Back to School - Talking Belonging with UCLan Students

When I started my veterinary nursing career (a long, long time ago), I didn’t expect to find myself at a university delivering a session to veterinary students.
However, this week I had the privilege to run a session on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging for the students at the University of Central Lancashire (UClan).

Medivet has a multi-year agreement with UCLan, to support the school’s ambition to attract, teach and train a new generation of veterinary students from all backgrounds and make veterinary education accessible to all. I was excited about visiting the university, meeting the incredible students that we’ve been supporting through our partnership, and have a meaningful conversation on a topic so close to my heart.

We spoke about the feeling of belonging within the veterinary profession, why inclusion matters, how we can learn from our mistakes and the power of a good apology. We then ran some real-life scenarios with the students to show the powerful impact allies can have when standing up for people from marginalised communities.

I was quite pleased to see that this generation of veterinary students are already primed to think about how they can support each other better, both at university and in the workplace. 

felt that the vet students found some of the statistics around the prevalence of discrimination alarming. With our profession continuing see a decrease in veterinary surgeons from outside of the UK and an increase in women, LGBT+ folk, and people living with mental or physical disabilities, it warrants the need to talk about Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging.  

It is important to educate ourselves on protected characteristics and help reduce discrimination within the veterinary industry.

I am passionate about this topic because I grew up in the outback of Australia with limited visibility of LGBT+ role models, Priscilla Queen of the Desert (which was partly filmed in my hometown of Broken Hill) was the closest I got to understanding that a queer community existed. However, I’ve always been fortunate to work with people who have supported me, and I know the difference it has made to have felt that belonging in practice. At the end of the day, we’re all here for the animals.

Our profession needs great clinical talent for a long, healthy and sustainable future, and I am proud to work for an organisation like Medivet that recognises the importance of EDIB and supports our colleagues (and future stars) bring their whole authentic selves to work.