Applications are made through UCAS and all applicants who possess the minimum entrance requirements for the BVMS degree programme will be considered by the Faculty Admissions Committee. This is composed of the Convener of the Admissions Committee, 18 members of academic staff and 15 veterinary practitioners. The faculty encourages a number of graduates into the BVMS programme each year. Consideration is given to applicants who hold, or hope to gain, a 2.I Honours degree in a science-based discipline. All applications must be received by UCAS by 15 October. If applying to the BVMS programme you must limit your choice to four veterinary schools only. If you apply to more than four veterinary schools, your application will not be forwarded to institutions by UCAS. Do I need practical experience? Success in the veterinary degree programme requires high academic achievement and a great deal of hard work, together with motivation evidenced by some prior practical knowledge. Before coming for interview, you will be expected to have gained experience with a veterinary surgeon, spent a week or two working on a dairy farm and have a variety of experience working with other animals, for example in kennels, stables or on other types of farms. It is recommended that you take a few riding lessons if you have no previous experience of horses. Some applicants may have laboratory experience and may be considering a research career. This will also be taken into consideration. Will I be interviewed? Candidates seriously considered for admission into the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine will normally be interviewed before a final decision is reached. Members of the Admissions Committee carry out these interviews between December and February each year. How is the degree programme organised? The degree programme consists of five years’ study combined with practical experience, involving long hours of work with little free time during the University term. You will be required to undertake an additional 12 weeks’ extra-mural studies (EMS) during vacation time in first and second years, during which you will gain further experience of the management and handling of domestic animals. During your third, fourth and final years you must also spend a combined total of 26 weeks’ vacation time on EMS gaining experience of general veterinary practice. In the first and second years of the programme you will study biomolecular sciences, anatomy, physiology and animal husbandry. During this pre-clinical period the anatomy of the normal healthy animal is related to function in the physiology and biomolecular sciences courses, while animal husbandry deals with all aspects of the recognition, housing and handling of the common species of domestic animals. At the end of the first two years you will have a sound working knowledge of healthy domestic animals. During third year, you will study pathology, bacteriology, virology, parasitology and pharmacology and will be introduced to the skills of clinical examination. An intensive lecture course in medicine, surgery, pathology and public health follows in fourth year, with associated practical sessions which allow clinical cases to be examined and discussed in detail. In the final year there are no formal lectures and the emphasis is on small group clinical teaching covering all the common species of domestic animals, during which time you are involved in all aspects of work in the faculty’s busy referral hospital. You will also gain first hand experience of a busy small animal clinic at the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals in Glasgow and may spend two weeks in residence at a large veterinary practice in Lanark. A unique feature of the programme at Glasgow is the cooperative demonstration of clinical cases by clinicians, pathologists and other staff members to fourth and final year students. Can I take an intercalated science degree? At the end of third year selected candidates may be admitted to an intercalated Honours BSc (VetSci) programme, currently available in eight subjects. In addition, at the end of second year or third year, and at the discretion of the Faculty of Biomedical & Life Sciences, you may be admitted to study for a two-year intercalated Honours BSc. Provided you resume studies in the session immediately following that in which you completed or terminated your studies for an intercalated degree, you will be readmitted to the BVMS programme. What academic support is available? Support is provided by student advisers for each year and the EMS coordinator supervises extra-mural studies for all undergraduates in the faculty. The purpose-built James Herriot Library, named after the popular author who trained in Glasgow, provides a dedicated study area with online search facilities and an audio-visual room for interactive video sessions. What are my career prospects? Graduates can register as a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (MRCVS), which entitles you to practise in the United Kingdom and any other member state of the European Union. The majority of registered veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom are in general practice, which may be small or farm animal, equine or mixed. Graduates are also employed in government service, dealing with investigation, control and eradication of important diseases. Others are actively engaged in food hygiene or in university teaching and research. The BVMS degree provides an ideal platform to progress to postgraduate work and a career in research, and veterinary surgeons have the opportunity to gain further qualifications in specialist subjects by sitting the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons’ certificate and diploma examinations, or European diploma examinations.