Veterinary science

[Teamchurros]

I haven't seen any recent threads about vet school and thought I'd start one. My dd who's 14 and in year 9 is passionate about animal care and in particular she's absolutely horse mad.

She is particularly interested in the medical aspect of animal care and is doing well in her sciences and maths, all top sets, has been riding since she was 8 and helping at the yard for a couple of years where she is seen as reliable and knowledge.

If anyone can share their thoughts on doing veterinary science, which unis are good and what sorts of practical experience would help her learn more about being the profession and help her with her application that would be great. More importantly, if you are a vet or know any vets currently in the workplace, do they enjoy their job?

Farm experience, especially at lambing time, is an important thing to have under her belt

We’ve not looked at Veterinary Medicine but if it’s anything like Medicine it won’t be a case of which one is best, she will need to look at the admission criteria of the Unis which she’s interested in and work out which one she’s most likely to get into.

Sounds like she’s got a great plan though and she just needs to start getting some work experience done

This thread from last year might be helpful too

@Teamchurrosmum of 5th year vet student. There are no ‘best’ Unis - one offer is the most you’ll likely get so they choose you. Work experience is important to get an interview but often they only count things done in the 18 months before applying. You don’t need lambing or dairy but a variety is good. So stables, kennels and couple of vet practices. Even having a part time job in a cafe or shop counts - anything customer facing. Each Uni uses work experience in different ways and things will likely change before yours applies. For now, get the best GCSE grades you can, keep working with animals where you can and choose Bio, Chem A levels, 3rd doesn’t matter. And keep a diary when doing wex so can remember things for the many forms you’ll be filling in on applying

@Teamchurros sorry, meant to add, she’s loved every minute of the course. Has a great job starting in Sept. Unis do a lot of work on managing stress these days.

Here is Liverpools current requirements- they interview everyone who has the required amount

Sorry meant to add you need 15 days in total.

Sounds like my daughter a few years back :)

You may already know - a thing to be aware of is this is a tough degree and career choice, a lot of folks who qualify in Vet Med leave the profession within 5 years - make sure you talk to folks about the reality of the life. Lots of opportunities overseas though

You may also already know - If you want animal contact in your work the choices seem to be mainly Vet Med (doing the clinical bit) or Vet Nursing (doing the animal care bit). There also seems to be 4 paths (I think) large animal (eg horse), farm animal (the other big animals) companion animals and exotics. All decent Vet schools cover the lot and many young adults who start out with one interest, for example horse, have the chance to change.

Best advice we got was make sure you have lots of work experience - BUT not for CV and applications - so you know what you are getting to. One Vet Med academic really encouraged my daughter to do lambing work experience (which is pretty easy to find, there is a website that advertises). If you can do this for a couple of weeks, with all the down sides of tiredness, unpleasant conditions (including putting dead lambs in the skip) you will know you are resilient enough.

If you do go down this route Surrey Vet Med (I think) has a set of blank work experience letters you can download. You add your work experience details to these and get them signed, its a good way to build a portfolio of evidence

Good advice. Collect letters on headed paper from every placement when you do them as it’s easier than trying to get them when apply. You will be asked for them ! Just needs dates.

All vet courses have to cover all animals, and public health so be prepared for 3 days in an abbotoir.

You’ll have to do 2 weeks lambing in first 2 years, so nice if can get it earlier but not necessary.

Job situation trickier than normal this year but DD has a job lined up for autumn as do most of her friends. Mix of corporate and independent, small animal, equine and mixed. There seems to be a good emphasis on work life balance which is good

Really appreciate all the advice. I was initially not too thrilled to hear about her career hopes as I heard that vets have often a difficult work life balance and there can be burnout but as dd seems genuinely interested it might be right for her.

Which websites advertise placements for lambing season?

She is academically capable, but she does have to work for it and isn't a natural high flier who fins it all easy. The academic standard must be extremely high in vet school, is it mainly complete high fliers who study vet med? That in itself could be potentially challenging.

Typical A-levels seems to be biology chemistry and physics / maths its' a shame that there doesn't seem to be space for a subject like psychology, which would really interest her.

@Teamchurrospsychology is fine as a 3rd. DDs friend had drama as a 3rd and she got 4 offers. You don’t need to be a ‘high flier’ just bright and committed. 3 As is enough.

There is a Facebook page called The Lambing Club where they advertise lambing placements. But you really don’t need it (DD had not met a sheep and got 3 offers).

You need an A in A level Chemistry then two other As. Usually biology as one. That's the biggest hurdle imo. Chemistry A level is hard. Third can be anything academic. Dd did English.

Then if you want a few offers probably at least two weeks in a vets practice. Then another 4 weeks in things like lambing, dairy farm, kennels. The good thing is you're starting early. For some unis though (eg RVC) the experience has to be within 18 months of applying.

You need to email vet practices, farms, kennels and ask if they'll offer a week of work experience. We had to travel for some of them. They won't take her until at least 16 though. They (I think) are more likely to say yes if you have realistic GCSEs to be getting 3 As at A level.

The unis specify exactly what they need on the references from these work experience weeks. Dd took a form we printed off with all the things they ask for. They need to make sure they get it completed at the end of the work experience week. The unis differ in their requirements, so you have to cover all bases.

It's a journey really and involves a fair bit of work. Dd has 3 offers and is waiting on her 4th uni to come back.

I think they look for people with an understanding of farming and the meat industry, as well as animal health. Customer service experience is useful. Outdoor pursuits. Team work things.

There's a lot of information on Student Room. You can log on as a parent. Most unis interview but Bristol doesn't. Which is a bonus if you're a bit shy.

Stables is great experience.

We went round most of the Vet Med unis and I was surprised how different they were in approach, facilities and also that they tend to look for different things in prospective students, eg Nottingham (I think) was particularly interested in interpersonal skills because Vets have to work with people. They also emphasise first opinion practice.

FWIW Liverpool claim to have the largest Equine hospital in western Europe and lots of opportunity to work with horses

Definitely do some Open Days when you feel ready - starting early is good because it give you lots of time to think. And every visit we did we had a chance to move closer to making a good informed decision.

NSA has a lambing list - NSA

Some places accept AAB and one ABB.

I came across this article in the Guardian. We wouldn't be aiming for Cambridge, well, very unlikely, but I'm really surprised that the course has received such criticism.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/nov/27/cambridge-university-veterinary-course-lose-accreditation-ethical-concerns

Would love to hear what people with knowledge of vet med think about this. Is this a case of traditional practices and teaching not having caught up with more ethical expectations? The teaching style also seems outdated. Looking at their website, they are now reviewing the course.
https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/veterinary-medicine-vetmb

I have a kid there, they love it
I wasn't overly involved in their application process a few years ago - they are v independent and did all the research etc.
It's not about the teaching, there are no formal complaints about that
Funding is a huge issue, entire university is massively in debt as many are today across the UK
Students have places for 2025, and will be admitted for 2026.