Analysis: More to do on vet shortage
by Louise Cullen, News NI agriculture correspondent
Just as in human medicine, nurses play an important role in the delivery of veterinary care, so anything that could help boost their numbers is more than welcome.
But the shortage of veterinary surgeons is a bigger mountain to climb.
A report commissioned by the former agriculture minister Edwin Poots found the creation of a veterinary school in Northern Ireland needed more work to justify the estimated investment of more than £75,000 per student.
With a vet-to-nurse ratio of 1:3, rather than 1:1 as in Great Britain, there is pressure on vets to meet the needs of pet owners and farmers alike.
Vets are key to protecting our agri-food industry, whether through the bovine TB testing programme or monitoring animal welfare in marts.
Offering professional development and career-launching opportunities like these courses for veterinary nurses will hopefully make the profession more attractive, fill the jobs that Dr Conn speaks of, and go some way to help relieve the pressure on veterinary services as a whole.
