Companion collection – Mental health and wellbeing

  The Covid-19 pandemic has placed particular pressure on practitioners with small children – many have found it hard to balance the demands of their chosen career with the need to safeguard their own health and that of their own families. But if in these difficult times, there are members of the profession who feel that their parenting skills are not up to the job, then one of their colleagues may be able to help. She is Alexandra Harris (or McKenzie Johnston, as she was known to her classmates in Cambridge vet school’s 2007 graduate cohort). Alex combines her duties as a locum small animal vet in Hampshire with the unusual role of a parenting consultant.

 Mark Turner holds a Masters of Research (MRes) in patient safety culture from the Royal Veterinary College and in this article takes a closer look at burnout – what it is, how it happens and what we can do to protect our staff and ourselves.

Edinburgh graduate Cal Major stroked her way into the record books this summer as the first person to travel from Land’s End to John O’Groats on a stand-up paddleboard. Along the way she raised thousands of pounds to support mental health services for the veterinary profession and others, as well as raising awareness of the threat posed by plastic pollution to our inland and coastal waterways. She told John Bonner about the highlights of her trip.

“Supporting you throughout your veterinary career” is the ambitious claim that the British Small Animal Veterinary Association makes on its website about the services it provides for members. John Bonner takes a closer look at what this means.