James Jose AdamsBVSc Dip ACVIM (LAIM) PG Cert Vet Ed FHEA MRCVS

I grew up surrounded by all manner of farm animals, in Devon, England. I graduated from the University of Liverpool with a Bachelor in Veterinary Science in 2006, and entered mixed practice for the first six months of my life a ‘a vet’. It soon became clear that large animal work was where my interest lay and took a second job, primarily working with dairy cow, in Wales. After a year travelling in Australasia and South-East Asia, during which time I worked as a farm vet in New Zealand, I came back to the UK and spent another year in farm practice.

I realised that I needed to ‘know more’ if I was to continue feeling fulfilled by my career and so moved to the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) as a Staff Clinician in Farm Animal Medicine. During my time at the RVC I helped to establish and run the country’s only farm animal referral unit, which led to me learning a lot more about small ruminants and camelids. I enrolled in a residency in large animal internal medicine in 2014 and completed my post-graduate certificate in veterinary education (PG Cert Vet Ed) in 2015-6, thus becoming a Fellow of the Higher Education Authority (FHEA). I lectured on a range of subjects across all years and ran the final year electives in farm animal reproduction and smallholder species.

I completed my residency in 2017 and in 2018 I moved to Langford Vets to run the Farm Animal Practice (which was part of the University of Bristol Vet School). Whilst there I not only supervised the final year rotations but also worked as a practicing farm animal vet and as a locum in the equine hospital. I passed the remaining exams of my diploma and became a large animal diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Dip ACVIM (LAIM)).

In 2022 I left Langford Vets and spent my time locuming for farm animal practices in the South West of England and Wales. During that time I also worked as Farm Animal Lead for the RCVS Exam Board, was an external examiner for the University of Surrey, was secretary of the British Cattle Veterinary Association (BCVA), Chairman of the British Veterinary Camelid Society (BVCS) and co-authored a book title ‘Keeping Pigs: A Practical Guide For Small Holders’. I also found time to spend four months backpacking around South America.