VETERINARY science seems like the perfect career choice for 22-year-old young gun Bridie Luers who has always had a passion for animals, growing up on her family’s farm at Kellerberrin.
Being involved in her family’s stock and station agency, Livestock and Land, Bridie was always around livestock, mainly sheep, from a young age and spent much of her childhood riding horses, motor bikes and helping her parents on the farm.
“Growing up in the country was awesome, I wouldn’t have had it any other way,” Bridie said.
“I just loved the freedom of it - I guess you get to be a kid a bit more when you are on the farm.”
Bridie is in her final year of her six-year degree, due to graduate in November and has developed a strong interest in cattle.
“I didn’t really grow up with cattle but since doing placements through university all over the State, particularly on stations up north and placements in Queensland, I have become really interested in that area and developed a real passion for beef cattle production,” she said.
Her final year is primarily focussed on practical placements with about four weeks completed already.
“Now we are doing rotations through the different departments at the Murdoch Vet Hospital and then we go out on streaming which is where we do placements at clinics that we choose,” Bridie said.
“The practical work is really varied which is great.”
Upon completion of her degree, Bridie is hoping to move back to the country and work as a mixed-practice veterinarian so she can gain broad experience within the industry that will complement her passion to work with commercial livestock.
Down the track Bridie is also considering further study in bovine and equine reproductive medicine, as this has become another area of interest for her throughout her degree.
Bridie said one of her recent highlights since studying veterinary science was representing Australia at the 2018 National Western Intercollegiate Meat Judging Contest in the United States in January.
The Australian team won the overall competition and Bridie won first place for the individual judging for division A, the first Australian ever to do so.
“It was pretty insane to win, I didn’t know how to react,” she said.
“We were sitting at the table and they were calling out the winners for the different classes, of which I won a few of and my friends were saying that I might get the individual prize but I never thought I had a chance.
“I remember thinking to myself before the competition that I would be happy if I placed in the top half.
“My individual win was great but what was even more exciting was when the Australian team won, we got a standing ovation from all the Americans and just about every person came to shake our hands, and it was also the first day it had snowed while we were over there, so it just felt like the day couldn’t get any better.”
Bridie went to the United States as part of a Meat and Livestock and Australian Meat Processor funded industry tour which began with preparation for the meat judging competitions and then visited abattoirs, feedlots and studs throughout Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska and Kansas.
She was just one of five university students from across the country selected to compete for Australia and prior to her studies at university, she had never heard of meat judging but it has since become a major interest.
Bridie was also lucky enough to do a prac in India with a group of friends from Murdoch in 2017.
Run through the Worldwide Veterinary Services, they learnt to do surgery by performing both male and female sterilisations on the local free-roaming dogs.
The group also did a ‘rabies run’ where they spent a day travelling around the surrounding villages and being welcomed into the local’s homes to vaccinate their pets against rabies.
“The surgical experience I gained on the trip has been really helpful for me in my later years of vet school and it was a great opportunity to experience the Indian culture,” Bridie said.
I really enjoyed the trip and hope to do more volunteer work like it when I’m fully qualified.”
Bridie said one of the best parts about Murdoch and vet school has been the strong friendships she has made over the years.
“It is a pretty full on course and so everyone really sticks together and helps each other through,” she said.
“I know that these friendships will last a lifetime.”
Bridie’s future looks bright and exciting with plans to head back to the country and venture out into a new industry that will challenge, but also allow her to grow.
“Next year it will be essential to get work that exposes me to a wide range of veterinary experience but importantly, for me I would like a job that has an emphasis on commercial cattle production,” she said.
“I made a point of completing lots of my vet pracs in the northern parts of Australia, so anywhere up there would be great.”
