The RVC offer courses in Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Nursing and Biological Sciences.

Veterinary Medicine

TEACHING AND LEARNING

PRACTICAL AND CLINICAL TEACHING

A fundamental part of our veterinary medicine courses is the practical experience you gain that will prepare you for your future career. This is achieved through practical classes, intramural clinical rotations and extramural studies.

We believe that this is critical to your development so that you are able to apply your theoretical learning in a practical environment to clinical cases. There are two categories of extramural studies.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY EXTRAMURAL STUDIES (AHEMS)

AHEMS is undertaken during the first two years of the five veterinary medicine course, or your first year if studying the Graduate Accelerated BVetMed. AHEMS placements are designed to help you consolidate your learning about animal husbandry, develop animal handling skills, and learn about the management of normal animals and their related industries. This would include time spent with lambing enterprises, a dairy cattle farm, a commercial pig operation, and equine experience. You must complete 10 weeks of AHEMS before entry to year 3 (or year 2 if studying the Graduate Accelerated BVetMed) of the course.

If you are studying the Graduate Accelerated BVetMed, you can do six weeks of AHEMS prior to starting your course.

CLINICAL EXTRAMURAL STUDIES (ClinEMS)

ClinEMS occurs in veterinary practices and other veterinary industries. It will help you build on and enhance the clinical training you will receive from on the RVC’s intramural clinical rotations. You will consolidate your learning about diagnosis and management of animal diseases, enhance your practical clinical skills, and acquire greater understanding of how veterinary practices and organisations operate. You must complete 20 weeks of ClinEMS.

INTRAMURAL CLINICAL ROTATIONS

Intramural clinical rotations take place in our own hospitals and clinics and those of our partner organisations in the final one-and-a-half years of the course.

The focus of this is on:

observation, discussion and practical experience as a member of the clinical team in the RVC’s hospitals, and in clinical enterprises in which the RVC is a collaborating partner
attendance at lectures, seminars and workshops
completion of a major research project

Veterinary Nursing

TEACHING AND LEARNING

Blended learning at RVC aims to combine the best of onsite teaching with learning that takes place in a digital environment, while always valuing the social aspects of learning. It includes a mix of teaching approaches, delivery modes and learner styles. The ‘blend’ can mean different places for learning (onsite and digital), different scheduling (synchronous and asynchronous), different pace (class and self-paced) and different types of instruction (expert led, social/group, peer and individual).

As part of your course you will complete at least 1,800 hours of practical training at a range of excellent veterinary practices, giving you a real insight into the day-to-day role of the veterinary nurse. To ensure fair evaluation, the skills and knowledge you acquire will be assessed in a variety of ways as the course progresses. The combination of the taught aspects of the course and the invaluable placement time provides a solid foundation for your career – and many of our students go on to work as head veterinary nurses, educators and researchers.

Biological Sciences

Our Biological Sciences courses follow a ‘pathway’ approach. This means that in your first year, you study a broad range of modules, providing you with a fundamental understanding of biosciences. As you progress through your course, additional study options become available to you, culminating in a final year investigative project. You will be able to choose from a wide variety of topics that are aligned to the research interests of the RVC’s academic staff. Our blended learning approach combines on-campus lecturers, practicals and interactive small group teaching, with additional material in our virtual learning environment. Panopto lecture capture software allows you to review lecture recordings in our virtual learning environment, which can be useful for consolidation of your learning.

Research makes up a key part of our biological sciences degrees. Our research is of the highest quality and has an impact on the health and welfare of humans and animals around the world. There are opportunities to be involved in all aspects of research at the RVC and extends from the molecular level to the whole animal or population of animals. Underpinning research across these themes are animal welfare, biomechanics, genetics, bioinformatics, pathology, epidemiology and public health.

On all of our BSc/MSci Biological Sciences courses, you will undertake investigative projects in both the second and the third year. Students undertaking MSci courses will have their fourth year dedicated to an extensive individual research project, and a taught module in advanced research methods. These research project opportunities can be undertaken either inside or outside the RVC.

Our Biological Sciences courses are primarily delivered as in-person courses, with plenty of practicals and collaborative work. It includes a mix of teaching approaches, delivery modes and learner styles. The ‘blend’ can mean different places for learning (onsite and digital), different scheduling (synchronous and asynchronous), different pace (class and self-paced) and different types of instruction (expert led, social/group, peer and individual).

Royal Veterinary College

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