5 Dec 2023
The RCVS plans to issue new guidance before its new EMS rules come into force next year, but the BVU wants more done to prevent students being “impoverished”.
Allister Webb
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Image: © Siam / Adobe Stock
The BVU has warned much more needs to be done to prevent students from being “impoverished” by the EMS requirements of their degree programmes.
The stark message follows the release of a new policy paper in which it called for vet schools to provide accommodation budgets to students where no independent facilities are offered by placement providers.
The RCVS has confirmed it plans to issue new guidance to stakeholders before its new EMS rules come into force next year.
But BVU branch chairperson Suzanna Hudson-Cooke said the profession was at risk of becoming “elitist” if students – particularly from poorer backgrounds – are not properly supported.
Speaking after the paper was published, she insisted the necessary resources could be found, adding: “You can’t run a course and not fund all of the aspects that you’re expecting students to do.
“It’s not for me to determine how their [vet schools’] budgets work, but what they do need to do is make sure that their students are not being impoverished to complete the course.”
The VSC declined to comment on the union’s proposals when approached by Vet Times, although leaders of some of its member organisations, together with other senior industry figures, have voiced concerns about the level of veterinary education funding in recent months.
But the union’s intervention came as the RCVS confirmed it had finalised plans for the implementation of its new EMS rules following discussions at a recent meeting of its education committee.
The measure will reduce the total number of required weeks across both animal handling and clinical EMS from 38 to 30, from next autumn, while a national database of placements, which seeks to match students’ learning objectives with training providers, is also planned.
Although some concerns have been raised within the equine and farm sectors about the loss of individual species requirements, director of education Linda Prescott-Clements said the reforms recognised the “immense value” of EMS to veterinary training.
She said: “The policy will allow students to complete their EMS in a much more flexible manner, with longer and/or shorter placements being made possible, and students being given the freedom to choose which EMS placements would benefit them most.
“We are currently in the process of fine-tuning the policy before its formal introduction, including producing additional guidance for students, vet schools and placement providers. This will be published in due course.”
But while a placement database is part of the BVU’s proposals, it fears the college’s plans do not go far enough and risk creating additional unnecessary work by running alongside vet schools’ own databases.
Instead, the union proposes wider collaboration to create a centralised placement search and booking system which would also facilitate assessment of students as well as giving them a feedback platform.
Dr Hudson-Cooke said that while the college had reacted positively to their suggestion of an inclusivity tickbox, its proposals still lacked feedback facilities that the union regards as “really vital”.
The launch of the union’s paper also coincided with this year’s London Vet Show (LVS), where several sessions focused on the challenges posed by EMS and how they might be addressed.
The cost conundrum was highlighted by the Association of Veterinary Students’ president, Jack Conway, who revealed he had been forced to cancel several placements for financial reasons.
But although he voiced concerns about a potential “disconnect” between students and placement providers, he expressed optimism about the direction EMS was moving in and praised its value to his own studies.
He told delegates: “I’ve learned more in EMS than I have in university.”
Liz Mossop, who chaired the BVA’s EMS working group that advocated replacing the current weeks-based requirements with an outcomes-based approach, acknowledged the unique burdens placed on veterinary students compared with other sectors and questioned whether there was potential to integrate EMS with inter-mural rotations.
The BVU’s paper also called for EMS placements to be more fully integrated into teaching schedules and an end to the requirement for placements to be completed in holiday periods, arguing that would virtually eradicate the financial burden placed on students.
But apprenticeships were another alternative training method explored at LVS, following the implementation of plans to introduce the idea to human medical training next year.
Although the pathway does not feature within the BVU proposals, SRUC vice-principal Mary Thomson said more than 100 students are following its apprenticeship programme for veterinary nurses.
Emmanuel Oloyede, past-president of the Animal Aspirations group, also argued the model could help to widen participation. Although questions were raised about how standards could be maintained under such a model, Prof Mossop said there was nothing to stop the RCVS from establishing a trailblazer group to explore the issue now.
But the college said that while it should be included in any such group as a key stakeholder, its understanding was that it was for employers themselves to establish and lead them. A spokesperson added that education committee discussions about the role of apprenticeships are ongoing.
