The story behind the Pre Vet Course

The Pre Vet Course was set up to help those who are struggling to farm farming work experience. Before I (Becky) went to vet school I it found in incredibly hard to find farmers willing to have me on farm for work experience. Not being from a farming background and living in South East England (where there are very few farms!) I became disheartened by the endless phone calls and unanswered messages. I left for vet school with limited farming work experience and felt like I was playing catch up for the first year of my degree.

During the course of my degree I had so many amazing opportunities and I come to realised that production animal medicine was much more interesting than I initially thought. I met lots of farmers during my first few years of vet school and realised that most were happy to teach and impart knowledge; this made me curious as to why I found it so difficult before leaving for vet school? After spending a lot of time asking farmers across the country I realised that farmer main concern was safety. Almost all the farmers I spoke to were worried about students getting hurt because of their lack of experience; hurt by the animals (for those of you that haven’t been on the receiving end of a cow kick- its hurts!) and hurt by machinery. So that got me thinking about how we solve the impossible problem- farmer are reluctant to have inexperienced students on farm but students can only gain experience by being on farm. This is when the idea of the Pre Vet Course was first formed.

After a year of planning and discussion, in my final year of university we took the plunge and set up the course. The aim of the Pre Vet Course provides students aged 16+ veterinary work experience that bridges the gap between inexperienced students and commercial farms. With veterinary medicine entry requirements becoming increasingly demanding I feel it is essential that we give students from non farming backgrounds an opportunity to learn the key practical skills in a safe and relaxed environment. These skills will enable them to go on a thrive during future farm animal placements and at university.

We have had fantastic feedback from this years course attendees, with all students went away more confident and competent handlings farm animals and horses. Our main aim is to give those students who are struggling to find farming work experience an opportunity to learn and hopefully helping them on their way to their dreams of becoming a vet.