THE Guardian newspaper recently
did a feature on the way life has
changed for the young aspiring
veterinary surgeon, in which they
referred to the late James Herriot
(Alf Wight), a veterinary surgeon
who practised in the Yorkshire
Dales who one day turned his skills
to writing books, eventually leading
to the popular television series All
Creatures Great And Small.
The one thing
that still survives
from his days is
the well-being
of the animal.
As long as they
strive to achieve
this, the work
of veterinary
surgeons will
always be highly rated!
As the article said: to qualify as a
vet takes a long time and once in a
practice the learning skills will still go
on to keep up to date with all the new
techniques.
Farming requirements to meet the
many standards that the EU has put
in place put the established vet under
even more pressure.
I thought it would be nice to take a
nostalgic step back in time!
Some 40 years ago I was involved
in selling a new range of veterinary
products across the UK. I was away
from home most weeks driving my
Morris Minor Traveller, calling into
veterinary surgeries and often staying
in small hotels in the most outlandish
places.
The products were new and covered
all aspects of surgery from anaesthetics
to protective gloves. They were the first
of their kind to be made out of plastic
and were disposable.
Try and tell vets that it would be an
advantage to not re-sterilise a product
such as a dog catheter, and to replace it
every time with a new one. “You must
be joking! How much are they? How
am I going to charge my client?” Some
days I never sold an item. On other days my spirits were lifted when I got
a good order – they were the days of a
hard sell, a good expense account and
no motorways.
I recall going to Alf Wight’s practice
at 23 Kirkgate in Thirsk, Yorkshire,
which was a very nice market town,
and meeting him for the first time.
He showed interest, giving me time to
explain what was so different about
plastic products over red rubber. He purchased some and a few months
later I met him again at one of the first
veterinary conferences in Southport.
He had with him another vet to whom
he extolled the advantages of my
products.
Last year I returned to his practice
which is now a museum and in one of
the showcases was a sample of one of
the products I first sold him.
There I was some 40 years later
telling my wife Cindy about meeting
him and getting my copy of his first
book signed when it was published. A
small world!
My other calls took me to the
veterinary colleges on a regular basis.
One day I had an appointment to
see the vice-principal of the RVC,
Professor Clifford Formston. He
always wore a tweed-type suit and was
very abrupt, getting to the subject
matter as quickly as he could.
Latest equine products
I had gone to show him a new set of
plastic horse stomach tubes and a mare
vaginal speculum set. In mid-flow he
stopped me and took me into one of
the college’s pristine stables and started
to ask me questions about the anatomy
of a horse.
If I could have sunk into a hole in
the ground I would have done – my
lack of knowledge on the subject
matter was obvious.
Taking me back to his office which
had books and back issues of the
Veterinary Record wall to wall along
with hundreds of boxes of slides for
his lectures, he proceeded to find me
a copy of Blacks Veterinary Dictionary
and then gave it to me saying, “I will
see you in two weeks, dear boy, and
in the meantime I will speak to your
company. You will return to the college
and spend a week here seeing how
veterinary surgeons work and train
students at the same time.” (He did remind me of Mr Chips in
the lm Goodbye Mr Chips).
We became good friends
and Clifford was always
at the end of a phone if I
needed any help involving
my work. I went to the USA
and Canada to sell these
products.
He set up key
appointments with the
deans of the colleges there;
I even spent time in Guelph
in Canada watching bears
being operated on.
After he retired we still
kept in touch and when he
passed away I remember
asking his son John why he
had supported me so much.
“Dad liked you from day
one. He wanted the best for
you and did not want to see
you make a fool of yourself
in front of professional
people.
“To qualify as a vet is very
hard work indeed, and he
felt that the then industry
needed people like you who
were able to sell innovative
products with the skill and
humour that was needed. He respected
you for having belief and enthusiasm
in what you sold.”
He, of course, was right! I travelled
the world giving talks at conferences
on our products, met some of the best
surgeons, saw some unique surgery and
spent many days out in the field seeing
practice with some real characters.
Some of my happiest times were in
Southern Ireland seeing practice with
some of the top equine vets, including
Stan Cosgrove who looked after the
then Aga Khan’s horses, staying up late
and enjoying their hospitality at the
same time – that’s another story!
Have things changed since my selling
days? Apart from the knowledge that is
required to keep up with the technical
requirements of the 21st century and
the fees involved, veterinary surgeons
still seem to be very endearing people
with characters to match.
Since I started to write features I
have visited many practices. I have had
the opportunity to see how important
team effort is. Administration
has changed due to electronic
communications whilst still retaining
the all-important client links.
Vets seem to take on selective fields of interest, for example exotic
pets, which are on the increase. It
is the same with surgery where the
nursing staff are more involved in, say,
anaesthetics.
Practices still work with the
veterinary colleges when it comes to
requiring support from their senior
staff to work with them and perform
surgical routines, which is inspiring.
I even know of practices where vets
have returned to teaching roles at some
of the colleges.
The well-being of any animal leads
to a happy client, making one’s efforts
at the practice worthwhile. I have a
lot to thank Clifford Formston for all
those years ago, and am sure if he were
around now he would be delighted that
his efforts had succeeded along with
those of his colleagues.
The training students now get has
resulted in better veterinary medicine
for all. A 40-year gap from my first
visit to Alf Wight’s practice to my
return visit to the museum that is
now there shows that practice life
and products may change; but the
dedication veterinary surgeons show to
their profession remains the same.
