Studying for a degree in veterinary medicine is engaging, difficult, and rewarding. You should think considering studying this field if you’re interested in making animals’ lives better.
What’s Veterinary Medicine?
The area of medicine that deals with illness, diseases, and injuries in animals is known as veterinary medicine, often known as veterinary science. Along with learning animal husbandry (how to care for animals), you will also study a variety of clinical skills. Although degrees vary amongst colleges, the first years often concentrate on the anatomy and function of the healthy animal. You’ll study more in subsequent years about the identification, management, and prevention of illnesses that harm animals.
The majority of veterinary surgeon registration-related degrees need five years to complete. Other degrees in this field concentrate on therapy, veterinary nursing, or animal behavior.
What Veterinary Medicine degrees can you study?
The following undergraduate veterinary medicine degrees are possible:
- Veterinary Medicine BVetMed or BVMS
- Veterinary Nursing & Companion Animal Behaviour BSc
- Animal Behaviour BSc
- Veterinary Biosciences BSc
Placements and field excursions may count as working with animals experience for degrees. Studying abroad can be an option. A foundation or gateway year and January start dates are possible choices.
What topics does a Veterinary Medicine degree cover?
Various veterinary medicine degrees could have the following modules:
- Principles of Biology
- Practical skills for animal behavior
- Population ecology and wildlife management
- Cells and Genes in Context
- General pathology and concepts of infectious disease
- Veterinary research and evidence-based veterinary medicine
- Emerging diseases, public health, and sustainability
- Zoological medicine
- Animal Physiology and Behavior
Why study Veterinary Medicine?
You will learn a lot of practical skills, whether your goal is to work with animals in another industry or to become a veterinarian or nurse.
Career-specific skills:
- Animal care and handling
- Veterinary knowledge or clinical science
- Biologically applicable knowledge
Transferable skills:
- Research skills
- Self-care and stress management
- Team working
- Analyzing and assessing information
- Decision making
- Communication
- IT literacy
- Presentation
- Problem-solving
Professional accreditation:
- You can register as a veterinary surgeon with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) and perhaps other comparable organizations abroad if you complete a veterinary medicine degree.
- Gaining certification as a Certificated Clinical Animal Behaviourist (CCAB) may be possible with a degree in animal behavior.
- The Royal Society of Biology may recognize degrees in biological sciences.
What jobs can you get as a Veterinary Medicine graduate?
While being a veterinarian’s surgeon or nurse may be your ultimate goal after earning a degree in veterinary medicine, these aren’t your only employment alternatives.
- Royal Army Veterinary Corps vet
- Technical advisor for veterinary pharmaceutical products
- Veterinary pathologist
- Animal behaviorist
- Clinical content manager
- Equine nutritionist
- Government vet (public health and policy)
- Lecturer
- Research scientist
Similar subjects to Veterinary Medicine
Additional topics that might interest you are: