I am a veterinarian, originally a Hungarian, but now based in Austria. In my home country, the Hungarian language uses the family names first and the given name second. My official name would therefore be Dr Horváth-Papp Imre, but this is too tongue-twisting in many languages. The creativity of my friends and colleagues soon turned my name to Dr Imre (the original Dr Horváth-Papp still being used when the chairman calls me to present my paper). However, what I am actually called by the people I meet, depends on the country that I am travelling in at the time. My name ranges from Dr Omar in the Islamic world, to Dr Emre in Turkey and Imru in Poland. Well, it is not easy to be a Hungarian and travel across many countries with different languages…
I have completed many international training sessions related to team building, technical, regulatory, sales and marketing skills. My areas of activity for many years included Eastern-Europe, the Middle-East, North Africa, parts of Asia, occasionally Brazil, Canada and Western-Europe. I am familiar with the local culture in many countries and a keen admirer of local cuisine as well.
I also used to making decisions and acting alone in different and difficult circumstances. I spend much of my time travelling, sometimes in challenging conditions. I have visited many countries in partnership of local assistants, distributors and investigators, as well as representatives from universities, breeder companies, poultry and feed associations. My work has taken me to all corners of the globe. I often attend agricultural exhibitions, scientific congresses and symposia whenever my busy schedule of farm visits allows I frequently give presentations on such occasions, and enjoy the opportunity to meet opinion leaders and key persons in the animal health industry and exchanging information with them.
Regulatory experience:
I oversaw the registration of a number of animal health products. I have in the past launched several new feed additives and antibiotics in different countries, and co-ordinated the process from the initial preparation and submission of dossiers through to the label developments, always keeping good contact with the relevant regulatory authority. In certain special cases I am able to find the best people to help you with your regulatory problems.
Problem solving focus:
I provide practical advice, even in the most complex of situations. I can utilise my experience of recognising diseases, management and nutritional issues, in order to make suggestions to improve the situation. I prefer to take all relevant circumstances into consideration, not missing any small items, thus building up a concrete diagnosis. I am an active user of coccidiosis lesion scoring, and I have trained many field vets and poultrymen on it.
A typical consultation involves the survey of the poultry operation in the morning, visiting the management group, exploring the farms with technical staff, and concluding with my summary of the situation and my key suggestions for potential improvements.
I think my input is particularly important in situations where the management is stuck in the local routine, where I can independently identify the main issues of the operation. While I don’t replace the local veterinarian, who has the best knowledge of the farm’s history and local situation, I can bring substantial help with my experience from other countries and my knowledge of recent scientific literature. In my technical judgements I am not afraid to provide constructive feedback, even if it means challenging established ways of operating. However, I don’t criticise individual people as my priorities remain the improvement of the production level of the poultry operation, the long-term welfare of poultry and the increased profitability of the safe poultry meat production.
All technical visits are followed by a written summary report with the findings and suggestions.
I can give substantial help in the education of students or teams of poultry, nutritional and breeding companies, as I always concentrate on the practical aspects of poultry health and give my advice based upon extensive practical knowledge.
Field trials:
I have developed trial protocols and carried out numerous field trials both for registration purposes (dose titration and efficacy studies) and demonstration trials with producers. These trials were organized mainly by myself with local assistants, or occasionally with the involvement of other investigators such as academics, veterinarians and clinicians.
Presentation style:
Making presentations on subjects such as poultry diseases on viral, bacterial, management and nutritional origin, is one of the my favourite occupation. I often need to deliver presentations in less favourable conditions, with or without electronic support. However, even only with the help of a flipchart or chalkboard, I can give presentations, also for an audience with a limited understanding of English.
I enjoy taking technical photographs during my diagnostic work, with the prior approval of the poultry owner of course. I can therefore make effective use of my pictures in my presentations for illustrations. It is not uncommon, for me to use my fresh images in the summary presentations I make to a poultry business after examining its operation during a long day. This helps illustrate my key points and recommendations. The source of any photographs used in my presentation is always kept strictly confidential.
I am used to delivering presentations and training in English, German and Hungarian, and I can work well together with translators of different capabilities. I can adapt my speed and details of my speech to the language abilities of the translator, giving the most effective flow of information. I am always happy to take questions during my presentations, while making sure that I do not overrun my allocated time. I can also initiate “round-table discussions” with a short introductory presentation, giving the audience the chance to open up and ask questions, even in environments where active participation starts rather reluctantly. In case I don’t have the precise answer on the spot, I normally follow up any outstanding points by written communication.
Articles:
I often write technical articles for magazines related to the poultry industry, and participate in the development of technical brochures, leaflets, and advertising materials of different organisations. See some examples.
Language skills:
I speak fluent English beside my native Hungarian. I can communicate quite well in German, including making presentations. I am working on improving my Russian, and currently speak enough for basic communication with Russian and Slavic language speakers in countries such as Slovakia, Czechia, Serbia, Slovenia, Poland, and Croatia. My ability to read Cyrillic has been essential for my work in Serbia, Bulgaria, and Ukraine.