School of Veterinary Medicine and Science of Veterinary Medicine and Science ... teaching, learning...
Transcript of School of Veterinary Medicine and Science of Veterinary Medicine and Science ... teaching, learning...
School of Veterinary
Medicine and Science
Our Veterinary course is top
of the league…..
Veterinary Medicine has topped
The Times and Sunday Times
Good University Guide 2015.
This is the second year in a row
that Veterinary Medicine has
come top of its category.
Veterinary medicine has also
been consistently voted the
number one course in the
National Student Survey and
the Association of Veterinary
Students Survey’s since its first
graduates in 2011.
…and one of only 10
European Veterinary Schools
to gain accreditation
The School has received full
accreditation from the European
Association of Establishments
for Veterinary Education at its
meeting on the 10th December.
The School is now one of only
10 Schools across Europe to
receive accreditation, and only
the second in the UK.
The School was required to
demonstrate how responsibility
for quality is followed up with
actual quality assurance in all
areas of its operations from
undergraduate and
postgraduate admissions,
teaching, learning and
assessment through to clinical
services, continued professional
development and research.
Prof Gary England, Dean of
School said “We are very
pleased to receive accreditation
from EAEVE. This is a testament
to the terrific work conducted
by our staff and students at the
School. The student
experience we provide has now
been validated by both the
Royal College of Veterinary
Surgeons and EAEVE visitations
in 2014, and is recognised by
our students voting us top in
the National Student Survey
and Association of Veterinary
Students Survey. The School
also tops the league tables in
the Sunday Times/Times and
Complete University Guides as
well as the Research
Assessment Exercise 2008. We
are all very proud to be part of
the Nottingham success story”
Applications 2015 entry
This year we have had nearly
1900 applications for our 3
courses. We have now sent out
the majority of interview invites,
with a handful to follow in
January. We will be
interviewing 427 applicants in
January and February 2015.
Dean’s ’German Christmas
Market’ Cocktail Party
The annual Dean’s Cocktail
Party was held on 5th December
with over 250 invited students
attending. This year the theme
was a ‘German Christmas
Market’ with decorations
including a 14 foot Christmas
Tree, and a marquee with
coloured lanterns, pretzels,
candy canes, biscuits and
gingerbread houses! Cocktails
such as Santa-tini, Apple Spice
and Snowball Surprise were
served by staff with students,
all receiving an engraved glass
as a memento of the evening.
Students enjoyed the music
from the four piece band
‘Formosa’ who played a mixture
of old and new songs
throughout the night.
The Dean’s Cocktail Party is
always a night that students
talk about and remember for
years to come, with a final year
student commenting ‘Great
music, delicious cocktails and
the atrium looked amazing. The
ginger bread houses were a nice
touch! I’m just sad this will be
my last one’
Christmas clinic and party
for pets of the homeless
On the 10th December the
student-led ‘Vets in the
Community’ held its annual
Clinic Christmas party for the
homeless and vulnerable and
their pets.
The party was organised by
Year 3 and 4 students including
Grace Slater, Amy Glanvill,
Rosie Howson, Alice Manley,
Fiona Tomczynska and Victoria
Woods.
‘Vets in the Community’ was set
up in 2012 to provide free
veterinary care to pets
belonging to homeless and
vulnerably housed people in the
Nottingham area. The students
run a clinic once a month and
every Christmas they hold a
special party and clinic. Anyone
who uses or works with the
clinic is welcome.
The event was held at Sneinton
Old School Hall. There were hot
drinks and snacks and blankets
and clothing for humans, as well
as pet treats, toys, blankets and
winter coats for our four legged
friends.
‘Vets in the community’ is an
initiative led by students at the
School. Dr Jenny Stavisky, a
lecturer in Shelter Medicine at
the vet school, said: “The
students provide free health
care to pets belonging to people
who might not otherwise have
access to vets. Clients are
primarily homeless or
vulnerably housed, and some
are in recovery from drug and
alcohol abuse. The students also
help to provide healthcare for
pets in foster care, belonging to
people fleeing domestic
violence.”
The students run an open-
access clinic every fortnight in
the Big Issue offices in
Nottingham. Year 4 veterinary
student, Grace Slater said:
“Under the supervision of
qualified vets we mainly see
dogs and cats, although we
have occasionally seen more
exotic animals such as rabbits
and ferrets. We provide health
checks, vaccines, worm and flea
treatment and microchipping, as
well as treatment of minor
ailments.”
Through their partnership with
the Dogs Trust and Cats
Protection, the students can
issue vouchers so their clients
can get their pets neutered at
no cost. They are also able to
signpost other services where
appropriate. Through donations
from the public and from pet
food companies they are often
able to provide free pet food
and treats to their clients.
So far they have treated well
over 300 animals in the local
area. A student committee also
carries out outreach work at
local homelessness
organisations including HoMed,
a local Soup Kitchen which is
also run by students of the
University.
Veterinary Schools Council
launched
The Veterinary Schools Council,
a new body representing the
interests of seven UK schools of
veterinary education was
launched on 5th November.
Through its membership,
comprising the heads of these
veterinary schools, the Council
will be an authoritative voice on
matters relating to veterinary
Vets in the Community students
education, from the selection
and training of those who will be
the future of the veterinary
clinical profession, to the
academic researchers who are
so important to the health of
both the UK’s animal and
human populations.
The launch event at the House
of Lords, kindly sponsored by
Professor the Lord Trees, saw
speakers Professor Sir Peter
Rubin, Chair of the General
Medical Council and
representing the Medical
Schools Council, and John
Williams of the Wellcome Trust,
discuss the importance of
veterinary education to the
health of the nation. Attendance
from key organisations and
institutions across the areas of
veterinary education and
research, as well as regulatory
bodies, animal health charities
and organisations that
represent the veterinary
profession, shows the strong
links that the Veterinary Schools
Council has and will continue to
build on.
The Chair of the Veterinary
Schools Council, Professor Gary
England, says: ‘UK veterinary
schools are among the best in
the world, with so much to give
to wider society. We want to
make people aware of their
culture of excellence and see it
develop further through our
strategic focus of promoting
innovative education and
collaboration, facilitating the
underpinning science and
political engagement, and
monitoring data and best
practice.
‘The work of vets cuts across
many different sectors and the
work of the Veterinary Schools
Council will equally involve
many different areas, from
government to research
institutes. We look forward to
working with colleagues across
these areas and we know that
our values of championing
diversity while maintaining
collaboration and constructive
advocacy will lead to new and
exciting directions for veterinary
education.’
New staff
We have welcomed the
following new staff to the School
in 2014:
Dr Simon Archero Postdoctoral
ResearchAssistant
Dr Nick Bexfield
o Small Animal
Medicine and
Oncology
Rebecca Baucutt
o Postgraduate
Admissions
Administrator
Dr Sarah Blott
o Animal Breeding
and Genetics
Tyler Crofts
o Student
Placements
Manager
Simone De Brot
o Veterinary
Pathology
Dr Hannah Doito Postdoctoral
ResearchAssistant
Victoria Doggett
o Student Welfare
Assistant
Dr Jane Eastwood
o Small Animal
Medicine
Dr Sharon Egano Molecular
Microbiology Dr Katy Evans
o PostdoctoralResearchAssistant
Amelia Garcia Ara
o Veterinary Public
Health
Dr Tim Giles
o PostdoctoralResearchAssistant
Dr Peter Graham
o Clinical Pathology
and
Endocrinology
Dr Llorenc Grau Roma
o Veterinary
Pathology
Dr Naomi Harveyo Postdoctoral
ResearchAssistant
Dr Selene Huntleyo Postdoctoral
ResearchAssistant
Dr Vicky James
o Cancer Biology &
Gene Expression
Dr Heidi Janicke
o Clinical and
Professional Skills
Alan Lasslett
o Histology
technician
Louise Napthine
o Teaching
technician
Dr Richard Payne
o Veterinary
Anatomy
John Remnant
o Farm Animal
Health and
Production
Wayne Sanders
o Biobank
technician
Dr Ian Self
o Anaesthesia and
Analgesia
Dr Jenny Stavisky
o Shelter Medicine
Dr Mike Tildesley
o Infectious Disease
Modelling
Dr Fang Wano Postdoctoral
ResearchAssistant
Marlene Werkmano Postdoctoral
ResearchAssistant
Promotions
Congratulations to the following
staff who have been promoted
this year:
Jane Ackling
Yvonne Allen
Dr James Breen,
Simon Clifford
Dr Hany Elsheikha
Prof Sarah Freeman
Aggie Gasiorowska
Vanessa Gayton-Pollard
Kate Griffiths
Prof Jon Huxley
PhD successes
Congratulations to our new Drs!
Katy Brown
Pengxiang Chang
Donna Fountain
Tim Giles
Chris Hudson
Hiba Ibrahim
Ornampai Japa
Christina Kuhl
Paul Schroeder
Mansi Shah
Frank Wessely
Vet student makes
CBeebies big time
Year 4 student Jess French is
fronting a new wildlife series for
the BBC’s CBeebies channel.
The series ‘Minibeast Adventure
with Jess’ will prove you don’t
have to go all the way to Africa
to have an interesting animal
encounter. Jess explores the
amazing creatures that live
right on our doorstep.
Jess grew up with a passion for
the natural world, as her father
bred insects. She completed a
degree in Zoology at UCL before
starting her veterinary studies
at Nottingham. This knowledge
and experience has given her an
in-depth understanding of the
very smallest creatures which
she is enthusiastic to share with
the next generation.
‘Minibeast Adventure with Jess’
is a series of 20 nine minute
programmes which brings 20
amazing creatures into the
living rooms of the CBeebies
audience.
Jess encourages her viewers to
explore their local environment
and get close to the minibeasts
that live in the gardens, parks
and windowboxes around them.
In each episode, viewers visit
Jess’s treehouse where she
introduces them to her
minibeast of the day. From
there she sets out on a
‘Minibeast Adventure’ with
children to try and find that
day’s animal or insect.
A passionate zoologist,
naturalist and entomologist, her
in-depth understanding of the
importance of the smallest
creatures underpins her passion
for sharing her knowledge and
passing it on to the next
generation.
So does a TV career beckon?
Jess said: “At the moment I'm
managing to juggle both...just!
We shot the show in my
holidays and they were really
supportive of my vet studies.
The show airs the day before
my exams start so I hope I
won't be too distracted! I still
want to be a vet but who knows
where this may lead. I'm just
taking every day a step at a
time right now and enjoying
being a part of the movement to
get kids outdoors and caring
about the environment - if I
could do that and be a vet in my
spare time, that would be
ideal!"
Jess’s other TV credits include
Springwatch (BBC), Micro
Monsters 3D (Sky), Live ‘n’
Deadly (CBBC) and Deadly
Mission Madagascar (CBBC).
Dr Karen Braithwaite, Director
of Academic Support and
Administration at Nottingham’s
Veterinary School, said: “We
are very proud of Jess – this is
a fantastic opportunity for her.
She is great veterinary student
and an asset to the School. It’s
terrific that Jess can share her
love and knowledge of animals
with the next generation.”
Nottingham Vet School
comes to the aid of Danni
the poorly lion
Veterinary Neurologist, Dr Mike
Targett, made an appearance
on the CBBC series Junior Vets
in June. He joined the Junior
Vets and a team of experts to
carry out a full body scan of
Danni the poorly lion who
suffers from a damaged spine.
They wanted to find out if he
will ever get better.
Mike, who is a Clinical Associate
Professor in Veterinary
Neurology at the said: “I have
worked with Burgess
Diagnostics, an independent
company providing mobile MRI
services to the veterinary
profession, since they were
founded in 2003. When they
were asked to get involved with
scanning Danni the lion at
Yorkshire Wildlife Park in March
2010 I was invited along to help
with the examination and
acquisition and interpretation of
the MR images. We went back
again this year and although the
changes in his neck had
progressed, Danni is still happy
and functioning well.”
Mike has been using MRI in
animals since the 1990′s. He
has extensive experience in
interpretation of MRI images in
small animal species and has
previously been involved in
scanning exotic patients with
Burgess Diagnostics.
He said: “Alongside a teaching
and administrative role at the
School I undertake 2 days a
week of clinical work seeing
small animal neurology cases at
Dovecote Veterinary Hospital in
Castle Donington, which is one
of the School’s Clinical Associate
practices where we place final
year students. Dovecote
Veterinary Hospital has an in-
house dedicated MRI facility
which I use on a daily basis
whilst in the clinic.”
The dangers of colic – our
experts appear on TV show
exploring this equine illness
Experts from School of were
featured on Horse & Country on
Sky channel 280 in a
programme which took an in-
depth look at common equine
health issues.
Prof Sarah Freeman, Associate
Professor of Veterinary Surgery,
used a model of a horse’s
stomach and intestines to show
presenter Jenny Rudall how the
animals digest their food for the
TV programme Vet Essentials.
The programme centred on the
common digestive problem
colic, a potentially dangerous
condition which commonly
results from a twisted gut or
other digestive disorders.
Prof Freeman and her team
used a novel approach to
demonstrate anatomy by using
brightly coloured body paint to
daub vital organs on to the side
of the animals in the location in
which they would actually
appear inside their body.
Diagnosing colic can be tricky
and it can be difficult to pick up
the subtle changes in an animal
that could be the early
symptoms of the condition. In
the programme, Prof Freeman
talked through the range of
procedures and techniques that
vets use to establish the
potential cause of a horse’s
illness, including checking the
animal’s pulse rate and the
colour of its gums — a good
indicator of blood flow around
its body — and listening to its
gut sounds.
One of the less glamourous
parts of a vet’s job is also
potentially one of the most
dangerous in horses — the
rectal examination. Students at
the School learn the technique,
which can be one of the most
essential tests in diagnosing
colic, using a realistic scale
model in the safety of the
classroom.
Prof Freeman said: “Probably
the most important thing which
you can do as an owner is to
know what’s normal for your
horse, how it normally behaves,
what its routine is and if
anything changes or if you are
worried about anything then get
in touch and ask for some
advice. There are lots of
different types of colic and lots
of different signs of colic but if
you are concerned about
anything then the most
important thing is to get help as
early as possible.”
IVSA Winter Symposium
A team of Nottingham students
(Vicky Carliell, Mia Ball, Emily
McKenna, Orla Mcllduff and
Adam Stephens) are part of a
team that helped to organise
the 63rd International
Veterinary Student Association
(IVSA) winter symposium which
will be held jointly between
Edinburgh and Nottingham from
the 12th to the 20th December.
This is a fantastic opportunity
for the School to show 80
students studying at vet schools
around the world what it is like
to study in the UK and in
particular in Edinburgh and
Nottingham. In addition it has
given us a chance to forge
friendships with colleagues
studying at Edinburgh, RVC and
Liverpool who have also
contributed to organising the
event.
Students have worked together,
building professional skills, to
acquire corporate sponsorship,
formulate educational and social
programmes, manage a large
budget and organise
accommodation and catering
among other things.
Vicky Carliell
Year 4 student
Nottingham Advantage
Award
The Nottingham Advantage
Award is an innovative way of
building on some of the many
extracurricular opportunities
available to students and aims
to develop skills while making
students more employable.
Students must undertake 30
credits and can choose from
over 200 modules in areas as
diverse as volunteering, sport,
mentoring, career skills,
students union and business
skills.
A number of our students have
undertaken the award, including
year 4 student Shareen Akhtar
who says “the scheme shaped
me into a more confident,
ambitious and dedicated person.
I have no doubt that the skills
and experiences gained from
this award will advance my
employability skills and make
me a more desirable candidate
for any job.
The three modules I chose to
complete were the Students'
Union Volunteering Module,
Ambassador, IntoUniversity,
Mentor or Associate scheme and
the Part time jobs, vacation jobs
and volunteering.
A big factor in deciding which
modules to take was the time
obligation. My Vet course is very
intense which means the
modules that required a regular
commitment (training / lessons
/ experience etc) were out of
the question. I was pleasantly
surprised to find amongst the
amazing range of module
options that there were many
that fit perfectly with my busy
timetable.
The modules I chose all had a
training session or two and then
assessments to complete
followed by a final presentation.
The assignments consisted of
action plans, reflective logs and
mind maps; I found them fun to
do. There was plenty of time
before the submission deadline
which again took the pressure
off completing this award
alongside my full time course.
The presentations were a
fantastic opportunity to
showcase what I had learnt and
enjoyed about my module.
I chose these modules as they
all fitted in with my lifestyle and
were already things I was
doing. I had already been
elected as the course rep for my
year and was successful at
interview for the student
ambassador scheme for the
University of Nottingham. As vet
students we have to undertake
various placements and so the
volunteering module was
perfect for my course style.
The Nottingham Advantage
Award is a golden opportunity
for anyone that wants to stand
in my job world when they
graduate. It is a real chance for
you to shine in your own way. If
I had more time I would have
loved to explored some of the
different awards such as a
language or music award. There
is a plethora of modules to
choose from and ample support
and guidance to complete each
award to a high standard. They
are completed over 2 years and
so is a nice time frame to do
them.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my
modules and gained some
brilliant feedback on my CV,
presentation skills and written
work which I can now adapt and
learn from. I’ve improved my
communication and
organisational skills and
genuinely feel I have developed
as a person by having to think
critically and reflect on what I
have learnt and how I can
improve. I would recommend
this award to all students
without reservation – it is a
fantastic thing to do!
The fact I have completed this
award will demonstrate that I
have gone above and beyond
the minimum of my course. By
completing it, I have shown I
can multi-task and organise my
time to complete not only my
course and the award, but also
the roles I took the awards for,
so in my case being a course
rep and student ambassador. I
have improved my
communication, leadership and
management skills to complete
each award and these are all
vital key skills for any job. “
Vet School student
‘Loves Learning’
Year 2 student Sophia Beeley is
celebrating today after being
named one of the top runners
up in the Times UCAS Love
Learning competition.
The judges of the 2,500 video
and written entries couldn’t
resist the description of her first
year as a Vet School student at
The University of Nottingham.
Sophia was one of three runners
up in the essay section and has
been congratulated by Professor
Gary England, Foundation Dean
of the School of Veterinary
Medicine and Science and
School Manager, Karen
Braithwaite.
Karen says: “We are so proud of
Sophia – it is lovely that student
has been so inspired to write
about, and be rewarded for how
much she loves her course.”
In June UCAS launched their
Love Learning competition by
asking undergraduate students
from across the UK to ‘bottle
their enthusiasm for university
and express it in the form of a
500 word essay or a 30 second
video clip. The judges were
looking for originality, insight,
powerful expression and
advocacy of higher education.
Sophia clearly achieved that and
takes home a £1,000 cash
prize.
Here’s Sophia’s Essay……
A year ago, I embarked on what
is going to be a long, difficult
course, Veterinary Medicine.
I’ve just finished my first year,
and I have already been kicked
by a cow, been covered in
various disgusting fluids, had
milk sprayed into my eye
directly from the udder and
pulled a number of all-nighters
trying to cram in the ridiculous
amount of work we have. And I
love it. I love that some days of
the week, we’ll be crammed into
lecture halls listening to endless
facts, as of course no two
species are the same (that
would make things too easy for
us). Then other days, we will
dress in extremely unflattering
boiler suits and run around a
field trying to catch sheep. And
although at the time it seems to
me that I will never remember
enough and I’m in over my
head, I suddenly realise that
actually I have learnt more in
one year than I could ever have
imagined. There is that
incredible feeling when things
start to piece together, when I
actually think yes, I do know
this and actually yes I can do
this. I love my course as not
many other students have
sessions on how to catch a
chicken, or have to pass an
exam on tipping a cow on its
back. I especially enjoy
placements where even if I’m
sat in a shed, freezing cold and
soaking wet, I could have a
new-born lamb in my hands and
(at the risk of sounding very
cheesy) you just don’t care
anymore about the long hours
and the discomfort, all you can
do it grin stupidly in amazement
and you know it is all
worthwhile. You get chucked in
at the deep end very often and
it’s amazing how quickly you
learn.
It has made a huge change
from school, where I learnt
what I had to in order to pass
the year and get the grades I
wanted, to actually being
interested in what I am doing. I
have gone from memorising
endless information about
subjects I never really cared
about, to suddenly taking
pleasure in my lectures. I am
learning about a profession I
myself chose, where I actually
care about and am fascinated
by the lessons taught. It never
gets dull, my emotional state
ranges from pure terror when
I’m asked to do something I
couldn’t possibly imagine being
able to do, to pride when you
actually accomplish it. It has
made me realise that I am
going to make endless mistakes
(like claiming in an exam I could
hear a heartbeat when I hadn’t
even put the end of the
stethoscope in my ears, yes I
did that) but hopefully in
another 4 years’ time I will be
let loose in the veterinary world
with a slight idea of what I am
doing and the willingness to get
stuck in. As with all courses and
especially mine, the learning
never ends!
Using Twitter in teaching
We are used to doing things a
bit differently at Nottingham,
and always on the lookout for
new ways to teach and help
students learn. Recently, we
have been embracing Twitter
across the curriculum. This
gives us an extra way to deliver
information, and has led to
some interesting collaborations.
We have used Twitter in a range
of differing contexts.
Importantly, it is always as an
adjunct to learning, and not
compulsory, as we know social
media is not for everyone!
However, when it came to
revising for final exams, we felt
it was the ideal way to connect
faculty clinicians with final year
students while they were going
through the pain of learning for
finals. We set up the #vetfinals
sessions a couple of years ago,
and these have proved
tremendously popular. As they
are very open sessions, we have
had students joining us from vet
schools across the UK and even
further afield. We have also had
session leads from across the
country, including general
practitioners. After the sessions,
we use the Storify tool to collate
the session so that it is
preserved for future use. Last
year, we collaborated with the
RVC to take these sessions even
further, and we now have a
fancy logo and student reps to
help us.
This initiative led to others
looking at social media as a way
to identify useful links and extra
information, using various
different tags. One such area
where this works well is
veterinary public health. Dr
Rodrigo Nova is a big Twitter
fan and uses it to highlight news
and links to enhance his
teaching. We then struck upon
the idea of running a truly
interprofessional session on
Twitter – and #0157 was born.
This Twitter session was led by
academics from the medical
school at Dundee, and the vet
schools here at Nottingham and
at Bristol. Medical and vet
students discussed an outbreak
of E. coli on a petting farm and
leant lots from each other, as
well as understanding each
other’s roles in such a critical
situation.
We will definitely repeat this
idea again, and are also looking
at other ways of using social
media across the curriculum.
Dr Liz Mossop
Teaching, Learning and
Assessment Sub-Dean
Sim Heroes
The Association for Simulated
Practice in Healthcare (ASPiH)
held a competition called ‘Sim
Heroes’ at their national
conference in November, where
teams of 4 took part in
simulated emergencies using
the latest medical simulation
technology and medical actors.
There were several heats, with
scenarios including cardiac
arrest in the emergency
department, severe injury from
explosives, performing a
tracheotomy in a moving
ambulance and responding to
multiple patients at a bar fight.
Examiners were looking for
demonstration of team work,
communication, patient/public
safety as well as medical ability
and accurate decision making.
My team, consisting of two
medical students and two vets,
myself and Catherine Oxtoby
from the School (both PhD
students), won the competition,
and are now being treated to an
experience in a flight simulator.
Claire Vinten
PhD Student
Top Prize for the MSD
Connect Bursary Award
Hannah Simmonds (Year 4
student) received the top prize
for her work on a summer
project, funded by the MSD
Connect Bursary Award to
investigate genes important for
Streptococcus iniae infection in
fish. Hannah gave an
outstanding presentation about
her research at MSD in Milton
Keynes.
All attendees were extremely
impressed with her knowledge,
results, hard work and
enthusiasm for the research
project.
Hannah Simmonds receiving her
prize (far right)
Hannah won a trophy, and
£3,000 prize money.
Thermal Imaging technique
wins poster prize
Judges at the LASA Winter
Meeting in November 2014,
selected Lindsay Benson, DVM
student at the School to win a
prize for the poster with the
greatest impact on the 3Rs
(National Centre for the
Replacement Refinement &
Reduction of Animals in
Research). The poster was
entitled, “Validation of infrared
thermography with
radiotelemetry as a method of
assessing body temperature in
mice”.
Travel Grant Success
Laura Bennett, a PhD student
has won a Graduate School
Travel grant and will be using
the funds to attend the 10th
Elephant Endotheliotropic
Herpes virus workshop in
Houston, Texas, USA in
February 2015.
American Association ofEquine Practitioners
Conference
One of the highlights of the 60th
American Association of Equine
Practitioners Conference, held in
December in Salt Lake City is
The Kester News Hour, which is
held on Day 2 of the 4 day
conference, and highlights the
latest key scientific papers
within specific areas of equine
medicine.
A research article by
Nottingham member of staff, Dr
Gayle Hallowell on the
treatment of equine gastric
ulcers, and an article by former
PhD student Sarah Williams,
and staff members Prof Martin
Green and Prof Sarah Freeman
on the effects of management
change on equine
gastrointestinal function were
highlighted in this session. The
session also highlighted two
articles by clinicians at
Associate Practices, Bell Equine
(Professor Tim Mair and Ceri
Sherlock) and Chine House
(Safia Barakzai), bringing the
total of Nottingham linked
articles to 4.
VetEd Conference
The fifth annual Veterinary
Education Symposium took
place in July. Hundreds of
delegates from across the world
attended including veterinary
educationalists, veterinary
students, practitioners and
researchers. The symposium
was an opportunity to share
ideas about the veterinary
curriculum via key-note
presentations, workshops and
poster sessions. The two day
symposium was held at Bristol
Vet School and included a three
course meal at Bristol Zoo
Gardens (and an opportunity to
look around the zoo!).
This was the first year in which
a student stream was included.
To apply, students wrote an
abstract on a piece of their
research/an idea they had. Both
students and staff presented at
the symposium. In all 5
students presented from
Nottingham:
Helen Farmer - Could
cognitive behavioural
therapy be incorporated
effectively into
veterinary curricula?
Alice Croxford -
Nottingham Equine
Veterinary Society
(NEVS) - student lead
CPD initiative
Emma Drinkall - Creating
a Curriculum
Management System
Claire Vinten - The
Progression to Expertise:
Clinical Reasoning
Development in
Veterinary
Undergraduates
Fay Pooley - Perceived
barriers and motivators
of UK academics towards
a national examination in
farm animal medicine
and surgery
Helen Farmer with her poster
presentation
The two student winners were
from Nottingham: Alice Croxford
(Year 5) and Helen Farmer
(Year 4).
As a result of Helen’s research,
cognitive behavioural
techniques were incorporated
into the year 1 personal and
professional skills module.
Overall, it was a great event.
Helen Farmer,
Year 4 student
Nail beauty rules apply to
animals too
The daily trimming of fingernails
and toenails to make them
more aesthetically pleasing
could be detrimental and
potentially lead to serious nail
conditions. The research,
carried out at the School, will
also improve our understanding
of disease in the hooves of farm
animals and horses.
Dr Cyril Rauch, a physicist and
applied mathematician, together
with his PhD Student
Mohammed Cherkaoui-Rbati,
devised equations to identify
the physical laws that govern
nail growth, and used them to
throw light on the causes of
some of the most common nail
problems, such as ingrown toe
nails, spoon-shaped nails and
pincer nails.
According to their research,
regular poor trimming can tip
the fine balance of nails,
causing residual stress to occur
across the entire nail. This
residual stress can promote a
change in shape or curvature of
the nail over time which, in
turn, can lead to serious nail
conditions.
Dr Rauch also said: “Similar
equations can be determined for
conditions of the hoof and claw
and applied to farm animals
such as sheep, cattle, or horses
and ponies. At a time when
securing food across the world
is important, a better
understanding of the physics of
hoof/claw has never been so
essential to maintain the health
of livestock and to sustain
agriculture and food
production.”
In their study the researchers
focused specifically on ingrown
toe nails which, though
recognised for a long time, still
lack a satisfactory treatment as
the causes remain largely
unknown. When devising their
equations, the researchers
accounted for the strong
adhesion of nails to their bed
through tiny, microscopic
structures, which allow the nail
to slide forwards and grow in a
“ratchet-like” fashion by
continuously binding and
unbinding to the nail. By also
taking into account the
mechanical stresses and
energies associated with the
nail, the researchers came up
with an overall nail shape
equation. The equation
showed that when the balance
between the growth stress and
adhesive stress is broken — if a
nail grows too quickly or slowly,
or the number of adhesive
structures changes — a residual
stress across the entire nail can
occur, causing it to change
shape over time.
The results showed that residual
stress can occur in any
fingernail or toenail; however,
the stress is greater for nails
that are larger in size and have
a flatter edge, which explains
why ingrown toe nails
predominantly occur in the big
toe.
Although a residual stress can
be brought about by age or a
change in metabolic activity —
ingrown toenails are often
diagnosed in children/young
adults and pregnant women —
the equations also revealed that
bad trimming of the nails can
amplify the residual stress.
Dr Rauch said: “It is remarkable
what some people are willing to
do to make their nails look
good, and it is in this context
that I decided to look at what
we really know about nails.
Reading the scientific literature
on nails I quickly realised that
very little physics or maths had
been applied to nails and their
conditions.
“Looking at our results, we
suggest that nail beauty fanatics
who trim their nails on a daily
basis opt for straight or
parabolic edges, as otherwise
they may amplify the imbalance
of stresses which could lead to a
number of serious conditions.”
Rauch believes this research
can be applied to farm animals
and conditions associated with
their hooves, which can be life
threatening. He said: “I believe
that physics can make a
difference by promoting a new
type of evidence-based
veterinary medicine and help
the veterinary and farrier
communities by devising
trimming methods to alleviate
pain and potentially remove the
cause of serious conditions.”
Weighing up the secrets of
African elephant body fat
A research team from the
School has carried out the first
molecular characterisation of
the African elephant’s adipose
tissue — body fat. This new
information will form the basis
of future studies aimed at
securing the health and future
survival of captive elephants.
The population of captive
elephants, both Asian and
African, in Europe and North
America is not self-sustaining,
largely due to poor fertility,
resulting in a fewer baby
elephants being born. It is
acknowledged that if a solution
for these reproductive
difficulties cannot be found
quickly, captive elephants will
face demographic extinction in
North American zoos within the
next 50 years.
This new study, carried out by a
team of scientists at the School
will form the building blocks for
later studies that will help
scientists start to identify
important dietary components
for health and reproduction in
African elephants to enable
better management of this
species in captivity and in the
wild.
The research, Molecular
Characterization of Adipose
Tissue in the African Elephant,
led by Dr Lisa Yon, and in equal
part by her colleagues Dr Nigel
Mongan, Dr Richard Emes and
Dr Alison Mostyn, has been
published in the open access
journal PLOS ONE.
Using expertise in molecular
biology and bioinformatics and
with access to unique samples
from the African elephant
researchers were able to
explore some important basic
biological questions to achieve a
better understanding of
elephants.
Leptin — a hormone made by
fat cells to regulate the amount
of fat stored in the body – is a
crucial molecular link between
nutritional status, amount of
adipose tissue and fertility in
many species. This research has
shown that it has a similar
function in the African elephant.
Dr Yon said: “This research
provides important information
on the structure and function of
adipose tissue in the African
elephant, highlighting the
crucial genes and nutrients
present during different times of
life — particularly reproduction
and lactation.”
Since the discovery of Leptin,
adipose tissue has been shown
to play a key role in
reproduction, energy sensing
and regulation, and
inflammatory responses. It has
been linked with reproductive
activity both in terms of the
onset of puberty and in
maintenance of reproductive
function so it may play an
important role in building up
and maintaining the elephant’s
reserves to ensure health and
fertility.
This work forms an important
first step to help maintain a
healthy, reproductively viable
captive population. This would
also eliminate the need to catch
additional animals from the wild
to supplement the captive
population.
Dr Yon said: “The information
we gained can help us to know
how to better provide for
elephants’ dietary needs, and
what possible impact this may
have on their reproductive
success. These same methods
can be applied to further our
understanding on a range of
domestic or non-domestic
species.”
UK-India collaboration seeks
new cholera treatment
A UK-India research partnership
has won funding to tackle
cholera, a disease which causes
thousands of deaths around the
world, and which is becoming
increasingly difficult to treat.
The University of Nottingham
and the National Institute for
Cholera and Enteric Diseases,
Kolkata have won a grant from
the UK-India Education and
Research Initiative (UKIERI) to
use viruses which infect bacteria
(bacteriophages) to control the
highly infectious disease.
This disease remains a major
public health risk in India and
parts of Africa and Central
America.
It is believed that around 60 per
cent of Vibrio cholerae bacteria
isolated from cholera sufferers
are resistant to tetracycline, an
antibiotic often used to treat the
disease. That figure is likely to
increase and the research will
look into alternative treatments
for the acute intestinal infection.
Cholera is caused by the
bacterium Vibrio cholerae, and
it may be the most rapidly fatal
infectious disease that we know.
It is caused by ingesting food or
water that has been
contaminated by the bacterium.
A person can be entirely well
and then be infected and die
from choleric diarrhoea if proper
treatment is unavailable.
Professor Paul Barrow and Dr
Robert Atterbury, from the
School and Dr BL Sarkar, from
the World Health Organisation-
recognised National Institute for
Cholera and Enteric Diseases,
will work jointly on the
collaborative research study.
Both institutions are able to
share and benefit from each
other’s knowledge, developing
training in different techniques,
with Nottingham’s expertise in
molecular genetics and Dr
Sarkar’s knowledge of the
microbiology, epidemiology and
control of cholera in endemic
areas.
The project aims to use
bacteriophages to control
cholera infections in humans.
The main aims are to:
Isolate and characterise
bacteriophages from
both the countries that is
able to infect a broad
range of
epidemiologically
significant strains of
Vibrio cholerae.
Develop treatments
using these phages to
reduce the burden of
antibiotic resistant
cholera bacteria in India
and other endemic
countries.
Speaking at the launch of the
collaborative programme,
Professor Barrow said: “This
study is timely, as multi drug-
resistant bugs have become a
major global threat to health
and there is a clear need to
focus on a low-cost, biological
alternative to antibiotics.
“By working with the National
Institute for Cholera and Enteric
Diseases, we look forward to
learning from each other and
developing long-term
collaborative expertise in these
areas.”
Dr Sarkar added: “This is a
prestigious collaboration and
after working on cholera for
decades, I am excited that
there is a possibility for a
further research study in this
area.
“This has the potential to
benefit the health of people
across the globe, particularly in
Asia and Africa. I am hopeful by
the end of study that we can
find a ‘phage therapy’ as an
alternative of the antibiotic for
the treatment of cholera
disease.”
The initial project will last for
two years, with both institutions
hoping to collaborate further.
Experts warn of dangers of
veterinary pharmaceuticals
to wildlife
Experts from across Europe and
the USA are calling for a ‘one
health’ approach to the use of
veterinary pharmaceuticals
(VPs). In advance of a key
European Medicines Agency
(EMA) recommendation to the
European Commission on the
use of diclofenac in livestock,
they are warning of the dangers
that veterinary pharmaceuticals
pose to wildlife.
Dr Lisa Yon is the Chair of the
European Wildlife Disease
Association (EWDA). She said:
“It is clear from the lessons
learned on the profound impact
of diclofenac on vultures in
India that we need to take a
more integrated, ‘One Health’
approach to our use of VPs, and
the larger impact they have on
non-target species, and on the
environment. This is and will
continue to be an issue of
increasing concern for a wide
variety of VPs, and one for
which there needs to be greater
responsibility taken across the
range of stakeholders.”
Diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-
inflammatory drug, has already
been banned for veterinary use
in several South Asian
countries, but was recently
approved for use in Spain and
Italy. Traces of diclofenac in
livestock carcasses are lethal to
vultures who eat them, and
contamination of fewer than 1
per cent of dead animals led to
the near extinction of three
Asian species. Most vultures in
Europe are already endangered
and thus particularly vulnerable
to this threat.
The paper, “One Health
approach to use of veterinary
pharmaceuticals”, argues that
as the world’s consumption of
meat continues to rise, we must
take a holistic approach to
assessing the impacts of VPs
that accounts for all
environmental effects, including
contamination of the natural
food chain.
Prof Thijs Kuiken, Professor of
Comparative Pathology at the
Erasmus Medical Center and
lead author of the study, said:
“I was shocked when I first
heard that diclofenac had been
authorized for use in—of all
places—Spain, which is a
stronghold for vultures in
Europe. This example shows
that we need to radically change
the way we deal with
pharmaceuticals, both those
used in human and veterinary
medicine.”
The paper cites diclofenac as
the cause of rapid declines in
vulture populations to near-
extinction in Pakistan, India and
Nepal in the 1990s. Residues of
diclofenac remained in livestock
carcasses which were then
eaten by vultures. Even very
low concentrations of diclofenac
then caused renal failure and
death in some of the vultures.
In 2006, the government of
India enacted a ban on
production, importation and sale
of veterinary diclofenac
products, followed soon after by
Pakistan, Nepal, and
Bangladesh. Since then, vulture
population declines in South
Asia have slowed or reversed.
Vultures play a vital role in
European ecosystems,
especially in Spain where more
than 95 per cent of the
continent’s vultures reside.
Spanish vultures remove more
than 8,000 tons of livestock
carcasses per year, which helps
control disease and pests and
also serves to recycle nutrients.
These ecosystem services
provide an estimated economic
saving of 1.5 million Euros.
Antoni Margalida, researcher at
University of Lleida and co-
author of the article, said: “The
recent approval of the use of
diclofenac in Spain (holding
more than 95 per cent of
European vulture populations)
shows the gap between
conservation science and the
environmental impact
assessment for veterinary
drugs, making it necessary to
improve the dialogue between
scientists from different
disciplines with policymakers
and practitioners.”
The impact of diclofenac on
vultures is just one example of
a problem that has much wider
implications. In 2004, an
estimated 6,051 tons of
biologically active substances
were included in the production
of veterinary pharmaceuticals in
the EU. While these drugs may
benefit the health of domestic
animals and the efficiency of
livestock production, they can
contaminate the environment
indirectly. This is a threat to
non-target species, including
humans. The paper
recommends strengthening of
current procedures in assessing
risk of VPs to the environment
and the addition of a more pro-
active, holistic, One Health
approach applicable to all VPs.
The authors of the paper
advocate “cradle-to-cradle”
stewardship that promotes
environmental sustainability and
mirrors similar programs
proposed for human
pharmaceuticals. Linking the
effects on target species,
humans, and the environment
encapsulates the One Health
approach, which should guide
the way toward a more
sustainable future.
Parasitic expert digs the dirt
on the deadly parasitic that
infected two kidney
transplant patients
Halicephalobus gingivalis is a
soil-borne, free-living nematode
parasite. This saprophytic worm
was first identified 1954 and
since then sporadic cases have
been reported as a cause of
neurological disease in horses,
in many countries including the
UK, Japan, Canada, USA,
Iceland, Italy, and France.
In his interview with BBC Wales
Dr Hany Elsheikha, Associate
Professor of parasitology said:
“This organism is generally not-
pathogenic, but under certain
conditions can infect humans
and animals especially horses.
Human infection has been rare
but the outcome is always fatal
meningoencephalomyelitis. This
opportunistic parasite can cause
disease only in
immunocompromised
individuals that is having
impaired resistance. This
includes cancer patients, organ
transplant recipients and people
with HIV/AIDS.”
Dr Elsheikha also said: “The
recent and tragic experience
with fatality from
Halicephalobus gingivalis was
reported in Wales, where
infected kidneys were
transplanted to two recipients,
reminds us of how a benign
organism can transform into a
deadly parasite when the body's
immune defences are crippled
by the use of
immunosuppressive drugs in
patients receiving organ
transplants.”
All cases of human or animal
infections were found post
mortem. Disease caused by H.
gingivalis is difficult to treat due
to the tendency of the parasite
to migrate. Its high proliferative
ability and its ability to
reproduce parthenogenetically
(i.e. without male nematodes)
within the host, increases the
parasitic burden and
pathological damage in infected
tissues.
Halicephalobus gingivalis is able
to opportunistically colonise the
host in different ways, such as
oral infection via ingestion of
contaminated food facilitated by
lacerations of the buccal
mucosa, trans-placental
transmission from mare to foal,
percutaneous through breaks in
skin/open wounds, or through
the respiratory tract.
Weather and climate changes
may be affecting this parasite.
Dr Elsheikha said: “Any climate
change encouraging warm,
moist conditions is likely to
enhance environmental
populations of the saprophytic
nematode, with possible
increased exposure of animals
and human beings to potential
infection. Therefore, this
opportunistic parasite needs to
be considered in the differential
diagnosis of dysfunction of the
CNS and other body organs in
humans and horses.”
Twycross Zoo probes greatape heart disease
Vets and keepers at Twycross
Zoo have been the first to
record an electrocardiogram
(ECG) in a chimpanzee without
the need for general
anaesthesia.
Cardiovascular disease is
recognised as a major cause of
morbidity and mortality among
all four species of great ape;
bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas
and orangutans. However,
understanding about this group
of disorders and therefore
abilities to diagnose, treat or
prevent them, are limited.
Vets at Twycross Zoo frequently
perform routine health checks
on their apes. The health check
includes a full cardiac
assessment in which they
perform chest radiographs,
cardiac ultrasound, blood
pressure measurement and
ECG. However general
anaesthesia can affect the
results of these tests.
One of the twenty five
chimpanzees at Twycross Zoo
has been successfully trained to
present her chest to the bars,
and stay still for long enough to
allow specially designed probes
to be pressed gently against her
skin (see image below). These
probes measure the electrical
activity of the heart and
transmit the information to an
ECG machine. The findings will
allow vets to detect subtle
changes in the chimpanzee’s
heart structure and function
that might indicate early signs
of heart disease.
Sarah Chapman, Head of
Veterinary Services says:
“Diagnostic tests help us to
investigate the health of our
animals and prevent heart
disease. We are proud that we
have found a new way of
checking one of our chimps and
we are working with our other
chimps to achieve this with
them too". DVetMed student
Victoria Strong added "We are
really pleased with the results
so far, and are excited to see
what we can achieve in the
future. We are very grateful to
keeper Katie Waller, the rest of
the ape team and to Kris Hern
(animal training manager) for
their continued hard work on
this."
This work is part of a joint
project between Twycross Zoo
and the University of
Nottingham, led by Strong and
directed by Sharon Redrobe,
Chief Executive of Twycross Zoo
and European great ape vet
advisor.
Koalas in the news
School academics Dr Richard
Emes, Dr Jasmeet Kaler and Dr
Rachael Tarlinton have just
received funding to work with a
team of academics at the
Universities of Queensland and
Adelaide on the effects of
infection of koalas with koala
retrovirus (KoRV).
The overall project is funded as
part of a special funding
initiative on threats to the wild
koala population in Australia.
KoRV has recently entered the
koala population and is thought
to be responsible for leukaemia,
lymphoma and immuno-
suppression in koalas making
them more vulnerable to
diseases like Chlamydia.
Koala populations in many areas
of Australia are considered
vulnerable due to habitat loss
and disease and this virus adds
further complications to the
mix. The teams at Adelaide and
UQ will be examining sick and
injured koalas that are
euthanased at vet hospitals in
Brisbane and Adelaide,
conducting full post-mortems,
testing for retroviral and
chlamydial infection and
collecting lymph node samples
from animals with and without
KoRV infection to "deep
sequence" the koala
transcriptome (all the RNA in
the tissue) to look at which
parts of the animals immune
systems are altered by virus
infection.
The team at Nottingham will be
performing the analysis of the
transcriptome data through the
Universities Advanced Data
Analysis Centre (ADAC) and
constructing a risk model for
health outcomes in the koalas
using the data from the
Australian groups.
Dr Rachael Tarlinton
Lecturer in Veterinary
Cellular Microbiology
Silly Day at the Nottingham
Veterinary School
On November 21st a Silly Day
was held at the vet school to
raise money for LOROS, a
Leicestershire based hospice for
terminally ill patients and their
families. The day was held in
support of a bigger fundraising
campaign called “Random Acts
of Silliness” started by Lizzy
Strong, a terminal cancer
patient and sister of one of the
vet school’s postgraduate
students. Inspired by the “ice
bucket challenge”, the
campaign involves people
performing silly acts on camera,
sharing the videos, nominating
others to do the same, and
most importantly making a
donation. The Vet School “Silly
Day” involved a bake sale, vet
school staff and postgraduate
students dressed as animals
and cream pies being put in
members of staff’s faces! As you
can probably imagine, on the
day things got rather messy!
Paper plates brimming with
swirls of cream were launched
into the faces of some of the
Vet’s Schools silliest staff: Dr Liz
Mossop, Dr Barney King, Dr
Tracey Coffey, Dr Janet Daly, Dr
Julia Kydd and Prof Malcolm
Cobb! They took it in turns over
the lunch hours to be the target
of some silliness –some of them
even got their revenge on the
organisers too! Needless to say
it not only raised some raucous
laughter, but also a fantastic
amount of money for LOROS.
And let’s not forget the amazing
animal costumes we had on the
day: parrots, rabbits, monkeys,
lions… it was like a zoo (gone
wild) in the Vet School! But the
prize for the best costume has
to go to Janet and Julia, who
donned a hump each to become
the School camel, accompanied
in its travels around the offices
by Tracey Coffey dressed as a
crocodile and holding a
donations bucket and a whip!
We hear that people were giving
donations just to get the camel
leave them alone, making it a
very successful method of
raising money!
Prof Malcolm Cobb
having been ‘pied’
The day made a huge £807.03.
The organisers are very grateful
to all the staff that took part in
the pie-ing, everyone that
dressed up, those that baked
cakes and to everyone who
donated so generously.
If you would like to support this
campaign, please do so by
texting haha54 £5 (or any
amount) to 70070 or by visiting
https://www.justgiving.com/ran
domactsofsilliness/
By the “Silly Day” organisers
(Siobhan Simpson, Claire
Vinten, Amelia Pollard
and Vicky Strong)
The ‘Sutton BoningtonScience Cake Competition
2014’ raises £610 for SportRelief!
Somehow, a whole year had
passed since we first saw a
staggering array of cake-based
talent. This year’s SB Science
Cake Competition committee
consisted of academic members
of staff, under- and
postgraduate students from the
School of Bioscience and the
School of Veterinary Medicine
and Science. The committee
worked hard over the weeks
prior to the competition to
create posters to display around
campus, gather interest via
social media platforms, and
generate some ‘cake-spiration’
through regular teasers of
photos showing last year’s
entries.
At 7:30am on 13th March, the
cakes began to trickle in. Thirty
entries were counted, in
categories Animals &
Agriculture, Cakes for Animals,
Food & Nutrition, Infection,
‘Nerdy’ Science, Plants, Crops &
Environment, and Veterinary
Medicine. The creations were
phenomenal. An ‘expert’ panel
of uniquely qualified judges –
including ‘Mr Buffalo Brownies’
(James), a popular contributor
to the monthly on campus
Farmer’s market – assessed the
entries during the morning on
appearance, scientific accuracy,
creativity, and, of course, taste.
The winners were announced in
a short prize giving ceremony at
lunchtime, which was kindly
sponsored by the ‘Old
Kingstonian Alumni’.
A special category this year
were ‘Cakes for animals’; Emily
Blight, an undergraduate vet
student organised just before
the prize giving ceremony an
entertaining panel of teaching
dogs (Braid, Zahra and Riley) to
judge these cakes on tastiness,
which definitely created a lot of
laughter in the crowd who came
to the event. A silent auction
was held to sell off whole cakes
during the morning, with some
selling for over £30 each. All
other cakes were sliced and sold
for £1 in the afternoon. The
total raised was £610 for Sport
Relief.
The overall winner was Alex
Burgess with ‘Dave’s Allotment’.
She said “the idea came from
research and hobbies (both
being keen allotment
gardeners) and the competition
allowed us to express our
creativity.” Creativity combined
with attention to detail made for
some really ingenious entries;
we recommend you to have a
look at the following link:
https://flic.kr/s/aHsjV8Ewbm.
The clear winner of the public
vote was ‘What cake first…the
chicken or the egg’, the top 5
from the online public vote are
shown in the photos. All the
winners in the different
categories are on the
www.sbcakeoff.org.uk website,
including the recipe of the
winning cake.
The Rucksack Project
Over the last few months a
group of vet students have
raised money and raided
cupboards for the Rucksack
Project. We were overwhelmed
by the number of people kindly
donating coats, jumpers,
sleeping bags and other warm
accessories. We stock piled
supplies and raised money via a
cake sale for the extra bits and
pieces to go into the rucksacks.
The aim of the Rucksack Project
was to provide a rucksack of
warm and clean supplies to the
homeless and vulnerably
housed people of Nottingham.
Each rucksack contained a hat,
scarf and gloves, a warm
jumper, a new pair of pants and
socks, a blanket or a sleeping
bag and a pasty and a packet of
chocolate biscuits. We also
wrote a Christmas card for
every rucksack.
What cake first…the chicken or the egg?
On 9th December we teamed up
with the HoMed soup kitchen
(who give out soup to the
homeless community outside M
and S in Nottingham every
Tuesday at 8pm, without fail!)
to give out 23 rucksacks.
We had barely put them down
before people were asking us
what they were for and if they
could have one. Everyone was
thrilled by the gifts, particularly
the Christmas cards! Two of the
individuals even refused
rucksacks (“Oh no, not for me, I
don’t need one”!) but were
delighted when they were
offered a Christmas card. One
gentleman took a rucksack and
returned 5 minutes later with
half of the contents, saying he
didn’t need these bits and
pieces and we should give them
to someone else.
I was overwhelmed by the
impact and how grateful these
people were for something so
simple. I just hope that this
project will continue to grow,
and be bigger and better next
year!
Thanks to everyone who was
involved, and Merry Christmas
all!!
Sinead Kenna,
Year 5 student
Vet Charity Challenge 2014
On 27th September a team from
Nottingham headed down to
Pewsey, Wiltshire to participate
in the Vet Charity Challenge,
2014. The VCC is a one day
sponsored team event, involving
6.5 hours of running, kayaking
and cycling, and also a series of
problem-solving challenges
along the way. You plan and
follow your own route, picking
up points for every checkpoint
you reach so it’s not just about
fitness and stamina (thank
goodness!).
This year nearly 50 teams
participated and the VCC raised
over £35,000 for the three
charities it supports – Hearing
Dogs for Deaf People, SPANA
and Cats Protection.
Our team, the Nottingham
Numbats (named after the
Australian marsupial… mainly
because they’re adorable and
also because all good teams
need an alliterative name),
donned our ears and whiskers
and came a not-too-shabby 11th
out of 47 teams, raising a grand
total of £516.25 for these great
charities. Our main achievement
of the day, however, was not
falling in the canal whilst getting
in and out of the kayaks… a feat
not achieved by all teams!
A massive thank you to
everybody who sponsored us,
and in particular to Marnie and
Paul who made up our excellent
support team. We are hoping to
compete again next year, and it
would be great to have a few
more SVMS teams to join us!
Elizabeth Cresswell,
PGCertificate student
School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, The University of Nottingham,
Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough,
Leicestershire, LE12 5RD
Tel: 0115 951 6116 [email protected]@NottinghamVets
www.nottingham.ac.uk/vet
The Nottingham Numbats