The finalists for the British Veterinary Association’s (BVA’s) Young Vet of the Year Award 2021 have been announced.
The three finalists, Sarah Krumie, Alex Davis and Sarah Penturn, were chosen by a judging panel on September 29, from a pool of almost 100 entrants.
The judging panel comprised BVA president Justine Shoton; Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) president Kate Richards; Prof. Lord Alexander Trees, Edwina Gildea, companion animal veterinary lead at Zoetis; and 2020 Young Vet of the Year award winner Fabian Rivers.
All three finalists will travel to the London Vet Show in November (11-12) where the winner will be announced at the BVA Gala Dinner.
The victor will receive £1,000 prize money and a mentoring and engagement opportunity with Zoetis.
Dr. Justine Shotton, BVA president, said that it will be “difficult to pick a winner”.
“It has been an immense pleasure to learn about the nominees for this year’s award, and the standard of nominations has been incredibly high,” she said.
“These three finalists have demonstrated determination to succeed and improve animal welfare and the desire and commitment to not only create a high achieving career for themselves, but to inspire and support the vets of the future to reach their potential as well.”
About the finalists
Sarah Krumrie
Sarah has been nominated in recognition of her dedication to tackling mental health issues in veterinary students and her work in supporting new graduates from the University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine.
After her former classmate took his own life in 2019, Sarah initiated a series of new graduate mental health meetings and identified several positive changes which could be made by the university to support students and recent graduates.
She is also currently working as a resident in Veterinary Public Health and a trainee clinician in Veterinary Infectious Diseases while studying for a Masters in Veterinary Medicine (MVM).
Alex Davies
Alex has been chosen for his dedication in supporting students considering joining the veterinary profession through his role at Vet Mentor. He has developed and delivered numerous educational projects for students applying for veterinary medicine. The most successful project is the creation of a highly praised, free-to-access virtual veterinary work experience programme, which saw more than 1,000 students viewing real vets interacting with animals and clients, followed by teaching sessions led by Alex.
By driving the growth of Vet Mentor over the past years, Alex has provided opportunities for other veterinary professionals to inspire future vets, including teaching collaborations with the RCVS.
Sarah Penturn
Sarah’s commitment to dog welfare, and her upskilling of not only herself, but the veterinary community for the benefit of the dog-owner-clinician relationship, has landed her a place among the final three nominees.
She has been employed at Dogs Trust since 2017, working as a veterinary behaviourist, and has been responsible for the psychopharmacological needs of dogs across the charity’s 22 rehoming centres as well as conducting behavior consultations for dogs post-adoption.
She delivers professional development training on behavioural medicine for Rehoming Centre staff and the wider veterinary profession, aiming to educate veterinary professionals to become more behaviourally aware, understand underlying causes and treatment options for behaviour patients.
Young Vet of the Year
The BVA Young Vet of the Year Award is a two-year-old initiative supported by Zoetis to recognise, and shine a light on early career vets who are making a valuable contribution across the profession, animal welfare and the wider community.
