With exam resits and repeated years, life at vet school was a constant challenge for Mandisa Greene.
When it came to a final make or break point, it seemed a life outside veterinary medicine may have to become a possibility.
In reality, there was no Plan B and, through talent and determination, she finally left the Royal (Dick) Vet School in Edinburgh in 2008 with the degree for which she had battled so hard.
That same drive and dogged will to succeed has subsequently seen her rise through the veterinary ranks to become our Medical Director at Vets Now.
She has also been a powerful force within the wider profession, with prestigious roles including president of the RCVS Council. And she has now been awarded the Diploma of Fellowship to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons on the basis of Leadership both in Veterinary Politics and in Diversity.
But her passion for inspiring others – especially those facing the challenges she fought so hard to overcome – remains un-dimmed.
“The Fellowship is an incredible honour and it’s one I could never have imagined for a moment,” said Mandisa, who has combined her high-flying professional life with being a hands-on mum of two young boys.
“Vet school was incredibly difficult. There were so many exam re-sits and having to repeat, and it felt like my goal was being pulled further and further away.
“You must develop a steadfast belief in yourself and an unparalleled level of resilience, but there were definitely dark moments. I remember preparing to re-sit in my final year knowing that if I didn’t pass it would all have been for nothing.
“I had given everything and there was almost a moment of surrender, but I felt like I was good enough and better than what was being reflected in my scores.”
Mandisa GreeneThe Fellowship is an incredible honour and it’s one I could never have imagined for a moment.
Having had so many struggles, Mandisa was determined to make the absolute most of her career, to enjoy it and encourage others.
After first opinion and out-of-hours experience, locum work, including with Vets Now, enhanced her love of OOH and ECC medicine.
“In OOH and ECC you have to challenge yourself. Having taken so long to get through vet school, I wanted to learn faster and progress more quickly. I was always good practically and I didn’t want to waste any more time.”
The shifts she did within Vets Now also brought an appreciation of our company ethos and a huge admiration of the abilities of the experienced nursing staff who were always on hand to help.
Since she took up her Medical Director role in early 2022, part of her focus has been on increasingly making use of their talents and further championing the opportunities already available.
“I wanted to ensure our nurses could have the ability to use their skills to the maximum potential,” said Mandisa. “I felt the veterinary profession hadn’t fully allowed that to happen and that has been a real goal within Vets Now.
“Having done a variety of locum work, I could see that our nurses stood out. They’re highly experienced, can take control of a situation and triage so capably in an emergency.
“They function in a multi-disciplinary team at such a high level, I just hadn’t experienced elsewhere.
“I also wanted the superb clinically led side of the business to be the golden thread in everything we did, creating a consistent yet contextualised experience for every patient. Those were just a couple of the goals I came in with, but I have so many more.
“We provide an excellent experience for our patients and clients, and I think the future lies with further refining that experience. I also see preventative health care growing in importance for pet owners, not just vaccinations but pets having more regular visits to their vet
Genuine accidents aside, many conditions we see at Vets Now have worsened in ways that might have been prevented had they presented to their daytime vet sooner.”
Having had her first son a couple of years after graduating, with her second arriving just a couple of years later, there has always been the very familiar juggling of home and professional lives.
She and husband Hector, a mental health professional, moved closer to her family to help with childcare, but although the boys are now 14 and 12, work-life balance continues.
“It’s a partnership, and it requires sacrifices from both of us. It takes great planning, organisation and that support from the wider family network.
“There is no perfection and there are things I don’t always get to be part of when I’m working.
“So, there are things I’ve missed, and all you can do is try your best to strike the right balance.”
In addition to lecturing at Harper Adams University, Mandisa had a career at the RCVS from 2014, serving on several committees, becoming junior Vice President in 2019 and then President until 2021.
Achievements she helped oversee included the historic agreement for vet nurses to become practice standard assessors, and she was part of the committee looking at legislative reforms of the Veterinary Surgeons Act.
One major role during the presidency was leading the Covid-19 Taskforce.
“We had to make really quick and significant decisions around the advice we were being given, working along with various government and veterinary sector bodies,” said Mandisa.
“It was a critical time for the whole profession and you want to be sure the right calls are being made.”
Mandisa GreeneI wanted the superb clinically led side of the business to be the golden thread in everything we did, creating a consistent yet contextualised experience for every patient. Those were just a couple of the goals I came in with, but I have so many more.
Mandisa has stepped back to focus on Vets Now, though still working as a visitor on the accreditation visitation panel, and through her recent honour being part of the Fellowship.
“I think the Fellowship is in recognition of the work I’ve done to try to improve the professions both from a leadership and diversity and inclusion perspective,” said Mandisa.
“That’s not just ethnicity, but also gender, socio-economic background and LGBT+ as well
“When I began on RCVS council, I had a two-year-old and a four-year-old and I don’t think I appreciated how much courage putting yourself up to be elected to a council took.
“I just thought it was an important thing to do and it’s only when I got there, I realised the impact some of what we could do as a regulatory body would have and I wanted to stay.”
Life experience has taught Mandisa that periods of failure should never be all-defining, and regular visits to talk to everyone from primary school pupils to university students highlight her desire to inspire new generations.
Looking out at the eager, sometimes anxious, young faces before her, she says she can definitely see herself.
“It saddens me when I speak to someone who says they wanted to be a vet, but…,” she adds.
“Maybe they felt they weren’t clever enough, or their teacher told them not to, or their parents said it wasn’t a good idea.
“I’d like it to become ‘I want to be a vet, and….’. If I can contribute to being the ‘and’, not the ‘but’, for some of their journeys then my speaking would be worth it.
“It gives those students access to a level of possibility they may have not considered for themselves.”