|
 |
|
|
| Editorial |
Looking back, looking ahead |
593 | |
| News |
Residue monitoring plan Pharmacia Quality Milk Awards Tracking animal movements on the web Udder solutions seminar Protecting consumers from E. coli infection Veterinary Ireland’s AGM CAVI ‘solving fertility problems’ conference Current findings in the regional veterinary laboratories VICAS news |
594 595 607 612
|
|
| Index |
A cross-referenced index to the contents of the Irish Veterinary Journal 2002 |
617 | |
| Focus |
Emergency vet - Kevin Fitzgerald, star of Discovery
Animal Planet television
show
Official opening of the Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine
Interview with Sydney Nagle, new VICAS chairman
|
Catriona Boyle
|
622
|
| Peer Review |
Effect of machine milking on bovine teat tissue as measured by ultrasonography |
David E. Gleeson, Edmond J. O’ Callaghan and Myles V. Rath |
628 |
| Continuing Education |
What to do about modern dairy cows and fertility? Extra-hepatic portosystemic shunt in a Shih Tzu pup |
David A. Whitaker Jamie Poloso |
635 639 |
| Short Comminications |
Prevalence and magnitude of non-specific reactions in a commercial ELISA for antibodies to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus. |
Michael O’Connor and Patrick J. O’Reilly | 577 |
| Business |
Zero tolerance to workplace bullying |
Eithne Harley | 643 |
| Motoring |
Land master |
Austin Shinnors | 644 |
| Classified PDF | The latest situations available in the profession. | Classified Word format |
646 |
Almost inevitably, the blank page that is destined for the
editorial in the December issue of the journal
exposes the editorial scribe to a
very strong temptation to fill it with some reflections on the challenges and
achievements of the previous eleven months and with some predictions as to what
we should hope might be achieved
over the next twelve months, or, perhaps, further into the future. On this
occasion, we succumb: like Oscar Wilde, we confess that we can resist anything
but temptation.
Throughout the year, Veterinary Ireland has steadfastly
pursued its resolve to ensure that the
needs and views of the Irish veterinary profession are articulated and brought
to the attention of policy makers both at home and in Europe.
All of those endeavours have been recounted
elsewhere - at the recent AGM at Nenagh, in the several issues of VetView, and
in the pages of this journal.
Veterinary Ireland is expanding rapidly and the early days of 2003 will see it move to a new headquarters. The move to a purpose-built stand-alone office premises will allow the growth and development of the organisation’s administrative resources, the expansion of its databases (especially with regard to the Veterinary Council’s CVE credit system), the development of its web-site and, in many other ways, the provision of better communication services for all of its members. Veterinary Ireland has put in place Interest Groups and Specific Purpose Committees that have the expertise and commitment to lead the profession to an assured future in the service of the community in the complementary spheres of animal health/welfare and of public health.
The pursuit of those objectives will not be well-served by veterinary colleagues who remain aloof from the activities of the
representative body that is dedicated to serve the interests of the profession in its entirety. Every effort must be made to encourage more practitioners, teachers, and research personnel to join the organisation and to participate in the debates from which Veterinary Ireland will formulate its strategic plans for the future. In that context, we would remind readers that Veterinary Ireland offers discounted subscription rates to graduates during their first three years in the profession and that undergraduates may be affiliated for an extremely modest fee.
It is not necessary to emphasise that the Faculty of
Veterinary Medicine and Veterinary Ireland have a mutual interest in furthering
the development of the profession. In its most recent practical manifestation
that interest has found expression
in the CPD activities of the Irish College of Veterinary Surgeons (ICVS).
Hopefully, over the next few years, the work of ICVS will serve as an enticement
to even more active participation by teachers and research workers in the
affairs of Veterinary Ireland.
Another momentous development during the past year was the relocation of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine to the university campus at Belfield. It is obvious that the move to state-of-the-art facilities in a custom-built School has to be immensely beneficial to both staff and students. Here we wish to dwell upon another aspect of the move from the somewhat isolated - albeit historic- site on Shelbourne Road to the more academic environment on the campus. We wish to urge both staff and students to take immediate steps to make their presence felt within the community on campus. At long last, the university has taken you to its bosom; it has provided you with the opportunity to play a significant role in the social and political life of the third-level institution that educates the majority of the future decision-makers, the rockers and shakers of Irish society. Contacts made and friendships cemented during undergraduate days may be extremely valuable at the negotiation table many years hence.
Furthermore, the opportunity to influence current affairs
within the university should not be neglected; putting an effective oar in
college politics soon after arrival will
help the process of integration and, at the same time, signal the
determination of the Faculty to be an active and powerful contributor to the
academic and political well-being of the parent institution.
A final word to the hesitant: remember that had events taken another turn, you might now be sequestered “in the sticks”, far removed from the political opportunities that are within your grasp. Do not waste them!
Let us embrace the new opportunities that are presenting themselves, and let us step forward together as a stronger, more influential profession.
