Jane Davidson

Jane is a vet nurse, writer and educator who is currently undertaking a PhD in veterinary history. After a first degree in history at University of Glasgow Jane re-trained as a vet nurse and is now combining both her careers in her PhD.

Her thesis on ‘Professionalising animal medicine; the history of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (1844) and the Veterinary Surgeons Act (1881) explores the professionalisation of the nineteenth century veterinary surgeon in Great Britain.

Journal Articles

Skipper, A., O'Neill, D., Serlin, R., Davidson, J., Elwood, C. and Gray, C. (2024), Contextualised care: faddish or foundational?. Veterinary Record, 195: 117-117. https://doi.org/10.1002/vetr.4567

‘Gold standard care’ is an unhelpful term, Alison Skipper, Carol Gray, Ruth Serlin, Dan O'Neill, Clive Elwood and Jane Davidson Vet Record 189(8):331-331 (October 2021) http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/vetr.1113

Books

Davidson, J. 2018 Research and StudySkills for Veterinary Nurses https://amzn.eu/d/0TajKbu

Davidson, J. 2013, Never the Owners Knickers, Veterinary nurse tails https://www.nevertheownersknickers.com/about. Join me as I present to you the perfect collection of articles on animal welfare, veterinary history and classic Vet Tails happening in a vet practice near you.

Study Skills Support

Jane has created the Positive Procrastination range of productivity and wellbeing tips for students from GCSE to PhD.

Cards Against Procrastination

Brain Scents

Cards for Self-Care

Professional identities and policy scrutiny and development are emerging spaces of activity for Janes research.

Jane is a founder member of the Veterinary Humanities UK research group. The group aims to answer the veterinary medicine problems that science fails to do. Jane is also active in the University of Kent Centre for Humanities in Medical Health research group.

PhD Title

Professionalising Animal Medicine

Analysing how and why the medical treatment of animals came to be professionalised, the project seeks to understand the reasons for and effects of the 1881 Act, which formally established the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons’ (RCVS) authority to distinguish between qualified and unqualified practitioners.

The doctorate will draw on the rich archival material maintained by RCVS Knowledge, the charity partner of the RCVS and custodian of its Historical Collections.

An experienced educator for the veterinary professions Jane has tutored A level history students while at Kent. She is currently using her educational skills in teaching students who are not in mainstream education. She is the author of a best-selling research and study skills book and the creator of the Positive Procrastination range.

Jane is a:

- Registered Veterinary Nurse (RVN)

- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

Jane was an elected member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Vet Nurse Council 2019 – 2022.