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| When George met home schooling...he was highlighted. (Courtesy of a colleague who, on top of being an incredible vet has had to learn how to home school). |
Life is already challenging, but it seems like the
Covid-19 pandemic has challenged everyone simultaneously.
Among the most
stressed are colleagues with elderly family members, and those who have been saddled
– on top of everything else – with the responsibility of home-schooling kids. My
brother, a human nurse, is one among those peeps. His family lives interstate,
so there’s no chance to visit and help out and I am told that babysitting by
Zoom isn’t a goer.
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| A drawing from an SAT reader. I especially love the depiction of Hero with his missing forelimb. I don't want to say too much but I think that I need to re-read The Trainable Cat this week. |
Other colleagues have had to put their research on hold
because of university shut-downs and social distancing measures. Colleagues in
Italy and the UK are finding life especially tough at the moment, with very limited supplies of PPE. Two Italian colleagues have been diverted into human healthcare, so that is really happening.
Last week we heard a little more about cats and Covid-19.
For those who missed it, Mighty Vet streamed a webinar featuring feline
infectious disease expert Professor Mike Lappin, which you can watch here.
Dr Angela Willemsen, aka “The Clean Vet”, discussed her
research on infection control in veterinary hospitals and provided some
excellent tips. This is available on the Australian Veterinary Association’s
coronavirus page.
One of the projects I am working on is a webinar for
veterinary team members on ethical challenges for veterinary teams in the
Covid-19 era. There are significant animal welfare implications associated with
shut downs and movement restrictions, as well as issues relating to scarcity of
resources and private vs professional interests, that are the source of much
debate and moral stress. I am very interested in hearing anyone’s thoughts or
experiences relating to these issues.
The webinar is being hosted by the Centre for Veterinary
Education and is free to attend. For more info or to enrol visit this page.
In non-Covid-19 related news (and there is such a thing),
earlier this year we lost an amazing colleague. She lived a remarkable and
inspiring life, beautifully celebrated in a recent obituary published in the
Sydney Morning Herald and written by two remarkable veterinarians, Jennie
Churchill and Sandra Steele. Read here. It contains some incredible photos and is really a beautiful read.
