Cross Party Group: Malawi's first home trained vets

The first Malawian veterinary students to graduate from the new Veterinary School in Malawi were welcomed to the Scottish Parliament's Cross Party Group on Malawi on September 11 during their study tour of Scotland.

We were delighted that the group’s Head of Department, Professor Tefera Melaku from Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), agreed to speak at the CPG with some of the 12 students participating in a Q&A.

The visit was made possible by Lilongwe Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (LSPCA), the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), Inglis Vets, and Adam Tjolle and is being funded by LSPCA UK who have been awarded a grant by Independent Vet Care to cover all costs.

Chair of LSPCA UK, Adam Tjolle, introduced the visitors followed by a presentation by Professor Melaku.

Several of the vets then gave moving testimony of their route to gaining a place to study as part of the first cohort of vets to graduate from LUANAR and what their ambitions for the future are.

The training and presence of these new veterinarians in Malawi is a significant step for a predominantly agrarian nation which currently has very few vets.

Whilst in Scotland, the students, who are due to graduate in Malawi in December, were based at Inglis Vets in Dunfermline.

During the study visit, the final year students participated in field trips and a two day workshop at the University of Edinburgh on essential skills for veterinary practice and undertook a visit to the animal hospital at The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies.

The study visit from Malawi is being made possible by Lilongwe Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (LSPCA), the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), Inglis Vets, SMP member, Adam Tjolle and is being funded by Lilongwe Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (LSPCA) UK who have been awarded a grant by Independent Vet Care to cover all costs.