at the forefront of clinical practice, specialisation, professional bodies, corporates, education, research, industry, government… leaders in every area of veterinary influence.
We are veterinary women who experience first-hand the challenges in developing our careers amidst busy lives, gender biases and multiple demands on our resources. We are working to collate advice blogs, toolkits, role model stories, training and recommendations to enable others to grow and achieve their full potential.
If you are a woman who works in the veterinary sphere, in any role, we hope the site has something for you. If there’s anything else you’d like us to include, let us know. Perhaps you’d like us to interview you about your experiences as a veterinary woman? Or maybe you want to say something but remain anonymous? Please send us your posts, contributions or suggestions to info@veterinarywoman.co.uk.
Help us give Veterinary Woman a voice by signing up for alerts and updates. By commenting, sharing and contributing you can help to inspire other veterinary women. And that’s something we can all celebrate.
Veterinary Woman….aspire, inspire, grow.
Who are we?
Susan McKay BVM & S, MRCVS, MBA
Bringing up two children as a lone parent, juggling that with running my business, my home, my pets, my life: you can bet I’ve faced a few challenges. I invented my own job! After eight tough years in practice, I worked in pet nutrition companies and completed an MBA before setting up my own PR and communications agency just for vet and pet companies. After muttering for way too long about the idea behind Veterinary Woman, I finally got round to setting it up. I wanted to create a place where equality is encouraged and women could source the information they needed to help them reach their potential. As the mother of daughters, I get ‘The Rage’ when I see examples of discrimination. This website is my way of trying to right some wrongs and encourage and inspire other veterinary women.
Liz Barton MA, VetMB, MRCVS
I’ve enjoyed a varied career in veterinary practice, but after having kids I wanted more flexibility and new challenges. I found balancing career and parenthood hampered by perfectionist tendencies and presenteeism. In addition, I became increasingly concerned about the mental ill health within the profession. I’m a proactive do-er, so I set about developing resources and communities to open discussions and provide support and tools. Fast forward a few years, and am now delighted to have the opportunity to develop Veterinary Woman alongside Susan. We want to support women, encourage them to be kind to themselves, have belief and confidence, and discover their full potential.