Livestock and Climate Change - Course Feedback

Livestock and Climate Change - A Veterinary Perspective, the self-directed eLearning course from VetSalus, has been designed to equip farm veterinary professionals with knowledge on the key issues of our time – climate change and animal health and welfare. Through this course, livestock veterinarians and paraprofessionals learn to leverage our unique role as trusted advisors to the food and farming businesses around the world. 

With the course approaching the end of its second year, VetSalus spoke with participants to understand how they found their learning experience, and what impact this has had on their approach to sustainability conversations with their clients.

Vicki Shepherd, veterinarian and independent cattle fertility consultant in South West England, first heard about the course through fellow vets attending the British Cattle Veterinary Association Congress in October 2025. 

We asked Vicki what her learning objectives were for taking the course:

I wanted to understand as a clinical vet how I could get into the world of sustainability first and foremost. I naively used to think the topic was all about dung beetles, but researched some more in the last year. Sustainability is becoming more of a topic of conversation on farm with audits and I wanted to up my game and service I could offer. I also enjoy a course that I can chip away through around my life – much like the CertAVP.

The course is hosted through an online learning platform with images, videos and other interactive elements interspersed throughout the text. Each module has a module champion who guides the participants through the content with quotes and comments through the text. There are also quizzes, tasks and deep dives allowing participants the opportunity to explore areas of interest.

I really enjoyed the self-taught layout. Thanks to a few ‘oddly quiet’ weekends on-call I could chip away through it very efficiently, and the % complete was oddly motivating! Very easy navigation and able to see progress.

The course is designed to equip participants with the knowledge and confidence to make changes in their own work, and the tools to support farming clients to meet their goals. We asked Vicki how the course had developed her professionally:

I feel much more confident discussing sustainability in terms of productivity and animal health. I finally understand the interconnecting nature of efficiency, health and reducing emissions/antibiotic usage etc. I feel comfortable explaining not only why sustainability is important in the field, but how it can be implemented stepwise on farm.

Within the course, participants discuss our spheres of influence as veterinary professionals and our ability to influence change. We asked Vicki if she felt the course had improved her understanding of and ability to practice sustainably:

Absolutely – it is much more relevant for day-to-day clinical practice than I used to believe. Chapter 4 in particular (Impact of Disease State on Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Livestock) is such a good “hook” for farm vets. I now incorporate a sustainability segment into all farmer workshops and vet CPD courses I run. Whether it’s transition management or fertility benchmarking, there is always a very relevant discussion to be had with regards to impacts on sustainability.

To find out more about the course itself, please visit our dedicated Learn website: https://learn.vetsalus.com/pages/livestock-and-climate-change-a-veterinary-perspective . Registration for our e-learning course is available year-round and at a price of £495.00 +VAT (other currencies also available).

We have adapted the course to be delivered in person, and have previously partnered with Fortis NZ to deliver a custom course offer for their clients. If you are interested in bespoke training opportunities for your organisation, please let us know.