An interesting programme of events attracted many new faces and younger members of the profession to the Vetlife event at the London Vet Show this year where the 2.0 version of the Vetlife website was launched.

To begin, an enthusiatic audience participated in an interactive drama directed by John Somers, an honorary fellow in the Department of Drama at Exeter University and the father of a veterinary surgeon, using professional actors.  In the drama a young vet in her first job admits she has written her resignation letter.  She has been trying to cope with an overworked practice manager, an angry farmer who has made a complaint and an unsupportive mentor at work and has had problems in her personal relationships.  The audience are invited to give her advice and invite various characters back to interview them about the part they have played in the young vet's problems.  
Video of the Drama

The second session was a talk by Brian Faulkner, 2008 Petplan Vet of the Year, which raised interesting questions about the mindsets of veterinary surgeons and whether these mindsets were detrimental to the development of the resilience needed for a veterinary career.  Brian owns the copyright to the slides and the hypotheses in the talk which he is seeking funding to develop into a Phd thesis. 

Video of the Talk

Finally, Nick Short from RVC and a VBF Director, chaired a Q&A session on the issue "What does the veterinary profession need to do to improve its mental health support?" with a panel of representatives from different areas of the profession.

Video of the Q&A Session

The programme received a great deal of interest and press coverage and Vetlife hopes to repeat the exercise next year.