AFTER dropping out of university six weeks into a foreign languages degree, Claire Whittle ended up in a myriad of jobs, including waitressing in bars and restaurants and even working as a DJ.
It wasn’t until the age of 23 that she found her true – yet unlikely – calling to become a farm vet.
Here, Claire, who works at LLM Farm Vets in Shropshire, recalls the early struggle to achieve he dream and her pride in VetPartners’ decision to provide £500,000 in bursaries to remove the financial burden for the next generation of vets….
I STILL vividly recall when I was at vet school, myself and fellow students were driving through a tough, working-class district of Liverpool when someone shouted: “Who would bring their children up in a place like this?”
Even though I was worried about the response, my sense of outrage pushed me to retaliate and shout back that this was the place where I was born and raised, and proudly so.
I don’t think they meant to be cruel or unkind; their comments simply underlined the difference between me, a working-class girl who grew up in a single-parent family on Merseyside, and some of the other vets on my course, many from more privileged backgrounds than me.
Many didn’t have to work every Saturday in a clothes shop, before going on to do night milking to earn money to live. Or work during the holidays. Nor did they have to access the university’s hardship fund to try to make ends meet while studying hard to become a vet.
I even used to DJ in a bar, playing everything from Simply Red to house music one weekend a month.
When I did work placements in practices, I couldn’t afford to stop doing my other jobs, so it was pretty exhausting.
But nothing was going to put me off my dream of becoming a vet even though it was an unlikely career choice for me.
Growing up in a single-parent household, I was no stranger to financial struggle, but my mum always encouraged me and told me to do what I wanted to do as long as I was happy.
Even though my grandad was a small-holder in India, with goats, chickens and cows, it never occurred to me that I could become a farm vet.
Growing up, I never saw any cows. The phrase ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’ was certainly true for me. Farm vetting is not a diverse profession so it wasn’t even a consideration for someone like me from a BAME background being raised in an urban area.
I was a bright kid, who went to grammar school, where you were pushed to excel in the subjects you were good at. I worked hard and achieved A grades in sciences and A* in French and Spanish at GCSE. After A-Levels in English, French, Spanish and Art, I went to Leeds University to study languages only to realise after six weeks it wasn’t for me.
I left and, until the age of 23, worked in bars and restaurants, waiting tables, serving drinks and wondering what on earth I would do next.
I tried to get a job as a student veterinary nurse, but I couldn’t get a place at a practice to enable me to study at college. Instead I got to management level in the hospitality industry and also worked in merchandising and retail, none of which paid well or left me feeling like I was in a fulfilling career.
It never crossed my mind that I could become a vet until someone suggested it. Something started to click with me and I spoke to a few universities who advised I could do a one-year access course in medical science for one year covering chemistry, biology and physics, which I needed for vet school.
It wasn’t easy as there was definitely a gap in my knowledge, but I was determined as I’d set my heart on becoming a small animal vet and gained a place at Liverpool University to study veterinary medicine.
However, during my first year, I had a complete change of heart after working at the university’s dairy farm. As a mature student, I received financial help, but I couldn’t not work to fund my studies so I worked on the farm.
The farm manager John Cameron was the most incredible person, who inspired my decision to become a farm vet even though before I met him I knew absolutely nothing about farming at all.
When it came to learning about farm vetting, he guided me through everything and answered millions of questions from me!
I remember on one occasion I had to bed the calves down. John came in to check what I’d done, and I felt excited as I thought I had done a good job, but unfortunately I didn’t know the difference between hay and straw. Being a townie, I bedded the calves down on hay!
Despite the steep learning curve, I fell in love with the thought of being a farm vet and having the most incredible mentor in John changed the course of my career.
Being able to afford to get through vet school was one of the biggest challenges, but all those struggles stood me in great stead for my career. I was painfully shy when I was younger but working in bars, the fast pace and dealing with people on busy Saturday nights in Liverpool all contributed to the person I am today. I would say 99% of my job is not about animals, it’s about communicating well with people.
I’m so proud of VetPartners for providing the bursaries for students, which will help to remove the financial barrier that prevents many youngsters from pursuing a career as a vet due to the high cost of studying at university.
This will make a huge difference to people’s lives and broaden the recruitment base so more people, from all backgrounds, have the opportunity to become a vet without having to worry about the cost.
Claire graduated in 2014 from the University of Liverpool and joined LLM Farm Vets in Whitchurch, Shropshire, in 2017 after farm vetting in both Dorset and North Wales. She recently undertook a postgraduate certificate in Conservation Medicine, consolidating her interest in the principles of ecosystem health on farms.
She was awarded a 2021 Nuffield Scholarship studying the benefits of regenerative agriculture on animal health and welfare and is the veterinary lead for the “Dung beetles for Farmers” group – an online resource for farmers, land owners and livestock managers aiming to improve the conservation status of dung beetles in the UK by providing evidence-based advice.
Claire is passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace and helping to broaden the recruitment base of the veterinary profession to include vets from more diverse backgrounds.