23 Nov 2020
Lime Trees Vets delayed a planned re-opening of its Cheadle clinic to provide a centre where students could sit their exams.
Rachael Buzzel
Job TitleA veterinary practice is doing its bit to help SVNs sit their OSCEs by providing a centre for exams to take place.
An awarding body of the OSCE approached Bottle Green Training – an independent training provider that offers accessible training for VNs in the east midlands – to see if it could suggest anywhere that may be able to help with students sitting delayed exams.
Bottle Green Training approached Lime Trees Vets in Staffordshire, which has a multidisciplinary referral hospital on the outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent and a clinic in Cheadle.
Lime Trees Vets stepped up and delayed a planned re-opening of its Cheadle clinic to provide a centre where students could sit their exams in a realistic veterinary environment.
Lime Trees Vets director Hywel Parry said: “I care passionately about veterinary education. Our hospital is a partner of the University of Surrey’s veterinary degree final-year rotations, so when Bottle Green approached us to see if we could help, there was no doubt in my mind.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on vet nurse training, with many final-year students unable to sit their final OSCE. Students received five days’ notice that their March examination had been postponed and, as lockdown progressed, June examinations were also put on hold.
