The Parliamentary Veterinary Internship
Offering career development opportunities for young vets.
The Internship
The internship offers the chance to work at the House of Lords alongside the sole veterinarian in the House of Lords, Professor the Lord Trees. It offers a personal insight into veterinary policy and the parliamentary process; a chance for those interested in policy making and the wider roles of veterinarians in society to develop new skills and provides a unique career development opportunity. The role is highly varied and ranges from engaging in meetings with various stakeholders to crafting speeches for the chamber, attending events to champion specific causes, and managing busy schedules, meaning that each day brings a new challenge and is different from the last. The role will open again in spring 2027.
The Current Intern
Martha Rushbrooke
MA VetMB MRCVS
Martha graduated from the University of Cambridge with degrees in Veterinary Medicine (2025) and Psychology (2022). Before starting at Cambridge she completed an internship in the ZSL Institute of Zoology, researching Swallowtail butterflies. She also completed a final year research project in equine epidemiology with the Equine Infectious Disease Surveillance unit. After three months travelling South America she started the internship and hopes to locum during Parliamentary recess to consolidate her clinical knowledge.
Past Interns
2023-2025
Fiona Shuttleworth
MA VetMB MRCVS
Fiona graduated from the University of Cambridge with degrees in Veterinary Medicine (2021) and Zoology (2018). After graduating, she worked as a small animal veterinarian in an independent veterinary practice in West London for 18 months, before travelling to Borneo to volunteer with the largest orang-utan rescue and rehabilitation centre in the world. She is the most recent intern to have finished the role of PVI and now works for Zelp, a start-up involved in methane mitigation.
2021-2023
Harriet Davenport
BSc BVSc MRCVS
Harriet graduated from the University of Liverpool with a degree in Veterinary Science (2020), having intercalated at Imperial College with a BSc in Immunity and Infection (2018). Since finishing the internship, Harriet has completed a small animal emergency and critical care internship at Advanced Vetcare in Melbourne, Australia. Since, she has worked at Scolexia as a poultry veterinarian and in regulatory affairs.
2019-2021
Catrina Prince
BSc BVSc MRCVS
Catrina graduated from the University of Bristol with degree in Zoology (2104) and Veterinary Science (2016), and later undertook an MSc in Veterinary Epidemiology. Following the internship, Catrina worked as a Senior Scientific Policy Fellow for the One Heath Poultry Hub, before joining the Veterinary Medicines Directorate's Antimicrobial Resistance Policy and Surveillance team where she works closely with industry stakeholders to jointly tackle antimicrobial resistance.
2017-2019
Dr Gabrielle Laing
BVSc PhD MRCVS
Gabby started her career in mixed veterinary practice in Yorkshire, before completing a PhD at Liverpool University looking at the respiratory health of horses in Ethiopia. Before her time as an intern she completed an internship with the Royal Society. Since finishing the internship, Gabby is the One Health Policy Advisor at Unlimit Health. She is also Secretary of the European Network for Ecohealth and One Health and sits as a Trustee at the Soulsby Foundation for One Health, a research grant making body encouraging implementation of One Health policies.
2015-2017
Anthony Ridge
MA VetMB MRCVS
Anthony graduated in 2013 from the University of Cambridge with degrees in both Veterinary Medicine and Zoology. He spent some time as a charity small animal veterinarian before completing the internship. Since leaving, he joined the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) as a Senior Veterinary inspector. He now works as a Defra Veterinary Advisor for international trade.
2013-2015
Hannah Haque (née Jordan)
BSc BVetMed MRCVS
Hannah graduated from the Royal Veterinary College with degrees in Veterinary Medicine and Bioveterinary Science. She was the first parliamentary intern for Lord Trees. Following the internship, she spent two years working in the policy team at the British Veterinary Association. In 2017, she moved to Defra as Assistant Private Secretary to the Special Advisors of the Secretary of State and subsequently worked as a Private Secretary to the Secretary of State (Michael Gove, MP), on matters concerning animal health and welfare amongst other topics. Hannah was the Strategic Policy Advisor to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, was seconded to the FCDO and is now Joint Head of Exotic Disease Control policy at Defra.