Top AMTRA students rewarded

The top students from the 2007 Animal Medicines Training Regulatory Authority (AMTRA) examinations for sales representatives of marketing authorisation holders have been rewarded for their hard work at the National Office of Animal Health (NOAH) annual dinner held in the prestigious surroundings of One Whitehall Place, London, on April 23rd.

The dinner took place in the historic setting of the venue’s Gladstone Library, and the recipients of the awards were presented with their prizes by Bob Stevenson, Chairman of AMTRA and extreme athlete Chris Moon MBE.

The winner of the April 2007 examination was Darren Peart of Intervet/Schering Plough Animal Health, while Heather Metcalfe of Dechra was the month’s runner-up. In June 2007 the winner was Mike Whitfield of Elanco and the runner-up was Jenny Westron of Animalcare. September 2007 saw two winners jointly claim the top spot: Holly Gourley of Vetoquinol and Caroline Gunter, formerly of Vetplus and now at Dechra.

Each year NOAH sponsors the prizes for the highest scoring entrants in the AMTRA Marketing Authorisation Holders’ Examination. The sponsorship is further evidence of NOAH’s ongoing commitment to industry self-regulation and the need for all manufacturers’ representatives to pass the examination, ensuring only the best advice is given to prescribers, suppliers and users of animal medicines.

NOAH Chief Executive Phil Sketchley, said, “Tonight’s award winners are emblematic of our industry’s determination to successfully self-regulate and maintain the very highest standards of knowledge and professionalism across all areas of animal medicine distribution.”

Bob Stevenson said, “These students have achieved excellent results in an examination designed to fully test their subject knowledge. By passing the AMTRA Marketing Authorisation Holders’ Examination they have gained a high-level academic qualification.”

ENDS

23 April 2008

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.

2. The National Office of Animal Health was formed on 1 January 1986 to represent UK companies which research, develop, manufacture and market licensed animal health products. The association has 28 corporate members and 8 associate members. In 2006 the NOAH sales survey showed a total market of £373.2m, around 90% of the total UK market.

3. The AMTRA MAH (Marketing Authorisation Holder) examination is the industry’s own training and qualification scheme. The syllabus and training is provided by AMTRA in liaison with NOAH’s Education Committee. It is a requirement for all NOAH member company representatives promoting POM-V, POM-VPS and NFA-VPS medicines and also for non-member companies in the NOAH Compendium to take the examination and be entered on the AMTRA Register. It is a very high level academically recognised qualification and holders are ideally placed to provide high quality advice to veterinarians, SQPs, pharmacists and other users of animal medicines.

   Prizewinners’ Biographies

   April 2007

   Darren Peart - Winner After graduating as a veterinary surgeon in 1995, Darren spent two years in small animal practice in Essex before moving on to join Hoechst Roussel Vet as a Veterinary Advisor in 1997. He then moved to Product Manager in 1999, around the time that Intervet acquired HR Vet. At the end of 2005 he moved into a sales position, initially as an Account Manager in the London area, before being promoted to Field Sales Manager at the start of 2007. Darren currently looks after eight people on the small animal side of the Intervet/Schering Plough Animal Health business across a region stretching from Cornwall to Norfolk. He is a member of NOAH’s Committee on the Code of Practice for the Promotion of Animal Medicines.

   Heather Metcalfe – Runner Up Heather is the Regional Sales Manager (South) for Dechra Veterinary Products. She joined the company in 2004 as a Territory Manager, covering the south-west of England. In March 2008 she was appointed as the Regional Manager for the south of England managing six Territory Managers.

   Heather graduated from the Royal Agricultural College in 2002 with a BSc Honours Degree in International Agriculture and Equine Business Management.

   June 2007

   Mike Whitfield - Winner Mike is based in York and has responsibility for Elanco’s Pig Products in the North of England.

   Jenny Westron – Runner Up Jenny is the Regional Supervisor for the South of England, managing a team of 5 reps and also her own sales territory for Animalcare Ltd covering the southern region. She has fourteen years experience in the veterinary industry, including a period working as a Head Veterinary Nurse at two surgeries in Hampshire. In her current role she also has responsibility for recruitment, training and development of her team, carrying out field appraisals and Key Account Management.

   September 2007

   Holly Gourley – Joint Winner Holly has been with Vetoquinol for just over two years and is the Territory Manager for the company’s South and Mid-Wales, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Bristol and Bath territory. She has responsibility for the sale of products for large and small animals and equine, ranging from antimicrobials, to NSAIDs, anaesthetics and anti-epileptics.

   Caroline Gunter – Joint Winner Caroline graduated with an Equine Science degree from De Montfort University in 1999. She has been in the veterinary industry for five years and was with Vetplus prior to joining Dechra Veterinary Products as a Territory Manager with responsibility for equine and small animal products covering Hampshire, Berkshire, West Sussex and Surrey. Dechra Veterinary Products offers a diverse product portfolio of pioneering products in endocrinology, dermatology, ophthalmology and otology, along with a range of market leading equine products, veterinary licensed generics and fluid therapy.