Courier – August 2010. - Australian College of Veterinary Scientists

Science Week 2010
The College’s Science Week was once again
held at the beginning of July at the 5 star Gold
Coast International Hotel. A total of fourteen
Chapters were involved in the 3 day scientific
programme, which was attended by a total of
505 delegates – a record. There was a daily
average of some 400 participants.
Nine streams ran concurrently each day (eleven
on Saturday) with input from all of the Chapters
of the College.
The following Chapters are to be congratulated
for providing informative & innovative scientific
programmes that varied in length from half a
day to the full three days: Small Animal
Medicine, Surgery, Dentistry,
Ophthalmology, Animal Welfare, Cattle, Vet
Anaesthesia, Emergency and Critical Care,
Feline Medicine, Dermatology, Animal
Behaviour, Equine, Zoo & Wildlife Medicine,
Avian Health, and Epidemiology.
It was a major benefit to members and other
registrants to have so much to choose from, and
the collegiate atmosphere complimented the
superb scientific content.
In recent years, combined sessions have
emerged to pool the talent and expertise of
associated Chapters to discuss controversial or
topical issues. This year was no exception, there
being seven half-day sessions of collaboration
between some eleven Chapters.
All sessions were well attended despite the
abundance of CE supplied by alternative
providers. The Small Animal related Chapters
are to be congratulated on providing excellent
proceedings.
It was pleasing to see so many invited experts
from all over the world, in both the veterinary
and human fields of medicine. Many Chapters
COLLEGE CONTACTS
used the Science Week Meeting to hold their
AGM’s and Annual Dinners.
A Council initiative to latchkey Science Week
with a Plenary Session was a masterstroke, with
Associate Professor Glen Coleman from
University of Queensland School of Veterinary
Science, delivering an articulate oration on The
Roles and Rewards of being a College
Examiner.
Happy Hour was
once again held in
the trade area and
provided the
opportunity for all
delegates to interact
and reinforce the
intellectual feeling.
The return of the College Awards Dinner to
Saturday evening – always a sell-out – was a
fitting finale to the scholasticism of the week.
Fourteen industry representatives (our most
ever) joined us this
year and most
expressed that they
benefited from the
exposure to the
delegates, even
though our huge
numbers made it
impossible to conduct all the catering functions
in the exhibition area.
In addition, VIN visited us from the USA for the
third consecutive year, providing computer and
internet access for conference participants. We
are presently in the enviable situation of having
a waiting list of trade companies wishing to
participate in Science Week.
The Gold Coast
International
Hotel has
proved to be a
wonderful
venue for this
Annual College
event. Ten
separate meeting rooms were in operation on
Thursday & Friday, and eleven on Saturday.
Where possible the session times were
coordinated to enable delegates to move
between lectures. Continued page 2
Contents: Inside Cover – Your College Contacts, President’s Report,
CEO Report, 10 New Australian Fellows, College 6 of Chapter Veterinary Reports, Scientists – ACVSc Vic Menrath – August 2010 Oration, 1
College Name Change, Presidential & College Awards, Welcome 138
New Members

Australian College
of Veterinary Scientists
Building 3
Garden City Office Park
2404 Logan Road
EIGHT MILE PLAINS
QLD 4113
Telephone: 07 3423 2016
Fax: 07 3423 2977
Email: admin@acvs.org.au
Website: www.acvs.org.au
New Zealand Contact:
Dr. Stuart Burrough,
The Vet Centre,
Blenheim, New Zealand.
Telephone: (03) 5779822
Email: stuart@tvcm.co.nz
COUNCIL
President: Dr Rob Labuc
Honorary Treasurer: Dr Liz Dill-Macky
Honorary Secretary: Dr Ruth Sutcliffe
Chief Examiner: Dr Mandy Burrows
Awards Committee Convenor:Dr Phil Moses
Councillor: Dr Stuart Burrough
Councillor: Dr Michael Paton
BOARD OF EXAMINERS
Chief Examiner: Dr Mandy Burrows
Asst Chief Ex(Tr/Cred):Dr Mark Owen
Asst Chief Ex(Exam):Dr Liz Norman
Dr Bob Doneley
Dr Mark Burgemeister
Dr Mark Krockenberger
Dr Vanessa Barrs
Dr Zoe Lenard
Dr Ted Whittem
Dr Rob Labuc(ex officio)
Science Week Programme Co-ordinator:
Dr Terry King
Chief Executive Officer: Dr Megan Parker
College Manager: Mrs. Elaine Lowe
Admin. Assistant: Ms Sharon Tinsley
Hon. Courier Collator: Dr. Fran Musca
2
COLLEGE CONTACTS
Continued from page 1 The success of Science Week
is essentially dependant on the Chapters. In short,
this was arguably Science Week’s most
comprehensive meeting, featuring the best we and
the wider community have to offer. I would like to
add my personal thanks to the Chapter programme
coordinators who did so much to develop a
programme that had such a wide appeal to College
members.
Elaine Lowe continues to do an outstanding job
organising the whole meeting. Elaine’s daughter
Clare is a great help looking after the registration
desk, and Sharon’s help on the first day of the
conference was invaluable.
I look forward to a similar Chapter response in
coming to the Gold Coast again next year and to
make this meeting the focus of their scientific and
social activities for the year.
Terry King
Science week 2010
Convenor
PHOTO 1 L-R MRS ELAINE LOWE, HER DAUGHTER CLARE,
AND DR MEGAN PARKER
PHOTO 2 CLARE AND ELAINE WORKING HARD AT SCIENCE
WEEK 2010
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010

Dr Robert Labuc
President's Letter
From Little Things Big Things Grow!
These are words written by great Australian
songwriter and poet Paul Kelly. Why have I
opened with these words? To me they
encapsulate the position the College finds
itself in 2010, forty years since the original
formation of the College. Its birth was in the
minds of a handful of enlightened
veterinarians who were forward planning
before the term was even invented! Without
their vision, there would not have been a
beginning and who knows where each of us
would be sitting today – perhaps I would be
back in Melbourne sitting in the cold MCG
under lights, screaming at a pack of young
men in black and white beating the stuffing out
of some pretenders from the west! But back to
the College, it was the likes of Doug Blood,
Jim Gannon and Doug Stewart who, along
with others, mapped out the future for the
veterinary profession in Australia and New
Zealand.
Their future has become our present.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
So, we now find that after the presentation of
testamurs and the welcoming of new members
to our College, we shall number in excess of
2000! Who in 1970 would have thought this
possible? The closest I can recall is the
prediction of the late and great Chris Baldock
who, about 10 years ago, ran an
epidemiologist’s projection that in 2010 we
would be examining 200 candidates for
membership examinations. I think there was
some doubt at the time, but being an expert in
the field, Council felt compelled to plan for
such an eventuality on the back of sound
advice. It’s a good thing they did, as this year
came very close to that figure, examining 179
candidates, who along with the Fellowship
candidates did take us above the 200 figure.
Even for Science Week – a new record was set
when the number of registrants for the Friday
2 nd July exceeded 500!
How have we gotten here from what appears
to be humble beginnings?
In the words of Charlie El-Hage, an eminent
equine internist and amateur stand-up
comedian, there are many volunteer cogs in a
philanthropic machine that is the College. But
why have we been able to get so far on a
shoestring budget, with a group of disparate
people spread over a huge geographical base
whose only commonality is a veterinary
degree? As opposed to the machine cogs in
many large corporations, we have collegiality
and self-esteem. Once again, referring to the
quickly becoming famous Charlie El-Hage, he
suggested, “Live the Dream with the College
Esteem Team”. What we have is a College
composed of members who strive and suffer to
become members and who then celebrate (in
some cases repeatedly) in the joy of belonging
to this group. They keep coming back for
more, be it for the Science Week meetings, for
conducting the Examinations, to sit on various
Boards and Committees.
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010 3

For years I have pondered why these many
people have subjected themselves to huge
workloads and impossible deadlines,
sacrificing other aspects of their busy lives to
perform these tasks. What is in it for them? I
believe that I am finally beginning to
understand that is the feeling of happiness–
happiness with themselves (the self-esteem),
happiness on seeing the success of colleagues
as they pass their examinations, and happiness
with the close bonding and friendships formed
in the College (the collegiality). This is what
brings people back year in and year out. There
is a real buzz as people prepare to arrive.
There is an even bigger buzz when everyone
gets together.
In Council, we have been grappling with the
difficulty of how to manage the growth of the
College yet maintain the closeness,
friendliness and collegiality of both the
examination week and the Science Week
meeting. Whilst having sometimes to harness
the energy of the individual to use it most
effectively, Council does not try to suppress it.
Outside forces, such as government
legislature, can force us to make the College
and individual Chapters more accountable. As
for providing a venue for the meeting of the
individuals, every time change is suggested to
move us to bigger or multiple sites, it is
immediately challenged, and thus far blocked,
by the argument that nobody wishes to lose the
feeling of closeness, collegiality and sense of
belonging. Nobody wishes to see this family
become less close.
4
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
College Apparel
Navy Blue College Shirt $30
College Ties $45
College Vest $40
Rugby Shirts $50
Contact the College Office to place your order:
07 3423 2016
Which brings me back to the “from little
things, big things grow”. College Council
wishes to ensure that as we grow, we do not
lose this feeling of being a tight-knit family.
We hope that this feeling of happiness, this
feeling of self-esteem, this feeling of
belonging is retained no matter how large the
College grows. We also realise that it is made
up of individuals, each of which is vital for the
machine to function– the esteem team as
Charlie calls it!
On a slightly different tack, but still within this
theme, I must say that I am personally
disappointing that the membership of the
College failed to embrace a large component
of our number by not passing a motion to
change our moniker to that of the Australian
and New Zealand College of Veterinary
Scientists. I am still hoping that this has
stemmed from a misunderstanding of the issue
rather than outright rejection, and that with
appropriate information, education and
planning, one day we will see this happen –
certainly during my lifetime!
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010

Dr Megan Parker
Chief Executive Officer
Report
EXAMINATIONS AND COLLEGE
SCIENCE WEEK 2010
The College continues to enjoy a
demonstrable strong growth in numbers of
Membership candidates and a healthy
interest in advanced training and the pursuit
of Fellowship. In 2010, a record number of
179 candidates attempted the Membership
examinations and 138 passed, 20 failed and
19 received a supplementary examination.
The results equate to a 77% pass rate.
In addition, we welcomed ten new Fellows
to the College, including the first two
inaugural Fellows in the new Fellowship
subject of Animal Welfare Science, Ethics
and Law: Drs Andrew Fisher and Kevin
Stafford. The Australian College of
Veterinary Scientists is proud to be the first
College globally to offer a specialist level
qualification in Animal Welfare Science,
Ethics and Law and feels that this
demonstrates the professions’ deep
commitment to animal welfare in our region.
Also during Science Week, the Board of
Examiners approved
C E O R E P O R T
the introduction of two new Fellowship
subjects in Aquatic Animal Health and
Animal Nutrition (Ruminant).
Of particular note was the positive feedback
about our examination standards and
processes received from our overseas
examiners at the Examiner’s Dinner and our
plenary speaker at Science Week, Associate
Professor Glen Coleman. In both instances,
the College was favourably compared to
both international and national examining
bodies.
COLLEGE OFFICE BEARERS
Subsequent to the results of the election, we
welcome Dr Michael Paton to the
2010/2011 College Council. Dr Paton
gained College membership in epidemiology
in 1989 and is immediate past president of
the Animal Welfare Chapter of the College.
Dr Elizabeth Dill-Macky was re-elected to
Council for a second term and will continue
in her role of Honorary Treasurer of the
College. Liz juggles this post admirably
from her current home in Switzerland thanks
to the wonders of skype communication.
The Board of Examiners has sadly
farewelled retiring members, Dr Robin
Stanley and Debbie Racklyeft.
The contribution made to the Board by Dr
Stanley, especially in his three year position
as Chief Examiner has been outstanding and
we are grateful for his enthusiastic
participation, humility, hard work, kind
nature and support. Robin has achieved a
great deal during his term as Chief Examiner
such as the implementation of
recommendations from the examination
review, strategic planning for the Board of
Examiners, management of significant
increases in examination candidate numbers
and training for examiners and mentors.
Dr Racklyeft has been a member of the
Board of Examiners for two years and
during that time has worked hard, especially
providing useful insight into Fellowship
training matters within the large animal
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010 5

sector. We wish Debbie all the very best
with her future endeavours and thank her for
her support and dedication to the Board of
Examiners.
Dr Amanda Burrows has taken office as
the new Chief Examiner, a Councillor and
the College representative on the Advisory
Committee on the Registration of Veterinary
Specialists. Mandy has served on the Board
of Examiners since 2002 and has worked
especially hard for the past two years as
Assistant Chief Examiner -Fellowship and is
personally responsible for vast
improvements in process and advancements
within the Fellowship arena. We admire
Mandy’s drive, attention to detail and
pursuit of excellence and we look forward to
working closely with her over the next few
years.
SILVER JUBILEE
Mrs Elaine Lowe
The College celebrated 25 years of
dedicated, outstanding service by College
Manager, Mrs Elaine Lowe with the
presentation of a Presidential Award at the
Science Week College Awards Dinner and a
surprise brunch the following morning. It
was intriguing to see if 2000 highly
intelligent people could keep a secret whilst
we planned for the surprise brunch but we
managed to succeed! Elaine had no idea of
the brunch until the morning when she was
walked into the function room by her
daughter, Clare, supposedly to check on a
data projector. Close to 50 people shared in
hearing testimonials and messages of good
wishes sent to Elaine from scores of
members around the globe. A Power Point
of highlights of Elaine’s life was prepared
by her daughters and Elaine was presented
with a gorgeous Longines Swiss silver
watch as a gift from the Members. The
College continues to be deeply appreciative
of Elaine’s tireless commitment to its
success at all levels, her devoted support and
her incredible attention to detail,
professionalism and corporate knowledge.
We look forward to continuing to work with
Elaine for many years
6
C E O R E P O R T
to come. It is a credit to the College that
Elaine continues to very much enjoy her
day-to-day working life alongside College
Officers, Members and staff.
INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION
TASK FORCE
College Council has formed a Council
Committee called the International
Recognition Task Force (or IRTF) to drive
and coordinate the College’s overall pursuit
of international recognition of College
qualifications. The task force held a number
of critical strategic meetings during Science
Week with Dr Peter O’Brien (Vice
President of the European Board of
Veterinary Specialisation) and Dame Judy
MacArthur Clark (President of the
International Association of Colleges of
Laboratory Medicine – IACLAM, and
President of the European College of
Laboratory Medicine - ECLAM). Dr
Philip Moses and I also attended a skype
teleconference with the full board of regents
of the European College of Veterinary
Surgeons (ECVS) to finalise the details of
the Memorandum of Understanding
regarding standards for ACVSc
Fellowship/ECVS Diplomate training for
specialist veterinary surgeons. The
agreement proposed that ACVSc Fellows
may co-supervise ECVS residents at a
facility where there is also an ACVS
Diplomate involved in supervision. It is
hoped that the Memorandum of Articles will
be reviewed in the next five years with a
view to allowing ACVSc Fellows to act as
primary, sole supervisors for ECVS
residents.
NEW STRUCTURE TO BOARD OF
EXAMINERS
The Board of Examiners has recently
resolved to divide into two committees: The
Training and Credentials Committee,
chaired by the Assistant Chief Examiner
(Training): ACE-T, Dr Mark Owen and
the Examination Committee, chaired by
the Assistant Chief Examiner
(Examinations): CE-Ex, Dr Liz Norman.
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010

These two committees will work on tasks
specific to their allocated areas which will
help to distribute workload and further
separate processes of training from those of
examinations within the college.
MENTORS
It has been resolved that on the 2011/2012
subscription forms, all College Members
will be asked to act as Mentors for
examination candidates. Members will be
required to ‘opt out’ of being a mentor;
otherwise their name will be placed on a list
of Mentors for potential examination
candidates to select from. Comprehensive
guidelines will be available for Mentors to
guide them in their important task of
supporting Membership examination
candidates.
CHAPTER EXAMINATION
COMMITTEES
The Board of Examiners recently resolved to
merge each chapter’s Fellowship Training
and Credentials Committee (FTCC) into
the one Chapter Examination Committee
(CEC, formerly known as CHEESE) and
is currently finalising the Terms of
Reference for the new Chapter Examination
Committee.
The Examiner’s dinner this year focused on
the crucial importance of the Chapter
Examination Committee within a chapter
and the whole College. Apart from
managing the training and examinations of
the chapter, the committee has the power to
drive change in the disciplines for which
the chapter examines, by determining
appropriate training requirements and
liaising with the Board of Examiners
regarding their implementation. A recent
example of this at work is the Dairy Cattle
Medicine and Management Fellowship
subject, which has undergone a major
restructure to develop a robust, defensible
and achievable training program, centred
around ‘remote directly supervised training’.
The requirements for training in Dairy Cattle
Medicine and Management were established
C E O R E P O R T
through close liaison between the Chapter
Examination Committee and the Board of
Examiners, and changes were made in
response to the needs of this sector of the
profession in order to achieve optimal
outcomes for training of a new generation of
specialists.
EXAMINER TRAINING
On the first day of Science Week, Associate
Professor Glen Coleman from the University
of Queensland delivered an extremely
popular and information-rich plenary lecture
and workshop about assessment practice
entitled How do I know what you know. The
lecture will be made available on the web
site for those who were not able to attend.
During the lecture and workshop,
participants learned the importance of
defining clear learning objectives and
designing an assessment program that aligns
with the learning objectives. They obtained
useful guidance on how to write better
examination questions, how to assign grades
and to moderate examinations. Glen is
continuing to work with members of the
Board of Examiners to revise the
Information Booklet for Examiners: The
Purple Book and to develop further
strategies for ongoing education of our
examiners.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
2010
The 2010 AGM was one of the most
exciting and well attended in years. There
was much anticipation associated with the
revisiting of the debate about a potential
change to the name of the College to one
that gives reference to New Zealand, and
potentially a change to the Fellowship title
to that of Diplomate to mirror overseas
College. As the meeting unfolded, there was
much healthy, passionate and robust debate
about the motions presented for
consideration, importantly all within the
spirit of mutual acknowledgement, support
and collegiality: features for which the
College continues to be proud and unique.
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010 7

Ordinary Business Motion No.1 was
carried: 122 for, 13 against:
That in order to offset the increased costs of
running the College the annual Membership
fees for 2011/2012 be increased by $10 to
$A130 plus the appropriate GST and the
equivalent for New Zealand members at the
exchange rate applying at the end of the
current financial year.
College Council will consider an annual
small incremental increase to offset the
ongoing increasing costs of administering
the College.
Ordinary Business Motion No.2 was
defeated: 85 for, 113 against
That in order to offset the costs of
maintaining the College subscription to
CABI, the annual Membership fees for
2011/2012 be increased further to $A145
plus the appropriate GST and the equivalent
for New Zealand members at the exchange
rate applying at the end of the current
financial year.
College Council is liaising with CABI with
a view to offering an attractive package for
Members to take out reduced price personal
subscriptions to CABI and e-books.
Increased efforts will be made to increase
awareness of this service through direct mail
outs of information materials.
Ordinary Business Motion No.3 was
carried unanimously
That examination fees for 2011 be $1,000
for membership candidates and $4,000 for
fellowship candidates. The fellowship fee is
to be paid in two parts: Part 1 being
$1,000, payable at the time the training
program is submitted to the Fellowship
Training and Credentials Committee; Part 2
being $3,000 (or the remaining balance of
the total fee of $4,000 for any candidates
who have already paid a Part 1 fee other
than $1,000), payable at the time of
submission of credential documents.
8
C E O R E P O R T
This minor change allows for a slight
increased percentage of the Fellowship Fee
to be received at the commencement of a
candidate’s training program, to offset the
costs of administration of fellowship
training programs.
Special Business Motion No.1 was
defeated despite unanimous support from
the floor because proxy votes resulted in an
overall 64% of the vote being in support, yet
75% is required for a Special Business
Motion to be carried.
That subject to availability the name of the
college be changed to “The Australian and
New Zealand College of Veterinary
Scientists” abbreviated as ANZCVSc.
College Council is of the opinion that the
sentiment from the floor for the change was
so strong that if Members appreciated the
requirement for a 75% of the votes cast to
support the motion it is likely it will have
succeeded and may succeed at a subsequent
AGM. It is important that those in support of
the change of name to “The Australian and
New Zealand College of Veterinary
Scientists” attend the 2011 AGM and vote
or send in a proxy vote in support of the
motion that will be represented.
Special Business Motion No.2 was
defeated with 53% of the votes cast being in
support of the motion, yet 75% is required
for a Special Business Motion to be carried.
That subject to availability the name of the
College be changed to “The Australasian
College of Veterinary Scientists”
abbreviated as ACVSc.
Special Business Motion No.3 was
defeated with 48% of the votes cast being in
support of the motion, yet 75% is required
for a Special Business Motion to be carried.
The in-person vote was unanimously against
the motion:
That the current “Fellow” category of
College membership be changed to
“Diplomate” and abbreviated as Dip and
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010

the qualification “Fellowship” be
hereinafter referred to as Diploma.
Special Business Motion No.5 was passed
with 96% of the votes cast being in support
of the motion. This motion presented a
revised constitution for the Australian
College of Veterinary Scientists, which is
available on request from the College
Office. The most significant change
pertained to Associate Membership, which
specifically is outlined below:
Associate Membership
1.1 Definition
Associate Members will be restricted to
veterinarians who:
• reside in Australia or New Zealand
• have successfully completed UK,
European or US Diplomate examinations
• are likely to contribute to the College;
• are proposed and seconded by Members
of the College;
• pay the College’s annual subscription
fee.
1.2 Implementation
1.2.1 Applications for Associate
Membership shall be made to the
Council in writing from qualified
veterinarians who reside in Australia
or New Zealand and shall include the
following:
• documentary evidence of place of
residence
• documentary evidence of successful
completion of UK, European or US
Diplomate examinations;
• an outline of how the applicant has or
will contribute to the College;
• a proposer and seconder, both of whom
must be Members;
• payment of the College’s annual
subscription fee.
1.2.2 Applicants will be notified within 14
days following the next scheduled
C E O R E P O R T
Council meeting at which their
application is considered.
1.2.3 Associate Members will be required
to pay annual membership
subscriptions. They are allowed full
voting rights and the ability to stand
for Council and other positions of
office, and will be entitled to use the
letters MACVSc after their name.
AVA CONFERENCE
The College stand at the AVA/NZVA Pan
pacific Conference this year trialled a new
format of joining with the CVE, Murdoch,
AVA, NZVA and VIN in an open planned
central booth. College Council is of the
opinion that it is extremely important that
the College maintains a formal presence at
the AVA and NZVA Conferences, and it is
proposed that we aim to be present annually
at the AVA Conference and biennially for
the NZVA Conference, to continue to raise
the College profile, interact with likeminded
organisations, and offer a service of
providing information to those that are
interested in College activities.
During the week I had much opportunity to
speak with a number of alliance partners and
industry groups. The alliance of CPD
providers known as ‘Corpus Callosum’ (The
College, AVA, NZVA, Centre for
Veterinary Education, Murdoch University
CVE, Massey University, Veterinary
Education Australia and VIN) met for dinner
one evening and commended itself on the
unique, friendly, supportive and interactive
working relationship enjoyed by those
present.
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010 9

10
Sonia McGill
CANINE MEDICINE
Sonia’s undergraduate years
at University of Sydney were
punctuated with the Eileen
Lyons Scholarship for
Excellence and the Thomas
Walker, Sir Frank Packer and
Williams Charles Wentworth
bursaries, culminating in 2 nd
class honours decorating her
Bachelor of Veterinary
Science. Starting as an
associate veterinarian in Yass
NSW, Sonia went on to spend
some time locuming in the
UK and then back to NSW.
She became a Member of the
ACVSc in 2003 in Small
animal medicine. In 2005
Sonia took up residency in
Small Animal Medicine at
Murdoch University
Veterinary Hosptal where she
has been involved in teaching
practical classes and clinical
rotations with final year
veterinary students, and
Anatomy practical classes to
2 nd years. Sonia was awarded
2 nd prize for her abstract
presentation at College
Science week in 2007 for her
epidemiological study of
cryptococcosis in domestic
animals in Western Australia,
the full paper of which was
published in Medical
Mycology in 2008.
T E N N E W F E L L O W S
Peter Barron
SMALL ANIMAL MEDICINE
Now a Fellow of the ACVSc in
Small Animal Medicine, Peter
has taken a more circuitous route
than most to that final
destination. A graduate of UQ,
Peter started his veterinary
career in mixed practice in
Australia, then in various locum
positions in the UK. Coming
back to Queensland and small
animal practice in 1998, Peter
managed a Masters of Business
Administration (QUT) in 2001,
became a pharmaceutical sales
representative in 2002, was a pig
farmer concurrently with locum
veterinarian in 2002, then to be
awarded his Membership of
ACVSc in small animal
medicine in 2003. From there
Peter was Resident in small
animal medicine at Melbourne
Veterinary Referral Centre for
two years, returning to
Queensland as registrar in small
animal medicine at Veterinary
Specialist Services, Brisbane.
Peter has been invited to
Adelaide and Launceston as
speaker for the PGF (now CVE)
for their Internal Medicine
Seminars. A dynamic speaker,
Peter’s acceptance speech at the
2010 College Awards Dinner for
his Fellowship testamur will
leave a lasting impression on all
who were present!
Jennifer Brown
SMALL ANIMAL MEDICINE
Jen is a graduate of University
of Melbourne, being awarded
not only first class honours
but also the CVDL Clinical
Pathology Award and
Dwight’s Prize in Veterinary
Parasitology. She worked at
Kyabram Veterinary Clinic
for several years before
travelling to the UK on the
locum circuit. In 2002 Jen
ventured from her home in
Victoria to Queensland, to
take a position at UQ Small
Animal Clinic in 2003,
gaining her membership of
ACVSc in Small Animal
Medicine chapter at this time.
She then took an internship in
small animal medicine and
surgery, emergency and
critical care at Queensland
Veterinary Specialists in
2005. Returning to
Melbourne, Jen has been
Resident in Small Animal
Medicine at the Melbourne
Veterinary Specialist Centre
since 2005. Many people
have provided valuable
support during her career;
however she would
particularly like to thank
Darren Merrett, Rob Labuc
and Peter Bennett for their
help and advice.
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010

Amy Lingard
FELINE MEDICINE
A graduate of University of
Queensland, Amy left
Brisbane with first class
honours to begin practice in
Melbourne. After ten months
in small animal practice she
followed her feline calling
back to Brisbane to work at
the Creek Road Cat Clinic
(now Cat Clinic Brisbane), a
private general and referral
feline only practice. In 2005,
Amy moved to University of
Sydney to undertake a
Residency in Feline
Medicine, under the guidance
of Dr Vanessa Barrs and
Associate Professor Julia
Beatty. In 2006 Amy
successfully attained
membership of the ACVSc in
Medicine of Cats. During her
time at University of Sydney
as Feline Medicine resident
and then registrar, Amy was
involved in tutoring
veterinary undergraduates in
feline medicine, as well as
clinical research. She has
been involved in research into
emerging feline syndromes
including low-grade
alimentary lymphoma,
pyryvate-kinase deficiency in
T E N N E W F E L L O W S
Australian Abyssinian and
Somali cats, and feline sinoorbital
aspergillosis.
Amy and her partner in
business and life Richard
Gowan own and manage the
Cat Clinic Melbourne. She
has continued to be involved
in education, presenting for
the Centre for Veterinary
Education since 2006. She
has been secretary of the
Feline Chapter of ACVSc
since 2007.
Kerry Simpson
FELINE MEDICINE
Presently the Head of the
Feline Clinic at University of
Edinburgh and Feline
Advisory Bureau Lecturer at
the same institution, Kerry’s
Fellowship of the ACVS in
Feline Medicine is the
culmination of a feline
focused veterinary career. A
graduate of University of
Edinburgh in both her
veterinary degree and PhD,
Kerry returned to her alma
mater in 2004 as FAB
Lecturer. Kerry gained a
certificate in Veterinary
Cardiology from RCVS, as
well as becoming a Member
of the Feline Chapter of
ACVS in 2006. She lectures
widely to veterinary
undergraduates in anatomy,
physiology, as well as Animal
Biology and Welfare. Kerry
has been awarded research
grants for investigating feline
topics including acromegaly
incidence in diabetic cats,
hyperthyroid incidence in the
UK, and the role of
endothelin in feline cardiac
disease.
Widely published since 2003,
Kerry has also been reviewer
and on the editorial board for
JFMS, JVIM, JSAP and the
Veterinary Record. She has
presented for professional
organizations throughout the
UK, as well as visits to France,
Holland, Spain and Australia.
Kerry is the site inspector and
judge for the FAB Cat Friendly
Practice.
Marjorie Milne
VETERINARY RADIOLOGY
Graduating from the University
of Melbourne with first class
honours, Marjorie practiced in
Victoria in Moe and Geelong for
four years before becoming
Resident in Diagnostic Imaging
at University of Melbourne
Veterinary Hospital. Marjorie
gained Membership of ACVSc
in Radiology in 2007, and in
2008 became Registrar in
Diagnostic Imaging. Here her
work has included clinical
tuition and practical classes for
veterinary undergraduates, as
well as lecturing to
undergraduates and postgraduate
education. In July 2009
Marjorie was awarded the John
Bourke Literary Award for her
article on the use of advanced
imaging to assist surgery of an
oronasal fistula in a donkey.
Marjorie remains at the
University of Melbourne
Veterinary Hospital as lecturer
in Diagnostic Imaging, and has
research interests in MRI and
neuroimaging in epilepsy.
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010 11

12
Maureen Cooper
VETERINARY ONCOLOGY
Maureen graduated as a DVM
from Western College of
Veterinary Medicine,
Saskatoon, Canada, with a
slew of awards- Ayerst
General Proficiency Award
for placing 3 rd in class in final
year, the American College of
Veterinary Surgeons award
for proficiency in small
animal surgery, and an award
for clinical excellence in
Wildllife and Exotic pet
medicine and surgery.
Maureen began her career in a
rotating internship at Purdue
Veterinary Teaching hospital,
then later became assistant in
surgery, and oncology
consultant, at Atlantic Coast
Veterinary specialists.
Arriving in Melbourne in
2004 to locum in multiple
clinics, Maureen then took her
place at Melbourne
Veterinary Specialist Centre
initially as an assistant in
surgery, then as resident in
oncology, followed by
registrar in oncology. In 2006
she gained membership of
ACVS in small animal
medicine, whilst her
publications reveal the
transition from surgical
papers in Canadian journals to
oncology topics in later years
in Australia
T E N N E W F E L L O W S
and international journals.
Maureen has spoken at
College Science week, and
also by invitation at
continuing education
seminars around Victoria.
Laura Fennell
EQUINE MEDICINE
Laura stepped out of the
University of Sydney with
first class honours straight
into an eighteen month
rotating internship at
Goulburn Valley Equine
Hospital. Further equine
work was then pursued in
Lanark, UK, where Laura
worked as an associate equine
clinician. Upon return to
Australia, Laura again took a
position at Goulburn Valley
Equine Hospital, before
becoming a Resident in
Equine Medicine at the
Equine Centre, University of
Melbourne. Under the
supervision of Drs Kate
Savage and Sally Church
Laura achieved membership
and fellowship of ACVS in
Medicine of Horses, whilst
juggling clinical and teaching
duties as well as conducting
research in heart disease in
horses, and colostral transfer
of immunoglobulins in foals.
Laura has contributed to
veterinary texts, including
Blackwell’s Five Minute
Veterinary Consult and the
upcoming revised edition of
Equine Reproduction.
Andrew Fisher
ANIMAL WELFARE
SCIENCE, ETHICS & LAW
Andrew graduated from The
University of Melbourne in
1989, and after a period in
practice in Colac, SW
Victoria, and in Northern
England, he completed a PhD
on beef cattle health and
welfare in Ireland, through the
Veterinary Faculty at
University College Dublin
and Teagasc- the Irish
Agriculture and Food
Development Authority.
During this time, he was
awarded the prize for Teagasc
young researcher of the year,
receiving a gold medal and
bursary. After completing his
PhD, he worked for
AgResearch in New Zealand
at the Ruakura Research
Centre, conducting research
to improve the welfare and
health of dairy and beef cattle
and sheep. In 2002, he joined
CSIRO, based in Armidale
NSW, and becoming the
leader of the CSIRO Animal
Welfare Research Group.
During this time, the group
undertook research on animal
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010

cognition, transport of sheep and cattle, and
analgesic strategies for painful husbandry
procedures in livestock. In 2009, Andrew
joined the Faculty of Veterinary Science at
Melbourne, where he is Associate Professor
in Production Animal Management &
Welfare.
Kevin Stafford
ANIMAL WELFARE SCIENCE, ETHICS &
LAW
Presently Professor of Veterinary Ethology
at Massey University, New Zealand, Kevin
is a graduate of the Veterinary College
Dublin 1976. He received an MSc in
Tropical Animal Health and Production
from the University of Edinburgh in 1977
and then spent about ten years in the Third
World, including Yemen, Belize and
Zambia. Amongst all this he gained a PhD
from the National University of Ireland.
In 1990 Kevin arrived in New Zealand and
taught sheep and beef medicine at Massey
University. In 1992 he was promoted to
Senior Lecturer to teach Animal Welfare
and Behaviour. He became Associate
Professor in Animal Welfare and Applied
T E N N E W F E L L O W S
Ethology in 1998, then Professor in 2003.
Kevin has been a member of the Board of
the New Zealand Veterinary Journal, the
Massey University Animal Ethics
Committee and a member and past president
of his local society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals. Kevin was the New
Zealand Vice Chancellor's Committee
representative on the board of the Australia
New Zealand Council for the Care of
Animals in Research and Teaching. He is
director of postgraduate studies at the
Institute of Veterinary Animal and
biomedical sciences at Massey University.
Kevin comes from a farming family in
Ireland, and has a farm of his own running
deer, sheep and beef cattle on a commercial
basis. He has worked in countries where
animal welfare is of little consequence as
food production for human survival is the
paramount focus of government and farmer,
giving him a broad base on which to
develop alternative perspectives on ethical
issues facing livestock farming.
Kevin was a driving force in the
establishment of the Animal Welfare
Chapter of the ACVSc, and is an examiner
for the College. Kevin has published widely
in journals and produced textbooks. He has
a busy teaching schedule to under and postgraduates.
He also teaches 'Animals and
Society' to humanities students.
Kevin gardens, reads, fishes and hunts in his
spare time. He is married to Yvonne, who is
also a veterinarian, and they have three
children.
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010 13

Anaesthesia & Emergency/
Critical Care
Science Week this year was yet another
wonderful success for the Anaesthesia and
Emergency/ Critical care chapter.
We had a record of number of candidates
sitting their ECC memberships exams over a 2
day period with a staggering 16 pass outright.
All this for a chapter that just 2 years ago was
only able to host exams biannually due to a
lack of candidate numbers!
Thank you to Dr Lisa Smart our keynote
speaker who has joined the faculty at Murdoch
University after successfully completing her
Diplomates in ECC. She was joined by
founding guru of ECC Dr Steve Haskins.
Steve has made the journey out to Australia on
such a regular basis that he was even presented
with his own ACVSc vest in recognition of his
ongoing support of his Australian ECC cousins.
Prizes in the young speaker anaesthesia section,
which again Boehringer sponsored this year,
went to Dr Courtney Reddrop for
presentation on Thromboelastography and Dr
Fraser Murdoch who presented on novel
analgesic approach with intra-peritoneal
medetomidine in pregnant sheep.
For the ECC prizes, congratulations to Dr
Wendy Fisher for the most outstanding
membership candidate and to Dr Catherine
Tran for the ECC young speakers award who
gave a great retrospective study on the
complications of CSF sampling.
There has been a changing of the guard within
the AECC chapter committee with Dr Terry
King finally able to take a more relaxing role
and relinquishing the secretariat position to Dr
Joanne Gill. Thank you Terry for all your
hard work and time over the past years.
Dr Sarah Haldane has continued in her role as
the president of the chapter for another 12
months. We would like to also thank all of the
new members who have offered their valuable
14
C H A P T E R R E P O R T S
time to help steer the CEC committee, which
will oversee the updating of the membership
guidelines. Drs Gerry Skinner, Deneille
Logan and Angela See join Dr David Tabrett
in this important role for ECC, while
Anaesthesia is represented by Drs Griet
Haitjema, Anthea Raisis and Helen Keats.
We are hoping over the coming months to be
able to update the chapter segment on the
ACVS website so that members will be able to
enjoy access to current journal articles and
access important reading materials. If you have
any feedback or suggestions on updating this
site we value your input. Many thanks are
extended to Dr Ryan Ong for his contribution.
Finally a big congratulation and welcome to the
following new members of the chapter.
Drs Jonathon Cochrane (Qld), Miranda
Coffey (Vic), Corrie Croton (Qld), Wendy
Fisher (NSW), Ann-Marie Hope (Qld),
Louise Jordan (WA), Mark Kim (NSW),
Melanie Kuehn (Vic), Duana Mc Bride
(WA), Phillipa Rich (NSW), Kimberley
Riddle (Vic), Adrian Simon (Qld), Geraldine
Skinner (Vic), Nicole Trigg (Vic), Joanna
Whitney (NSW)
Feline Medicine
Firstly, congratulations and welcome to the our
8 new members, Christina Abell, Jeremy
Campbell, Jaime Chin, Cornelia DeWet,
Jennie Heslop, Alison Jukes, Martine Robert
and Kenneth Thorley. Special congratulations
to Amy Lingard who gained FACVSc in
feline medicine this year. The Feline Chapter is
now 12 fellows and 77 members strong!
The Feline Chapter, in collaboration with the
Small Animal Chapter, held a fantastic day of
continuing education at Science Week this
year. The day was well attended and
thoroughly enjoyed. The Feline Chapter look
forward to collaborating with the Small Animal
Medicine Chapter again next year. Next year,
the chapter will be offering a $1000 prize for
the best feline abstract presented at Science
week.
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010

The AGM was held at the end of the Science
week sessions on Saturday, July 4 th 2010. Dr
Robert Johnson was nominated as incoming
Treasurer. Sincere thanks were extended to Dr
Terry Collins for his many years of service to
the Feline Chapter as treasurer. Drs Sue Foster
and Carolyn O’Brien stepped down from CEC
and their tremendous efforts on behalf of the
Chapter were duly noted. This year’s
membership examiners were Julia Nicholls,
Tamara Targo-Bailey and Kath Briscoe, and
Fellowship examiners Caroline Mansfield and
Martha Cannon. Items discussed included
increasing the annual fee in line with other
Chapters, arranging local case discussion
meetings, offering mentoring assistance to
members for journal publication and
development of a chapter website and
newsletter. If anyone is interested in
contributing to the website design or content, or
in organising local case discussion groups,
please email the chapter secretary Amy
Lingard at amylingard@gmail.com
The Feline Chapter recently sent out an email
survey to all members to determine what
members want from their chapter. Ideas raised
included additional feline meetings, a
discussion forum and ideas for the website
development. We will endeavour to try to put
as many of your ideas into practice as possible.
Thank you to all respondents and
congratulations to our two prizewinners Julia
Nicholls and Chris Maguire, who each won a
copy of Consultations in Feline Medicine,
Edition 6, August.
C H A P T E R R E P O R T S
Education, the Pharmacology chapter have
organised a great program with an exciting
rollcall of international as well as local
speakers, including Dr. Peter Lees, Dr.
Ludovic Pelligand and Dr. Chand Khanna.
The program is aimed at practical
pharmacology as well as covering some
cutting-edge topics. This will certainly be an
exciting and unique CE event which will
showcase the field of veterinary pharmacology
to the general practitioner. I would like to
welcome all college members to attend the
Symposium. More information is available on
the CVE website www.cve.edu.au.
Registrations are open and all members of the
ACVSc and CVE are eligible for discounted
registration fees.
On other business, the pharmacology chapter is
currently supporting the Veterinary Clinical
Pharmacology Network in improving
undergraduate learning and the clinical
application of veterinary pharmacology by
veterinary science students throughout
Australia and New Zealand by renewing the
undergraduate veterinary curriculum. This
project, led by Prof. Paul Mills of the
University of Queensland, offers an exciting
opportunity to bring a valuable and innovative
change to the teaching and therefore practice of
clinical pharmacology for veterinary science
undergraduates. We look forward to seeing the
project change the future teaching and
application of veterinary pharmacology in
Australia and New Zealand.
Pharmacology
2010 is going to be an exciting one for the
Pharmacology Chapter.
Finally, I’d like to thank past President
Richard L’Estrange for his dedication to the
role in the preceding 12 months and look
forward to working with the Executive
Committee in 2010-11, bringing Veterinary
Whilst we warmly welcome six new members
Pharmacology into an exciting new era.
to the chapter and look to mentoring even more
for the next examinations in 2012, it is also the
first year that the chapter will convene a
Stephanie Armstrong BVScHonsI, MACVSc
scientific conference- the Veterinary
Ophthalmology
Pharmacology Symposium 2010, to be held
on Nov 27th and 28th in Brisbane. In
conjunction with the Centre for Veterinary
The Ophthalmology Chapter was delighted to
host a number of informative speakers at this
years College Science Week. Professor Shaun
Collin, from the University of Western
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010 15

Australia, was the highlight of this year’s
program. His presentations on the vertebrate
cornea, evolution of the vertebrate eye and
visual ecology, were very enlightening and
entertaining. In addition to Shaun’s
presentations, the Ophthalmology Chapter was
very fortunate to host presentations from Dr.
Jason Mouatt, Dr. Fiona Campbell and Dr.
Steve Haskins. Their presentations on
conditions immediately related to veterinary
ophthalmology were revealing and very
educational. The Ophthalmology Chapter’s
combined half-day programs with the
Anaesthesia, Emergency and Critical Care
Chapter, and the Small Animal Medicine
Chapter, were well attended. These sessions
provided the Ophthalmology Chapter an
opportunity to educate College members on the
significance and importance of variety of
ocular conditions.
The Ophthalmology Chapter Guidelines have
now been finalised. This extensive review
included changes to total training duration,
changes to TRD, externship requirements and
an extensive and meticulous review of our
current reading list. The Ophthalmology
Chapter has been one of the first Chapters to
undergo such an extensive review of their
Guidelines, and these will be posted on the
College website.
Thanks to everyone who attended the
Ophthalmology sessions this year and to all our
presenters who made this year’s Science Week
conference a great success.
Equine
The equine chapter has had another successful
Science Week meeting with an exciting array
of speakers. The sessions were shared with
small animal and cattle chapters and then
moved into general and equine reproduction.
The reproductive theme was complimented by
world leaders in human reproductive biology
including Laureate Professor John Aitken
and Professor Iain Clarke.
16
C H A P T E R R E P O R T S
An education forum was held to compare and
contrast the undergraduate teaching of
reproduction. This was supported by the
Australian and New Zealand universities. An
understanding of the limitations of trying to
teach undergraduates was appreciated and a
couple of documents including a synopsis of
the presentations and a paper on levels of
animal use for welfare considerations will
hopefully be generated from the session. The
proceedings will be finished by August and
will be available to download from the equine
chapter website.
The theme for next year’s Science Week is the
Equine Head, and will be a multidisciplinary
approach to this challenging area. Membership
exams in both Equine Medicine and Equine
Surgery saw 9 successful candidates in each
subject and all are to be congratulated for their
hard work and success. The chapter continues
to support international recognition of both the
membership and fellowship qualifications and
will support the three areas of medicine,
surgery and reproduction.
Cattle
The Cattle chapter had an exciting and
informative program developed for Science
Week 2010. It was very well supported by
members and non-members alike and reflected
the quality of the speakers this year. Roger
Blowey was undeniably a significant draw card
and his talks were enjoyed by all. The medicine
and reproduction focus this year was well
received and we would like to thank John
Penry for organising such a high quality
meeting. We will be looking at distributing the
proceedings from Science week to the
membership and will likely post the documents
in the members section of the website. We will
distribute the minutes from the AGM shortly.
The Chapter has set up an e-mail account
cattlechapter@gmail.com, which has proved
useful in sending out information to members.
Not everyone's e-mail address is up to date, so
if you haven't been hearing from us, please email
us your current address. Please check out
the Chapter's website www.cattle.acvsc.org.au
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010

and suggest some links for our links page. The
forum is unfortunately still not up and running
but we'll let you know when it's ready to use.
The committee is pleased to announce that the
“Dairy Cattle Medicine and Management” and
“Animal Nutrition and Management
(Ruminant)” Fellowship guidelines were
approved, pending minor changes, at this year’s
Science Week. We will be circulating the final
documentation to the membership as soon as it
becomes available. The committee would like
to congratulate and thank everyone who has
been working on these documents tirelessly
over the years. Special thanks are given to Drs
Ian Lean and Jakob Malmo for driving the
project.
Lastly I would like to encourage the
membership to participate and contribute to the
success of the chapter. This year we were
fortunate enough to gain two new members in
Dairy Cattle Medicine and we also have quite a
few prospective candidates in Medicine and
Nutrition for 2011. Please consider offering
your expertise as a mentor for these candidates.
We are encouraging study groups so that
candidates and mentors can pool resources and
time so it shouldn’t be too onerous. If you are
interested in mentoring don’t hesitate to contact
us on the above email address. Furthermore if
you have any information you want distributed
to the membership then feel free to contact us.
Small Animal Medicine
This year’s Science Week programme was an
exciting venture, with collaboration with
Equine, Theriogenology, Feline Medicine and
Ophthalmology.
As well as our invited international speaker, Dr
Carmel Mooney, providing great updates in
the field of endocrinology we had a great
contribution from local speakers on a variety of
topics. The abstract session on Thursday
afternoon also provided some great highlights
and was of a very high standard. The following
young speakers were voted by the audience to
receive prizes:
C H A P T E R R E P O R T S
First prize winner: Dr Lydia Hambrook
“Effect of pimobendan on the survival times of
cats with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy”
Second prize winner: Dr Amanda Paul
“Recent pet food toxicities in Western
Australia”
Third prize winner: Dr Mellora Sharman
“Treatment outcome and distribution of
clotrimazole and enilconazole in dogs with
sinonasal aspergillosis treated via trephination”
We are grateful to our sponsors for helping us
put on such a great program. Production of
combined proceedings was facilitated by the
generous sponsorship of Pfizer Animal Health
and Hill’s Pet Nutrition. A cocktail party was
again held following the chapter annual general
meeting. All had a great time, and we hope to
continue this social event in years to come.
Thanks again to the Science Week coordinators
in organising this year’s event: Mary
Thompson, Fiona Campbell, Simon Craig
and Nick Cave. The proceedings from the
Small Animal Medicine chapter meeting which
will soon be freely available from the Small
Animal Medicine Chapter website at
http://SAMedicine.acvs.org.au We look
forward to next year and hope to present an
equally stimulating and relevant programmed
in 2011.
Do you want to be actively involved in your
chapter?
The Small Animal Medicine Chapter thrives
because of the dedication of volunteers who
enable the smooth running of the examinations,
Science week and the general chapter business.
Many of you may not have realised that your
contributions towards the running of the
chapter would be most valued. Please let any
of us know if you would like to become a
member of the Science Week Organising
Committee, and examiner in the future or a
mentor. Liz Norman, who has made an
enormous contribution to the chapter in her
previous roles as vice-president and president,
has now finished her term on the executive. On
behalf of the chapter, a big vote of gratitude for
her hard work and enthusiasm.
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010 17

18
V I C M E N R A T H O R A T I O N
Victor Hans Menrath
Oration
Taken from Victor Hans
Menrath Oration, presented by
Dr Marcus Gunew FACVSc
(Feline Medicine)
Victor Hans Menrath was born to Dutch parents in
Indonesia, spending the first 3 years of his life in a
Japanese concentration camp. His family moved to
New Zealand, and here Vic attained a Bachelor in
Agriculture. Vic went on to a Veterinary degree
from University of Queensland in 1968. He did
time as a government vet in New Zealand, then
moved to Australia and worked in Sydney for a
year, before moving to Queensland.
Vic recognized early that cats don’t like dogs! It seems
elementary, but Vic was visionary for his time.
Establishing the first cat practice in Australia, and indeed
second only in the world, Vic was moving into new
territory in what may be considered a brave move in
Brisbane in 1982. Vic established the Creek Road Cat
Surgery, later renamed Creek Road Cat Clinic, which
today lives on as The Cat Clinic, expanded to 3 locations
in Brisbane.
Vic became a Member of the College in 1978, and
then attained Fellowship of the College by
examination in 1982. He was the first private
practice based veterinary specialist in Australia. He
has been a speaker at numerous conferences locally,
nationally and internationally. Vic was also an
external examiner for UQ, as well as serving on the
board of examiners for the College in Feline
Medicine from 1985 to 1991. Vic has been a
passionate teacher of both veterinary students and
practitioners. He has been published in journals
and textbook chapters. But
above and beyond his academic prowess, Vic
preferred to be at the coalface of his feline practice,
as happy to see a kitten vaccination as a
complicated medical referral, and equally equipped
for both.
True to his love of cats, Vic could not stand to see
so many cats dying of Chronic Kidney Disease. He
endeavoured to rectify this by establishing a kidney
transplant program, the first outside of the USA,
and notably the first in private practice. Powered
only by his own steam, Vic ventured to the USA to
learn the technique of kidney transplants,
performing the first clinical transplant in his
practice in 1995. Never driven by profits or glory,
Vic priced this procedure accordingly, making it
democratically available to his clients.
During the 70’s and early 80’s the wholesale supply
to the vet industry was a bit hit and miss. Provet, of
which Vic was a founding director, was established
to provide a reliable and fairly priced veterinary
wholesaler that returned its profits to the veterinary
community. Vic has been a director continuously.
Provet has now grown to be Australia’s largest
veterinary wholesaler and employs over 300 staff,
and is listed on the ASX.
Vic was first elected to the Veterinary Surgeons
Board of Queensland in 1986, and has served on the
board ever since. He has always strived to provide
fair assessment, giving much time to this thankless
task to serve the interests of the profession. Vic has
also been president and secretary of the Brisbane
Veterinary Practitioner's branch of the AVA.
An outstanding characteristic of Vic's is that he has
never forgotten the love of animals in general, and
cats in particular. He has stayed passionate and true
to this topic. A true gentleman, Vic has had the
tireless support of his wife Helen, very much a part
of his practice, and perhaps instrumental in stirring
his love of cats. Vic has also maintained over the
years that as veterinarians we should not lose our
clinical skills for technological advancements. Vic
has placed the interests of the cats first and
foremost. He is a visionary, a gentleman, and a
man of integrity.
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010

College Name Change
As members will be aware, we voted at the AGM
on two special business motions to change the
name of the College. I spoke on behalf of the
Council to introduce the motions. A change to the
name of the College was suggested to one that
reflects New Zealand’s involvement in the
College since its inception.
For every Australian, the geographical tag of
Australia in the Australian College of Veterinary
Scientists seems quite appropriate and is never
questioned. But what of our members that
originate from or reside in New Zealand? The title
does not adequately reflect their valuable
contribution to the existence and function of our
College. New Zealand members have had to
accept a qualification and title that does not truly
reflect their origin and their training. Many have
completed all of their professional experience
within New Zealand and have not worked within
Australia at all, yet they are branded with an
Australian tag!
On three separate occasions attempts have been
made to rectify the situation to better reflect the
New Zealand membership of the College. At the
1996 AGM, Boyd Jones moved that the name of
the College be changed to The Australian and
New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists. In
support of the motion, he stated that the inclusion
of New Zealand in the name would portray a
sense of ownership and participation, recognise
the enormous contribution of New Zealanders,
particularly in the examination process and
encourage New Zealand veterinarians to become
involved.
A recent survey of College members on whether
or not the discussion should be re-opened about a
change of name for the College showed that
77.4% of 284 respondents were in favour of
revisiting the proposal to change the name of the
College to a name with reference to New Zealand.
So why had this issue surfaced again? The
Council has, with assistance from our solicitor,
prepared a revised Constitution for the College to
replace the outdated Memorandum and Articles.
If a name change was to occur, now is the
appropriate time.
New Zealanders continue to play a vital role in
the College. There are now 273 New Zealand
members out of a total of 1940 (15%). The
COLLEGE NAME CHANGE
College is striving to raise its profile globally as
part of the pursuit of international recognition of
our Fellowship qualification. New Zealand is a
highly regarded country that is admired globally.
The addition of New Zealand to the name
appropriately reflects the nature and stature of the
College and will enhance the College’s
international standing!
College Council fully supported making a name
change at this ideal opportunity. The preferred
option of Council was ‘The Australian and New
Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists.’ This
option was presented as the first motion so that
New Zealand members were provided with the
opportunity for adequate representation of their
country in the first, clear, unambiguous choice of
a new title.
It was therefore very disappointing and frustrating
that despite unanimous support for the motion
from the floor, the motion was lost due to the
proxy votes, which resulted in overall support for
the motion of only 64% of the vote and failing yet
again to reach the required 75% to be carried.
The real surprise came when we voted for the
second motion, to change the name of the College
to The Australasian College of Veterinary
Scientists. This time the voting was reversed, with
a unanimous vote from the floor against the
motion, but a majority of proxy votes for the
motion. The end result was that the motion was
also defeated, with a total of 53% of votes in
support of the motion.
Isn’t it amazing that the proxy votes could be
exactly the opposite to the vote of those who were
present at the meeting, (who had the benefit of
listening to the balanced arguments presented
from both sides) on both motions?
The voting and opinions expressed by those
members present at the AGM gave Council a
clear message that the term Australasian, while
perhaps seen as a practical solution, does not
adequately reflect New Zealand members
involvement in the College and was not an
acceptable alternative. The unanimous support for
the change to The Australian and New Zealand
College of Veterinary Scientists from the floor at
the AGM has encouraged Council to present this
name change proposal again at the 2011 AGM.
We need your support to make it happen.
Stuart Burrough
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010 19

PRESIDENTIAL & COLLEGE AWARDS
Presidential Awards
Presented by ACVSc President Dr Rob Labuc
20
Mrs Elaine Lowe
I would like to award a Presidential Award to
Elaine Lowe, our College Manager who in
May of this year celebrated the significant
milestone of twenty-five years of continuous
service to the College.
In that time, Elaine has become a cornerstone
of College operations. I doubt that there is
any member of the College that is not aware
of Elaine or the great work that she does.
Prior to the employment of Phil Thomas and
then Megan Parker, Elaine was involved in
every activity of the College. The College
was entirely dependent on Elaine. It can be
said that if Elaine doesn’t know it, it isn’t
worth knowing! Elaine has always remained
cheerful, helpful and timely in her delivery of
any assigned tasks, no matter how impossible
the deadlines given to her!
I am indeed fortunate to be the current
President standing here to honour Elaine’s
achievement. However, I believe that there
are numerous past Presidents that would
equally wish to be standing here now to
present this Presidential Award.
On May 4 th Elaine was feted at a dinner in
Brisbane, at which she was presented with
many letters from veterinary organisations
and two letters from eminent leaders, namely
Premier Anna Bligh and Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd.
I know that the College and its President may
not have the kudos of the former leaders,
however it must be pointed out that only one
of them still remains in charge!
Therefore, this award is presented to Elaine in
recognition of her excellence in service to the
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists. I
am sure you will join me in congratulating
Elaine on this amazing feat. Thank you
Elaine.
Dr Robin Stanley
I would like to present a Presidential Award
to Robin Stanley. Robin is a Fellow in
Veterinary Ophthalmology, having for many
years served his Chapter executive as well as
having been involved in the training of
residents who have gone on to specialise in
their own right.
Robin has also been serving as Chief
Examiner for 3 years, with the previous 7
years served on the Board of Examiners. It is
for this service that he is being honoured with
a Presidential Award.
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010

PRESIDENTIAL & COLLEGE AWARDS
Robin has not only shown great diligence and
accuracy in the conduction and assessment of
the examination process, but has been
renowned for his sense of fairness and
genuine concern for all involved in the
process, be that the nervous candidates, the
ever-hard working examiners and observers,
or the frantic College office staff. At all times
he has performed his duties with cheeriness
and refreshing ‘humanness’.
Under Robin’s leadership, many new and
valuable initiatives and protocols have been
researched, developed and implemented in
the Examination process. These have always
been aimed at making this process more
transparent, robust and excellent. Ultimately,
it is the membership and fellowship
candidates who reap the reward of these
initiatives.
In some recent documents, Robin proudly
declared himself the ‘captain’ of a great team
in the Board of Examiners. I however prefer
to think of him as being the Field General
served by a team of captains. On reflection of
this self-declared position, I was forced to
take two important actions. Firstly, I have
subscribed to the magazine “Rolling Stone’
and read each article very carefully for any
comments made regarding Presidents.
Secondly, I have commissioned a private
detective to look into the possibility that
Stanley McChrystal is but a nom-de-plume
for a certain Robin Stanley!
In all seriousness I am delighted to present
Robin this Presidential Award as a token of
the appreciation for the amazing job he has
done in his role as Chief Examiner. This is
also for the strong support he has always
offered to all of our members, his Board of
Examiners Team, the College Office and
finally the Council. On all their behalf, I wish
to thank Robin Stanley for all he has done
and to let him know that we will sorely miss
him in this role. I obviously hope that he
continues to partake in many other College
activities.
2010 COLLEGE AWARDS
Ian Clunies Ross Award
Professor Glen Browning
Fellowship Research Grant
Dr. Amanda Paul
Fellowship Scholarship
Dr. Kathleen O’Connell
Kesteven Medal
Dr. Laurence Gleeson
Pathology Travel Grant
Dr. Louise Fitzgerald
Oration Dr. Victor Menrath
Delivered by Dr. Marcus Gunew
Most Commendable Papers
AVJ“Ultrasonographic characteristics of soft
tissue tumours in dogs” Loh, ZHK, Allan,
GS, Nicoll, RG, Hunt, GB
NZVJ “Dietary impacts on the resistance of
Merino lambs to Trichostrongylus
colubriformis” McClure, SJ.
AVP “Hyberbaric Oxygen Therapy Part One:
The Theory behind the Practice” and
“Hyberbaric Oxygen Therapy Part Two: Use
in Veterinary Medicine” Simpson, D. and
Walker A
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010 21

NEW MEMBERS
SUCCESSFUL MEMBERSHIP CANDIDATES 2010
First Name Surname Membership Subject
AMANDA COLE Veterinary Behaviour
CAMERON DAVIDSON Veterinary Behaviour
SAGI DENENBERG Veterinary Behaviour
BELINDA DOCWRA Veterinary Behaviour
RHEA HURLEY Veterinary Behaviour
JAMES MACDONALD Veterinary Behaviour
KATHERINE MACMILLAN Veterinary Behaviour
PATRICK BROGAN Animal Reproduction
ANNA GATES Animal Reproduction
TRISHA PULLOS Animal Reproduction
PETRONELLA ANGUS Animal Welfare
TERESA COLLINS Animal Welfare
KAREN PHILLIPS Animal Welfare
LISA ARGILLA Avian Health (Caged& Aviary Birds)
ANDREW HILL Avian Health (Caged& Aviary Birds)
LEE PEACOCK Avian Health (Caged& Aviary Birds)
JAMIE RUSHTON Avian Health (Caged& Aviary Birds)
JANELLE WARD Avian Health (Caged& Aviary Birds)
DAVID BARTHOLOMEUSZ Equine Dentistry
OLIVIA JAMES Equine Dentistry
SHANNON LEE Equine Dentistry
RACHEL STONE Equine Dentistry
SLADE WALKER Equine Dentistry
LEESA HAYNES Medicine of Australasian Wildlife Species
CHRISTINA ABELL Medicine of Cats
JEREMY CAMPBELL Medicine of Cats
JAIME CHIN Medicine of Cats
CORNELIA DE WET Medicine of Cats
JENNIE HESLOP Medicine of Cats
ALISON JUKES Medicine of Cats
MARTINE ROBERT Medicine of Cats
KENNETH THORLEY Medicine of Cats
VIRGINIA MOHLER Medicine of Dairy Cattle
JOHANNA RHEINBERGER Medicine of Dairy Cattle
KELLEY BARRINGTON Medicine of Horses
PENNY DOW Medicine of Horses
CATHERINE FORSTER Medicine of Horses
LETICIA KELLY Medicine of Horses
HOLLY LEWIS Medicine of Horses
VICTORIA McGUIRE Medicine of Horses
PATRICK O'SULLIVAN Medicine of Horses
SIMON ROBINSON Medicine of Horses
FAUNA SMITH Medicine of Horses
STEPHANIE SHAW Medicine of Zoo Animals
GERALDINE GORMAN Small Animal Dentistry
WENDY AGNEW Small Animal Medicine
ROBERT ANDERTON Small Animal Medicine
ALEXA BROWN Small Animal Medicine
CLARE CALLAGHAN Small Animal Medicine
FLORENCE CHAN Small Animal Medicine
22
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010

NEW MEMBERS
First Name Surname Membership Subject
LISA CHIMES Small Animal Medicine
EMILY COOK Small Animal Medicine
SARA ELLIOTT Small Animal Medicine
NATASHIA EVANS Small Animal Medicine
LARA FOSSATI Small Animal Medicine
KARINA GRAHAM Small Animal Medicine
NATHAN HARRIS Small Animal Medicine
KATE HINDLEY Small Animal Medicine
CLAIRE JENKINS Small Animal Medicine
JENNI JONES Small Animal Medicine
CONNIE LAM Small Animal Medicine
SHASTA LYNCH Small Animal Medicine
CHRISTOPHER McCARTHY Small Animal Medicine
ANGELA McCOSKER Small Animal Medicine
LUKE MICHEL Small Animal Medicine
CHEE NG Small Animal Medicine
KATHLEEN O'CONNELL Small Animal Medicine
LOUISE ROBERTS Small Animal Medicine
ANUPAM SHARMA Small Animal Medicine
JAMES SIMCOCK Small Animal Medicine
NATALIA SWIETLIK Small Animal Medicine
CIRSTEN WERNDLY Small Animal Medicine
LISA WINTERS Small Animal Medicine
JOHANNA WONG Small Animal Medicine
SONYA YU Small Animal Medicine
DANIEL CARDOSA JR Small Animal Surgery
KATIE CARLEY Small Animal Surgery
ROBERT CAVEY Small Animal Surgery
AGNES CHIU Small Animal Surgery
BENJAMIN FELL Small Animal Surgery
KATRINA GARRETT Small Animal Surgery
DAVID HALL Small Animal Surgery
ALEXANDER HARRISON Small Animal Surgery
RHYS HAYWARD Small Animal Surgery
JANA KOLICHIS Small Animal Surgery
NINA LORENZ Small Animal Surgery
CHAD MARRIOTT Small Animal Surgery
LINDY PRICE Small Animal Surgery
ROWAN SETON Small Animal Surgery
ABBIE TIPLER Small Animal Surgery
SENG TSAI Small Animal Surgery
REBECCA WEIGHT Small Animal Surgery
JOHN WILCOX Small Animal Surgery
DIANA WILSON Small Animal Surgery
NATHAN ANTHONY Surgery of Horses
MITCHELL BROWN Surgery of Horses
ANUSHKA CHAKU Surgery of Horses
FRANCIS CONDON Surgery of Horses
ANNEMARIE CULLIMORE Surgery of Horses
PETER HARDING Surgery of Horses
JOSEPHINE HOLMES Surgery of Horses
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010 23

NEW MEMBERS
First Name Surname Membership Subject
PHOEBE READFORD Surgery of Horses
CRAIG SIMON Surgery of Horses
JONATHON COCHRANE Vet. Emergency & Critical Care
MIRANDA COFFEY Vet. Emergency & Critical Care
CORRIE CROTON Vet. Emergency & Critical Care
WENDY FISHER Vet. Emergency & Critical Care
ANN-MARIE HOPE Vet. Emergency & Critical Care
LOUISE JORDAN Vet. Emergency & Critical Care
MARK KIM Vet. Emergency & Critical Care
MELANIE KUEHN Vet. Emergency & Critical Care
DUANA McBRIDE Vet. Emergency & Critical Care
PHILIPPA RICH Vet. Emergency & Critical Care
KIMBERLEY RIDDLE Vet. Emergency & Critical Care
SIAN ROBERTSON Vet. Emergency & Critical Care
ADRIAN SIMON Vet. Emergency & Critical Care
GERALDINE SKINNER Vet. Emergency & Critical Care
NICOLE TRIGG Vet. Emergency & Critical Care
JOANNA WHITNEY Vet. Emergency & Critical Care
VICTORIA BROOKES Veterinary Epidemiology
MARK BENNETT Veterinary Pathology
MARK CHALKLEY Veterinary Pathology
LOUISE FITZGERALD Veterinary Pathology
MELINDA GABOR Veterinary Pathology
JACEK GWOZDZ Veterinary Pathology
PRISCILLA HODGE Veterinary Pathology
JENNIFER SCOTT Veterinary Pathology
JASON STAYT Veterinary Pathology
NAHIID STEPHENS Veterinary Pathology
BERNARD VAATSTRA Veterinary Pathology
VICTORIA-LEE BARRELL Veterinary Pharmacology
TIMOTHY HYNDMAN Veterinary Pharmacology
EWALD JOOSTE Veterinary Pharmacology
PACKIANATHAN PACKIARAJAH Veterinary Pharmacology
KERRIE PIPER Veterinary Pharmacology
ROBERT POTTIE Veterinary Pharmacology
KUAN-SHENG CHEN Veterinary Radiology
LISA MELVILLE Veterinary Radiology
24
Australian College of Veterinary Scientists – ACVSc – August 2010