veterinary nursing diploma to vet med

Hiya!! I’m a diploma RVN. I applied for vet nursing at uni back in 2014, but declined my offers as I knew I wanted to do vet med. so did the diploma. Although it’s saved me financially, i still found it hard to get on to a vet med course. Technically, only nottinghams prelim year course is the only entry requirement the diploma meets, all the others the diploma means nothing. Personally, you’re best doing an access to HE course. As more unis will accept that than the VN diploma. Otherwise, the diploma can get you on foundation years - this is what I have had to do through HKVS. Hope this helps 🙂 x

Hey thanks for your response, are you now on the course to study vet med at harper and keele? they don’t offer a foundation year there

There’s either a course at Harper or at Keele - they’re on HKVS website. There are 10 places per course and we all have a place reserved at HKVS for the following September when we are ready to progress on to year 1. We have to sit the MMI’s but we don’t have to re-apply like external applicants, we get automatic invitation. Providing we pass the MMI’s (so far no one has failed them from the foundation year - that’s from Harper side) and we get 70% for the foundation year, we will progress on to year 1. I’m at harper doing the access to Vet med foundation year

what did you study for a levels before you did get nurisng diploma

I didn’t do my a levels. I did the extended national diploma Levels 3 Animal Management at college (grade: triple Distinction*) as I was undiagnosed with dyslexia at school so wasn’t even entered for triple science. I sat biology at the same time I did my animal management course (meaning it was also a struggle to get into vet med as I hadn’t got GCSE chemistry). At the time only Nottingham were really accepting the Animal management (this was when I was looking at uni’s entry requirements 10 years ago when I was at school), so thought it would help get me in the right direction. When coming toward university application time, I was pushed to apply for vet nursing instead but then declined my offers and my parents paid for me to do the vet nursing diploma. Qualified 6 years ago, have since done my post grad qualification in exotic and zoo species and worked in referral as well as being a CT nurse. Getting in isn’t easy even with 10 years veterinary experience and a strong personal statement & reference, but once you’re on a course it’s fine. I don’t regret the route I took as I’m finding the content a lot easier to follow. I also have friends / know plenty of RVN’s that are now training to be vets or are now vets, and they said the course was still difficult but took a lot of pressure off

okie, would you advise that i just go to uni? how are you finishing the vet med course?

What are your GCSE results? You need to look at entry requirements. - if you haven’t got the right GCSEs or grades, you’re going to have to resit them first.

This is the entry requirement for the Access to Vet med course at harper:
Students require six passes (grade C / 4 or above) at GCSE level, including Maths, English Language and a science subject along with three A-Levels at BBB or equivalent. Additionally, students must be at least 17½ years of age at the time of registration.

Other vet schools with foundation years include: Nottingham, RVC, Bristol, UClan. You’ll have to see if you meet the entry requirements. (Liverpools foundation year is for mature students).

If you have the entry requirements and work experience requirements then you may as well do a foundation year. If not, then the Access to HE course would be your best bet as doing a degree to get on to vet med is extremely expensive. Experience wise, I would suggest 2 weeks in practice, 2 weeks with horses, week with farm, 2 weeks outside of a vets

I will finish the course through HKVS

What are your GCSE results? You need to look at entry requirements. - if you haven’t got the right GCSEs or grades, you’re going to have to resit them first.

This is the entry requirement for the Access to Vet med course at harper:
Students require six passes (grade C / 4 or above) at GCSE level, including Maths, English Language and a science subject along with three A-Levels at BBB or equivalent. Additionally, students must be at least 17½ years of age at the time of registration.

Other vet schools with foundation years include: Nottingham, RVC, Bristol, UClan. You’ll have to see if you meet the entry requirements. (Liverpools foundation year is for mature students).

If you have the entry requirements and work experience requirements then you may as well do a foundation year. If not, then the Access to HE course would be your best bet as doing a degree to get on to vet med is extremely expensive. Experience wise, I would suggest 2 weeks in practice, 2 weeks with horses, week with farm, 2 weeks outside of a vets

I will finish the course through HKVS

How did you find nursing?

Tbh you will struggle to get on to vet med with BBB and GCSE grades at 4-5. So you’ll end up having to do a foundation year anyways. You’ll be in a better position to get on to vet med if you go the degree route with vet nursing but as I say funding vet med as a second degree is financially draining, but means you can locum as a nurse throughout uni for money. I work Saturdays 9-1 and on half days/days off around uni to give money coming in.

The diploma, personally, isn’t difficult - but I am aware the course has changed a lot since I qualified 6 years ago. I fast-tracked and finished the course in 2 years, but usually takes 2.5/3 years but I have known some nurses take 4/5 years, due to having to redo a year etc. Could your practice let you done some hours as a vet care assistant? So you’re out back seeing the roles and responsibilities of different team members? I have friends that wanted to be vets, but once they started their vet nurse training, soon realised being a vet wouldn’t be for them. Coming across a practice that’s willing to take you on for training is incredibly lucky, so would be a shame to turn it down. You just need to take into consideration that even though you may be a RVN in the future, it won’t entirely make your potential experience getting into vet school easier - unless it’s a degree

hey thank you so much for your time and the responses it’s helping me so much! the place i work now will pay for the diploma, i am planning on shadowing some vet nurses and vets, but i just really love the aspect of surgery for vet med. i still will apply for the degree but speak to the practice regarding the diploma. going to deffo apply for vet nursing at harper as the have the access to HKVS there. thanks so much for the help. also how was vet nursing did you enjoy it and how comes you now are interested in vet med

RVC may be of benefit for applying for vet nursing too, as they do a vet med course which is the standard 5 year course, or they also do an accelerated course which is 4 years.

Under schedule 3, vet nurses can do some surgeries (just cannot enter the body cavity) so we can do toe amputations, tail amputations etc. There are external courses you can do to gain confidence in it. I routinely used to perform post mortems at work and I would suture wounds

I have always wanted to be a vet but being undiagnosed with dyslexia and being in a bad relationship when I was younger, I didn’t have the correct qualifications and mental health for it, hence why I fell into nursing. But I was ready for it when I decided to apply. I loved my job as an exotic and zoo vet nurse, but as soon as I started the job, I knew I wanted to be a vet, but working with these species. But the opportunity to have such an advantage theoretically and practically, as well as gaining interpersonal skills, other academic skills and networking has been invaluable. So although I won’t qualify until 33, I don’t regret it

aw that’s really good, im happy for you. i think i’m going to gain more experience and then decide what career path i want. Thank you so much for your help. if i have another more questions could i later on respond to you? please keep me updated on the vet med course as i’m interested to get your opinion on it. i think i’m just worried i won’t be able to handle vet med as i feel like o have adhd and have been told by my teachers that i have it. it has calmed down a lot but i still struggle with focusing

I am too undergoing testing for adhd. A lot of vets and nurses I’ve worked with that have it, and/or ASD. Another girl on my foundation year has adhd too. Some of the university’s are really good and supportive, some less so, so you’re best going to a uni that support alternative route students.

I’m a very practical person so doing nursing helped ease me into vet med, so much. I also found I had a development delay, which I’ve read is common with adhd. So doing all this at 18 would have been too overwhelming and I wouldn’t have comprehended it. If you have diagnoses, you can apply for DSA, so I get software on my MacBook and ear phones to keep out background distraction noises, and so much more. I think if you are genuinely passionate about doing this and have the intelligence (I don’t mean A* student, but to a certain degree academia) - emotional intelligence, interpersonal skills etc, you’ll do just fine

You can message when ever 🙂 best of luck X

hey, i’m not too sure if you could help me but i have an interview coming up with a university and ive been asking all the vets and nurses what they would do it this scenario and i was wondering if i could get your input.

The scenario is:

A client presents their 16 week old rabbit to the veterinary practice as she is very lethargic and is not eating. The veterinary surgeon advises the client that the rabbit appears to have suffered some sort of trauma. On further discussion with the client it transpires that the owners 8 year child threw the rabbit on the floor earlier that day; there are several options in terms of treatment:

The rabbit can be hospitalised for symptomatic treatment that will cost in the region of £200 - £300.
The rabbit can be euthanised
The owner could consider signing over the rabbit to the veterinary practice or an animal rescue charity.
Having considered the options the client asks the veterinary surgeon to euthanase the rabbit; it will be the cheapest and easiest option for them.

Are there any other options for this patient? How would you approach discussions with the owner to ensure the best decision for the patient was made?

I don’t think you’ll end up having scenario questions this specific. They’re usually a bit more open/less precise. One of my vet med interview questions was to discuss euthanasia but there wasn’t this level of information for the scenario.

Personally, I think it’s a welfare case. Although it’s been done by a child, the adult should be supervising and is responsible. Regardless of any choice, pain relief should be provided immediately. Ultimately, it’s the owners decision to make following informed consent (all options have been explained, with likely outcomes/ prognosis / risks, as well as financial costing).

Due to the nature of the injury, investigations and imaging would need to be performed so that estimate would be low - would need adjusting.

Euthanasia is a fair option, and should be offered to relieve suffering. If the owner is unable to afford treatment / unhappy to nurse back to full health, then euthanasia should be considered.

Yeah, signing over can be an option, but who would pay for treatment? As someone who has worked with exotics (rabbits in particular) for many years, I can competently say, a lot of rabbit rescue centres are at full capacity, and that’s with healthy rabbits. - plus rehoming could only occur if the animal can be treated so that there is quality of life.

I personally don’t think euthanasia is a bad option. As long as that decision is made following informed consent. Options, outcome and finances are explained fully. Ultimately the patient needs quality of life and should not suffer