AMTRA top students for 2001 rewarded

Top students from two of the Animal Medicines Training Regulatory Authority (AMTRA) series of examinations for 2001 have been rewarded for their achievements.

Caroline Findlay from Virbac was top student in the AMTRA Manufacturers' exam, while Helen Goldberg from Schering Plough was runner-up in the examination, which took place last September.

The best student from the two GSL/Companion Animal Register examinations held in 2001 was self-employed Beverley Dovey, the runner-up being Melanie Jeffrey from Sherleys.

The awards were presented by former chief executive of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, Dr Mike Rutter CBE at the Annual Dinner of the National Office of Animal Health, held in London on 18 April.

Congratulating the prizewinners, NOAH chief executive Philip Sketchley said: "NOAH would like to congratulate them all. Their hard work and intelligence is a credit to themselves, their companies and the animal health industry. The AMTRA qualifications are designed to ensure that the highest standards of training, education and professional conduct are upheld."

He added: "NOAH would also like to congratulate everyone who participated in the AMTRA scheme, which was instigated in 1991 to give animal medicine manufacturers' representatives the opportunity to gain a formal qualification and to become better informed about their industry. It is now a condition of NOAH membership that all manufacturers' representatives gain an appropriate AMTRA qualification."

To acknowledge the hard work needed to gain the qualification, NOAH sponsors annual prizes for the highest scoring entrants in the AMTRA Manufacturers' examinations. The Pet Care Trust sponsors the prizes for the GSL/Companion Animal register exam.

Background on the prizewinners

Manufacturers Examination

Caroline Findlay has been a sales representative with Virbac Animal Health since January 2001. She is responsible for farm animal and equine product sales to trade accounts in Northumberland, Cumbria, Durham, Tyne & Wear and Cleveland. She gained a first class honours degree in agriculture and food science from the University of Nottingham then went on to gain an MSc from the University of East Anglia. Before joining Virbac, Caroline worked in marketing in both the animal and human health markets, with licensed medicines and nutritional supplements.

Helen Goldberg is a veterinary surgeon. She qualified in Edinburgh 1995 and went to work in a mixed veterinary practice for 5 years before joining Schering-Plough Animal Health. She worked as a Veterinary Business Manager in the field for 2 years before becoming a Schering-Plough Veterinary Technical Adviser for the Companion Animal Business Unit.

GSL/Companion Animal Register Examinations

Beverley Dovey originally embarked on the AMTRA course in anticipation of opening a pet supplies shop with her husband, as she felt it would add credibility and enhance customer service. Although the shop has yet to be realised, Beverley continued her studies. She went on to work as a vet's receptionist and, having enjoyed the AMTRA course, is training as a veterinary nurse at the Tottenham branch of the Goddard veterinary group. She graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Biotechnology in 1992 and has been involved with animal welfare - on a professional and voluntary basis - ever since.

Melanie Jeffrey works for Sherleys as sales executive for the south-east, calling on 200 pet shops to build relationships and keep customers up to date with new products and promotions. She is currently on maternity leave, expecting her second child, and will return to work in the autumn.

18 April 2002

Notes for Editors

1. For further information contact Phil Sketchley or Alison Glennon at NOAH, tel. +44 (0)20 8367 3131, or visit the NOAH website or AMTRA - Mrs Winn Dawson on 01394 411010, or e-mail info@amtra.org.uk or visit the AMTRA website www.amtra.org.uk

2. AMTRA is an independent regulatory body whose task it is to ensure that the distribution of animal medicines in the UK is undertaken in a responsible manner by qualified persons. The board of AMTRA comprises an independent chairman and vice-chairman, two directors appointed by DEFRA, two from NOAH, three from Animal Health Distributors Association and one each from National Farmers Union, Pet Care Trust, British Veterinary Association, Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and British Equestrian Trade Association..

3. The National Office of Animal Health was formed on 1 January 1986 to represent the UK companies which research, develop, manufacture and market licensed animal health products. The association has 37 corporate members and 12 associate members. In 2001 NOAH's members accounted for around 95% of the £359 million UK animal health market, with additional valuable exports.

4. There are now 4 different AMTRA Registers of Qualified Persons: Agricultural Merchants Suitably Qualified Persons (SQP) Register, Saddlers Suitably Qualified Persons (SQP) Register, Animal Medicine Manufacturers' Sales Staff Register and GSL Companion Animal Medicines Register.

5. The Training and Certification of Companion Animal Medicines (GSL) Sales Staff award, which is an appropriate qualification for NOAH members selling purely pet GSL products, was devised by the Pet Care Trust, in 1998 with full support from NOAH and AMTRA. It is designed for retailers of GSL pet medicines to the public and for manufacturers' sales representatives selling pet medicines on the General Sales List to retailers

6. GSL stands for General Sales List. Medicines classified as such have to undergo the full stringent licensing procedure, but are classified as suitable for selling from any retailer.