Lumen Summer 2018 - Flipbook - Page 8
R
oseworthy was always
going to be the perfect
location for South
Australia’s inaugural
animal and veterinary sciences
school.
Located just 50 kilometres north of
Adelaide, near Gawler, and situated
on 1600 hectares of farmland with
access to lots of animals, the School
has been producing world class
graduates and supporting local vet
services for ten years.
Before the School started in 2008,
students had to leave the state to
pursue veterinary studies. Head of
School, Dean of Roseworthy and
alumnus Professor Wayne Hein was
one such student.
“I did my initial studies in
Agriculture at Roseworthy College,
but wanted to go on to study
veterinary science. As I couldn’t get
my vet qualification here, I ended up
going to Queensland,” he said.
“A key change that helped to
leverage Roseworthy as the ideal
OPPOSITE
RIGHT
Jonathon Bartsch
with pigs from
Roseworthy’s
pig club
RIGHT
Professor
Wayne Hein with
veterinary nurse
James Englert at
the Companion
Animal Health
Centre
PREVIOUS
Professor Wayne
Hein with final
year students
Suria Fabbri
(front) and
Jing Khuu (back)
at the Equine
Health and
Performance
Centre
06
THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
location for a vet school was
relocating ‘animal sciences’ courses
from the Waite campus to Roseworthy.
“Once they had animal science up
and running here, the feeling was
they were now halfway to a vet
school, so why not start
advocating for one to be built.”
Manager of the School Sarah
Hocking was there in the early days
and said the worldwide recruitment
drive for staff was one of the most
exciting activities in setting up the
school.
“Moving to Australia and living in
a rural setting didn’t suit everyone,
but the people who were able to
adapt were fantastic and we were
fortunate to recruit them,” she said.
There was also a big cultural shift on
campus. “The student population
went from 90 per cent male to 80 per
cent female, and many students were
now coming from the city and living
in accommodation on campus.”
A key person in evolving the
campus’ infrastructure and social
activities to cater for the changing
student demographic was Student
Services Manager David Purdie.
“Providing students with an
environment conducive to making
friends, studying in small groups,
sharing study notes and generally
feeling comfortable was, and
remains, essential in developing
a real closeness and sense of
community here at Roseworthy,”
he said.
Perhaps the biggest challenge of
all was getting the word out that
Roseworthy’s animal centres were
open for business and would
complement, rather than compete
with existing vet services in the area.
“Today we have fantastic
relationships with vets, animal
owners and organisations in the
community. And they play a
reciprocal role in providing
additional real life placement
experience to our students,”
said Operations Officer Diane
Whatling.
