NCAH 2022 TOP STUDENTS CELEBRATED AT NOAH MEMBERS’ DAY
20th July 2023
NOAH’s Members Day took place at The View in Holborn in London on 19 July, where the top NOAH Certificate of Animal Health (NCAH) students for 2022 were recognised for their achievements.
The NCAH examination is hosted and accredited by Harper Adams University and the NCAH qualification helps ensure that animal medicines representatives can provide accurate and ethical information to prescribers and sellers of animal medicines in compliance with the NOAH Code of Practice for the Promotion of Animal Medicines. Last year marked a return to normal procedures for the NCAH. Whilst the courses and examinations were hosted online in the spring course, they returned to their traditional face to face format in September.
A total of 22 students took the exams in 2022. Overall third place went to Jessica Tilbrook from Dechra Veterinary Products, second place went to Amber Weinrich from Bimeda Animal Health and the overall top student from 2022 was Alan Dykes from Elanco Animal Health.
Second -placed student Amber Weinrich summed up the value of the qualification: ‘It is an honour to be one of the top students for the NOAH certificate. It has been a wonderful opportunity to add to existing knowledge within the industry but also delve into new subject areas and grow as an animal health representative. This qualification ensures that the animal health industry maintains high standards across all medicine representatives, keeping animal health and welfare at the forefront’.
Two examination sessions were held during the year: in the April exam Alan Dykes from Elanco Animal Health came first, the second highest mark went to Amber Weinrich from Bimeda Animal Health and in third place was Gemma Vance from Elanco Animal Health.
In the October exam Jessica Tilbrook from Dechra Veterinary Products came first with Daisy Whymark from Krka UK in second place and third place went to Jonny Forrest from Elanco Animal Health.
NOAH Chair Ned Flaxman said: “The NCAH is a great asset to us as an industry and needs to be more widely known amongst our customers and within the animal health industry itself. It shows the professionalism and knowledge of our teams and helps reinforce the trust our customers can have in the animal health industry that our representatives are academically qualified to a high standard and able to provide good technical advice’.
Dawn Howard, NOAH Chief Executive said that the NCAH qualification demonstrates the expertise within the industry. She explained: “It provides a solid background in animal physiology, immunology and pharmacology, nutrition and animal disease control, as well as a full knowledge of the legal framework in which licensed veterinary medicines are regulated, promoted and sold.
“The NCAH is written into the rules for NOAH company membership and is a requirement of the NOAH Code of Practice for the Promotion of Animal Medicines. It is formally academically accredited by Harper Adams University, who also host both the training courses and examinations.
We are pleased that in 2022 we managed to return to face to face courses and exams in what has proved to be a great challenge to make sure our courses and exams were still able to run throughout the pandemic. We are pleased with how we managed to achieve this and all our students especially those we are recognising today and they should all be very proud of their achievements’.
Notes for Editors
The National Office of Animal Health represents the UK animal health industry. Its aim is to promote the benefits of licensed medicines and solutions for the health and welfare of all animals.
For more information contact Jenny George-Town: 07518594525 Email: j.george-town@noah.co.uk
It is a requirement of both NOAH membership and participation in the NOAH Compendium that all companies’ sales representatives involved in the direct technical selling of medicines (other than those on general sale i.e. AVM-GSL medicines) appear on the NCAH register and have taken the NOAH Certificate of Animal Health (NCAH) examination within two years of joining the industry.
For more about the NCAH see http://www.noah.co.uk/about/our-qualification-ncah-course/
For more on NOAH’s Code of Practice for the Promotion of Animal Medicines see https://www.noah.co.uk/focus-areas/promotion-of-animal-medicines/
Photo captions
Photo 1: NCAH top student 2022 Alan Dykes
Photo 2: 2022 Top Students left-right, Daisy Whymark, Amber Weinrich, NOAH Chair Ned Flaxman and Jessica Tilbrook
About the 2022 NCAH top students:
April examination: top marks and overall top student
Alan Dykes from Elanco Animal Health
Alan has worked within the aquaculture industry for forty years holding various positions including Production Manager, Brood stock/Genetics and Fish Health. Working for companies in different countries and with various aquaculture species has given him a broad background in the global aquaculture industry. Alan joined Elanco Animal health (Aqua) in 2021 and this background has been a great asset to his new position as Key Account Manager for the UK, Ireland and the Faroes. Although covering all aquaculture species the focus in these territories are the salmon and trout industries in which Elanco leads in the development and introduction of new generation plasmid DNA vaccines.
April examination: second highest mark and overall second placed student
Amber Weinrich from Bimeda UK
After graduating from the University of Bristol in 2016, Amber pursued a rewarding career as a registered veterinary nurse at an emergency and critical care facility and as a referral nurse rotating through different disciplines. In 2021, she joined the Bimeda Animal Health team as a Territory Sales Manager for Central England and enjoyed supporting farm and equine vets, as well SQPs with their expansive product portfolio covering a variety of disease areas including ectoparasite control and nutrition.
Amber said “It is an honour to be one of the top students for the NOAH certificate. It has been a wonderful opportunity to add to existing knowledge within the industry but also delve into new subject areas and grow as an animal health representative. This qualification ensures that the animal health industry maintains high standards across all medicine representatives, keeping animal health and welfare at the forefront”.
April examination: third highest mark
Gemma Vance from Elanco Animal Health
Gemma has been a Registered Veterinary Nurse since 2007. Her role with Elanco is key account manager for Northern Ireland, covering the ruminant and pet health portfolio. Gemma is passionate about animals, their health and well-being.
Gemma said that the NCAH training was well structured and manageable despite being online due to covid restrictions. The certificate is an integral part of Gemma’s role in the animal health industry and she was delighted to be recognised as a top student for NCAH 2022.
October Examination: top marks and overall third placed student
Jessica Tilbrook from Dechra Veterinary Products
Jessica works as a Companion Animal Territory Sales Manager for Dechra Veterinary Products and covers the East Midlands. Dechra have expertise in a numerous disease areas including endocrinology, dermatology and anaesthesia and analgesia. Jessica really enjoys providing support to veterinary professionals on various topics including otitis externa, hyperadrenocorticism in dogs, and inappetent cats!
Jessica was extremely proud to have achieved her NCAH qualification. She found the course content interesting and informative, allowing her to build on her existing animal health knowledge and challenge herself in new subject areas.
October examination: second highest mark
Daisy Whymark from Krka Uk
Daisy’s passion for animal health & welfare lea her to work for Krka UK as a veterinary pharmaceutical sale representative covering the South West. Krka UK’s range of products span the companion animal and farm animal sectors, encompassing products targeted for pain relief, parasite control, anthelmintic treatments as well as antibiotics. Daisy believes they can provide a simple and affordable approach that can bring a positive difference to animal healthcare accessibility & help improve the welfare of animals.
Daisy was thrilled to have achieved success in the NCAH qualification and found the course to be comprehensive & insightful, led by knowledgeable industry professionals. Daisy gained a thorough understanding of industry regulations, animal anatomy & physiology, and the relationship between drugs, animal diseases & the wider environment. As she is not from a life science background, the qualification has enabled Daisy to further enhance her practical knowledge & given her the confidence to effectively support vets and their teams. Daisy is proud to represent all that NOAH stands for in the ethical & responsible promotion of animal medicines.
October examination: third highest mark
Jonny Forrest from Elanco Animal Health
Jonny has been in the industry for over 10 years but only recently with a company for POM-v, and was very pleased to have passed the course.
Jonny looks forward to the future, continuing his career and being able to offer new and exciting innovations to the industry.