Royal Veterinary College (RVC) Gateway course offers alternative path to Veterinary career

July 5, 2010 - PRLog -- Currently high unemployment and a lack of opportunity among young people is one of the Government’s most pressing concerns. However, the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) is proving there are opportunities available for those that want to go into a veterinary career, but didn’t achieve the relevant grades at A-Level and GCSE, through the RVC Gateway course.

In September 2005, the RVC welcomed the first group of students on the course and from these origins the initiative has continued to grow, becoming a huge success for students involved and widening its UK participation each year.  

The RVC Gateway course is the first year of an extended six-year veterinary degree programme. The course is designed to open up opportunities to students meeting the following criteria: who went to a non-selective state school, are eligible to receive the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) and whose parents have not been to university. Successful completion of the programme does not give a qualification in itself, but does lead to a guaranteed place on the RVC’s five year BVetMed programme. The course also now offers students the chance to study for their veterinary degree elsewhere, with the Universities of Liverpool, Bristol and, as of last year, Glasgow guaranteeing an interview for a place on a five year clinical veterinary degree course.
In September 2009, 34 students joined the current RVC Gateway year, with all passing their first course assessment. Feedback from students is already very positive, with one RVC Gateway student stating, “The lectures have been structured very well, and the pace has always been just right.  It’s an amazing course and I would not be here without it!”
Students who have passed the year are now in a variety of places.  The majority are in Years One, Two and Three of the BVetMed.  Some are at the Universities of Bristol and Liverpool, while a few are spending the year studying a BSc in another discipline.  Two students from the original intake have returned to the RVC having successfully graduated with a BSc in Biomedical Sciences & Infection from University College London, and from Liverpool University with a BSc in Veterinary Conservation Medicine. This year even more students have shown an interest in intercalation and are now applying for courses around the country.
The first group of students are now in Year Four at the RVC and have been visiting practices and farms to observe and learn from practitioners. They will go on to complete 26 weeks of a work placement, known as Extra Mural Studies (EMS), over the last three years of the course and have become ambassadors for the RVC Gateway programme across the country.  As the students spend time with vets, vet nurses and sometimes secondary school students on their work placements, they are spreading the message that it is possible to get into vet school from a non-traditional route and succeed there.
Stephanie Edwards is one such student, who has excelled in their degree, receiving merits in all years and a distinction in Year 3 of the BVetMed.
“I am currently in my 4th year of the BVetMed course at the RVC. I achieved average GCSE grades and A-levels so when applying to universities for veterinary degrees I got straight rejections. My options were limited but I was determined to achieve my goals, so I returned to school to re-sit my A-levels and, upon my return, the new RVC Gateway course was brought to my attention. I fulfilled the requirements for entry so applied and, after a successful interview, was given an unconditional offer. I found the RVC Gateway year an excellent opportunity to integrate into a new environment and develop my learning skills, as well as making close friends within the 20 something sized group. Having not come from a farming background I had little experience handling large animals and found that the structured animal husbandry classes gave me more confidence. Due to the work placement, I didn’t feel behind doing the EMS and OSCE exams on the BVetMed course. This helped me develop a good work ethic and basic practical skills to build on later in the course, and has enabled me to progress well with the degree. I have a favourite work placement with a farm practice locally which I continue to return to. They have helped me build on the theory and improve my practical skills in a large animal practice, an area of the profession which I take a deeper interest in and intend to progress into a career after graduation.”

Steph did two periods of the EMS work placement with MacPherson O’Sullivan Ltd, a farm animal practice based in Shrewsbury, and one of the practitioners at the company, Rob Wood, BVSc, MRCVS, can’t speak highly enough of her.

He says, “We gave Stephanie her first EMS work placement and together did a lot of routine fertility work, some operations and some clinical work. Throughout the work placement, I’ve been very impressed with her grasp of the practical work we have undertaken, her keenness to learn and to participate in our day to day work. Steph’s knowledge is good and she seems to have an aptitude for this side of Veterinary Practice. I would put her practical ability above most of the students I have dealt with in the past considering where she has got in the course so far.  As a Gateway entrance student, I would have no qualms about her and, at present, would rate her beyond normal entrance students I’ve helped to train on the EMS work placement.”

Professor Lance Lanyon, the Principal of the RVC when the Gateway programme was developed, believes the course is a great way for young people to enter the veterinary profession.
He says, “The veterinary profession has long been recognised as one of the most difficult to enter.  The odds are stacked against young people from the inner cities who do not have easy access to animal experience, and attend schools where students do not routinely achieve the high A-grades required.  The Gateway Programme will help the veterinary profession become more representative of the society it serves.”

The original RVC Gateway programme intake will be applying for jobs in a year’s time, and will be the first group of successful vets who found a way into a vet school that accounted for their circumstances.