Veterinary Medicine 2016!

Hi guys,

As a rule I generally hate these kind of threads because it makes me feel terribly inadequate in terms of the amount of work experience I already have Stupidly I was too busy revising for my GCSEs to organise any work experience for the summer in advance (suppose it was worth it in the end...) but I did managed to make a few contacts last minute.

So far I have:


I'm desperately trying to find SOME farm work for next year at the moment, but am quite limited due to the area I live in - got a few (well, three) farmers to ring tomorrow. Also planning to apply for some lab work shortly for next summer.

...what are my prospects looking like?

I'm desperately trying to find SOME farm work for next year at the moment, but am quite limited due to the area I live in - got a few (well, three) farmers to ring tomorrow. Also planning to apply for some lab work shortly for next summer.

...what are my prospects looking like?

I know others have booked B&Bs/camping to get to placements

you lack farm work and also farm/equine/large vets too

Sorry, bit off an off-topic question if you don't mind. I've seen you mention camping as a viable option for accommodation several times, but how did that actually work? I had to give up a LA vet placement over summer as I simply couldn't afford the accommodation that was available, and that now means that I'm applying without any LA vet work (fabbo...). I had considered camping, but didn't really think the logistics of it would work out. I obviously wouldn't leave my tent and belongings unattended at the campsite for the whole day. Did the people you know take their tent down every morning and carry it to work with them or what?

Would you say that one week at an equine vet isn't enough then?

Just managed to talk to a sheep farmer who took my number and said he would contact me when lambing time comes, and in the process of getting the contact details (off a friend) for another... Both farms within 3 or so miles of me. Given that before looking I had no idea there were sheep anywhere near me, it's not bad I suppose?

Hi, would anyone happen to know any farms around west Yorkshire/Lancashire/ Dumfries and Galloway that take on people wanting work experience. Additionally would anyone know any farms at the aforementioned locations wanting helpers for lambing and/calving? Thanks

Hey guys, does anyone know what open day ettiquette is like? Are you supposed to go to all of the open days for places you want to apply to? Or do you only go to ones that you're close to?

Hey guys, does anyone know what open day ettiquette is like? Are you supposed to go to all of the open days for places you want to apply to? Or do you only go to ones that you're close to?

There's no 'etiquette', so to speak . You can do what you want. It's recommended that you go to all of the places that you want to apply to but logistically that isn't possible for everyone. I'd definitely suggest going further afield than the ones nearest you, especially considering that vet schools are dispersed so far across the UK. Personally, I live in London and I ended up seeing Bristol and Edinburgh. I would have liked to have gone to Nottingham and Liverpool but train tickets = £££. The RVC have their open day at a stupid time mid exam season but if you're close to there then they run events throughout the year that you can go to instead.

Going to open days let me get a feel for different places and to be honest it changed the places I put down on my UCAS form. If you're going to be somewhere for 5 years you might as well see that you like the place in my opinion. It also gives you a better idea of the course, and is a good chance to ask students about the uni and their experiences of applying. If, at interview, you are asked why you want to apply to them, then an open day might maybe highlight important aspects which you can talk about. Of course you may need to choose wisely and it's unlikely you will visit all of them, but I would recommend doing at least some.

Also, during interview, some unis will give you a tour of the place (RVC used to, not sure if they do now?) but others definitely don't.

I live in the East Midlands, they're all reaaally far away except for the RVC and Nottingham, lmao. I feel like I want to go to all of them! Well, I probably won't go to Nottingham's because I'm going on their Widening Access course so I can see what's what while I'm doing that.

Thanks though!! And I totally understand about train tickets, blehh my train line sucks so much because I have to change 2 or 3 times to go anywhere other than London. Yaaay commuter-centric train companies.



Oooh where were you thinking of applying before and where did you put down on your UCAS? I was thinking of putting down Liverpool, Bristol, RVC, and then I don't know which of Edingbugh, and Nottingham. I was thinking of going to Glasgow but their entry requirements are soooo high! I'm not sure I could get an A* and they don't let you have an art subject as your 3rd A2.

I wanted to apply to RVC, Cambridge, Bristol and Notts but ended up applying to Liverpool, RVC, Cam and Notts in the end. I just didn't feel like I wanted to spend 5 years in Bristol despite it being quite close to home. I originally didn't want to go to Liverpool as it's the furthest English vet school from one from home (Scotland was waaay to far for me), but I really liked them on my open day and I was told that with my work experience I would be almost guaranteed an interview.... not looked back since!

A lot of it is down to personal preference to be honest. I am happy to answer questions about Liverpool although I am on the old syllabus so can't comment much not the course other that you will be learning clinical skills from day one.

Wow, a huge thing that makes me want to apply to Liverpool was the work expereience requirements. I like the idea that everyone who goes there has had a lot of experience handling animals, but other places they might have only had 2 or 3 weeks total.

Why didn't you like Bristol? I've read good things about the city, is the campus not so good?