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Welcome to the official site of The Association of Veterinary Students

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Ever thought about. . .

Working overseas?

 
 

 

 

 

Find out about the discussions that took place at the  

 

  British Veterinary Association Congress 2011,

 

 

here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Assocation of Veterinary Students are proud supporters of the International Veterinary Students Association (IVSA)

                                       

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Education

 

Student debt and tuition fees have been at the centre of discussion at the recent AVS and BVA meetings. AVS have also collected responses from members in the Student tuition fees 'Have your say' survey.

Veterinary students find themselves in a unique position, not only because of their five or six-year degree course, but also the requirement for extramural studies. EMS is done in holiday time which decreases the earning potential of students, furthermore EMS placements are self-funded incurring additional transport and accommodation costs.
 
In the 2008 AVS survey, 32.4% of final year veterinary students consider themselves to be in serious financial difficulties and this looks to increase in the survey that will be going out soon.

Graduate salaries in the veterinary profession and the scope for future earnings are far less than those in the medical profession so the student debt will be repaid over a much greater proportion of a vets working life.

The Association of Veterinary Students believes that the increase in tuition fees will deter many potential candidates from applying for a veterinary course and decrease access to the profession with a loss of social and cultural diversity. It will also affect the job choice on graduation and the dynamics of the future veterinary profession.

AVS believes the current financial provision for members must be reviewed to ensure the impact on veterinary students and the future profession is minimised. If veterinary students were provided with robust financial advice and there was increased student loan availability for veterinary students the impact of student debt would be reduced.

 

 

 

 

The Association of Veterinary Students welcomes the article Give and take on higher education published in The Veterinary Record.

 

 

The AVS committee deals with issues concerning veterinary student training and the veterinary school curriculum.

 

Course
 
Representatives from each vet school can feedback any concerns that their students have regarding their course, which includes curriculum content, teaching standards or teaching facilities. A recent issue which has been raised is the increasing year sizes at some universities and how this may be having a negative impact on education due to a lack of staffing during practical sessions. This was reported to the universities who endeavoured to solve the problem by ensuring more staff members were available.
 
 
EMS
 
This is an area which the AVS is heavily involved. Recently members of the committee worked together with the RCVS to review the EMS system by carrying out surveys of both student and practice member opinions. The results of these were used to produce the new EMS guidelines (for students and practices) to help ensure that both the student and the practice are benefiting from EMS placements, and feel they are a worthwhile and pleasurable experience. Further details on EMS guidance can be found on the RCVS website. 
The BVA student guide to EMS is also a useful document which is available on the BVA website.
The AVS committee are currently working to establish an online EMS database which will include information on EMS placements such as:
- Practice Name
- Practice Address
- Practice Phone number
- Practice Email address
- Practice website
- Name of EMS contact at practice
- Best method of contact - email/phone/letter
- Species treated (percentages)
- Number of vets
- Accommodation at practice?
- Transport links i.e. do you need your own car or is there a bus/train link
- Working hours expected
- Dress code (smart/no denim/no trainers)
- Other requirements (e.g. CV, photograph of self)
 
This would allow students to search for practices with certain features enabling them to find practices that suit them for their EMS requirements
The reason for producing an EMS database is that students often attend university in a completely different part of the country to their family home, so it makes sense to have a national database for used by all vet students. The AVS have established from student comments that although this sort of information is on offer in various forms from many universities, the school systems often concentrate on practices in their local area which is not useful for students looking for placements near home. Often the information held is just the address, phone number & caseload, and is often out of date.
Students often have to phone up practices to ask many admin questions e.g. dress code, time expected, lunch arrangements etc... by having this information on the database it would field all these calls from students to practice managers, resulting in only students truly interested in doing placements there contacting the practices. This would save a lot of wasted time for practice managers or EMS co-ordinators answering the same questions over and over.
 
 
Admissions
 
It is never easy to know exactly what the admissions boards are looking for and it seems to vary from college to college. It is rare for a candidate to receive more than one or two conditional offers from different vet schools and looking back as clinical students it does seem that each vet school tries to pick the students that will fit its course the best; something that as applicants we couldn’t predict!
The AVS committee has come up with some helpful tips to guide you in the right direction:
·         The one thing all candidates have to achieve is high grades at A-level or the equivalent and GCSE grades now play a larger part than in the past, as they are thought in some ways to be better indicators of suitability for university. The requirements vary little between each vet school and information of the exact requirements can be found from the university prospectuses.
·         Admissions boards also require candidates to have carried out work experience within various aspects of the veterinary and animal industries. This shows you can take initiative to achieve your dream, and we have heard admissions tutors say that applicants’ work experience is sometimes the only thing which can differentiate between them! It may involve seeing practice at your local veterinary surgery or working at stables, farms, kennels/catteries, zoos or abattoirs. All of these not only look good on your UCAS form, but we can assure you they will stand you in good stead and are also advantageous when studying animal husbandry and even in the clinical years at university. Don't forget to get references from your placements, put them in your National Record of Achievement and take them to interview!
·         To try and get ahead of the rest of the field most students show a wide range of other activities showing social skills, and a rounded side to you apart from your dedication to veterinary medicine! These may include sports, music, acting and other clubs inside or outside school/college. Never underestimate any hobbies or interests you may have, as you want to be the one that the admissions tutors remember and hopefully offer a place to.
To get offered a place at vet school takes a lot of time and effort. Indeed many students have taken years out between getting their A level grades, and applying again, and more and more have obtained a degree before studying veterinary science/medicine. However, almost all will say that it is all worth it in the end!
In addition there are now several widening participation schemes in place for access to veterinary medicine, so don’t despair if you haven’t taken the traditional route through A levels! A high level of academic achievement is obviously still needed to cope with the rigorous undergraduate curriculum, but there are many other routes in! The Royal Veterinary College in London is leading the way in this field!
 
Details of each vet schools admission requirements can be found on their faculty website:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Intercalation
 
Many vet students choose to intercalate every year either to pursue a subject area of interest in greater depth or just to take a year out from the hectic Veterinary degree! You will rarely hear somebody who has intercalated say they regret adding a year to their degree. You will ultimately end up with either a Bachelors or Masters Degree. Many universities award grants for successful applicants, plus the Wellcome Trust award several scholarships to Veterinary Intercalators. Some of the popular intercalation options are:
Bristol:
 
 
Edinburgh:
 
 
 
Glasgow:
 
No vet specific courses are run but many students intercalate within one of the universities preclinical faculties.
 
 
Liverpool:
 
 
 
 

London:
 

 

          BSc in Veterinary Pathology

 

 


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