On Thursday 27 October, BEVA President Dave Rendle, Senior Vice President Huw Griffiths and Veterinary Policy Officer Lucy Grieve attended the first day of the 2022 FEEVA General Assembly in Rome. The General Assembly brings together the European Equine Veterinary Associations to collaborate on significant issues including disease surveillance, antimicrobial usage and policy to better the profession on a continental scale.
As one of the biggest threats to the profession, recruitment and retention was a hot topic of conversation. Huw gave a presentation on BEVA’s work on the issue, including findings from our recruitment and retention survey, this was then followed by extensive discussion. All countries in attendance were very interested in and supportive of BEVA’s work and were in agreement that a collaborative, strategic plan would be the best way forward to ensure that every equine vet feels supported and empowered in their career. Client education was highlighted as a potentially very effective method, particular interest was paid to BEVA’s resources and projects such as the Internship Programme and Don’t Break Your Vet campaign. The European associations were keen to collaborate with BEVA to look at expansion of these, particularly of the Don’t Break Your Vet campaign to look at protecting mental as well as physical health.
Overall it was a fantastic day enjoyed by all three BEVA representatives and we look forward to sharing developments from this meeting with our members in time.