BSAVA appoints Lucie Goodwin as Head of Education

5 July 2018

The British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) has appointed vet Lucie Goodwin as its new Head of Education, along with new Education Committee chair Kit Sturgess.

Lucie brings a wealth of experience from working in first opinion and referral practice, academia and latterly in veterinary clinical pathology, and is looking forward to “supporting small animal practitioners through BSAVA and helping them develop their careers”.

She will develop and deliver an innovative programme of post-graduate education across the widest range of platforms, and promote the BSAVA’s educational activities to the membership and wider profession.

Lucie takes over from former BSAVA President Dr Frances Barr, who has been involved with BSAVA since 1979 and joined as the inaugural Head of Education in 2010. Frances will now focus on coordinating online Postgraduate Certificates in a part-time role.

Lucie said: “I am delighted to be taking on this challenge as it’s everything I have been looking for. BSAVA has the hallmark of high quality education and we’re already in a really healthy position. We will grow and evolve rather than change, because Frances Barr has done such a brilliant job and we want to build on those well-established strengths.”

Lucie graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in 2004 and worked in a busy small animal hospital in Bristol for two years, before returning to the RVC to undertake a residency in small animal medicine. She moved to the University of Bristol and Langford Veterinary Services as a teaching fellow and internal medicine clinician and after two and a half years at Langford took a short career break to help establish the charity ‘Brighter Bristol’. Lucie then joined Axiom Veterinary Laboratories as an Internal Medicine Consultant to support vets in practice, then joined the RCVS Council in 2016 and is also a trustee of RCVS Knowledge.

Her arrival at BSAVA coincides with the re-opening of its headquarters at Woodrow House, Gloucestershire, which will see a range of new educational facilities available.

“The new facilities at Woodrow House are fantastic – we are going to make use of digital technology and practical wetlabs which is really exciting. One of the biggest challenges we have is how we design post-graduate education that fits in with busy lives, is financially accessible to everybody and delivered in an intellectually stimulating and supportive environment,” she added.

“We’ll be looking at how to expand our portfolio, and increase opportunities for Vet Nurses and eventually the entire practice team. We are passionate about seeing the whole veterinary profession being confident, competent and enthusiastic about their jobs, and we want to see everyone succeed by making best use of our resources.”

John Chitty, BSAVA Senior Vice President, paid tribute to Frances Barr’s “immense contribution” to BSAVA over many years.

“Frances joined BSAVA from the University of Bristol in 2010, after an illustrious career in diagnostic imaging, pioneering the use of ultrasonography in veterinary medicine, so it is appropriate that Frances leaves us with the upcoming PGCert in Diagnostic Imaging about to get off the ground.

“It is hard to underplay the importance of Frances to BSAVA, she will be much missed, with her knowledge of both how BSAVA works and the educational needs of the profession, and we wish her all the best for the future.

“As Frances herself says, BSAVA must continue to develop and so the arrival of Lucie Goodwin as our new Head of Education is a great opportunity to continue this work. We are particularly delighted that Frances will continue her links to BSAVA and assist Lucie by continuing as our Online PGCert Coordinator.”