2 May 2024
Thrums Vets says its programme is a UK first and hopes it will make a contribution towards easing the sector’s current recruitment challenges.
Lacey Pitcher
Job Title
A Scottish veterinary group has set up a new programme which aims to give young people a hands-on taste of life as a nurse.
Thrums Vets hopes the two-day programme, which follows the launch of a similar course aimed at aspiring vets last year, will help to address the sector’s enduring workforce challenges.
The scheme, which is aimed at 15 to 17-year-olds, has been launched with an initial course marking the current Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month. A further intake is expected in June or July.
Participants will be given the chance to shadow nurses at the group’s Kirriemuir practice in Angus, try their hand at tasks such as examinations and bandaging, as well as hearing talks from professionals about their experiences in the profession.
A similar programme for aspiring vets attracted interest from as far afield as London when it was launched last year.
Associate managing director Ashley Wilkie originally joined Thrums, which operates four practices in Angus and Perthshire, on work experience before qualifying as an RVN in 2000.
She said: “It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was cleaning kennels, but my story goes to show what’s possible for veterinary nurses and following the roaring success of our course for potential vets, we’re excited to launch this latest programme that’s specifically aimed at anyone considering a career in veterinary nursing.
“We’ll trial the first course in May with four young people, who will benefit from one-to-one mentoring, before expanding it to accommodate more people as it develops.
“Both these courses are among the first of their kind in the UK and we’re hoping that they can help ease the veterinary industry’s recruitment crisis over the long term.
“At the end of the course, attendees will have a mentor to support them if they choose to pursue a career in the industry.
“The mentorship is part of our ambition to help produce a cohort of skilled, engaged, and talented individuals that will benefit both Thrums and the veterinary industry as a whole in the future.”
To register interest in Thrums’ future courses, contact [email protected] or telephone 01575 572643.
