About this event

  • Date and time Wed 22 Apr 2026 from 9:30am to 4:50pm
  • Location Online
  • Organised by Comparative Medicine

Join us for a webinar exploring how human and veterinary clinicians can work together more effectively to shape the future of medicine, drawing on shared challenges and opportunities to improve health outcomes across species. This event will offer clear, practical insight into where collaboration adds real value, how specialism and generalism are evolving and what this means for clinical practice, education and workforce planning.

We will examine how closer collaboration between human and animal medicine can strengthen healthcare at a moment when specialisation is accelerating in both professions. From antimicrobial resistance to complex chronic conditions, clinicians are facing convergent problems that demand cross-disciplinary thinking rather than siloed solutions. Set within the broader One Medicine movement, the programme will show how shared learning, comparative models and joint working can inform better diagnostics, treatment strategies and system design.


Featuring leading experts from medicine and veterinary science, the event will combine expert presentations, case-based discussion and interactive panels. Attendees will hear diverse perspectives on how to balance breadth and depth of expertise, how to build meaningful bridges between sectors and how to embed collaborative, evidence-based thinking into the future of healthcare delivery. This is an online-based event, with all speakers and delegates attending virtually, making it accessible to clinicians, educators and policy stakeholders wherever they are based.


What you will gain:

  • A deeper understanding of how human and animal medicine can learn from one another, and enhanced ability to recognise where cross-disciplinary approaches can strengthen clinical practice, education and patient outcomes.
  • Insight into different models of specialism and generalism across sectors, and how to apply shared principles within your own professional context.
  • Greater confidence in integrating collaborative, evidence-based thinking into future healthcare delivery.

Learning outcomes
By attending this webinar, participants will be able to:

  • Understand current models of specialism and generalism across human and veterinary medicine, and identify how these approaches influence patient and animal health outcomes (delivered via lectures and presentations).
  • Recognise key areas where human and animal clinicians can collaborate, and apply One Medicine principles to enhance decision-making in clinical practice (through lectures and panel discussions).
  • Evaluate real-world case studies, including oncology collaborations, to assess how shared expertise can improve diagnostic, surgical and therapeutic strategies (via presentations and panel discussion).
  • Develop an appreciation of the educational and workforce challenges facing both professions and compare strategies for training future generalists and specialists (through lectures and panel discussions).
  • Value the role of cross-disciplinary communication and demonstrate improved confidence in engaging with clinicians from different sectors to support better health outcomes (through panel discussion and Q&A).

Key speakers you will hear from:

  • Professor James Wood OBE – Alborada Professor of Equine and Farm Animal Science, University of Cambridge; former Head of the Cambridge Veterinary School.
  • Professor Tim Parkin – President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS); Head of Bristol Veterinary School.

Who should attend?

  • This webinar is ideal for human and veterinary clinicians, trainees, educators, researchers and policy-makers interested in One Medicine, comparative medicine and the future shape of generalism and specialism.
  • It will also appeal to those involved in curriculum design, workforce planning and service development who want to understand how cross-species collaboration can drive innovation and better outcomes.

Secure your place now and ensure you remain at the forefront of the One Medicine movement as specialisation across both professions accelerates.

Attend educational events for free

RSM members enjoy free access to over 200 expert-led events each year, including CPD-accredited learning.

Become a member
From under £10 p/mo

Follow us on: 

Facebook 
Instagram 
LinkedIn 
Twitter 
YouTube 

Key speakers

Tim Parkin

Tim Parkin

Head of Bristol Veterinary School and Professor of Veterinary Epidemiology, Bristol Veterinary School/Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons

Speaker's biography

Tim is Head of School and Professor of Veterinary Epidemiology at Bristol Veterinary School (since November 2020).  

Prior to returning to Bristol, he worked at the University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine from 2007, becoming Professor in 2017 and being appointed Head of the Division of Equine Clinical Science and Clinical Director of Equine Hospital between 2015 and 2018.  

He became a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Public Health in 2006 and was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2018. He is currently (July 2025 to June 2026) President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and has been Chair of the RCVS Education Committee for the past 2 years. 

Tim has worked with numerous different racing jurisdictions around the world, including GB, Ireland, Hong Kong, Australia, South America and the USA as well as the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI). He is a veterinary data analyst with a focus on predicting risk and thus preventing equine (fatal) injury in racing and other equestrian sports. 

Professor James Wood OBE

Alborada Professor of Equine and Farm Animal Science, Cambridge University

Speaker's biography

James Wood is Alborada Professor of Equine and Farm Animal Science at Cambridge. He is an infectious disease epidemiologist in the Disease Dynamics Unit; he is also co-chair of Cambridge Infectious Diseases Interdisciplinary Research Centre and his research focuses on One Health approaches to the investigation of disease emergence, especially from wildlife and its control. He is involved in collaborative multidisciplinary studies of the ecology and emergence of RNA viruses from fruit bats in Ghana and control of bovine tuberculosis in Ethiopia, India and UK.  

He has published on infectious disease emergence and its drivers, especially considering zoonoses in sub-Saharan Africa and on bovine TB transmission and its control in cattle. He chairs the Cambridge Africa Strategic Advisory Group.  

He was Head of Cambridge Veterinary School for 10 years from 2013 (and Dean). 

Agenda

View the programme

Welcome

Professor Philippe Wilson, President, Comparative Medicine Section, Royal Society of Medicine

Introduction

Professor Gillian Leng CBE, President, Royal Society of Medicine

Chair: Professor Philippe Wilson, President, Comparative Medicine Section, Royal Society of Medicine

A vet in a medic's world - seeing both sides of the debate

Dr Mary Fraser, Chair, Humanimal Trust

Elevating beyond the boundaries: Translational concepts in performance medicine

Dr Farhan Shahid, Consultant in Sport, Exercise & Musculoskeletal Medicine (SEM), President, Sports and Exercise Medicine Section, Royal Society of Medicine 

Panel discussion
Tea and coffee break
Current colorectal surgery - The general surgeon plus the super specialist coloproctologist!

Mr Gordon Buchanan, Consultant Colorectal & General Surgeon, President, Coloproctology Section, Royal Society of Medicine  

Panel discussion
Lunch and annual general meeting

For section members only

Introduction
Navigating general practice and specialist care in the veterinary profession for the best possible outcomes for animals and their owners

 Professor Tim Parkin, RCVS President, Head of Bristol Veterinary School 

Personal perspectives on specialist veterinary education from the previous head of Cambridge Veterinary School

Professor James Wood OBE, Alborada Professor of Equine and Farm Science, University of Cambridge, Former Head of the Cambridge Veterinary School 

Panel discussion 
Tea and coffee break
Human and animal clinicians working in partnership: Oncology as a case study

Dr Gerard McLauchlan, Specialist in Internal Medicine, Aura Veterinary and Dr Alex Horton, Consultant Radiologist, Royal Surrey County Hospital

Panel discussion 
Closing remarks
Close of meeting

Location

Online

Registration for this webinar will close 1 hour prior to the start time. You will receive the webinar link 1 hour before the meeting. Late registrations will not be accepted. 

Webinar recordings will be available for registered delegates up to 60 days after the live webinar, via Zoom. The link will be sent 24 hours after the webinar takes place. 

This webinar will be recorded and stored by the Royal Society of Medicine and may be distributed in future on various internet channels.