Speakers - VICAS

After graduating from UCD in 2014, Ciara started working as a general practitioner in the UK, before completing an internal medicine internship, followed by a rotating internship in UCD. Prior to specialising in emergency and critical care, Ciara worked in a highvolume outofhours clinic. In 2022, she completed a Master’s degree in Veterinary Science alongside a Residency in Emergency and Critical Care with the University of Bristol and Langford Vets.

Following completion of specialist training, she returned to Ireland to establish an emergency clinic within Ireland’s first private referral hospital. In 2024, Ciara returned to University College Dublin as a Specialist Clinician in the Intensive Care Unit. Her primary interests include supporting and teaching ECC within the primary care setting, promoting the importance of individualised care for critically ill patients, and advancing geriatric care within the ICU.

Ciarán Jones obtained his veterinary degree at University College Dublin in 2014 and completed a small animal rotating internship at Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan in 2015. Following his internship year, he moved to Washington State University where he completed a three-year ACVS surgical residency and masters programme and was awarded numerous scholarships including for teaching and for his research in exercise science. Ciarán became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgery (DACVS) in Small Animal Surgery and a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Surgery (DECVS) in Small Animal Surgery in 2019. Ciaran has worked as a specialist surgeon in North America, the UK and Ireland and currently accepts surgical referrals at MyVet Referrals, Dublin. He has a particular interest in arthroscopy, joint replacement, minimally invasive techniques, fracture repair and spinal surgery.

Claire graduated from the RDSVS in 2007, and has a broad range of experience in small animal private practice, charity practice, leadership roles and ECC locum work. She diversified into coaching in 2020, and is qualified in multiple modalities, including trauma-informed somatic coaching. She co-founded Vet Empowered in 2020 alongside Katie, and together they have worked with hundreds of individuals, to help them reconnect with themselves, and create a sustainable path within the profession, including supporting multiple corporate graduate programmes. Outside of the vet space, she is a dating and relationship coach, and has spoken at multiple events around her specialist interest in attachment theory, including recent guest expert appearances in a Fringe Festival show in Edinburgh. Her delivery style is described as warm and engaging, and she is well known for her very Scottish sense of humour! Claire still works locum shifts for a couple of her most loved practices, and enjoys continuing to have the opportunity to use her clinical skills ‘on the ground’.

Katie is an experienced small animal vet, having graduated from Liverpool in 2012 and gaining her RCVS Certificate in Internal Medicine in 2017. She became passionate about opening conversations up around imposter syndrome and self-doubt following her own experiences in the veterinary profession, and trained as a coach with further study in a number of areas, as well as publishing a series of books. Katie grew a following of over 20,000 across social media as @katiefordvet, and is an international and keynote speaker, both in the vet profession and beyond. She co-founded Vet Empowered in 2020 alongside Claire, where they have coached hundreds within the profession, and spoken to thousands, around topics such as confidence, imposter phenomenon and stress management.

In 2023 she was the grateful recipient of the RCVS Inspiration Award, and in 2025 was awarded a fellowship, gaining her FRCVS title. Katie has an incredible ability to create new perspectives and insights, and is regularly involved in conversations about how we can make the profession a better place for everyone to be part of.

Louise O'Leary is a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist (DACVO). She graduated from vet school at UCD in 2017. She then undertook a small animal rotating internship at the University of Florida, followed by a comparative ophthalmology residency at Iowa State University, becoming a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists in 2021.

After a few years in private practice in San Francisco, she is delighted to be back in Ireland providing veterinary ophthalmology services to all species at UCD, aiming to establish an ophthalmology rotation there to further ophthalmology education in Ireland. She has been a VIN.com consultant since 2024 and is passionate about teaching and dispelling the myth that "eyes are hard."

Mark qualified from Cambridge in 1997 and went on to spend time in both mixed and small animal practice. He interrupted a small animal medicine residency at the University of Liverpool to pursue a PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. He remained in Cambridge and finished his small animal medicine residency. He then worked in private specialist practice for four years in England before moving to the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science at the University of Nottingham, where he is now Professor of Small Animal Internal Medicine.  Mark holds the European Diploma in small animal internal medicine and is an RCVS and EBVS recognised specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine.

He has a particular interest in teaching endoscopy and allowing practitioners to appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of the techniques available. He is Head of Internal Medicine and Oncology at Willows Referral Service, Solihull.

Sam is a registered veterinary nurse with a background in teaching, training and supporting nurses within practice. She spent most of her career working in a large referral hospital, North Downs Specialist Referrals, where she held several positions - beginning her journey as a rotating RVN, Wards Supervisor and eventually becoming Clinical Services Manager.

In her time in practice, she loved nursing critical and intensive patients. In the management roles she overhauled induction programme to support new joiners, developed a supportive onboarding programme and created a CPR training plan.

She holds her Graduate Diploma, her ECC Certificate, is a trained teacher and RECOVER instructor. Alongside her role for Linnaeus, she owns and runs her own company, the PetMed CPR Education company which delivers high quality CPR training in practices across the UK.