Veterinary Medicine

This course will equip you with the scientific knowledge and clinical skills to become a veterinary surgeon as well as expertise in all other aspects of veterinary medicine.

Why Veterinary Medicine at Cambridge?

The University of Cambridge offers an unrivalled opportunity to study the scientific basis of veterinary medicine and world-class clinical veterinary science. Our teachers include world leaders in their fields and our facilities include state-of-the-art equipment. This fundamental knowledge base provides the necessary building blocks to develop and excel in your specialist field for the rest of your professional life. Cambridge also provides a unique intellectual and social environment in which to study to the highest level.

The course at Cambridge lasts six years. During the first two years you study the main biological sciences that underpin the practice of veterinary medicine. These subjects are taught in the University’s science departments by leaders in their fields. In the third year, you study in detail a subject chosen from a wide range of possibilities, and successful completion leads to the award of a BA degree. In the final three years, you begin to put your knowledge into practical effect, as you receive your clinical instruction leading to the VetMB degree.

Teaching, assessment and resources

At Cambridge, you’re taught veterinary medicine in the traditional way. First you study veterinary sciences (Pre-Clinical Studies) before moving on to apply that knowledge to veterinary practice (Clinical Course). During your Pre-Clinical Studies, teaching is provided through lectures, practical classes (including dissections) and small-group supervisions.

The major strength of the Cambridge course is the extensive use of practical teaching and the emphasis on small-group teaching in all six years. Cambridge was the first veterinary school to introduce a hands-on lecture-free final year, in which students take full responsibility for cases under the watchful eye of senior clinicians. This allows you to develop your clinical and problem-solving skills and client communication skills in a real clinical practice environment. Small-group teaching with the teacher paying close attention to your progress is central to our philosophy of producing the highest calibre veterinary graduates.

Your College supervisors review your progress on a weekly basis in subject-based supervisions, and your College Director of Studies monitors your overall progress in all aspects of the course. Formal assessment, which determines your progression through the course, takes a variety of forms including written essays, short answer and practical examinations, and multiple-choice questions.

The Department has an international reputation as a centre of excellence in many clinical fields, and is also performing world–class veterinary research in outstanding research facilities. The modern facilities in the Queen’s Veterinary School Hospital include a five-theatre small animal surgical suite, a fully–equipped intensive care unit, an equine surgical suite and diagnostic unit with an MRI machine capable of imaging standing horses, farm animal facilities, and a superb post–mortem unit. We have one of the leading cancer therapy units in Europe with a new linear accelerator used for delivering radiotherapy to both small and large animals with cancer.

What are we looking for?

We’re looking for students committed to the veterinary profession, who are really interested in the scientific principles that underlie both the health and disease of animals.

Professional expectations

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons has certain expectations regarding the attitudes, behaviour and performance of veterinary students. Trainee veterinary surgeons at Cambridge must satisfy fitness for practise requirements, both during the application process and throughout the course. These requirements are in place to ensure the safety of patients and patients’ owners. If you’re offered a place to study Veterinary Medicine at Cambridge, you’re required to undergo an Enhanced Disclosure through the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). Minor misdemeanours will not necessarily prevent you from entering the veterinary profession but you should declare these in your UCAS application.

Work experience

Although work experience isn’t a requirement for applicants, some experience is useful in order to understand the profession and what’s required of its members. However, successful applicants don’t necessarily have extensive work experience and we stress that other forms of extra-curricular activity can be beneficial.

During the first three years of the course, you must complete your Pre–Clinical Extramural Studies. This involves 12 weeks work experience with animals during the University vacations, in order to gain knowledge of animal husbandry. Work experience carried out before starting the course cannot be counted. During the Clinical Course you must complete 26 weeks of Clinical Extramural Study, which involves varied practical experience with veterinary surgeons during University vacations.

Your health

Veterinary surgeons, even as students and trainees, have a responsibility to be honest and open about their own health, and all successful applicants are required to complete a confidential occupational health questionnaire.

A disability or health condition needn’t prevent you from becoming a veterinary surgeon if you can satisfy the professional fitness for practise requirements. However, in these circumstances you should contact a College Admissions Tutor, or the Dean or Director of Teaching at the Department of Veterinary Medicine as early as possible so that we can discuss your needs and the requirements of the course. Any such disclosure will be considered independently of your academic qualifications and the interview process.

The University’s Disability Resource Centre may also be able to provide additional guidance.

Graduate entry

Graduates wishing to study Veterinary Medicine may apply as an affiliated student to Lucy Cavendish, St Edmund’s or Wolfson Colleges if they have:

• a good honours degree in a science subject
• GCSEs (or equivalent) as course requirements
• passes at AS/A Level (or equivalent) in three of Biology/Human Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics (one of which must be Chemistry and at least one must be at A Level)

Professional qualification

While the University is responsible for the teaching and examination of the courses leading to the degrees of BA and VetMB, their content and standards are scrutinised by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and must also conform to the Veterinary Directives of the European Union. Achievement of the VetMB degree allows you to become a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (MRCVS), which is the professional qualification required to enter practice.

Careers and research

The prospects for employment within veterinary science are very diverse. The Cambridge course provides excellent hands–on clinical teaching, which equips you with the clinical skills required to become a practitioner. At the same time, it gives you the scientific understanding needed to enter many other areas of veterinary work or biomedical science, and to understand and respond to the rapid progress being made in veterinary science.

Many Cambridge graduates have gone on to prestigious posts in the profession and some have become leaders of research and industry. There are many opportunities to enter general practice in the UK and EU, and to obtain specialist postgraduate qualifications. Career openings are available with government agencies, animal charities (RSPCA, PDSA etc), in many pet food and drug companies, and in academic posts. There are also options to enter research in universities, Research Council institutes, and private companies.