How to apply for Veterinary Medicine (BVMS)

Tell us why you want to study veterinary medicine, especially if this is a new direction for you.

An important part of your personal statement is providing your well-described understanding of the role of a veterinary surgeon. You should explain what you comprehend the role of a veterinary surgeon to be, how you came to this understanding, and why you wish to train for a career in veterinary medicine.

In your personal statement, provide examples and experiences that influenced your understanding of the role of veterinary surgeons, examples could include but are not limited to:

• Personal experiences with animals and people
• Shadowing a veterinary surgeon
• Talking to veterinary surgeons or other animal care professionals.

The remainder of your statement should provide evidence of your understanding of the qualities (characteristics, skills and values) you think are needed to be a successful trainee veterinary surgeon and future veterinary surgeon and what skills you feel you bring to the program and the profession.

Practical experience, whether through work and/or volunteering, is extremely valuable. Veterinary-related experience can provide insight into what a career in veterinary medicine can look like, but because the veterinary profession is so diverse, we do not expect students to be able to gain insight into the full range of veterinary careers. Non-veterinary related experience is also valuable as students can gain a range of skills that are transferable to veterinary medicine. Examples of vocational experiences include, but are not limited to, volunteering at an animal shelter, interacting with the public in a retail setting or local shop, or spending time on a farm. Remember that veterinary surgeons regularly communicate with animal carers such as farmers and animal guardians, and a range of other stakeholders, and often engage in public education and outreach activities, so being a successful veterinary surgeon also requires solid communication and people skills as well as compassion for animals.

It is essential for you to provide examples from your life and/or vocational experiences that demonstrate some of these characteristics, skills and values required by a veterinary surgeon. Claiming to possess these attributes without providing evidence will not be sufficient.

In your personal statement it is important that you tell us how long and how regularly you have been involved in the activity described, why you chose to undertake it, what exactly your responsibilities were/are and, crucially, what you have gained from it. An example from voluntary animal-related experience:

"During the last six months I spent every Saturday volunteering at my local stables to gain experience working with animals. I fed and cleaned out the horses and also observed others grooming and riding them. I learnt how to handle the horses, got to know their individual characters and gained confidence being around them. I felt like a valued member of the team and engaged with the owners to find out more about their animals and how to care for them. I developed my time management skills by completing my tasks on time and had the opportunity to communicate with a variety of different people.”

For those students who have not had the opportunity or been able to pursue direct animal-related experience, please draw on life or vocational experiences such as demonstrating the benefits of your actions in a scenario that could be applicable to veterinary medicine. For example, dealing with a customer who is upset or a particularly challenging situation and describing how you responded and attempted to resolve the problem. Your personal statement should provide evidence of your ability to interact with the wider world and demonstrate problem-solving and attempts to make your own choices and decisions. This may include examples of leadership, responsibility, enterprise or ingenuity.

You should be aware that we might request confirmation from the host organisation of any vocational experience detailed in your application.

A career in veterinary medicine can be enormously rewarding, and opens the door to a diversity of opportunities. Veterinary careers, just like veterinary training, can also be challenging at times. Being able to develop healthy self-awareness and self-care is important. And, being able to demonstrate healthy self-care habits and/or healthy work-life balance is key for your success in the veterinary programme, and longevity in the veterinary profession. Providing examples of your approach to balancing your school or work life and your personal life in your personal statement provides insight into your current self care strategies.

It is therefore important for us to understand the range of activities you are involved in and how you enjoy spending your time outside of work or study. Extracurricular activities within community organisations, churches, sports clubs, bands, etc., are all equally valuable but there should be some demonstration of how you relax and find time to do things you enjoy, rather than a long list of worthy causes and achievements. We are aware that different kinds of opportunities are open to different individuals and will look at all kinds of activities.

The BVMS programme is long and includes many placement and academic activities. We’re interested in understanding how you have tackled obstacles or challenges that you have experienced, how you have dealt with adversity, and what strategies you use to safeguard your own wellbeing. Also, how do you learn and grow from challenges you have experienced

A career in veterinary medicine involves teamwork. Therefore, it is essential that your personal statement demonstrates your understanding of the role of a veterinary surgeon within a team and how you would contribute to effective team-working.

Examples of team working can be taken from many different experiences both in and out of the academic environment.

In your personal statement you must demonstrate how you have contributed to a team, either as a leader or as a member. It is important that your personal statement provides a credible account of the outcome of your contribution to the team.

For example, applicants will not gain credit for stating that they passed a Duke of Edinburgh award; however, they are likely to gain credit if they can give an example of how they worked as part of a team during a Duke of Edinburgh event. We recognise that schemes like Duke of Edinburgh are not available to all applicants so please use your own experiences to demonstrate your teamwork abilities.

Effective communication is an essential skill for a career in veterinary medicine. It is important that your personal statement explains any experience you have acquired in communicating with different people. Your personal statement should provide an example of a task where you have been able to exhibit good communication skills to a range of different people.

Examples in this regard would preferably be from contact with people beyond your usual peer group. Most credit will be given to applicants who can provide an example of effective communication, for example from received feedback or from the conclusion of the communication example described in your personal statement.

Applications will be assessed for the quality of the writing. Careless errors of spelling, grammar and punctuation will affect your overall score, so please consider carefully how you have presented your personal statement. Avoid including unnecessary abbreviations or technical details (eg listing the names of the operations you observed in a veterinary surgeon practice shadowing period).

Please make sure you tell us if you have made any exceptional achievements or had to overcome exceptional difficulties. It is helpful if these statements are backed up by your referee.

We have a contextual admissions policy at UCLan. This takes into account of additional information about your background that might have impacted your education, and could potentially adjust the entry criteria for you. Read more and check your eligibility.