Take a look at the exciting opportunities for professional development

WORKSHOP | ONLINE

ONLINE COMPANION ANIMAL VETERINARIANS Get your teeth into best practice dentistry Improve your techniques in oral surgery and obtain better clinical outcomes with this comprehensive online course.

Online: 31 August–13 September 2020 | Workshop: Date to be confirmed Online tutor: Tony Caiafa | Workshop: Craig Hunger, Janine van Dam and John Wood Register now at nzva.org.nz/event/20caden

COMPANION ANIMAL VETERINARIANS Veterinary refresher scheme A self-directed course for veterinarians returning to companion animal practice.

Start now! Authors: Sandra Forsyth | Kate Hill | Andrew Worth Register now at nzva.org.nz/event/cavrs

ONLINE SHEEP AND BEEF CATTLE VETERINARIANS On-farm parasitology skills Develop effective and sustainable parasite control programmes with this comprehensive course.

Date: 28 September–18 December 2020 Tutors: Clive Bingham | Ginny Dodunski Register now at nzva.org.nz/event/20parasitology

WORKSHOP | ONLINE SHEEP, BEEF CATTLE AND DEER VETERINARIANS On-farm consultancy skills Improve your ability to engage with farmers to improve their farm businesses.

Start online course now! | Workshop: Date to be confirmed Tutors: Graeme Dixon | Lab Wilson Register now at nzva.org.nz/event/20consult

CPD Pathway | Eligible for five Massey University credits.

CPD Pathway | Eligible for five Massey University credits.

WORKSHOP | ONLINE

ONLINE

ONLINE

CONFERENCE DAIRY CATTLE VETERINARIANS Bovine ultrasound Learn the latest techniques in bovine ultrasound and improve your confidence.

Online: December 2020 | Workshop: Date to be confirmed Tutor: Steve Cranefield Watch this space! More information coming soon!

LARGE ANIMAL VETERINARY TECHNICIANS Fundamental skills and procedures Increase skills and knowledge on commonly encountered diseases and procedures.

Date: 23 November 2020 Tutors: Justine Britton | Greg Chambers | Ben Hodgson Watch this space! More information coming soon!

ALL VETERINARY PERSONNEL The 10 behaviours of success Add practical skills to your tool kit to thrive in your work and at home.

Course 1: 21 October–4 November | Course 2: 18 November–2 December 2020 Tutor: David Keane (PhD) Register now at nzva.org.nz/event/20ttb

branch of the nzva

ALL VETERINARY PERSONNEL NZVA Wildlife Conference Looking to increase your skills in bird and wildlife triage? Join us in Nelson for the annual NZVA Wildlife Society conference!

Date: 27–29 November 2020 | Location: Nelson Lectures | Workshops | Field trips Find out more at nzva.org.nz/event/20wildlife

CONFERENCE ALL VETERINARY PERSONNEL 2021 NZVA and NZVNA conference: Stronger together Next year’s conference will bring everyone in the veterinary profession together in Christchurch.

NZVA conference: 23–26 June 2021 | NZVNA conference: 25–26 June 2021 NZVA workshops offered on 26 June 2021 More information at nzva.org.nz/event/21nzva

ONLINE ALL VETERINARY PERSONNEL 2020 Leadership ProSkills programme Effectively lead your team and manage your practice.

Start now! Tutors: Sue Crampton | Mark Hardwick | Rosie Overfield | Deb Render Register now at nzva.org.nz/event/2020ldpro

ONLINE ALL VETERINARY PERSONNEL 2020 Leadership intelligence programme Contemporary and relevant leadership training.

Start now! Optional coaching support and implementation programme available Register now at nzva.org.nz/event/2020ldint

CPD ACCREDITATION ALL VETERINARY PERSONNEL Looking at CPD from another organisation? Be sure to check for the NZVA accreditation tick!

Quality CPD guaranteed Animal ethics and welfare standards assured More information available at nzva.org.nz/mpage/edhub-accreditation

CRAMPTON

Consulting Group

CRAMPTON

Consulting Group

WELLBEING HUB

WELLBEING HUB ALL VETERINARY PERSONNEL Wellbeing and resilience for veterinary professionals Fundamental skills required to thrive in the complex veterinary environment.

Start now! | Free for NZVA members through VetScholar | $100 for non-members Author: Belinda Noyes More information at nzva.org.nz/event/20well

ALL VETERINARY PERSONNEL Professional skills for veterinary teams Learn techniques that promote team and workplace effectiveness.

Free course for NZVA members! Tutor: Michael Meehan Watch this space! More information coming soon!

CLINIC staff and farmers have recently experienced a seamless transition from equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) to an alternative intervention for noncycling dairy cows.

With zero pushback from clients and 100% buy-in from the team, Northern Southland Vets (NSVets) is one of two regional practices that, in spring 2019, decided to stop using eCG hormone treatment. NSVets is using a new synchrony programme, Pro-M8, instead. STEWARDSHIP...”

NSVets Director Morgan Greene says that, even though Pro-M8 entails an extra farm visit, logistics have not been an issue for them.

“It wasn’t a huge overall change for us. As a practice, we have always kept full control of our reproductive programmes, doing all the injecting for non-cyclers.

“We want that product stewardship – to make sure the programme is adhered to appropriately and to know that we’re happy with the integrity of the programme.”

Having already developed a workable system of three farm visits for every client herd being synchronised, it was a small step to add a fourth.

A fourth visit is required on day eight of the Pro-M8 programme, meaning veterinarians have to be on farm to administer prostaglandin injections two days in a row.

“It has made some weeks a bit busier,” Morgan says. “But it’s only for a few weeks of the year and our people have been really good about going to inject cows in the evening if need be.

“We’re dealing with reasonably large herds so the non-cyclers can basically be run in their own mob. Our whole team is behind this. I’ve heard others say that it’s going to be difficult but we didn’t find that.”

The change to Pro-M8 was first communicated to clients via email. The clinic later followed up with more explanation during routine restricted veterinary medicine (RVM) consultations.

“Again, it was very simple. We didn’t apologise, we didn’t give them a choice, we didn’t say we might change. We said we’re changing and here’s why.

“We also explained the science to farmers, showing them that the change was not going to have a negative impact on the programme or on our treatment success rates.”

Not one farmer objected and some even congratulated the practice for making the decision, which was driven by potential ethical concerns.

NSVets cares for approximately 60,000 dairy cows in Gore, Te Anau, Dipton and Five Rivers. The average herd size in the area is 650 cows. Farm ownership is a mix of family businesses and corporates. Almost all are spring calving.

Reproductive performance is similar to national results. Six-week in-calf rates average 66–68%. A handful of the very best farms, which are once-a-day milking, reach 80-81%. Similarly, average not incalf rates are 15–17%, with 3% this year’s

lowest, again a once-a-day herd.

One thing all farms share is a long, intense history of public and regulatory oversight. Most recently, this has focused on winter grazing management.

Morgan says farming under such scrutiny has helped sensitise NSVets’ dairy farmers to public perception and the importance of doing everything to a bestpractice standard.

That contributed in no small part to his team’s decision to review, then discontinue, eCG treatment.

NSVets had, in previous years, implemented traditional synchrony programmes using injections of both prostaglandin and eCG to help some clients improve the reproductive performance of their herd.

However, in addition to dairy and beef clients, NSVets also has a significant equine reproduction business working with large stud breeders. “We spend four months of the year here trying to get mares pregnant and foals on the ground. We just weren’t comfortable with the ethics of eCG potentially being sourced from pregnant mares. This is a potential risk to the dairy industry in terms of negative views of the industry.

“We already have public perception issues around intensive winter grazing, welfare and the environment. We asked ourselves ‘at an industry level, did we really need to be putting our clients in this position?’ And we decided not. The decision was unanimous.”

Herd reproduction results from one full season with Pro-M8 have been no different from what would have been expected using previous synchrony programmes, Morgan says.

As the 2020 mating season approaches, another Southland veterinary practice says it will make small changes to its planning and logistics to implement Pro-M8 this year.

Northern Southland Vets veterinarian Morgan Greene

In all respects the clinic’s experience with the new programme has been very similar to that of NSVets.

Foremost in its decision to discontinue eCG was what it felt was the unacceptable reputational risk for farmers.

“At the time, our farmers were being attacked from all angles for winter grazing,” explains one of the clinic’s practice directors.

“It was extremely wet here and farmer morale was not high. People don’t realise how hard it was for farmers personally to keep being told they didn’t care about their animals, when in fact most of them do care very much.

“We decided on their behalf they did not need another rod to be beaten with.”

Again, communication was transparent. Clients accepted the change to Pro-M8 without question and some thanked the practice for making the move.

Instead of charging per veterinary visit, as with previous synchrony programmes, the second Southland practice introduced an all-inclusive package fee for Pro-M8 – making it easier for farmers to budget.

“We also made a policy of not starting synchrony on a Friday, so we didn’t have a day eight injection on a Saturday. Where possible we would try to do neighbouring farms together to cut the travel costs.

“It did increase the workload at a tricky time of year but I think we can manage that better this spring by using technicians and organising runs to make the process even more efficient.”

Results have been good. Farmer resistance to the extra yarding for a fourth injection has been minimal. No clients have indicated they won’t synchronise non-cyclers this season because of the change.

“I think sometimes we as veterinarians are guilty of underestimating how much our farmers care about these things.

“It’s easy to assume that farmers always want the cheapest option but the vast majority of people we work with actually do care.” n

THANK YOU FOR the care you give all your patients.

Thank you for the compassion, support and teaching you give your clients.

Thank you for your contribution to the health and wellbeing of animals who provide the world with quality meat, milk and fibre.

Thank you for entering a profession that doesn’t come without its difficulties.

Thank you for staying when the reality wasn’t as idyllic as a James Herriot novel.

Thank you for continuing to learn so you can serve your community well.

Thank you for your patience when you tell a client how to solve their problem yet they continue to do the same thing, then get upset when they get the same result.

Thank you for showing up every day (and sometimes at night) to do a job that’s often full of stress and challenges.

Thank you for your personal sacrifice.

Thank you to your husbands, wives, partners, children, family and friends for their sacrifice – whether they’re woken in the night by the phone or have to go to an out-of-town birthday party without you, because you’re on call.

Thank you for doing your best – especially on those days when you’re busy from the moment you walk in the door to the time you leave. You barely have five minutes to pull yourself together after an emotional euthanasia before consulting with an overly anxious client and an overly excited puppy. Those days where you’re lucky to get a break for lunch, and when, by the time you go to bed, you’re mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted. You know those days happen often.

I’ve noticed a common theme among people in caring professions: they are nurturing, loving and kind, yet they have a hard time extending that care, kindness and compassion to themselves.

Our inner world affects our outer world. If we’re not aware of how we’re feeling or why we’re feeling that way, life can

become overwhelming. Chronic stress can become our norm. We’re inherently strong beings and we keep going, and going, until it becomes too much, and then we hit burnout.

Self-care and self-awareness can help you to find the ability (and courage) to connect with yourself and explore how much of your inner world is affecting your outer world.

I have created a guided course that will help you to explore your inner world so you can self-care, and be selfreflective without being judgemental. Once you have that awareness you can then choose how you respond to things instead of just reacting.

The Wellbeing and Resilience for Veterinary Professionals course on the NZVA Wellbeing Hub helps to guide you through this very personal journey. It is a foundation on which to continually build both emotional intelligence and emotional wellness.

There is a lot of concise information contained within the course. The course

Belinda Noyes is an inspirational writer, counsellor, mindset coach and mindfulness teacher, who is married to a small animal veterinarian. After being an observer of the challenges that veterinarians face for almost two decades, she is a huge advocate for increasing the wellbeing of those within the veterinary profession. might just serve as a reminder to some, but simplistic does not mean that it is easy. We can gather all the information in the world but it is pointless unless we take action.

We have to practise self-care, practise self-awareness and practise resilience. That is why this course was created. I have been actively studying this for more than 20 years and still need constant reminding, especially when life gets a bit challenging.

So join me on this short journey where we look at self-care, thoughts and beliefs, the stories we tell ourselves, self-awareness, self-worth, how to manage difficult emotions, control and acceptance, stress management, mindset and mindfulness.

Given everything that’s happening in the world, there has never been a better time for the NZVA to launch this course as part of the Wellbeing Hub. The Hub is full of information – but it only becomes wisdom if you put it into practice.

Kindly,

Belinda n

with Wellbeing and Resilience for Veterinary Professionals, a course designed to teach you the fundamental skills required to thrive in the complex veterinary environment.

This two-module course is designed with one intention – for you to connect with yourself – professionally and personally and is available to start anytime. Through a series of recorded presentations, exercises and resources Belinda Noyes will guide you towards having a different relationship with stress and resilience through self-care and awareness.

As an NZVA member you can access the course for free directly from your VetScholar page as part of your NZVA membership. Go towww.vetscholar.org.nz to start your journey now!

Non-members can register for the course atwww.nzva.org.nz/

event/20well. Price: $100 including GST.