A Visit to the Vet School

I had the opportunity this week to visit the University's Vet School, which is about 30 minutes out of city centre in Langford. The complex houses the University buildings, a small animal vet practice, an equine vet surgery and a working farm. Even though I was there to learn more about the administrative processes, I took a few minutes to look around and snap some photos.

Like most of UK there are some gorgeous old buildings and this campus is no exception.

This isn't a working barn, but the study center for the Vet school students. It's got couches, desks, computers. showers and a game room.

Not a real cow - those are across the street at the farm that's owned by the University.

 Unfortunately, this is a poor quality photo, but the daffodils were amazing.

This is the administration building where I spent the day with the school administrators. Oh, and Gerti. Gerti is one of the administrator's dog and she comes in from time to time to help with classes. On this day, she was with the vet nurses helping them practice bandaging! Any staff member can have their dog assessed to see if he/she has the right temperament to help out with classes. And no, they don't take any cats!

This lawn is where they hold the graduation ceremony for the vet students each July.

The grounds are beautiful - what a lovely place to go to school.

 There are 7 Vet schools in the UK and still students are turned away each year. Here they get roughly 1000 applicants each year for 150 places. Makes things very competitive. If you haven't had some experience either on a farm or in a clinic before you even apply, you won't even get considered.

 It's lambing season and the field on the grounds was full of sheep and frolicking lambs! All first year vet students spend spring break helping with lambing. They are placed at farms all over the UK and spend two weeks with the farmers learning and helping.

Vets attend 5 years of school, which is a combination of classroom and practical experience. They are rigorously assessed on skills and knowledge throughout the 5 years and spend almost every break doing their practical experience. They don't even get a break between years 4 and 5. At the end, they earn their degree in Veterinary Science and are registered with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and can then practice.