RCVS Council elects new Junior Vice-President and Standards Committee Chair

Members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Council elected Amanda Boag as our new Junior Vice-President at their meeting on 2 March 2017.

She will take up her role at our Annual General Meeting on 7 July 2017, replacing the outgoing Junior Vice-President Professor Stephen May who will become President of the College for 2017-18.

Amanda (pictured centre with Kate Richards, left, and Susan Dawson, right) graduated from the University of Cambridge Veterinary School in 1998 and, after graduation, undertook two small animal internships first at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) and then at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States.

She returned to the RVC to do a residency and remained there as a Lecturer in Emergency and Critical Care from 2003 to 2008 where she was involved in the running of both the referral and first-opinion emergency service.

In September 2008 she took up her current role as Clinical Director at Vets Now where she oversees clinical and professional standards across the group.

She has been an elected member of RCVS Council since 2012 and has been RCVS Treasurer since 2014. She has also served as a member of the Education Committee and the Preliminary Investigation Committee/Disciplinary Liaison Committee.

In the supporting statement for her candidacy Amanda said: “All of us care deeply about our profession and the RCVS has a unique role in ensuring it remains healthy and respected into the future. With the many changes occurring currently in society, it is crucial we work hard to maintain our place as a strong and dynamic profession in the 21st century; one which all our members are proud to be part of.

"I am proud of what the College has achieved with the Vet and VN Futures projects and new strategic plan, and welcome the opportunity to contribute to their delivery ensuring our profession shapes its own future in a positive and robust manner.”

She adds: “I am well prepared to take the next step in the leadership structure of the RCVS. I enjoy listening to different perspectives and building relationships across the full spectrum of the veterinary community. I look forward to working with you all, as well as the wider professions, as we look to the challenges on the horizon.”

At the same meeting Council member Dr Kate Richards was elected as Chair of the Standards Committee, replacing the outgoing Chair David Catlow. Kate Richards was elected to Council in 2015 and has been a practising vet, a veterinary advisor at the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, and a senior civil servant working in the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Justice as well as being Principal Private Secretary to three Secretaries of State for Scotland.

In her candidacy statement Kate said: “A member of the Standards Committee for two years, I have found the work extremely interesting. My diverse background enables me to draw from experiences in veterinary, non-veterinary, public, private and charity sectors.”

She adds: “I believe my varied experiences and expertise will be an asset for the Chair of the Standards Committee.”

At the same meeting Professor Susan Dawson, Head of the School of Veterinary Science at the University of Liverpool, was also reconfirmed as Chair of the Education Committee, a position she has held since 2016.