Iceland is country of geological and cultural contrasts. The island sits just outside the arctic circle, at the meeting point of two tectonic plates- so the landscape was sculpted by both the fire of volcanoes and the ice of glaciers. The days are know for their extreme length- in summer, there’s 24hrs of sunlight, while winter is marred by months of total darkness. The Icelanders themselves, while seemingly polite and demure, are renown for their creativity in fashion, writing, and music (Eurovision 2019, anyone?).
I met Elízabet, who currently works as a Government Vet, at a warm, kooky cafe in the small town of Borgarnes. As well as sharing the quirks of working in Iceland, we talked about mental health, the ethics of eating horse-meat, bio-security and the importance of finding the right job as a young vet.
Let’s start by talking a little about your background. Where did you grow up, and when did you decide to become a vet?
I mainly grew up in Reykjavik, Iceland. But when I was five we moved to St Albans just outside of London. That’s where I spent the first four years of my schooling and where I learned English.
I always wanted to be a vet. I did look into zoology, but then I wouldn’t be fixing the animals, so veterinary medicine was always my interest. I moved back to Iceland when I was ten and finished school and junior college here. When I was nineteen I started volunteering at a small animal clinic in Reykavik.
First day on the job, I think I assisted on a dental- and that was it! I was set for life- I was gonna do this job. That summer, I volunteered for the clinic and as it came closer to me going to [university] they offered for me to stay on as an assistant for a year. I took the job knowing it would help me get into veterinary school.
You can’t study veterinary medicine in Iceland and I was determined to get in. So I applied for Norway, the UK, Denmark, Australia, Slovakia- anywhere that they had an English program. I ended up picking Denmark as it was the closest and there were no admin fees.
What was it like studying in Denmark?
It was five and a half year course. It was all in Danish, which was hard in the beginning but became easier as I got over the language barrier. The course was good and it helped us a lot with independent thinking and working together in a team, which is very important in this field of work. I actually moved there with my now husband and my dog, who is still alive by the way, he’s 15. I graduated January 2015.
It was a good education. The course is split into bachelor and candidate, and after the bachelor you go on to your specialisation course. During the whole time when I was studying I always went back to Iceland to work at the same clinic, so I was constantly getting small animal education. So I decided to do the specialisation for production animals, to see what that was like. And that was very interesting and gave me a good insight into preventative medicine, which I think is key in today’s world.
When you graduate with a production animal speciality in Denmark, can you still work with all animals?
Oh yeah, the way they do it is that you get half a year when you can work on your specialisation, but you still do you training in everything else as well. I worked in the small animal hospital and the equine hospital too, which was really good.
I did my thesis on the prevalence of helminths and protozoa in a population of dogs in south-west Iceland. I wanted to finish as soon as possible as I had been offered a job in Reykjavik, so I handed in my thesis in January 2013, having worked through my summer holidays so that I could graduate 3 months earlier the planned.
And that was brilliant because when I graduated there weren’t many people hiring, companies not expanding, so there was a huge group of vets who couldn’t get work. I had wanted to stay in Denmark after work, or go to the UK but it wasn’t an option. And I was actually really grateful to come back to Iceland, because the people I had worked with had really guided me. They taught me to be a good vet.
So I came back and worked there for two years.
And then I hit a wall. I had burnout really badly. That was very difficult and it took me a long time to realise what was happening.
It started about six months prior to when I had a panic attack. And I was just starting to feel really weird. And I just felt, like, what am I doing? Is this really what I practised? Is this really what I’m going to be doing for the rest of my life?
I was just so tired, and so overwhelmed. It was my own doing, I hadn’t taken a vacation in ten years. Not a proper one. In my free time I had worked in clinics or done volunteer work. I never took a proper relaxing vacation.
After my panic attack I met a therapist who helped me get through the ordeal, by cutting down on work (I was advised to stop completely but at that time I just couldn’t).
So I’d just suggested too many shifts and I’d just worked too much, and I did not listen to any of the warning signs that told me that I should have toned it down at work.
That’s so easily done in our profession.
Yes, its so easily done. And unfortunately, I think that a lot of us are dealing with burnout.
Dealing with the consequences of burnout is an uphill battle. It’s one I need to remind myself of frequently so that I will not repeat the old pattern that got me to that point in the first place.
I have today managed to build a bit of a shield around myself. I’ve made it so that clients do not have the accessibility to me as they once had. People under-estimate how draining dealing with a client’s complaints and concerns 24/7 can be, because its not just that one client or pet. Its everyone you see that day. As a young vet, you are open and vulnerable to people taking advantage of your inexperience in this area. Sometimes, they will sometimes end up calling frequently out of hours when its not an emergency. This leads to the vets never being able to switch off mentally, and can sometimes go on to depression, burnout or leaving the field.
I understand totally. I still have old clients that haven’t seen me in months sometimes call my personal number and say- my dog is sick, I need help, I just want to talk about it. And its so emotionally draining, I think we under-estimate that it can be such an emotional job.
You’re definitely not alone.
And a lot of people have taken their own lives because of it- because they don’t think they have a way out.
So what did you do next, after taking a step back from your work in Iceland?
Then I went to London vet show.
It was my first big conference. I was planning to just go and see it, and just enjoy it. I can remember, I was going into the conference and my husband said, ”go make some friends, have a good time”.
And I said ”no, I’m not going to make friends. Its a conference, I’m going to study!” [laughs]
And so I went in there and I sat down at this table and I sat next to this lady- we started chatting. And we really hit it off and had a really fun conference together. And she ended up offering me an assistant vet position at her clinic.
She was really lovely, she works in a small animal clinic up in Long Sutton. The clinic where she worked was looking for an assistant and she asked if I was interested. And
I said ”No! I’m not going to move to England now, I’m just coming out of my burnout [laughing]. I don’t really know what I want to do.”
But I sat down and talked to my husband about it. And he said ”why not?”
I went for an interview. It was a tiny little clinic in a tiny village and it was lovely. For me, that was my Miss Marple moment. We rented a lovely cottage, and I loved working there. I’d probably still be working there, but a year and a half in, my grandma fell really ill. She had played such a big role in my life, so I made the decision to go home.
I didn’t want to go and work back in an intensive small animal environment. And I didn’t want to be on-call. So I went online and just looked for any job for vets in Iceland. And this job popped up- district veterinary officer. It’s a government position involving protecting the welfare and health of the animals in the West of Iceland, and dealing with food production animals.
I thought that I’d give it a go. So I applied.
And when I started working I had all my weekends- and I was just like, “oh my god, this is amazing”. And now, I’m never going back. I need my weekends [laughs]. So its brilliant.
It’s a hell of a job! It involves so many different things from meat inspections to welfare inspections on farms, to going into peoples homes and removing pets that are mistreated and everything in between.
It sounds like you’ve found a balance now
Exactly, its the work-life balance, and that’s the one thing that I was missing in England, the one thing I did not like there.
In England, I started work at 8:30am, and you were at work until about 7pm. And I looked at those hours and thought ‘I’m going to have to go part time, because I want a family, and I don’t want someone else to raise my kid!’
And it was starting to be easier to work part-time in the UK, but I still felt that there was a lot of stigma- like you either work full-time or you just don’t work.
Yeah, I can definitely feel that stigma in the practices where I work with other young female vets. Some of them get a lot of shade when they insist on leaving on time to pick up the kids.
Yeah exactly, it just shouldn’t be an issue. People say like, “doesn’t the kid have a dad?”
Like yeah, but it also has a mum, and I’m just going to go pick up my kid!
So the main thing I’ve never done is [work in] a proper mixed practice. And I would have loved to do that.
And do you do more mixed-practice-style work now as a government vet?
Not really, not as a veterinary practitioner but I do go around and see all sorts of animals so maybe in that sense.
But the days of James Harriot are over I think and I believe that us vets will get more specialised as the years go by and mixed practice will change.
In this job you do have a lot of interactions with farmers and for the most part these interactions are good. But being a government authority some people do tend to think that gives them the right to be extra stubborn and sometime horrible.
Haha, yes I work with farmers, some of them can be a little stubborn.
Yes, they don’t like to change things! It can be very difficult when you come in as an authority. But I do feel like I am doing good, and having the government agency as a back-up, people have to change. Whereas when I had my clients, they were kind of my employer, you always had to please the clients. Now, I can choose to [please the farmers], which can make it much easier to work with them, but if people have crossed that line too many times- its ok. They’re not paying my bill at the end of the day.
That’s the line you have to dance when you are a vet in practice, so you have to be nice to [clients]. Its not easy and some people will always take advantage. And nobody tells you this when you’re studying
For a while I was really bitter. People would say, ‘I really want to be a vet’, and I’d say, ‘do anything else!’
But today. I’m really happy, and I like this job a lot.
Do you know of many foreign vets who have come to work in Iceland? Is it easy to register as a vet here?
There are a few yes, mostly working for the government. You need to send an application to the Veterinary and Food authority in Iceland, or the veterinary society. Then they will contact you. The rule of thumb is if your education is accredited by the European Union then you can get a work permit in Iceland, but the problem is the language.
Do you have to be fluent in Icelandic to work here?
It is very difficult to be a vet here if you don’t speak Icelandic.
Most foreign vets will end up working in slaughter houses, and the import/output department so they’re not doing hands-on practical work so often. Employers do prefer to employ those who speak Icelandic. The language barrier is a massive thing, especially for the older generation. It is very difficult, if you wanted to settle here you would have to be willing to learn the language. If you come for a short while, perhaps work as a volunteer. You could see if you can find a clinic where they might take you on.
But its not like in the UK where you have to pay a large fee and have to keep renewing that every year.
In some Western countries, there is currently a significant shortage of experienced vets. Practices are having a difficult time recruiting vets. Is there a similar problem in Iceland?
Yes, especially Icelandic-speaking vets. And also it is increasingly difficult to obtain a healthy work life balance in this profession.
And the industry is becoming more female -dominated too. I don’t know about you, but my graduating class was 85% women.
Same. We were about 190 women and 10 men. Its completely shifted from a man-dominated profession to a woman-dominated profession, and into very specialised niches. You’re not just a vet any more- you’re a small animal vet, or a large animal vet, or something else. You can do a little bit of everything but there’s a great demand for specialities, especially in the cities. And its become that way in Reykavik now. Not so much in the country, but the demand is increasing there as well.
Are there any common emergency condition that you see in Iceland that may not be so common elsewhere?
No, I mean its mainly car accidents, we get dogs eating fishing hooks, the cats eating lilies, but nothing in particular.
The demand for specialised vets has increased. People want to do things and they want to go and spend their money, which they didn’t want to just 10 years ago. And the sheer amount of people that own pets in Reykavik has just skyrocketed- its gone from you know, just a weird group of people who have dogs, to everyone having a dog now, which is great.
Are there any unusual species that you’ve treat here that may not be seen elsewhere?
A lot of animals are banned here, like snakes and almost any kind of reptile. We do have a few rabbits and guinea pigs- its not huge, but the small furries are a small proportion that is getting bigger. Its mainly dogs and cats .And horses- they’re classed as a pet here as well as a production animal. We eat them too!
That’s an interesting role for the horse, to be a pet and a production animal. As a vet, do you find there’s a conflict here between people who like to ride and those who like to eat horse
There’s not a conflict, it is a separate industry, the horses which are bred for show and riding and the ones that are bred for food.
Horse meat can be very good and foal meat is probably some of the most ethical and orrganic meat you can get because that animal was born out in the country and raised wholesomely with his mum, and then they go to slaughter around 4-6 months of age.
Of course there’s always people who would never eat horse meat.
But for Icelanders eating horse meat is a huge part of our tradition as well.
Are there any cultural challenges you face working in Iceland, as compared to when you worked in the UK.
Not so much. There’s maybe more of a clash with the generations, as a lot has changed in the last 10 years when it comes to pets and animals in Iceland, and the older generations sometimes just don’t understand it.
Also, our [animal] welfare regulations only came out in 2013.
So it’s a challenge when you go to the countryside and you meet these old farmers that haven’t changed anything in over 50 years.
I went to a farm, up in the North. And he had all his rams tied up, like, how you’d tie a cow up. And we had to go in and tell him “this isn’t acceptable any more”.
And he’d say, “but they fight if I don’t tie them up”.
And we have to explain he needs to accommodate them in a better way.
That is interesting, and I think its something that is true everywhere in varying degrees with the different generations.
Is it common for people to have pet insurance here, now the cost of veterinary care is getting higher?
Its nowhere near the same level of uptake as in the UK. That was a huge difference to see what you could do in the UK once you have a client who’s insured. But it’s on the rise.
A lot more companies offer insurance now. But the policies are also changing.
Do you know any laws in Iceland that affect you as a vet, that might seem unusual elsewhere- for example, access to medication, or welfare laws?
As a vet, yes we can get the antibiotics we need, provided we follow the cascade rules. And there is a government pharmaceutical agency that regulates us. They are trying to get it so [vets] can’t have carry medication on [in their vehicles]. But its not possible. If vets out in the country can’t carry the medications with them, animals won’t get treated. Its as simple as that. The pharmacies are too few and far apart.
I’ve met a couple of farmers that haven’t left their farm in 30 years, they are not going to go to the next pharmacy to pick up medications.
I think that theses agencies need to trust the vets, that we know what we are doing, and we do get appropriate training. And if they are bothered by this, they can just run an update course for this and include us in these decisions. They don’t need to fight us, because we are working towards the same goal.
At the end of the day, I think that vets are much more conscious of antibiotic resistance than other fields of medicine. We are very aware of this threat. My colleagues all know how to only use antibiotics when we have to, there are very few that use it for everything. We only use it when we need to, then we use the right stuff for the right amount of time.
It sounds like Iceland is quite strict with animal import and export laws for biosecurity. You mentioned that no reptiles can be imported, and is it also true that you can’t import horses
Yes, completely. If you move a horse from Iceland, it can never come back.
If you try to bring in animals, they’d be euthanised at the border. I mean yeah, its horrible. A lot of people come with their little camper-vans from Europe on the ferry. And people have sometimes brought their cats or dogs. And they have had the opportunity to go straight back, or their animals would have to be euthanised.
Is there a way to move companion animals legally, with the right vaccinations, blood tests and the rest?
Yes, you have to apply, so it takes a couple of months to process. Then you have to get the rabies vaccinations and other vaccinations. [The pet] has to take brucella and salmonella test a month before and a load of antiparasitic medicine. Its a process. Then they have to be quarantined for 2-4 weeks, where its all checked again.
So its very strict, but I think Australia is much stricter actually!
Yes, Australia has very strict quarantine and entry requirements. And then there’s animals that are completely illegal- for example we don’t have any hamsters or chinchillas,or small furries. They are all completely banned apart from rabbits and guinea pigs.
Really, completely banned in Australia?
Yeah, I never knew what a chinchilla was until I started to practice in the UK. A client came in with a box and plopped this little fur-ball on the table, and I just thought- what is it? Where is its face? Oh it needs a blood test, great, I’ll maybe just take it through the back…. [laughing].
Nurse, help please! [laughing]
Exactly, I had no idea! But I think its good that Iceland is strict with importing, its the best way to protect your own species here.
Yes, especially with our horses. Because they’ve already gone through such a drastic environmental disaster over the centuries, there’s a very small gene pool left.
We don’t vaccinate our horses for anything, they don’t need it, because we don’t have anything here that they need to be vaccinated for. But that means they are very vulnerable.
A couple of years back there was an epidemic- a lot of horses got very ill and some of them actually died. And then they found out that it was a strain of bacteria that is very common in other countries and the horses there don’t even blink an eye. But our horses here had never been exposed to it.
But unfortunately, because there are so many tourists coming in, the risk is so great. I mean you see, them, every time there is a horse close to the road there is going to be a tourist van next to it, and people trying to pat them. I think we will see another out-break of something, but who knows.
Yeah, I know in Australia that you have to sign forms when you arrive at customs in the airport that ask you “have you been on a farm in the last 4 weeks? Have you had contact with animals?”. If you have, the customs officials take your shoes, and they scrub them down in front of you. And any equipment you have, they’ll wash it before you go through the gates into the country.
That is really interesting. We should definitely have more laws here, but maybe because its colder there is less emphasis on it.
That might be true. A lot of those nasty tropical diseases hopefully wouldn’t survive long in Iceland.
No, we don’t get those a lot. I mean we have got ticks now, they came over with the birds. Our cats and dogs don’t typically get anti-tick medication but every once in a while you do get a tick on a dog. So that’s got a little more common.
And we don’t have any fleas.
Oh wow, that must be so nice!
Yes, we don’t have the cat flea, but we do have the one that is associated with birds. Every once in a while you might get a cat or a dog that lives close to a nest, so they can get flea bites but the fleas don’t live on them.
What is the biggest struggle or frustration that you face as a vet?
Clients. Isn’t that always the thing? Its never the animals- they are the best. If I just had to deal with [animals] my job would be so easy.
And clients can be lovely, but as we spoke about before, it can be emotionally draining when you don’t place boundaries. I think because we’re so young when we graduate, we just don’t know how to make those boundaries. And once you establish a certain level of communication with someone and you haven’t [placed boundaries], its very difficult to go back.
I think the frustration is probably finding that balance between professionalism and being nice, and also having to set your boundaries.
Ok. And conversely, what’s your favourite thing about being a vet?
Hmm. My favourite thing is seeing the relationship between an owner and their pet. You know that warm fuzzy feeling when you get with your own pet. You see how much that dog does for that old lady. Its that lovely friendship. That’s why we do it.
And of course its lovely to see puppies and kittens. [laughs]
But yes its that lovely bond you see. And when they put that dog to sleep. The owner is holding it, and it might be an older dog, with bad arthritis. Its just that love you see, and that final moment. Its really special to be able to take part in that.
[Euthanasia] used to be one of my least favourite things to do, but I’m actually really grateful to be able to help people with that. Because I want to make that process as nice and easy for both parties. Its just such a special moment for the owner, its so difficult. That’s a special thing.
What advice would you give to a young graduating vet about how to enjoy or make the most of their career
Take all your vacations. Don’t work during summer vacation.
Do what the Danish students did! They get paid to be in university, so they don’t have to work during summer [like fee-paying students]. And you could just see how much more relaxed they were than the rest of us.
And do look after your vacation days. Enjoy them. Don’t get too caught up in the stress. And before you go and do [the course] make sure you know what the profession involves. Its not all cutesy little animals. There is also slaughterhouse work. So make sure you know what is involved!
My final question is about vet nurses. Do you have vet nurses here, and what kind of qualifications do they need to work in Icelandic vet clinics?
We didn’t used to have a vet nurse qualification until a couple of years ago. Some went and did the course through Denmark, or perhaps Norway.
But there has been a change, and now some clinics have become teaching hospitals. So the nurses studying abroad can apply to do the practical work in Iceland, which means less time away from home. But we still have way too few nurses.The clinic that I worked for in Reykjavik actually had the highest percentage of vet nurses of anywhere in Iceland, which was three vet nurses to eight vets! So its very different to when I went to England, and I had two or three nurse, just for me!
So there are more of them studying that now. But its the fact that they have to go to Denmark to do it. Its a huge difference that we can now have teaching hospitals here, but there’s still not enough people who do it.
In my opinion a clinic cannot function properly without vet nurses.
Thankyou so much for your time! You live in a fascinating country, and I really appreciate you sharing your story and advice to help young vets. Thank you!
Further Information
Thanks for reading, and please feel free to get in touch or leave a comment about your own Iceland experiences!
If you’d like to find out more about working in Iceland as a vet or nurse, head over to the Icelandic Veterinary Society Website. Please note, that while the website is all in Icelandic, Icelanders are amazing at languages and they can answer email queries in English!
If you’d like to read about other amazing vets working in unique places around the world, head to the Global Vet Interview page.
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