The six candidates were joined by friends and family to deliver their professional declarations.

Rafaela Cardoso, Lu Chen, Bingqiu Lu, Yanan Wang, So Young Kwon and Sujith Rajan give professional declarations via Zoom.

Six overseas-educated veterinary surgeons were formally welcomed to the UK veterinary profession on Thursday (25 February) for passing the RCVS Statutory Membership Exam.

Rafaela Cardoso from Brazil, Lu Chen, Bingqiu Lu and Yanan Wang from China, So Young Kwon from South Korea and Sujith Rajan from India were honoured in a virtual ceremony hosted by RCVS president Dr Mandisa Greene and RCVS chief executive Lizzie Lockett.

The RCVS Statutory Membership Exam needs to be taken and passed by veterinary surgeons whose qualifications are not recognised by the RCVS to practise in the UK. Before welcoming each successful candidate to the register, Lizzie Lockett described the difficult conditions under which the candidates had taken the Statutory Membership Exam in 2020. 

She said: “When today’s new members first signed up for this exam, they thought they would be travelling to London in spring to sit the written paper, followed by a trip up to Glasgow in the summer to take the practical examination. When Covid hit early last year, we had to postpone the exam and then set about trying to find alternative means of delivery which would allow the candidates to sit the examination that they had spent so much time and effort preparing for in a way that was safe and secure for everybody involved.
 
“As a result, in August 2020 these candidates were the first to sit the written component of the exam online, allowing them to take it from the security of their own homes. They turned out to be trailblazers, as our Education Committee decided recently that this mode of delivery would now be the norm for all upcoming diets of the exam. “

She continued: “Today’s new members all passed this component and went on to sit the practical examination at Glasgow Vet School in December 2020. This posed a new set of unique challenges, as we had to run this face-to-face, practical exam in a way which was Covid-secure, which entailed new measures such as kitting out all of our examiners with full PPE, spacing the OSCE stations out to allow for social distancing and adding in extra time for the equipment to be sterilised between tasks.
 
“Despite all these challenges, the new members we have here today passed the Statutory Membership Exam, and I’m very pleased to be able to welcome you as new members of the College.”

After delivering their professional decelerations in front of their family and friends, Mandisa Greene gave a formal address welcoming the successful candidates to the UK veterinary profession. 

She said: “I am in awe of those of you who take and pass the Statutory Membership Exam. By passing it, you have met the standards we expect of members of the profession practising in the UK and proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are ready and able to work as a member of this wonderful profession in the UK.
 
“And it is not only what you have done to get to this point, but the conditions in which you have done them that are to be celebrated. None of us could have guessed a pandemic would be the circumstances through which you’ve had to navigate, but you were all able to do so successfully. It’s the context of your achievement that makes it so admirable, so well done!”

She added: “You are also amazing in another sense. As a daughter of parents who came to the UK from the Caribbean, I know how equally daunting and exciting it can be to up sticks and move somewhere new and unfamiliar and I admire you all for coming here and, like so many immigrants to the UK, being determined to make a positive contribution to your new home. 
 
“I also know how important it is to be made to feel welcome, and this is why I want to emphasise that no matter your nationality, race, religion, or any other factor, you are a member of our veterinary community.”

Image (C) RCVS.