Prior to making the move to South Australia in late 2009, Dr Arif Anwar enjoyed a successful career in his native Bangladesh, working with the country’s largest breeder company (Kazi Farms Group), largest pharmaceutical company (Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd) and with the Department of Livestock Services. In Australia, Arif has worked with Rohde’s Free Range Eggs in Tarlee, South Australia.
Now a permanent resident of Australia, Arif has recently taken up a Poultry CRC internship under the guidance of Dr Peter Scott at animal and avian health consultancy (and CRC industry partner) Scolexia. Armed with a broad skill set, Arif will be a welcome addition to the experienced Scolexia team. Dr Scott explained what this will involve, “His responsibility is poultry health, husbandry and R&D. Because of his laboratory skills Arif will also be involved in some aspects of the technical work at the veterinary diagnostic laboratory, including food safety.”
Arif has provided the following in-depth look at his past experience, his passion and excitement for the poultry industry, and his expectation of a long and satisfying career within our industry. I’m sure you’ll agree that Arif is positioned well to fulfil his lifelong goals.
I have always wanted a career in Avian Veterinary Medicine as it combines my interest, knowledge and experience. Throughout my career I have either directly or indirectly been engaged in the poultry industry. I graduated in Veterinary Medicine in Bangladesh with an emphasis on poultry medicine. As an intern I was placed on different poultry farms and hatcheries where I received hands on training in poultry health and production.
I worked as a Technical Services Officer in a poultry diagnostic laboratory where I was responsible for sample collection, serological and microbiological diagnosis of poultry diseases and reporting back to stakeholders. I was also trained for nutritional analysis of feed samples, and microbial testing of feed and water samples. This gave me a more detailed understanding of poultry pathology and poultry nutrition. I also worked as a Technical Veterinarian in a veterinary pharmaceuticals company where I served as a consultant to poultry breeder and stock feed companies. This position provided me the opportunity to get exposure to the industry as a whole, as I visited different farms and hatcheries throughout the country.
During the time I spent as a State Veterinary Surgeon in Bangladesh, Avian Influenza was one of the greatest threats to public health. So my utmost priority was to ensure robust bio-security measures existed at the farm level to prevent the potential spread of this virus. As a government employee I had to visit different types of livestock industries, including the poultry industry, and from this I learned some valuable lessons about different farming systems.
In Australia I started my career as a poultry farm hand in late 2009 in rural South Australia. Scolexia and Poultry CRC have now allowed me the opportunity to further progress my poultry veterinary profession. Dr Peter Scott is an exemplary mentor to me because of his work, professional and personal ethics. He is a friend, a support system, an inspiration and ‘the wind beneath my wings’. My work with Scolexia has given me an insight into Australian Poultry Industry and opened my eyes of what I am capable of achieving. I am enjoying my involvement in research and field trial activities, which have exposed me to a deeper level of knowledge.
I have been in the poultry industry for about 10 years and have worked in different areas such as poultry farm health, laboratory and even in sales, but this is the first time I have been taught a holistic approach to my investigations. I am looking forward to learning as much as I can throughout my career and serving the Australian Poultry industry as a Poultry Veterinarian. I would like to thank Poultry CRC for supporting me in my endeavours.
