Candidate calls for more postgraduate support
Sarah is a keen traveller and has an active interest in the vet’s role in ‘One Health’ in developing countries.
As a passionate advocator of mental health and physical wellbeing, small animal locum Sarah Brown wants to ensure all members of the veterinary community feel confident, resilient, happy and well-supported.
Sarah is standing for election in this year’s RCVS council elections and hopes to use her experience in mindfulness to address the high dropout rate and dissatisfaction of many vets, particularly recent graduates.
’We must address the root causes of why more than half of recent graduates look for an alternative career path, and the unacceptable levels of stress-related disease and suicide,’ Sarah writes in her manifesto.
‘I am encouraged by improvements in management adopted by some practices to ease the the load on their employees. However, this must be supplemented with appropriate student selection and education and postgraduate support.’
Sarah graduated from Edinburgh in 2011 and has since gained experience in a wide variety of practices across the UK, from academia to charity, corporate to independent.
Last summer, she was introduced to the benefits of mindfulness, including stress and anxiety reduction, whilst working for a wellbeing holiday company in Greece. Keen to develop her understanding, Sarah later enrolled on a mindfulness-based cognitive therapy course at the Oxford Mindfulness Centre.
Sarah believes that the Professional Development Phase scheme does not provide graduates with enough support and, if elected to council, she would propose a more thorough and regulated system as an alternative.
“The wheels are in motion to ensure a positive future for this profession, which I care deeply about. If elected to RCVS council I would endeavour to implement changes necessary to achieve this goal.”
Outside of work, Sarah is a keen traveller and has an active interest in the vet’s role in ‘One Health’ in developing countries. Later this year, she is looking forward to volunteering for a veterinary charity in Sri Lanka.
RCVS' Mind Matters Initiative (MMI) has launched round two of its veterinary mental health research grants.
