2017 vet med students

Does anyone know any places to do lambing in Kent, preferably around West Kent? I looked at the NSA lambing list and they all want people for several weeks which I won't be able to do I was thinking about Hadlow (idk if any of you guys know it ) but I was wondering if it would be farmy enough because it's sort of a public attraction?

I'm afraid I don't know of any places in Kent, I just wanted to say that farms don't always need you to do the full number of weeks On both my placements I was there before/after somebody else, and I'm doing the same this year.

I've heard of Hadlow, and they'll definitely be worth a try. I assume that the ag college is, for all intents and purposes, a working farm. They might appreciate the help at weekends/school holidays when the students aren't there. I think they used to run taster/into weekends throughout the year for various things, I'm pretty sure there was a lambing one so that could be worth looking into.

(I got your message by the way I will reply but when I started typing it turned out longer than I anticipated and I haven't had a chance to finish it )

Oh okay, that's good then so if I contacted them for next lambing season would I just say how long I'd be able to help for? I'd also find it a bit daunting to go and stay somewhere that I don't know for a week, but it would be a good experience I think

Okay thanks, I'll email them at some point soon then. Do you think one week lambing is enough or should I try to get more? I'm not really sure where I'm going to be able to fit everything in :s

(Haha its fine dw, thanks in advance for replying!)

if you are contacting a place say when you're available e.g. can I do a 1 weeks placement sometime between x - x date ?

One week of lambing will give you a nice overview although it is likely you will gain their trust more and be able to do more by the end of 2 weeks . However, if you are struggling to fit in other 'core' work placements then I would suggest only doing one week if it means you get more of a variety. I got interviewed everywhere I applied and only did one week of lambing but I had a lot of other stuff too (see my profile for details).

I want to call a dairy tonight to ask for a placement for the summer and I was wondering what I should say? is "next year I'm going to be applying to study veterinary medicine at university and I was wondering if you'd be able to offer me a work experience placement?" okay or should I say something else?

Sounds a very good way to start the conversation to me.

Lots of advice about work experience in this TSr article : http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Veterinary_Medicine

Hi everyone- I just wanted to introduce myself on this thread. My name is Megan and I'm from Newcastle. I'm applying to veterinary medicine this year (2015 entry). I also applied last year and had an offer but devastatingly just missed out on the grades, so I'm resitting some modules and reapplying! I have an unconditional offer from Surrey and a conditional offer from RVC so far; I'm just waiting to hear back from Liverpool.

If anyone has any questions or would like advice on anything vet med related, I would be happy to help! Either PM me, or you can ask questions in here which may help others out too!

Good luck with all of your work experience, studies and applications!

Also, is anybody doing/has done NCS? I'm thinking about doing it bit idk if I'll have time with work experience as well.... On a similar note, are people doing lambing next year at Easter? I'm a bit worried about doing wex at Easter and during May half term because of my AS exam and internal A2 mocks

I did NCS It was well worth it for sure (I think I paid £25 for three weeks!?). It does take up a lot of time but the summer after year 11 is practically infinitely long and it's important to do extracurricular/non vetty stuff .

I was lambing last Easter and I'll be going this Easter too. I failed my Unit 2 mocks last year as I literally didn't even pick up my textbooks , but that was a sacrifice I was willing to make and I dragged my grades up in time. It's a judgement call you have to make yourself. I think Easter is fine but I wouldn't be so eager to suggest doing wex during the summer half term (isn't it in June and not May, anyway?) You need a lot of wex to get into vet med, but you don't need to cram in placements into every free femtosecond

Yeah, I want to do it but I have two weeks of CCF camps and then I am on holiday for 4 weeks, which only leaves 6 weeks left for work experience, and I'm already behind

Okay thank you do you think one week at Easter would be okay then? And I know but I am struggling to fit 20 weeks in so I'm a bit worried

But thank you very much for your help PRSOM

There's nothing 'only' about six weeks of work experience if you use it wisely Get varied placements. What have you done/booked so far?

Yeah, I wouldn't use up your entire Easter break. You gotta have a break, y'know Don't prioritise work experience over getting the grades you need, either. Yes, work experience is important but if you don't get the (predicted) grades universities might not even look at it. To be honest 20 weeks is well over the requirement everywhere but if you're still worried then just don't apply to Liverpool. Nowhere is as OTT about work experience as they are Quality > quantity so if you can get the variety (SA and LA vets, stables, kennels and a farm are the minimum I suggest people get) in there then you should be fine .

No worries

I've done just under 3 weeks at a SA vet as a long term placement (every other week after school) and I've got stables and dairy booked for this summer, as well as an equine vet for summer 2016. I was going to try and get a kennels and cattery as well and then two weeks of clinical experience this summer. And if I can get another long term placement, say for half a day/a day on Saturdays, then hopefully that will boost the amount I have

I don't think I'd be comfortable using up all of my Easter holidays either. Do you think 5 days at a vets' in the summer half term would take too much time out of studying as well? Thank you and sorry for so many questions

Hello Megan, welcome to the thread! congratulations on your offers, they're amazing! how much work experience did you have when you applied the first time?

Also, is anybody doing/has done NCS? I'm thinking about doing it bit idk if I'll have time with work experience as well.... On a similar note, are people doing lambing next year at Easter? I'm a bit worried about doing wex at Easter and during May half term because of my AS exam and internal A2 mocks

I'm not going to decide for you whether or not you should do anything in summer half term . Personally, I did, but then my half term was longer because of the way my exam timetable was. Then again, I also recognise that I didn't work nearly as hard as I should have for my GCSEs, and I would probably have done better had I have been revising that week. It's a call you're going to have to make yourself, but if you have any concerns about your exams then I suggest you err on the side of caution and keep that week free.

No need to apologise for asking questions , I was where you are once

Hi, and thank you! I had done a week at a small animal practice (PDSA), two weeks lambing, 4 days at a wildlife park, about a week in total at a stables, volunteering once a week after school at my local vets for about a year, and helping my local fly ball team now and again. I know this is nothing compared to a lot of applicants- hence why I did only get one interview and one offer!

But now I've had a whole extra year to gain so much more work experience. I volunteer at an aquarium one day a week and a wildlife park one day a week. I've got a years more experience at my vets and I've also spent a week at a large animal practice now. Plus I've done two more weeks lambing and a lambing course and will be lambing again this Easter. Just shows how taking a year out, even if you're having to resit, can be an amazing thing. I feel so much more ready now to go to vet school and clearly the unis think so too!

I'm not saying don't try this year- getting in first time is absolutely amazing! And obviously none of you are at all in a position where you even have to consider that yet, but when the time comes, it's nothing to worry about if you have to change your path slightly- you can get to vet school by so many different routes.


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