RCVS Day – The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons’ AGM and Awards Day – saw the investiture of the new President, Col Neil Smith, on 5 July 2013, at the Royal College of Physicians, London.

Neil Smith graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in 1989 and is currently the Director Army Veterinary and Remount Services, effectively the Chief Veterinary Officer for the Army and Head of the RAVC, which has over 35 Veterinary Officers as well as 350 soldiers. He also holds an appointment from the Queen as her Honorary Veterinary Surgeon.

Looking forward to his year in office he commented on the new strategic plan that is under development, and saying: “I look forward to playing my part in taking the College into the next phase of its evolution and I am encouraged by the appetite for change shown by my fellow Council members – and indeed the profession at large.”

Awards and honours
Outgoing President Jacqui Molyneux conferred a range of awards, including:

– Honorary Associateship to Dr Kirsten Rausing, who has made an outstanding contribution to equine health and welfare.

–Dr Rausing was particularly commended for “her understanding of veterinary issues that affect thoroughbred breeding and    racing, especially those involving infectious diseases..”.

–Honorary Fellowship was granted to Dr Joy Archer, who specialises in veterinary pathology “..her contributions have been outstanding.”

–Honorary Fellowship was also bestowed upon Dr Raymond Franklin, an equine veterinary surgeon who has contributed greatly to raising clinical and professional standards throughout his work both as a practising veterinary surgeon and with the Veterinary Defence Society.

–A final Honorary Fellowship was presented to Colin Whitaker, a farm animal veterinary surgeon whose work led to the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

–Fellowships were awarded to Michael Guilliard, for work in the field of distal limb injuries in greyhounds, and to Professor Martin Sheldon, whose subject was infection and immunity in the female genital tract of cattle.

–Veterinary diplomas were awarded on a range of subjects, from Cattle Health and Production to Veterinary Cardiology, and veterinary nurses were presented with their Diplomas in Advanced Veterinary Nursing (DipAVN), including the first three to achieve the DipAVN (Equine) – Natalie Fisk, Kate Lomas and Marie Rippingale.

CEO’s introduction
The CEO, Nick Stace, gave a short introduction to the President’s address. He outlined activities to date and outlined proposed changes, which included the development of a three-year strategy plan, an overhaul of the RCVS Charitable Trust, to become RCVS Knowledge, the evolution of the Practice Standards Scheme, and continued moves to enable the RCVS to become a first-rate regulator and Royal College. Finally, he handed over to President Jacqui Molyneux, describing her as a passionate, purposeful and practical President.

Jacqui Molyneux said: “This has been an exciting and innovative year… and I think the next few years will see a continuation of those positive changes, which should ensure that we have a Royal College of which we can all be proud.”

Guest speaker
Guest speaker at this year’s event was Dr Andy Stringer, Director of Veterinary Programmes at the Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad (SPANA). Dr Stringer’s talk outlined the hardships suffered by working animals which are often excluded from national animal health and welfare policies, play in the lives of many struggling to make a living in the developing world. He explained the vital role that SPANA plays in the provision of training to local vets and animal health professionals, education to owners and the operation of mobile veterinary clinics, and also the charity’s engagement in research.

Increasing graduate numbers over the last five years have had little impact on veterinary job prospects, according to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS).

The evidence comes from a survey carried out for the RCVS by the Institute for Employment Studies, which asked the last five years’ UK graduates who have registered with the College how long it took them to find work, how long they stayed in their first jobs, and why they moved on.

The online survey, which achieved a 43% response rate (1,354 responders), found that an average of 94% of graduates seeking a role in clinical practice obtained work within six months of starting to look.

The actual figure ranged from a high of 96% in 2008 to a low of 92% in 2010, and did not change significantly over the five years under consideration, despite UK graduate numbers increasing by around a quarter during the same period (from 650 in 2007, to 819 in 2012). Meanwhile, the College has registered an average of 618 overseas graduates annually during this time.

The survey did show that it was taking graduates slightly longer to secure their posts, with a shift from 85% securing work under three months in 2008, to 71% in 2012.

The results seem to suggest some small differences in the time taken for men and women to find their first jobs, with men finding jobs slightly quicker, although the vast majority of both genders found veterinary work.

“After the announcement from the University of Surrey that it will be opening a new vet school in the near future, there was a great deal of discussion amongst the profession about how easily new graduates could find employment. I undertook to get some real facts and am pleased to find that the picture is not as gloomy as predicted,” said Jacqui Molyneux, RCVS President, as she revealed the headline figures at RCVS Day today [5 July, Royal College of Physicians].

Jacqui was, however, concerned that there has been a slight increase in the proportion of respondents who left their first position after a relatively short period of time. Amongst 2012 graduates, over 40% of those who had left their first position did so within three months of starting work. However it must be stressed that only 18% of those answering the survey who graduated in 2012 had already left their first position.

“Although the turn-over in first jobs seems to be, in part, due to an increase in temporary posts, I am saddened to see that the most commonly-cited reason for graduates leaving their first job was lack of support from their employers or professional colleagues,” she said.

“This is an area that we, as a profession, must address. As I have told all the students I have admitted to the College, their first jobs will influence their whole careers, and getting adequate support is probably the single most important factor. Meanwhile, it is heartening to see that nearly all of those moving on have obtained further employment,” she added.

Although the survey was sent to all those UK graduates who had registered with the RCVS within the last five years, the contact details for those who had subsequently de-registered may not have been up to date, which may mean that those who had de-registered because they could not find work were not well represented. However, it is more likely that these individuals would have switched to the ‘non-practising’ category.

A summary of the headline survey results will be available at www.rcvs.org.uk/publications. The full findings, which also looked at the time taken to complete the Professional Development Phase and the type and location of work sought, will be available in due course.