By Matthew Jackson
Beginning your career as a newly qualified vet is an exciting but daunting prospect at any time.
Starting amidst a Covid pandemic certainly brought some additional and unique challenges.
I arrived at Paragon in summer 2020 as Covid gripped the nation. Meeting and building relationships with colleagues and clients whilst adhering to social distancing rules was difficult and the once-busy practice premises were unduly quiet with many staff working from home.
However, despite those difficulties I received a warm welcome and was soon presented with a car stocked high with an assortment of medicines and equipment. It was at this point things began to feel very real.
Starting life as a farm vet brings an added pressure as you are often dealing with clients who’ve been involved in farming since before you were in nappies.
First impressions feel very important to you as a new vet, and when you arrive on farm for the first time it can often feel like you are being analysed from the minute you put your wellies on. Well-rehearsed procedures can suddenly feel more difficult as you bear the added pressure of an experienced watchful eye.
The nerves soon pass however, as you grow in confidence with every visit and before you know it you’ve performed your first solo cow caesarean, a key milestone in any young vet’s career.
One challenge was how to restrain an uncooperative cow whilst keeping a safe distance of 2m away from staff, or in farming terms, roughly the length of the cow! The beauty of an unfortunate situation such as the pandemic, however, is how it highlights the brilliance of human ingenuity.
Throughout my first year in practice I would see countless innovative ideas from farmers and vets on how to maintain social distancing. Many halters were brought out of retirement and the textbook on restraint of cattle was rewritten.
I soon settled into Cumbrian life, something of a culture shock after five years living and studying in Glasgow. I went from rarely bumping into people I knew in a big city, to it becoming a daily occurrence in a small village.
I was training for an ironman at the time and most evenings I would go jogging. As I ran, I would often see clients still busy milking and usually received a small nod or a wave as I ran past. Occasionally I would even see a colleague out on call, elbow deep in a cow or a sheep!
Humour is a key part of life working out on the farms and has played its part in getting me through the pandemic. When I first arrived in Dalston I was living in a flat in the centre of the village directly above one of the popular takeaways, which unbeknown to me was frequented by many of our clients.
Within weeks, they began reporting having seen me in my flat and I was always left to wonder whether this was in a fully clothed state! Staff at a particular farm nicknamed me ‘Magic Mike’ (the name of a Hollywood film based on a male stripper!). Thankfully I have since moved and now live on a farm where the only outside observers I have to worry about are the odd cow, sheep or curious farm cat looking in through the window.
Despite the challenges that Covid has presented, my first year in practice has been an overwhelmingly positive one. I may have missed out on the odd cup of tea, and I am still yet to taste a famous farmhouse cooked lunch whilst on a big TB test, but the support I have received from the practice and our fantastic clients has made my transition into work an enjoyable and relatively easy one. This is something I am very grateful for.