Veterinary Medicine uni in Europe

I’m planning to study a long term master degree in Veterinary Medicine in English, but in EU countries. So far I found only in Poland (Warsaw and Lublin) and Hungary (Budapest). I like the organisation and amount of study choices in Budapest, but I’ve read few negative comments on Budapest’s uni. Is anyone here has more comments on these 3 universities? Or maybe someone can recommend more english-taught options in Europe? I want to get as much practical info after graduating, so exotic animals studies and labs with modern technologies are important

I’m planning to study a long term master degree in Veterinary Medicine in English, but in EU countries. So far I found only in Poland (Warsaw and Lublin) and Hungary (Budapest). I like the organisation and amount of study choices in Budapest, but I’ve read few negative comments on Budapest’s uni. Is anyone here has more comments on these 3 universities? Or maybe someone can recommend more english-taught options in Europe? I want to get as much practical info after graduating, so exotic animals studies and labs with modern technologies are important

the daughter fancied bulgaria. i do wonder how you communicate with the animals owners if you cant speak the local language.

Our canine pets are such good social learners that they can detect speech and distinguish languages without any explicit training. Just like you, your dog knows when someone is speaking your native tongue or a foreign language.
Maybe you should learn to understand how animals interact with humans especially with those who speaks foreign languages. Joking about that but you'll be surprised how they understand humans.

I’m planning to study a long term master degree in Veterinary Medicine in English, but in EU countries. So far I found only in Poland (Warsaw and Lublin) and Hungary (Budapest). I like the organisation and amount of study choices in Budapest, but I’ve read few negative comments on Budapest’s uni. Is anyone here has more comments on these 3 universities? Or maybe someone can recommend more english-taught options in Europe? I want to get as much practical info after graduating, so exotic animals studies and labs with modern technologies are important

I studied vet med in Kosice, Slovakia. Had a great time. It’s true if you fail some core subjects you have to retake that subject and potentially the year, but you’d have to not study in order to do that!
It’s fully recognised here in the Uk, Infact when I graduated I got my certificate at the end of June and was working by mid July.
majority of the final exams are oral, some written tests throughout term. Interns of language you’re never alone with a client anyway as a student so the teachers can translate if you happen to be in clinic. You do all your EMS in your home country in the summer/Christmas.
We had a number of students join us who’d started in Budapest and found it not to suit them and moved over to kosice.

A friend of my daughter is in Kosice at the moment and absolutely loves it, but I do wonder how they manage to get the majority of students through the exams when their entry requirements are so much lower than the UK schools. ( Average A level equivalents seems to be around 3 B’s plus the entrance exams) And when @Yvettethevet says you’d have to really not study to find yourself failing modules etc which simply isn’t true for those students studying in the UK, I find myself wondering if they follow the same course as their UK counterparts.
European qualified vets have proved their worth, so I’m not questioning their ability, but I am genuinely perplexed when I look at the stats for Kosice and read this type of comment.

The Uk education system is based entirely on written exams, where as large parts of Europe are not. The majority of my exams were oral, which seems to suit people better, as you get asked questions to prove your knowledge.
And when I say you’d have to not study, what I mean is you need to want to be there. Yes you can study and still fail, but you get 3 attempts on each final exam, so if you fail the first one you’d just cram for the next time. Also difference in terms of exam was we picked our own exam dates, instead of having one week of exams, each subject would have exam dates throughout the summer and then you’d pick which one to attend.

Thanks for giving the time to reply. It does seem very different and explains how those with a slightly lower academic profile manage to cope, but living in mainland Europe with experience of the different education systems, this is the first time that I’ve come across a school that relies as heavily on orals. In Belgium, Italy , Spain and France there is an element of oral, but mainly associated with the practical aspects of the course and written exams judge the rest as in the UK. I have heard about ex Eastern European countries having multiple sittings of exams etc ( it has been a criticism by students on here studying abroad due to the lack of clarity in the exams and their results) And to be honest I can’t see how having multiple dates can operate without communication of questions between candidates which would give an unfair advantage to those that sit exams later. And if the papers change between dates how can a comparison between candidates can work?
All that being said all the vets that I have come across that have studied in Eastern Europe seem to be as competent as any other, and at the end of the day it’s all that counts.

It works because we know the questions, for example there is a list of 150 essay style questions. Then on the day you pick 2/3 questions (you don’t know which beforehand), have a bit of time to write some notes and then read out your answers and get asked questions.
Obviously the questions differ by subject, but an example could be: ‘the pathological anatomy of hepatic lipidosis’ - and you’d discuss causes, what it looks like ect.
Some exams have practical and theory parts which you need to pass both of in order to pass the subject, or some subjects are entirely practical like anatomy.

I’m not going to lie, I don’t like it that a system so radically different opens doors in the UK where a) entry onto the course has far greater barriers to overcome ( excluding financial) and as yet I’ve heard of no one being refused from Cosice , even a friend who struggled to get 3C’s with hours of private coaching over the whole 2 year A level course, and b) exams are completely blind and can cover anything from year 1 to year 5 or 6. The systems just don’t seem comparable! But as I’ve stated above the vets I’ve come across( not many) have been competent, but I would be favourable all the same with a board exam for all non UK qualified vets if they wished to work in the UK. Proabaly a controversial point of view but…

All of the European universities which are eligible for RVCS registration without any additional board exams are EAEVE approved. Every university gets a full visitation, detailed report (which you can read online) and they all have to meet the same standard to be approved.

It's easier to get in because this is how the universities make money. Higher education is free at most European universities so having a paid English course is highly profitable. Entry requirements are also generally lower (even for natives) because vet medicine isn't as popular in eastern Europe (at least in Poland where I'm studying). There are a lot of medical and dental school rejects in my year. This doesn't mean the quality of the course is bad.

It's also easier for the "average" people to pass, because the class sizes on the English course are significantly smaller, and the student-teacher ratio is better. Also, if you fail a subject (in Poland at least, not sure about Kosice), you pay a fee and you get to repeat it again next year. You don't get kicked out nor you have to repeat the entire year (unless it's one of the core subjects like anatomy etc.).
So while it might take some people longer to pass some things, and the overall process might seem more lenient (in terms of number of attempts, NOT the difficulty of exams - I could write a book about just the exams ), the end outcome is the same for everyone. You will have all of the day one competencies you need to have in order to start working as a vet.

Which is why I have made a point of saying that all the vets I’ve come across from «Eastern » Europe have been perfectly competent and often more than just competent, but knowing someone who scraped the French bac thanks to non science subjects who studied vet at Kosice I’m curious to find out how.

I understand, but this isn't EU exclusive.
You can get into RVC with 3 C's at A-level through the gateway course, there's the Liverpool foundation course, you can get in with really bad A-levels through any of the graduate courses too. To get into medicine at Warwick you don't even need to study any sciences at A-level or university.
I only did one subject at AH level (Scottish equivalent of A-levels), I got a D in it, but I still managed to get an interview at RVC and offers from Bristol and HK (due to my great degree results).

A-levels are on average a good representation of someones academic abilities, but that won't apply to everyone. Which is why those gateway courses and foundation years exist in the first place. You can struggle in school (even with extra tutoring) and manage just fine at university.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming EU vet schools are better or even on the same level as our British ones, because they're not, and there's many reasons for it. But they're certainly not a way for incapable students to cheat their way through the system to become a vet/doctor.

I’m not in a position to begin to say which schools are better. It’s just interesting, and I must admit a bit confusing to see that the standard entrance criteria are so different between countries when the outcome is the same I. e a competent vet fit to practice. It begs the question as to why the UK puts up so many barriers?