FARMING: Helping students to pursue career dream

There is usually a requirement for veterinary students to undergo 26 weeks of clinical placements during their final two to three years of their degree, however in light of the pandemic the RCVS (the governing body for veterinary surgeons and nurses) has reduced this requirement for students currently in their final few years of study.

To help counter this, the veterinary profession has pulled together to help students in several ways. A Facebook page, “vetwings , was started during the start of the pandemic for vets in practice to share cases with vet students so they could still experience something vaguely resembling their usual placements.

A little bit closer to home, Alnorthumbria Equine are providing some short evening talks for the ‘VetSoc’ of the Royal Grammar School in Newcastle, for aspiring vet students. This is a group of students who range from years 10-13, who are either interested in a career in the veterinary profession, or who have applied for vet school. The talks we are giving are on a range of topics from applying for vet school, interviewing, a day-in-the-life, and some basic clinical subjects. We all love the opportunity to help those looking to embark on a career in veterinary medicine and provide all the support we can for school and university students alike!

Alnorthumbria has always prided itself on providing a good experience for students, with many learning opportunities and chances to gain practical experience with real cases – always under the close supervision of our vets. For those students with a specific equine interest, we run longer externships, where students are given more responsibilities and have the opportunity to follow our vets during out-of-hours work. These extern students also have a more structured timetable including tutorials with our vets in specific areas of equine practice.

We continue to look forwards to the times at which we will be able to return to having students in the practice, hopefully someday soon restrictions and advice will allow this resumption of normality! Students are a pleasure to have around, we all enjoy teaching them and sometimes they bring new ideas to the practice! Most of our clients enjoy seeing the students out on visits with us, and they are also good company on long days on the road!