23 Oct 2023
Thrums Vets, largest independent practice in Scotland, attracted 16 and 17-year-olds from across UK and is now planning similar events.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
Eight secondary school students from across UK experienced mixed practice life over three days at Thrums Vets.
A pioneering three-day programme designed to give 16 an 17-year-olds a taste of veterinary life is to be repeated after the success of its first event.
Thrums Vets, the largest independent practice group in Scotland, designed the Thrums Vet School Preparation Programme to give young people an insight into the role of a vet in mixed practice.
It came as the UK vet sector continues to tackle an ongoing recruitment crisis.
An initial post on Thrums’ Facebook page to gauge interest in the course was shared more than 300 times and attracted 45,000 views. Applicants were whittled to eight, from as far away as Glasgow, Leeds and London, and they spent three days at Thrums, which has four branches in Angus and Perthshire.
During their stay they participated in farm visits and attended small animal appointments, and gained insights directly from Thrums’ existing team members, who advised them on completing vet school applications.
They were also shown how to carry out clinical examinations, learn how to suture and bandage and took part in a half-day lambing course.
Stephanie Duncan, senior vet at Thrums, who organised the initiative, said: “As well as offering lots of interaction with farm animals and pets visiting our practices, our team were also on-hand to share their experiences in the profession, talk about alternative veterinary careers and answer everyone’s questions.
“We’ve all been amazed with the response and the interest generated and we’re now organising further courses, as well as exploring how we can expand it into vet nursing and animal care courses, too.
“If we get this right, it’s a long-term plan to help fix the industry’s recruitment issues and hopefully deliver a cohort of excellent, engaged, resilient and skilled individuals into the profession. It’s a win for the young people, it’s a win for Thrums and it’s a win for the industry.”
Gavin Durston, a director from Thrums, said: “This programme is one of the first of its kind in the UK and we launched it as a proactive way to help ease the veterinary industry’s recruitment crisis, over the long-term, rather than just staring into the void and blaming everyone else. We already run a very successful new graduate programme and we’re now planning to make this course an extension of that.
“Crucially, it’s much more hands-on than traditional work experience, where school pupils come into the practice but are unable to join in. It’s designed to give young people the opportunity to experience first-hand what being a vet entails, as well as how rewarding it is as a career.
“After three days the participants had their eyes completely opened to what the job is like, and they all now have a mentor to support them in what they do next.
“The team from Scotland’s Rural College’s new School of Veterinary Medicine in Aberdeen also came and talked about the different routes to becoming a vet and explained how it’s not just about A-level results, but about having the right attitude and support.”
