Safe In Their Hands?

When a newly qualified vet turns up to treat your horse, how confident can you be about their capabilities? Lesley Barwise-Munro MRCVS outlines the journey from vet school to ‘real-life’ equine practice

THE UK’s newly graduated vets have always been considered some of the best-trained in the world. Likewise, any overseas veterinary surgeons will either have been trained at an approved university or will need to pass exams set by the UK governing body, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), before they can work here.

Academically, veterinary students are among the very highest achievers in the country, but what about their practical training? How are they equipped for the hands-on aspect of working with horses?

The RCVS has a programme of practical clinical requirements a graduate must achieve before becoming a college member (an MRCVS) and a practising vet. This programme, referred to as “day one competence”, is specifically targeted at ensuring new graduate vets provide a “safe” service when they start working.

The universities recognise the need for students to spend time with vets out in practice to undergo additional practical training in animal handling and clinical skills, as well as building experience of dealing with clients and members of the veterinary team. Every student must complete a minimum 26 weeks of these “extra mural studies” (EMS). These supplement the training received on rotations in the universities where, under the supervision of highly qualified specialists, students take responsibility for inpatients and gain vital experience in leading equine hospitals.

A recent initiative has been the development of student externships — a two- to three week placement at an equine practice, providing dedicated student training in practical skills such as shoe removal, searching the foot for an abscess, routine dentistry, lameness examination, basic nerve blocks, taking X-rays, intravenous sedation and passing a stomach tube.