Evolving Professional Roles

This theme in our ‘Professionalism’ section is titled ‘Evolving Professional Roles’. As with so many of the divisions within this book, the implication that ‘professionalism’ is somehow separate from our ‘care’ section is perhaps misleading. All the contributions in this theme consider veterinary care for animal patients in various ways, and the first, Chapter 20 , is a focused and powerful plea for recognition of ‘caring’ as a key professional attribute. However, we have grouped these three chapters together because, as the title suggests, all are specifically concerned with the evolution and change of various veterinary professional activities over time. In the first, a veterinary nurse considers the history and future of her own profession; in the second, a sociologist considers the history and power dynamics of a veterinary specialism; and in the third, an interdisciplinary team that includes a wide range of humanities, social science and veterinary expertise combines these skills to explore the causes, contexts and consequences of the changing vet–farmer relationship. Together, these essays give a real flavour of the value of veterinary humanities in looking both outwards from and inwards to the veterinary sector with the insight that humanities can offer.