13/09/2011 by Stephen Dawson.

Three veterinary surgeons have been appointed by AMTRA as additional assessors to take part in the evaluation of candidates for SQP qualifications.

I am delighted to welcome three such well qualified people to the AMTRA assessor team. Our current team was being stretched by the many exams now being offered as the number of SQPs continues to grow rapidly. I know that many candidates are nervous about the oral exam, and it’s important to have quality assessors that can put people at their ease and allow them to show what they know.

Pam Mosedale is a locum vet who is active in veterinary dispensing training courses, and joint editor of the BSAVA Guide to the Use of Veterinary Medicines.

Pam has had extensive experience as a Practice Standards Inspector first for the BSAVA and then since the start of the Practice Standards Scheme for the RCVS. This involves discussions on the regulations with all practice staff, from receptionists through to vets. She is also a veterinary investigator for the RCVS.

Pam qualified in 1979, and has worked firstly in mixed practice then in small animal practice since then. She was a partner in a Small Animal Hospital for 17 years.

“I am very much looking forward to joining the AMTRA assessor team. I think SQPs have a very important role to play in the safe and efficient use of veterinary medicines,” she said.

Victoria Roberts qualified as a vet as a mature student graduating from Liverpool Vet School in 2000, having previously been an SQP. She is currently working as a repeat locum vet and poultry consultant, and teaches pets and small furries at Liverpool vet school.

She is also Honorary Veterinary Surgeon to The Poultry Club, edits the British Poultry Standards and has been on their Council for the past eighteen years. She has been Secretary to the Dorking Breed Club for nineteen years, and has written three books on poultry.

She is involved with various veterinary associations and was appointed President of the British Veterinary Zoological Society in 2010 for two years.

“It is important that SQPs are properly trained, and that they have all the information they need. They’ve also got to be able to communicate with clients. I have come up through those ranks, so I understand exactly where they are coming from,” she said.

Elspeth Scott works part-time as a Veterinary Investigation Officer with the SAC, and part time as a veterinary consultant for Pentlands Management Systems Ltd in Edinburgh, a consultancy firm for the pharmaceutical and bio technology industries.

She has broad experience including veterinary research on parasitology and pharmacology, and teaching experience including assessment of students.

Elspeth graduated from Glasgow University in 1985, and followed this with a PhD in Veterinary Pharmacy and Parasitology, and a Post Doctorate Research Fellowship at the Veterinary School in Glasgow for three years.

She then worked at the Moredun Institute in Edinburgh as a Clinical Veterinary Officer, and after that worked as a Home Office inspector, which she left last October.

She has also gained a European Diploma in Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology with the European College.

Elspeth said: “I always enjoyed teaching, lecturing and examining throughout my career. Becoming an AMTRA Assessor will allow me to put my pharmacology background to good use. Also, working at the SAC I keep abreast of what is going on.”

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18/08/2011 by Stephen Dawson.

Take-up of the “CPD exam” for those who didn’t gain enough CPD points has been very low, suggesting that most of the 3% of SQPs concerned are intending not to continue as SQPs in 2012. However, for those who are, AMTRA is offering additional dates for the exams to demonstrate continuing competency.

More information in the Guidance for SQPs.

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02/08/2011 by Stephen Dawson.

PCTA are running two seminars in Bedford that have been AMTRA accredited, on 5 September on first aid (for pets), and on 28 September on domestic poultry, worth 22 or 25 AMTRA CPD points respectively. See PCTA website for more.

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10/05/2011 by Stephen Dawson.

A series of webinars is being offered to help SQPs who haven’t quite gained enough CPD points before the 30 June deadline. These seminars are carried out online, and so don’t require SQPs to travel and can be slotted in to a busy working day.

Virbac is bringing SQPs the opportunity to undertake one or both of a pair of webinars on equine parasitology on 11 and 25 May, worth 20 points to those participating in both events.

Elanco have announced three new CPD webinar dates that will earn 6 points for attendees. On the subject of parasitic gastroenteritis in cattle, the meetings will take place on May 16th, June 7th and June 21st 2011 at 17.30 hrs and will last for approximately one hour.

For more details on how to register for these events, and for other CPD events open to all SQPs, see the AMTRA website.

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28/04/2011 by Stephen Dawson.

Although no formal announcement has been made yet, we anticipate that the delayed Veterinary Medicines Regulations will be further delayed. The Code of Practice update and the new Guidance Note 3 will therefore also be delayed.

Once planned for October 2010, the VMD had expected most recently that they would come into force on 1 June 2011, but with time marching on that now looks unlikely, and it wouldn’t surprise us to find them arriving on 1 October 2011.

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11/04/2011 by Stephen Dawson.

We hope that one SQP is pleased that she carries her AMTRA SQP card with her, as it was the ID that resulted in us getting a phone call from a bar in Tenerife this morning, trying to reunite her with her purse.

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08/04/2011 by Stephen Dawson.

AHDA and AMTRA have together run 15 popular CPD meetings around Great Britain in 2011, and are coming to Northern Ireland for the final event of the series, on 23 May at Loughry Campus, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone.

There will be an afternoon session on companion animals and an evening session on farm livestock. SQPs may attend either or both. This is a great opportunity to make sure you are up to speed on key topics, as well as gaining CPD points before AMTRA’s 30 June deadline.

SQPs from AHDA members can attend the event free of charge – subject to available space, so book now.

Other SQPs can attend having paid £18 inc. VAT per person.

Get the booking form from the AMTRA website: http://www.amtra.org.uk/cpd/events.htm

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01/04/2011 by Stephen Dawson.

The minutes of the most recent meeting of the AMTRA Council have been published. They can be found on the page on the AMTRA Council.

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30/03/2011 by Stephen Dawson.

Good worm control is a vital factor in the profitability of sheep farming but in recent years this has been increasingly hampered by resistance. SCOPS guidelines were developed to address this. Over the last four years Hilary and Richard Mann have worked with SCOPS and vet Katie Essex, looking at the parasite challenges and implementing a control strategy that both improves performance and minimises the selection for worms resistant to anthelmintics. This is an opportunity to see what’s been done and take home some practical ideas to help you improve your clients’ worming programmes.

To register for your FREE place please ring Hellen or Sandra at EBLEX on 0870 609 1840 / 01904 771211 or email brpevents@eblex.org.uk

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16/03/2011 by Stephen Dawson.

All SQPs and student SQPs should receive very shortly their copy of the 2011 Compendium of Data Sheets. The cost of this is included in your annual AMTRA fee – or enrolment fee for students.

A single SQP edition of the Compendium is now produced containing all POM-VPS and NFA-VPS medicines, and is supplied by AMTRA to all SQPs and SQP students.

The new format book contains three coloured sections – for companion animals, for equines, and for food-producing animals. Medicines authorised for multiple species may therefore appear in more than one section. Although this makes the book a little thicker, it actually reduces costs by avoiding the need for three different versions.

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