{"id":2847,"date":"2021-09-05T09:20:15","date_gmt":"2021-09-04T23:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?p=2847"},"modified":"2021-09-01T17:22:57","modified_gmt":"2021-09-01T07:22:57","slug":"pacing-himself-warren-foreman-2020-veterinarian-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?p=2847","title":{"rendered":"Pacing himself: Warren Foreman, 2020 Veterinarian of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>It is fortunate that Warren Foreman knows how to pace\nhimself. As a two time participant in the Paris-Brest-Paris cycling event,\nwhich requires competitors to cover more than 1,200 kilometres within just 96\nhours, Foreman is no stranger to challenging himself physically. While the French\ncountryside <em>en route<\/em> is spectacular\nand the camaraderie between the riders delightful, Foreman admits that coping\nwith lack of sleep is among the biggest challenges for contestants, who have to\nride virtually all day and all night to complete the course in the time allowed.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>More recently, Foreman has been testing his endurance in a rather\ndifferent way: almost a year after being announced as the 2020 Veterinarian of\nthe Year, he has been waiting and hoping \u2013 stay at home orders and border\nclosures permitting \u2013 that he will finally be able to receive his award at\nAustralian Small Animal Veterinary Association conference on the Gold Coast in\nAugust 2021. It has been a long wait, but Foreman has registered for the event\nand is looking forward not only to receiving his award, but also to attending a\nconference after such a lengthy break. \u201cI think 2020 has been a blur for so\nmany of us \u2013 crazy times,\u201d he said.&nbsp;\n\u201cNone of us predicted the increased patient numbers on top of the\nmassive practical difficulties that arose in safely dealing with our patients\nduring a human pandemic.\u201d Unfortunately, at the time of writing, millions of\nAustralians are in lockdown as the highly infectious Delta variant of\ncoronavirus wreaks havoc across the country, and it may well be necessary for\nForeman\u2019s award ceremony to be delayed and for his patience to be tried once\nagain.&nbsp; Getting from his home in Adelaide\nto the Gold Coast may yet prove to be more challenging than cycling from Paris\nto Brest and back again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Strangely enough for an avid cyclist and winner of the\nVeterinarian of the Year award, Foreman was not particularly sporty when he was\na child and never contemplated becoming a vet.&nbsp;\nHe grew up south of Adelaide in a small town called Willunga (<em>Kaurna Country<\/em>), in the same district\nwhere his parents and been born and raised. Ironically, Foreman\u2019s childhood\nhome was at the bottom of Willungra Hill \u2013 now famous for its inclusion as a\nhill climb in Australia\u2019s premier cycling race, the Tour Down Under.&nbsp; His father worked at various jobs, starting\nout as a patternmaker for General Motors Holden before working as a carpenter\nand eventually starting his own plumbing business.&nbsp; His mother looked after the house, the kids \u2013\nForeman, his older brother and younger sister \u2013 and the books for the business.\n\u201cMum and Dad were not sports people, so neither were we kids,\u201d he\nexplained.&nbsp; Nevertheless, Foreman and his\nsiblings enjoyed what he describes as \u201ca very outdoors upbringing\u201d, largely due\nto them working with their father on weekends. \u201cWe would be assigned all sorts\nof plumbing tasks \u2013 digging, laying drains, roofing, and so on \u2013 it was a great\nway to learn practical skills.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was not until he attended a high school careers night and\ngot talking to a couple of vets that Foreman considered studying Veterinary\nScience. \u201cWe always had a cat, a dog and some chickens at home,\u201d Foreman\nrecalled, but up until that point he had been planning to study civil\nengineering at Adelaide University. \u201cThe work the vets described was very\ndifferent from anything I had experienced, it seemed a little exotic and\nchallenging, and provided the prospect of an interesting career,\u201d he said. \u201cI\nthought I would have a go at getting into the course, and ended up putting down\ncivil engineering as my second choice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After applying to study Veterinary Science at both Melbourne\nand Sydney Universities, Foreman ended up being accepted into both courses but\nhad already enrolled at Melbourne University by the time the Sydney University offer\narrived.&nbsp; He graduated with Honours in\n1979, also completing a Bachelor of Animal Science as a research degree halfway\nthrough his veterinary course.&nbsp; \u201cThe\nAnimal Science degree was in ruminant physiology and certainly didn\u2019t have any\nclinical applications,\u201d Foreman said.&nbsp;\n\u201cIt was a good way to road test a research career, and while I found it\nvery intellectually stimulating I learnt that I am more suited to clinical\npractice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Upon graduating, Foreman began working in clinical practice\nat Trinity Gardens Veterinary Hospital in Adelaide in 1980.&nbsp; He subsequently worked at practices in South\nMelbourne and the Riverland before returning to Adelaide in 1992.&nbsp; \u201cWorking as a veterinarian has been both very\nrewarding and very challenging at times,\u201d he commented.&nbsp; \u201cOne of the great things about this\nprofession is that there are so many different career pathways and\npossibilities.\u201d Although he describes his own career progression as being\n\u201crather linear\u201d in comparison with some of his colleagues, Foreman has relished\nthe opportunity to expand his veterinary knowledge and skills.&nbsp; \u201cI have found great satisfaction in pursuing\nfurther studies and gaining new expertise in a variety of related fields and\nhave been fortunate enough to use these in my day to day clinical work,\u201d he\nsaid.&nbsp; \u201cLearning skills and being able to\napply them to help your patients is a real buzz.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1985, Foreman gained membership of the Australian and New\nZealand College of Veterinary Scientists in Canine Medicine and developed a\nparticular interest in dentistry and oral surgery after perceiving a need for a\ncanine dentistry practitioner in Adelaide. \u201cThe interest in dentistry was\nsparked by a canine patient who had broken a canine tooth who happened to be\nowned by a dentist,\u201d he said. \u201cThis coincided with the beginning of the\nAustralian Veterinary Dental Society and the general upskilling of the\nprofession in veterinary dentistry pioneered by the late Dr Stephen Coles, who\nwas a class mate.&nbsp; I just \u2018rode that\nbus\u2019: bought the equipment, made contact with some human endodontists and\nstarted doing some specialised procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the years, Foreman has also pursued studies in fields\nsuch as ultrasonography, ophthalmology and orthopaedic surgery.&nbsp; \u201cThese areas of study fulfilled the needs of\nour clinical caseload,\u201d he explained.&nbsp; \u201cI\nenjoy acquiring and using new skills and being able to bring a broad range of\nexpertise to the workplace.\u201d An unexpected upshot of having such a breadth of\nknowledge and diverse skillset and is that Foreman is now fortunate enough\ncount zoo work as providing clinical highlights in his career, having performed\northopaedic work on orangutans and chimpanzees and done dental work on a lion\nand a sun bear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Foreman counts establishing Adelaide Animal Hospital as\nanother career highlight. Having founded the Hospital in 1999, he has\nsubsequently has expanded the practice to include sites at Prospect, Goodwood\nRoad and Stirling. True to form, to complement his growing business\nresponsibilities he also completed a Graduate Certificate in Management, a\nqualification he deemed \u201cimportant in managing the growth of the practice and\nbeing better able to understand the complexities of a veterinary business.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2011, Foreman received a Meritorious Service Award for\nhis dedicated service to the veterinary profession, including providing\ncontinuing education events to South Australian small animal veterinarians, as\nwell as serving (at various times) as President of the then-called Australian\nVeterinary Practice Managers Association and of the South Australian division\nof the Australian Veterinary Association.&nbsp;\n\u201cI have been an AVA member since my student days,\u201d he said. \u201cI have\nalways been a firm believer in the value of the AVA to our profession and in\ncollectively advocating for the areas of our expertise within the greater\ncommunity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To Foreman\u2019s \u201ccomplete surprise\u201d, Jenni Trewren, his colleague\nand partner at Adelaide Animal Hospital, nominated him for the 2020 Veterinarian\nof the Year award, an accolade he says it is \u201cvery humbling and totally\nunexpected\u201d to be receiving.&nbsp; \u201cThere have\nbeen some very well credentialed and high achievers amongst previous awardees,\u201d\nhe said.&nbsp; \u201cI did not consider myself to\nbe in this league!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even if circumstances prevent him from travelling to the\nGold Coast to receive his prize, Foreman has many plans for the future \u2013\nincluding spending the next few months reducing his workload and road testing\nretirement. \u201cI do not feel quite ready to be on the professional scrapheap\nyet,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I miss the buzz of solving clinical problems and seeing\npatients bounce back from illness and injury, I will continue working part time\nin some capacity.\u201d&nbsp; Foreman would also like\nto have a crack at a third Paris-Brest-Paris event, with the next competition\nslated to go ahead in 2023.&nbsp; \u201cI would\nlike to do another, just to do it better!\u201d he said. \u201cIn the meantime, there is\nballroom dancing, bike riding, resuming French studies and tinkering with my\nMorgan cars to keep me busy.&nbsp; Who knows \u2013\none day soon we may be able to travel again!\u201d<br>\n<strong>JAI HUMEL<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is fortunate that Warren Foreman knows how to pace himself. As a two time participant in the Paris-Brest-Paris cycling event, which requires competitors to cover more than 1,200 kilometres within just 96 hours, Foreman is no stranger to challenging himself physically. While the French countryside en route is spectacular and the camaraderie between the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[2223,77,78,461,1670,2224],"class_list":["post-2847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-cycling","tag-f2f","tag-face-to-face","tag-feature","tag-jai-humel","tag-warren-foreman"],"rise-blocks_total_comments":0,"rise-blocks_categories":[{"term_id":67,"name":"Features","slug":"features","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":68,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":63,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":67,"category_count":63,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Features","category_nicename":"features","category_parent":0}],"rise-blocks_excerpt":"It is fortunate that Warren Foreman knows how to pace himself. As a two time participant in the Paris-Brest-Paris cycling event, which requires competitors to cover more than 1,200 kilometres within just 96 hours, Foreman is no stranger to challenging himself physically. While the French countryside en route is spectacular and the camaraderie between the riders delightful, Foreman admits that..","blog_post_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/IMG_4762-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"full":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/IMG_4762.jpg",2016,1512,false]},"categories_names":{"67":{"name":"Features","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?cat=67"}},"tags_names":{"2223":{"name":"cycling","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=cycling"},"77":{"name":"F2F","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=f2f"},"78":{"name":"Face to Face","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=face-to-face"},"461":{"name":"feature","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=feature"},"1670":{"name":"Jai Humel","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=jai-humel"},"2224":{"name":"Warren Foreman","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=warren-foreman"}},"comments_number":"0","wpmagazine_modules_lite_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/IMG_4762-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"cvmm-medium":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/IMG_4762.jpg",300,225,false],"cvmm-medium-plus":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/IMG_4762.jpg",276,207,false],"cvmm-portrait":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/IMG_4762.jpg",400,300,false],"cvmm-medium-square":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/IMG_4762.jpg",600,450,false],"cvmm-large":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/IMG_4762.jpg",1024,768,false],"cvmm-small":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/IMG_4762.jpg",127,95,false],"full":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/IMG_4762.jpg",2016,1512,false]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2847"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2849,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2847\/revisions\/2849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}