Get to Know: Bettina Dunkel - Exploring the World of Equine Critical Care
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Professor Bettina Dunkel has dedicated her career to advancing equine medicine and inspiring the next generation of veterinarians. Since joining the Royal Veterinary College in 2008, she has become Professor in Equine Medicine, Emergency and Critical Care, and now serves as Head of RVC Equine.
Bettina also brings together leading voices in equine practice to share the latest evidence, insights, and innovations in the RVC Equine Theatres at the London Vet Show.
We caught up with her to talk about her journey into veterinary medicine, her approach to teaching, and what delegates can expect from her upcoming session, “An evidence-based approach to equine headshaking.”
Q: Could you tell us a bit about yourself and what inspired you to pursue a career in veterinary medicine?
A: Like many veterinarians, I made the decision very early on, when I was maybe 6 or 7 years old, and it is difficult to reconstruct the exact reasons that attracted me at that very young age. A fascination with medicine, physiology and a love for animals were probably the main motivations to ultimately really pursue a career in veterinary medicine.
Q: What do you find most rewarding about working in the equine veterinary field?
A: I love the variety of the of the work – no day is the same and it never gets boring. Being out and about, interacting with the horses is also a huge bonus and really helps to ease the stress and pressure that comes with parts of the job.
Q: Many veterinary students have limited experience with horses when they start training. How do you adapt your teaching to support them?
A: A lot of our students don’t have a lot of prior horse experience but that doesn’t mean that they cannot become Equine vets or at least work comfortably around horses. For the practical aspects of the teaching, we therefore focus on safety and getting students to understand horses and their natural behaviour. The theoretical knowledge can often be scaled back to basic principles that apply to all species and therefore benefits all students, regardless which career path they wish to pursue.
Q: Without giving too much away, can you tell me about your session on “Evidence-based approach to equine headshaking” and what you’ll be covering?
A: We recently investigated a new treatment method for equine headshaking, a condition that can be extremely distressing for affected horses and notoriously frustrating for horse owners and veterinarians alike. Part of this frustration stems from the fact that it is a diagnosis made by exclusion and that there is no uniformly successful treatment. While reviewing the literature, it became evident that there has been a lot of good research published investigating varying aspects of the condition in recent years and I felt that a summary of these developments would be very useful for all equine vets battling with this tricky disease.
Q: What skills do you think are most important for students or young vets interested in equine emergency and critical care?
A: Resilience, flexibility and willingness to work and study hard is essential as it is an ever-changing field of medicine that requires the ability to adjust and change and keep up to date with the latest research in the area.
Session:
https://london.vetshow.com/conference-programme-2025/evidence-based-approach-to-equine-headshaking
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