RCVS looks to the future at inaugural Fellowship Day

We held our inaugural Fellowship Day this week to welcome dozens of the Fellows to the scheme and to celebrate the new Fellowship initiative launched earlier this year.

The event was held at The Royal Institution in London on Wednesday 19 October 2016 and saw 29 of the 44 new Fellows attending to receive their certificate of Fellowship from our President Chris Tufnell.

Our Senior Vice-President Bradley Viner opened the event, saying: “The Fellowship should be seen as very much a merger of those already established in the Fellowship and those who have been appointed by the new routes.

“It is great to see so many existing Fellows here today to welcome the new Fellows, find out more about what is planned for the future, and hopefully discover their own role in what I am confident is going to be a vibrant learned society.

“This is the start of something new, something big and something that will have a really significant effect upon the shape of our profession in the future and the role it plays in broader society.”

After his speech Bradley then gave the floor to Professor Nick Bacon, Chair of the Fellowship Board and also a recipient of Fellowship by Meritorious Contribution to Clinical Practice.

During his speech Professor Bacon (pictured right) outlined his vision for the new Fellowship, saying: “The FRCVS is the highest grade of membership and it is important that vets from all facets of the profession will be able to become a Fellow during the course of their career. 

"The Fellowship will provide for a dynamic group of professionals and will be a dynamic organisation with a strong group identity.

“It is not an ‘old boys’ club’ – each application is considered on its merits. There is also no formal membership target – instead it has been made to include as many people as meet the standards.”

He added that it was the College’s intention to hold a Fellowship Day on an annual basis and that the Fellowship, as a learned society, would function as a source of scientific fact for the College, the profession and the public at large to make use of.

Following Nick Bacon’s talk, 30 new Fellows were presented with their certificates of Fellowship and formally welcomed to the Fellowship by President Chris Tufnell.

Of those attending, 14 were made Fellows for Meritorious Contributions to Clinical Practice, 12 for Meritorious Contributions to Knowledge and three for Meritorious Contributions to the Profession. Dr Mandy Peffers also attended to receive her Fellowship by Thesis and a posthumous Fellowship was bestowed upon the late Dr Ian Purchase for Meritorious Contribution to Learning.

Professor Martin Gore, Professor of Cancer Medicine at The Institute of Cancer Research and a Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden, then gave his keynote speech which focused on the ‘academic and service provider divide’ in human medicine.

He said that schemes such as the new RCVS Fellowship initiative, which is encouraging more people from clinical practice to become Fellows, were vital for bridging this ‘divide’ and allowing academics and practitioners to share their knowledge and expertise.

President Chris Tufnell then closed the proceedings by outlining the original purpose and vision behind the Fellowship as it was set up in the 1870s and saying that the new initiative was ‘building on great things’.

He went on to thank RCVS Council member Professor Gary England who chaired the Fellowship Working Party that developed proposals for a new initiative; Professor the Lord Trees, who chaired the Fellowship Appointment Group; RCVS Council for approving the new initiative; members of the Fellowship Board and Credentials Panels for their ongoing work; and, all those who applied for the new Fellowship.

The Fellowship will be reopening for applications in November 2016 with a deadline in February 2017. Those who are interested in applying can contact Duncan Ash, Senior Education Officer, for further details on [email protected] or 020 7202 0703.

Pictures from the day are now available to download from our Flickr site.