Latest news with #vetclinic
ABC News
09-08-2025
- General
- ABC News
NT fights vet shortage with high school students studying animal care
At her grade six graduation, Brooke Rapley was awarded "most likely to become a vet". While she grew up surrounded by animals on a property in Katherine, about 350 kilometres from Darwin in the Northern Territory, for Ms Rapley, the closest place to study veterinary science was in Townsville, a 2,000km drive away. In high school, when she had to complete a work experience course, the only courses offered were focused on baking or mechanics. "It wasn't aligned with what I wanted to do, so we came to the vet clinic to see if they'd have me here instead," she said. Now, four years later, Ms Rapley is in her second year of vet science at James Cook University in Townsville. She wants to work with "largies" such as horses or cows, an area that experiences a critical shortage. Teaming up with high schools, vets, and animal care businesses in the region, the Charles Darwin University (CDU) campus in Katherine offers more than 50 high school students across the region the chance to learn firsthand how to care for animals of all sizes. Fifteen-year-old Willow Brennan is one of these students. She is enrolled in the agriculture and rural operations course at the campus. For the past four weeks, she's been cleaning and caring for the university's cattle, preparing them for local agricultural shows. For Willow, she's learned to "just stay calm". "Not everything's a problem, just because your cow acts up. They're still learning, just as we are, so just stay calm at all times and work with them," she said. Last year, the university increased its offerings to include a certificate in animal care, a course that gives students experience working in vet clinics and animal care centres. While not all the students who study agriculture or animal care will go on to become vets, the exposure offers them opportunities, CDU lecturer Samantha Dunwoody said. Willow is not sure what she will do after school, but says it is likely to be something within agriculture. A 2024 Jobs and Skills Australia report described the shortage of vets as "persistent and acute, with recruitment difficulty at its highest in regional, rural and remote locations". In 2024, there were 15,000 registered vets across Australia, according to an inquiry by the NSW government into the shortage of vets. In the Northern Territory, there are just 144 registered vets. Veterinarian Alex Burleigh knows too well what this shortage on the ground means. He owns two clinics in the Northern Territory, in Katherine and Alice Springs. In June, Dr Burleigh had to increase the number of vets in his Alice Springs clinic to keep up with demand after the only other vet clinic in town shut. Now, the closest clinic to the Alice Springs practice is 500km away. After four months of trying to fill positions, the clinics are fully staffed, but Dr Burleigh said it would only be a matter of months before he would be looking for staff again. "It's an area where we are continually looking for staff to fill those roles," he said. So when Ms Rapley knocked on his door asking to do school-based work experience, he jumped at the chance. Now his practice opens its doors for a few weeks a year for Katherine High School students enrolled in the CDU Certificate II in Animal Care, who are seeking veterinary experience. Once completed, students can choose to study vet nursing or gain credits and experience for a competitive entry into a veterinary science degree. A Jobs and Skills Australia report in 2025 recommended assistance in the form of paid placements or a reduced or waived student debt for vets who worked rurally, similar to what is offered to medical professionals. NT president of the Australian Veterinary Association Amy Harding said reducing or waiving student debt would inject many more young people into rural areas. When asked if Ms Rapley would prefer to take a waived student debt for working rurally, or paid practical placements, she wasn't sure. "I mean, both would be great," she said.
Associated Press
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Book Review: Debut novel ‘Happiness Forever' is set on a therapy couch
Do we get to choose who we love? For Sylvie, the protagonist of Adelaide Faith's 'Happiness Forever,' the answer is surely an emphatic 'No.' That's because Sylvie is in love with her therapist, an older woman with peach-colored hair who lives within walking distance of Sylvie's home. After 13 sessions, Sylvie spends her weeks counting down the hours until she and her therapist meet again. She can't decide whether she wants the therapist to adopt her or simply hold her hand. The question of what to do about this inconvenient obsession carries through Faith's endearing debut novel. Sylvie knows she must respect the boundaries of the therapy room, but feeds her obsession in other ways — adopting her therapist's style of dress; studying therapy on her work breaks at the vet clinic; staying alert for a chance encounter in the neighborhood dog park. If the therapist only loved her, Sylvie believes all her problems would be solved. 'There might be no need to worry about carrying on when somebody else had already worked out the meaning of life,' Sylvie thinks. What might in another book veer into unsettling territory is kept here in a lighthearted realm that deepens with meaning as we learn more about Sylvie's reasons for being in therapy and her shy attempts outside those sessions toward a fuller, healthier life. Sylvie makes a new friend; goes on a trip; and searches for ways to feel 'like a person' with a 'real' and meaningful life. As the book goes on, Sylvie must find out if she has healed enough to release herself from the therapist's grip. ___ AP book reviews:
