Page 54 - Phonebox Magazine October 2008

Adopting a Vet!
Report by Steve Clark
Norfolk girl Joanne Travers knew that she wanted to become a vet from the age of 7. By the age of 18 she had experience as a
vet nurse in both small animal and equine practice but did not manage to secure a place at vet school after her ‘A’ levels. Undaunted, she took a degree in Equine Science and International Thoroughbred Management at Oxford Brookes and Abingdon and Witney College. Having achieved a 2:1, Jo’s desire to become a vet was rekindled and she was persuaded to apply for a place at vet school. Jo was eventually offered a place at the University of Liverpool, but was faced with the problem that she would have to find around £17,000 per year to cover the cost of the course. Although the University of Liverpool welcomes graduate applicants, the number of school leavers who apply to the Bachelor of Veterinary Science programme far exceeds the number of government–funded places available. It is thus the current policy of the university not to offer government-funded places to graduates. This left Jo with the daunting challenge of finding around £85,000 over a five year period if her dream was to be fulfilled.
Jo ploughed £7,000 of savings into her first year fees but was still faced with a shortfall. Then came the idea of ‘Adoptavet’, which was
launched in 2006. Jo set up
a website outlining the
challenge she faced. I first
learned about ‘Adoptavet’
through ‘Equine Science
Update’, a regular email
service setting out the latest
news and developments in
the equine world. The
website gave potential
sponsors the opportunity to
sponsor Jo in her studies.
One particularly high profile
person to offer support was
HRH Princess Haya Bint Al
Hussein, daughter of the
late King Hussein Bin Talal of Jordan! HRH Princess Haya was the first Arab woman to compete in an Olympic equestrian event and she is now the President of the International Equestrian Federation. A mixture of donations, private sponsorships and grants, combined with income from a part-time job at Ladbrokes gave Jo sufficient funding to embark on her first year with some confidence that she would be able to complete the challenge
Jo has recently completed the first year of her course, which included six weeks of Extra Mural Study placements working with sheep, cows, pigs, horses, dogs and cats. Jo’s first placement in March was particularly busy – all students in their first year have to spend 2 weeks on a sheep farm during the lambing season. Jo secured a placement at a farm
Steve with Jo at one of the Redwings sites in Norfolk photo by Lynn Cutress
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near her home with 660 ewes. During the two weeks she was there, 143 ewes produced 238 lambs.
I had previously advised Jo of my involvement with Redwings Horse Sanctuary, the largest equine charity in the UK. By some quirk of fate, Jo’s home near Long Stratton is only about 8 miles away from the Hapton estate where
Redwings is based. Jo came along to see us during her Christmas break and was given a guided tour of our own veterinary hospital by one of the Redwings vets. Jo also met with our Chief Executive Officer, Lynn Cutress. We also had the opportunity to visit the sanctuary’s Parklands re-homing centre, part of the Hapton farm, along with rehabilitation facilities on one of the other sanctuary farms.
You can find out more about how Jo’s studies are going, along with some of her other interests and hobbies on her ‘Adoptavet’ website. Anybody wishing to contribute a small (or large!) donation to Jo’s continuing studies can do so securely through the site. K
Useful links:
http://www.adoptavet.co.uk Jo’s website
http://redwings.org.uk Redwings Horse Sanctuary
http://liv.ac.uk/vets/ Faculty of Veterinary Science, Liverpool University
http://equinescienceupdate.co.uk Sign up to this fascinating insight into equine science
http://princesshaya.net A wealth of information about HRH Princess Haya
(In 1904, Liverpool became the first veterinary school to be incorporated into a University. The foundation was a seminal event, establishing veterinary medicine as an academic scientific discipline and opening up the opportunity of government funding for what had been a private professional training in the art of veterinary practice.)
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54 Phonebox Magazine