Veterinarians
VETERINARIAN'S OATH
"Being admitted to the profession of Veterinary medicine, I solemnly swear to use my scientific knowledge and skills for the benefit of society through the protection of animal health, the relief of animal suffering, the conservation of livestock resources, the promotion of public health, and the advancement of medical knowledge.
I will practice my profession conscientiously, with dignity and in keeping with the principles of veterinary medical ethics.
I accept as a lifelong obligation, the continual improvement of my professional knowledge and competence."
MAX WILSON - BVSc (Hons), MACVS.
Max was born and raised in the tiny town of Karara near Warwick in Queensland and attended Karara State School before completing secondary studies at Scots College in Warwick and at the Kings School in Sydney. He graduated with honours in Veterinary Science from the University of Queensland in 1973. After a brief stint at Lismore in N.S.W. he commenced work at Oakey Veterinary Hospital. He remained in general practice there for 15 years and it was during this time that he developed an interest in Equine Medicine, Surgery and Reproduction.
He was accepted for membership of the Australian College of Veterinary Surgeons (M.A.C.V.Sc) in 1982 for Equine Surgery and has since done post-graduate study on measurement of the growth of the Equine Embryo and Foetus by ultrasound.
In 1984 he travelled to the University of California at Davis as a Visiting Professor. There he worked under Prof. Hughes for three months and studied equine reproduction, artificial insemination and embryo transfer.
In 1989 he established Wilson's Veterinary Services which grew rapidly to a five person mixed practice. Max sold the mixed practice in 1999. He retained the equine part of the practice and moved the practice base to his home farm at Southbrook where the practice operates as Wilson's Equine Veterinary Services under the ownership of Equivet (Australia) Pty Ltd.
Max has worked extensively overseas – practicing in New Caledonia, Korea, Papua New Guinea and Thailand. Each year since 1996 he has travelled to the northern hemisphere to work the breeding season with John Newcombe in the Midlands, Jonathan Pycock in Yorkshire and more recently in the Loire Valley in France.
Apart from his interests in reproduction and stud medicine Max likes to work with pleasure horses and has special interest chiropractic and alternative medicine.
Max's mother is an Inglis so his roots are firmly in the horse industry. He comes from the era when children rode their horses five miles to school and let them go in the schoolyard. He currently has an interest in racehorses and breeds his own mares. It's pretty safe to assume that with this lifetime involvement with horses - he loves working with them.
ROBYN WOODWARD - BVSc., MVSc. |
Born in North Queensland, Robyn always had a passion for horses and was a successful show ring competitor in local shows and at the Brisbane Royal in hack and equestrian classes. After completing her Veterinary Science degree in 1976 she worked in mixed practice in North Queensland. From there Robyn took up an opportunity to commence a Masters Research project with Dr Kerry Dowsett where she performed the first successful embryo transfer in Australia.
In 1990 Robyn worked at Scone Veterinary Hospital where she had reproductive and clinical responsibilities on thoroughbred and pleasure horse stud farms. In the same year she went on secondment from Scone to Berkshire in England for the northern hemisphere breeding season. This was a most exciting time with polo duties at Windsor Great Park, a veterinary stud role at Hampton Court, the Royal Mews at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace.
After her time in the UK Robyn then took up a position at the Orange Campus of the University of Sydney. This was followed by an appointment as the Horse Course Coordinator at Roseworthy Campus, the University of Adelaide. Both of these positions involved lecturing, clinical duties, resident stud veterinary duties and research. Along with her ongoing passion in sustainable agriculture Robyn has continued to expand her knowledge in stud medicine - particularly mare and stallion fertility. She also maintained an interest in research and commenced a project concerning the use of Insulin Growth Factor I for tendon repair in performance horses.
Robyn joined Wilson’s Equine Veterinary Services at Equivet Australia in 2002. Robyn's talents in equine reproduction have developed the Equine Breeding Centre into one of the leading centres for artificial breeding in Australia - specializing in embryo transfer for many of the top performance mares in the country.
For the last few years Robyn has travelled overseas during the northern hemisphere breeding season working in various breeding centres in Europe and the United Kingdom. Since the 2010 northern hemisphere breeding season Robyn has been in charge of the frozen artificial insemination and embryo transfer program at the Haras de Muschamp Breeding Centre in the Loire Valley in France.
Robyn and Max regularly attend the annual International Symposium on Equine Reproduction held in various overseas locations. This keeps them abreast of the latest developments and they bring this knowledge to the reproductive treatment of mares in the Darling Downs and wider regions.
FRANCOIS VILJOEN - BVSc (Hons) MRCVS
Francois was born & grew up in South Africa and describes himself as a "horseman who trained as a veterinary surgeon." His career as a veterinarian has been spent in a variety of areas including racing, sport-horse, endurance and stud work.
Francois's early employment was as assistant in a practice in South Africa dealing exclusively with throughbred race horses. He then managed an ambulatory practice for nine years in South Africa dealing with racing and sport horses.
This was followed by a period in United Arab Emirates, with responsibility for a full range of breeding, showing, endurance and racing arabians. His work in the middle east continued when he was employed by the Royal Cavalry of Oman, in charge of the racing, endurance and show jumping sections directly caring for 250 horses, with a further 1100 in the Royal Cavalry Stables. A huge responsibility. His last middle east appointment involved the development of a central veterinary department for the Al Shaqab Stud in Qatar - a public facility open to all horses.