Our Guest Speakers

David Church BVSc, PhD, MACVSc, FHEA, MRCVS

David obtained his veterinary degree from The University of Sydney and after graduation and a short spell in practice he was appointed as a small animal clinical instructor there before enrolling in a PhD programme in the Faculty of Medicine looking at various aspects of the pathophysiology of diabetes mellitus.  He is now the Deputy Principal and acting Vice-Principal for Clinical Affairs at the Royal Veterinary College. He is an internationally recognised specialist in disorders of the endocrine system in dogs and cats. He has been a long-standing advocate of the benefits of veterinarians developing a logical approach to clinical reasoning to complement their pattern recognition skills. As a co-founder of VetCompass, he is also passionate about developing mechanisms to define and understand the disorders encountered in general practice and how to optimise their management.

Jill Maddison BVSc, Dip Vet Clin Stud, PhD, FACVSc, MRCVS, SFHEA

Another graduate of the University of Sydney, Jill worked and studied in Australia and Canada before moving to the UK.  She is now Professor of General Practice and responsible for the RVC’s Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme including management of the RCVS Certificate of Advanced Veterinary Practice. She contributes to the RVC’s teaching programme for veterinary students and veterinary nurses in the areas of small animal medicine, clinical reasoning and clinical pharmacology.

Ellie Mardell MA VetMB CertSAM DSAM(Feline) MRCVS

After 3 years in small animal practice, Ellie undertook a residency in Feline Medicine at the Animal Health Trust, gaining the RCVS Certificate in Small Animal Medicine. Following this she worked in Bristol University’s feline medicine and emergency medicine departments for a year. She since gained the RCVS Diploma while working in a private referral hospital in the North West of England and was later proud to be awarded Specialist Status in Feline Medicine.

Latterly Ellie became a consultant for a veterinary reference laboratory, and established her own company, Feline Better Ltd, initially focussed on providing a visiting feline medicine consultancy service to local practices. Alongside this were three successful years coaching MANZCVS candidates in medicine of cats, and ongoing lecturing and assessing for the CertAVP Feline medicine modules.

An increasing passion for teaching and a desire to reach more feline patients than referral medicine can achieve, combined with a recognition that opportunities for specialist knowledge acquisition and training specifically in feline medicine were becoming ever more limited, resulted in the development of a new style of CPD course. This is designed to support candidates studying for a further qualification in feline medicine, as well as those with the desire to develop their feline medicine case management skills without sitting an exam. 

Dan Holden BVetMed DVA DipECVAA CertSAM MRCVS

Dan qualified from the RVC in 1991. After a spell in mixed practice and several years in academic and private referral practice working in anaesthesia, emergency medicine and intensive care, he and his wife established their own first opinion practice in Somerset in 2005, where Dan is still occasionally allowed to work. He joined the VDS as a Claims Consultant in 2021.

Lou Northway VNCertECC NCert(Anaesth) RVN

Lou qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2009 and has worked in both primary care practices and a referral hospital. Since qualifying, she has gained additional certificates in emergency & critical care nursing and anaesthesia & analgesia. Over the years Lou has developed a love for anaesthesia, analgesia & quality improvement which are now her key areas of focus.

After having her baby boy back in September 2020 Lou is back working in a very busy primary care practice in Buckinghamshire as clinical lead RVN where she oversees clinical governance, quality improvement, team training and clinical nursing standards. In both 2019 & 2020 Lou was named an RCVS Knowledge Champion for the clinical audit & QI work she undertakes in practice. In 2019 Lou was also awarded the RCVS Inspiration award for her ability to inspire and enthuse others.

In 2021 the opportunity arose to join RCVS Knowledge as Quality Improvement Lead RVN helping to promote QI in the profession, she now undertakes this alongside her clinical practice role.

Lou is very passionate about teamwork and delivering brilliant patient care. Her aim is to help VNs to nurture their niche and value themselves. Lou loves being out and about speaking to the vet nursing community and sharing her pearls of wisdom & experiences, as well as chatting with VNs online via her social media platform ‘Lou The Vet Nurse’.

Courtney Scales DipVN, NCert(Anaesth), RVN

Courtney is originally from New Zealand where she trained and qualified. She has been working as a veterinary nurse since 2007 and after working in a number of small animal clinics in New Zealand, an anaesthesia passion took her to a large referral hospital in Australia in 2015. In 2016 she moved to the United Kingdom, where she most recently had been working as an Anaesthesia Registered Veterinary Nurse at the Royal Veterinary College. Courtney is now a Clinical Specialist for Burtons Medical Equipment as an anaesthesia educator.

Courtney completed her Nurses Certificate in Anaesthesia in 2017 and is now completing further post-graduate studies in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia through the University of Edinburgh.

Throughout her studies and career, she started Veterinary Anursethesia on various social media platforms to share anaesthesia tips. She has written a number of articles for journals and enjoys speaking to Student Veterinary Nurses and Registered Veterinary Nurses on all things anaesthesia.