My open letter to the RCVS President

RE: My open letter to the RCVS President

J G Wray — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 15:38:56 GMT

Trigger warning [disagreement], [update]

[quote user="Iain Richards"]the language of the college when in contact with us is and has been a real problem. It could be tackled and improved.[/quote]

In respect of this poster, the language of the covering letter is altogether different and vastly improved.

[quote user="Iain Richards"]"I'm a vet" or the letters MRCVS are enough.[/quote]

Nope, they're different. I've made this point before.

If you meet someone socially, the normal human interaction, the response to "What do you do?" is "I'm a vet." It is not "I'm a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons".

The RCVS don't get this, yet they know there are thousands of vets who practice in other countries who are not MsRCVS. MsRCVS are a subset of the veterinary tribe. It's a peculiarly arrogant and Anglo-Saxon point of view to think otherwise, n'est-ce-pas, nicht war, non e vero, no es?

Veterinary group identity is well explored in the PhD thesis I have referenced for you.

There's a problem for vets in looking beyond the symbolism here. RVNs and RANAs before them get the point of their badge and they would not be happy to be identified as the objects of fun, as portrayed here for wearing their badges in practice. If you're not clear about how disrespectful this might be then why not try it out next time you're working with a RVN?

The MRCVS is, as it currently stands, no more than a licence to practice, and it is transactional. You pay for it annually.

A symbol like the RCVS badge would be something else more akin to the veterinary identity, as in, "You get to wear this if.....", "I get to wear this because..."

RE: My open letter to the RCVS President

Lucy Fleming — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 12:57:30 GMT

[quote user="Jill Butterworth"]In the Fire Service, that safer-than-equine-practice civilian occupation, the helmet is considered a 'badge of honour'.[/quote]

...and the paramedics call them 'daffodils', in honour of their 'standing around in bunches looking decorative with their yellow helmets'* (they also sometimes refer to them as 'drip stands')

*(In my defence, it was my firefighter husband who told me that joke)

RE: My open letter to the RCVS President

Niall Taylor — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 09:41:59 GMT

[quote user="Arlo Guthrie"]there is no MRCVS badge in the way that there is an RVN badge[/quote]

I have an RCVS tie

Is that sexist?

Niall

RE: My open letter to the RCVS President

Arlo Guthrie — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 09:32:30 GMT

[quote user="David Catlow"]The poster was/is an excellent idea and was received very well at RCVS

hasn't it been published yet?[/quote]

David Catlow - it's on the final straight, as I understand it!

RE: My open letter to the RCVS President

David Catlow — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 16:30:03 GMT

The poster was/is an excellent idea and was received very well at RCVS

hasn't it been published yet?

RE: My open letter to the RCVS President

Jill Butterworth — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 11:44:50 GMT

It's not beyond the pale. I bet as a male vet, you have never been asked if you are the vet or a nurse...

This also presents another opportunity to gallop round on my hobby horse: In the Fire Service, that safer-than-equine-practice civilian occupation, the helmet is considered a 'badge of honour'.

Design opportunity knocks...

RE: My open letter to the RCVS President

Iain Richards — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 11:39:13 GMT

"I understand you get a cup of tea and a biscuit afterwards"

"Yes"

"But no badge?"

"No"

"Pity. I think there should be something for other people to identify us by, nothing showy, just a simple motto, "He gaveth so that others might live"

Older readers may recognise this interplay from, "The Blood Donor," and therein lies the problem of a badge. "I'm a vet" or the letters MRCVS are enough. And why should a vet get a badge but not a baker? The poster is, however, an excellent idea and I look forward to seeing it.

JW - the language of the college when in contact with us is and has been a real problem. It could be tackled and improved. Can't promise but, if elected, I'll look into it.

RE: My open letter to the RCVS President

Arlo Guthrie — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 10:16:50 GMT

J G Wray I have renamed the title of this thread to something which I hope will make it clearer to the reader what you are talking about than the original, that just said: "Next".

[quote user="J G Wray"]There is an initiative quietly making some progress, without a great song and dance or priority, at RCVS. There is a poster, which might be called the Lockett/Guthrie poster, that will be made available to practices.[/quote]

Now don't be coy J G Wray, if it is anything, it's the Wray/Lockett/Guthrie poster. T'was you that identified the opportunity in the first place.

[quote user="J G Wray"]The symbol would, of course, be a badge, a brooch, rather like the RVN or Presidential Badge.[/quote]

[quote user="J G Wray"]I would suggest that the badge comes with a short and modern articulation of the oath and recognition of just being a veterinary professional and thinking and doing veterinary stuff and the RCVS’ expectation of what this means – with absolutely no referencing to Regulatory, threatening language..."[/quote]

Interesting idea. It hadn't occurred to me that there is no MRCVS badge in the way that there is an RVN badge.

I think some (perhaps many) might think: "I don't need a bloody badge" (or similar), unless, as you say, it's totemic in some way; that is to say that it is tied in some way with an expression of 'in it together'.

[quote user="J G Wray"]different for each phase of professional service[/quote]

Like a medal, 'with bar' (I am having a chuckle here at the idea of veterinary surgeons marching around with a row of medals like 5 star generals). Why not throw in some 'Idi-Amin-style-epaulettes' whilst we're here?

Still, could be useful for making tangible the saying: 'you deserve a medal' after dealing with a tricky client. I suspect there are some in this profession who might find themselves so heavily weighed down, they can hardly stand up.