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IT鈥橲 harder to get a place on a British university course to become a vet
than on any other subject. Choose medicine and there are 4000 places to try for
in numerous universities. Decide on a career in veterinary surgery and there are
about 400 places in six universities. No wonder it is essential to have three As
at A level to get your foot on the first rung of this career. And aspiring vets
are advised to gain some experience in a vet鈥檚 practices before even applying
for a place on a course. 鈥淵ou should have gained experience with a veterinary
surgeon, spent a week or two working on a dairy farm and a variety of experience
working with other animals,鈥� the University of Glasgow鈥檚 course prospectus warns
anyone wanting to take up its course.

The universities that run courses leading to qualification as a member of the
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (MRCVS), are Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh,
Glasgow, Liverpool and London (the Royal Veterinary College). There are great
differences between the courses. The Cambridge course takes six years while the
others can be completed in five. Students at Bristol are taught alongside
medical students while those at London are independent of other departments.

Subjects studied in the first two, pre-clinical, years of the courses include
anatomy and physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology and pathology. At some
universities the three clinical years are taught at a different campus. London
students go to Hawkshead, Hertfordshire, Liverpool students to Neston, South
Wirral, and Edinburgh students move to the field station at the Roslin
Institute, famous for cloning the sheep Dolly. During these years, students gain
experience in all sorts of veterinary work by being attached to experienced
vets. Unlike other medical professionals, vets are qualified to practice as soon
as they graduate.

If you cannot find a place in a British veterinary school there is always the
possibility of studying at a university elsewhere in the European Union, however
fluency in the local language is a prerequisite. Ann Tryssesoone now practises
in Britain having graduated after a six-year course in a Belgian university.
Unlike Britain, higher education in Belgium is free but the drop out rate is
high. Of the 250 students who started their studies with Tryssesoone only 66
eventually qualified as vets.

More than half the 14 000 vets in Britain work in one of the 2000 veterinary
practices. The Attimore Veterinary Hospital, Welwyn Garden City, is part of a
practice which extends to six veterinary surgeons and three sets of consulting
premises. It is concerned mainly with small animal work. Marianne Dorn, one of
the vets there, graduated from the University of Edinburgh three years ago.
鈥淒uring my degree course I had to gain 26 weeks of relevant experience in a
vet鈥檚 practice,鈥� says Dorn. 鈥淣ow my job entails operating in the hospital on two
half days each week and consulting in one of our surgeries during the afternoons
and evenings. Our patients are pets, mostly cats and dogs but we also see
rabbits and other small creatures including hedgehogs and pigeons. A lot of our
work involves teaching clients how to clean their pet鈥檚 ears or deal with fleas
and worms,鈥� she says.

Most vets are employed on small animals and pets but some practices are
devoted to agricultural animals and others are mixed between the two types of
work. But private practice is not the only avenue open to qualified vets. Food
hygiene and safety, especially with regard to beef cattle and poultry and a
stream of European legislation, keep many vets busy at work. Veterinary control
and inspection at all stages in meat production is an important activity. Some
of the work is done by vets in private practice who work on a part-time basis,
but local authorities also employ vets for this purpose. Local authorities also
have jurisdiction over stables, kennels and pet shops and have responsibilities
for stray dogs. Vets are employed to manage these matters and to ensure that
regulations are adhered to.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) maintains the State
Veterinary Service (SVS) with headquarters in Reigate and 23 regional offices
throughout England and Wales. The SVS employs 220 vets to deal with all
notifiable diseases among animals, including BSE, swine fever, foot-and-mouth
disease and any disease which may be imported from abroad. These veterinary
officers deal with outbreaks of disease by imposing restrictions on the movement
of animals, arranging for animals to be slaughtered where necessary and
patrolling areas around the site of the outbreak to discover any spread of the
disease. The Veterinary Laboratories Agency, with its headquarters in Weybridge
and with 14 laboratories nationwide, provides a diagnostic testing service for
vets, analysing more than 5 million samples annually. It is also engaged in
veterinary research for MAFF. Among its staff of scientists and technicians it
employs about 120 vets.

The Home Office also employs vets to inspect establishments, such as
pharmaceuticals companies and the laboratories of medical research
organisations, where animals are being used for research purposes. They liaise
closely with the researchers and assess the proposed research programme to
ensure that any distress to the animals is minimised and that experiments are
justified. Some vets also make a career in research, investigating compounds
which are prospective new drugs for veterinary purposes and carrying out
clinical trails to determine their efficacy. Zoos, the Royal Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the People鈥檚 Dispensary for Sick Animals and
the Horse Race Betting Levy Board are among many other employers.

Once qualified, many vets take further qualifications to specialise in areas
such as surgery, radiology, dermatology or medicine. Certificates in these
subjects can be gained by distance learning. There are also a range of diplomas
and masters degrees which can be studied at universities. Starting salaries for
newly qualified vets in practice range between 拢16 000 and 拢18 000
plus a car and accommodation allowance.