Ciar Pembroke wins writer of the year award

A veterinary nurse at Davies Veterinary Specialists (Davies) in Hertfordshire has won The VNJ Writer of the Year Award for her article on barriers affecting BAME veterinary students.

Ciar Pembroke’s article, Barriers affecting BAME students’ access and attainment in veterinary higher education was published in the British Veterinary Nursing Association’s official publication the VNJ, earlier this year. The annual VNJ Award is for articles which have encouraged discussions, driven positive change, or improved clinical standards in practice.

Having studied animal management at Shuttleworth College, Ciar went on to complete a bachelor’s degree in veterinary nursing at Middlesex University. She then participated in Linnaeus’s post registration programme (PRP) at Linnaeus-owned Davies. She has now completed the PRP and is a permanent member of the Davies flexi-nursing team.

Ciar’s winning paper studied the barriers affecting black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) students’ access to, and attainment in, veterinary higher education in the UK. A driving aim was to help acknowledge and understand why the veterinary sector is the least diverse profession in the UK (Gyles, 2018), with veterinary nursing being worse than veterinary medicine. In part two of the study Ciar looks at the barriers and discusses potential solutions.

Linnaeus’s post registration programme (PRP) is an exclusive, year-long initiative, designed to equip newly-qualified nurses with the skills and knowledge to begin a career in referral nursing.

“Many congratulations to Ciar on her impressive achievement,” said Davies Hospital Director Ben Orton. “We are extremely proud that she is a member of our nursing team here at Davies. Her drive, focus and commitment strongly reflect our hospital ethos and her article pertinently and comprehensively tackles the very important subject of BAME representation within the veterinary sector.”

To read Ciar’s article, click here.