About Thrivet

The 2019 Thrivet – ‘Thriving As A Veterinary Professional – Symposium was born in a small cafe, in the leafy eastern suburbs of Melbourne, when a group of friends got together to discuss the mental health crisis affecting our profession and our lives.

The symposium has been carefully curated by Dr Emma Whiston, Senior Veterinarian at My Best Friend and a small team of dedicated people.

Emma was raised and mentored from an early age by her veterinarian father, Dr Nigel Clayton BVMS MRCVS. After graduation in 1993, she entered small animal practice only to suffer burnout in both her twenties and thirties. Emma firstly ‘ran away’ to the theatre to be an actor, and then the second time to The Werribee Zoo to be a Safari Guide Bus Driver!

In 2004 Emma launched Australia’s first dedicated Home Euthanasia Service – My Best Friend. Finally she had found her niche in the veterinary profession.

Emma thoroughly enjoys her work with elderly and terminally ill patients, and is now a Certified Animal Hospice &Palliative Care veterinarian as a result of her studies with the International Association of Animal Hospice & Palliative Care in the USA.

Dr Emma Whiston and the team at My Best Friend have joined together with Edenhills Pet Cremations to make this symposium possible. We sincerely want and hope, to make a difference for all the delegates who will be attending.