Veterinary medicine timetable

[Vetmedscitimetabke]

My daughter is hoping to study veterinary medicine/science at uni. She is wondering what the timetable looks like in terms of hours per day and what holidays they get. Am I correct in thinking it’s likely to be 9-5 Monday to Friday with maybe Wednesday afternoons off for sport if lucky? I’ve no idea on holidays. I got loads as an undergrad but not as a student nurse (post grad).
Would anyone be happy to share what the timetable is like please? She’s looking at Liverpool and Nottingham as preferences.
Also in terms of financing uni, does your child have time for part time work or is the timetable too demanding? She should be entitled to a full maintenance loan/grant but looking at accommodation costs I’m thinking she will need to get part time work.
TIA.

Lower grades too as need ABB. But they do seem to like a variety of wex (from the successful applicants we've had).

We have students on the farm . (See user name ) !
However I would strongly advise that she tries to get some different vet experiences .
vets work in abbatoirs and all sorts of environments . There is a shortage of large animal vets so that is always good on an application.

@farmlass weirdly DDs friends who want to be farm vets couldn't get jobs this year ! They don't seem to want/afford new grads. V sad as loads of them wanted to do it.

I studied medicine, which is obviously a full workload in addition to placements, and still worked. It’s what everyone not funded by wealthy parents had to do. Still got honours. TBH if someone can’t work that hard as a student they will really struggle as a doctor. I imagine it’s much the same for vet.

Yes we found many vets just say no but she started local and went further afield in her emails until she found two vets who finally said yes. She was even about to try vets in other parts of the country where we had relatives she could stay with. Probably sent 20 emails. I’ve heard other people sending over 50! It’s non negotiable for Liverpool and notts I think. My advice would be to do that asap as she will need her vet work exp sorted before October. When we emailed in November they only had slots for August.

@Clonakilladifference for vets is the compulsory EMS in holidays. So you don't get long breaks in first few years. Can work in term time, although placements can be 2-4 weeks somewhere else quite often (especially in last year). And timetables vary a lot each week due to amount of practicals.

@Onthesofawithmydog they book up years in advance unfortunately. Persistence is needed ! Same for when they need EMS, although Unis do have databases of helpful placements.

Well our experience was that 9-10 months was fine but had to try multiple practices, so hopefully if the OP’s child is willing to email multiple places they might be able to find somewhere for summer hols. Small animal easier than large as they don’t have dbs checks to take students out on visits 1-1.

Not Vet Med but another specialised stem subject - definitely no time for a part time job with all the additional independent study needed. DS had a very full timetable Mon-Fri some days till quite late with lab time. He had friends from his sports team that only had 9 hours a weeks contact time, whereas he had one day a week that was 9 hours on its own!

Unfortunately he had no Weds afternoon off for BUCS sport, which was a real struggle. Lecturers let him have time off for BUCS but he then had catchup to fit in as well. It seems that the subjects where the athletes were commonly found (Sport Science, Business, Management etc) had time for fixtures built in, but not everyone else.

Sorry, was generalising. Lots of places will have odd weeks free so just need to keep trying.

Some large animal vets will take school students (they don't bother with dbs 😂). But it is a risk for them - my DD was so lucky as did horse and farm when at school but things have changed in the last 7 years - I think practices have been stung by some students. if work at a stable @Vetmedscitimetabke ask who their vet is and see if can shadow them for a day or two.

@mumsneedwine

In response to your query about my daughter being awarded a first. She was at Surrey.

Here

@Parcell wasn't doubting you ! Just not usual to give class for vet med so wondered where was doing it. Good to know Surrey.

Thanks @mumsneedwine ❤️

Level 7 degrees are usually distinction, merit or pass. Never seen one given as classes before. 😁.

@mumsneedwine quick question about WEX. Liverpool says 'commercial farm but not family farm'. Assume that just means not your parent's farm? DD is doing lambing at her uncle's farm at Easter. Assume that doesn't count as family farm?

@FruAashild it does, but as long as the name of the farm is not the same as your name then they won't ever know.

My dc is doing veterinary medicine at Nottingham. The timetable is very varied. Some full days, some part days, a mix of lectures, self study and practicals. It’s a heavy workload. She’s expecting to come home for most of April to revise, then back in May for exams, then 4 or 5 separate work experience periods of two weeks each which can be anywhere. Halls close in July I think and she’ll move into private rental in September. I just can’t think what job might fit around it. She might be better doing a gap year and saving her earnings.

But also what we’ve found with the 8-10 weeks work experience required in year 1 is that you have a window of June to August to do it, but you are limited by what dates they have available, particularly if you need accommodation. So it pretty much spans the whole summer with odd weeks off here and there. Dd found it ok though, most people said yes.

Cambridge just decided today they’re not going to close the vet school

I'd probably confirm this with Liverpool.

With regards to EMS and work experience, it was not my dc's experience that things were booked years in advance. Rather, they called/emailed/etc about 4/5 months in advance and in some cases just a few weeks. It's true that prospective students will have to send out a lot of feelers to get the required practice in for applications and after that for EMS.

They had a job as a cleaner at a vet practice, and also volunteered with a wildlife hospital during 6th form. Lambing and a dog rescue as well offered other good experience.
EMS can also be done through Easter break if that doesn't interfere with exams.

good luck!

This is v good news. Don't know anyone who applied for this year because of it though. But v glad it's been saved.

How does your dc like it at Cambridge. I was pleased to see their vet school will continue to exist. Is it like all else in Cambridge, attended by the brightest and bets? Is it more theoretical?

All vet students are pretty bright 😂. Cambs is 6 years not 5 which puts lots of people off. Less animal handling in early years, although they have added more recently. They still only have provisional RCVS accreditation but hopefully this will be sorted soon.

All vet schools will lead you to become a vet so it matters more getting in - it's a v competitive process.

@MeduSet
Hi, dc loves Cambridge, they really suit the style of teaching/colleges system. They have taken full advantage of clubs and societies, halls and balls! Just like anywhere else I expect.

There was a lot of animal handling in Y1 and Y2, though I have nothing to compare it to without googling.
DC was predicted and got 3 A stars, had 4 interviews but 1 offer. They would say they are just passing and everyone else is far smarter. but they are really v hard on themselves. Perfectionist. Agree all vet students are bright!

Great news re staying open, offers have been or will be sent out now for '26, and they will offer for '27 now too. My DC is intercalating now (3rd year) and enjoying a slightly less exhaustive timetable.