SRUC to open Scotland's first new vet school in 150 years

There are ambitious plans to revamp the recruitment process, with a weighting on commitment to rural communities over academic prowess, which SRUC hopes will widen its net of applicants and they will be offering more practical experience of working life as a vet, through final year placements, to cement the learning process.

The vet school is based in Aberdeen, as part of SRUC’s Craibstone campus, with some elements of the course to be taught at the Rural and Veterinary Innovation Centre, in Inverness.

The Scottish Farmer caught up with the newly appointed director of veterinary partnerships, Vivienne Mackinnon, who will be responsible for collaborating with veterinary practices and the wider industry, to ensure students have ample opportunities to experience life on the job before they graduate.

“We believe SRUC is ideally placed to have its own vet school, with our existing expertise in agriculture, animal welfare, business management, veterinary pathology and wider partnerships in academia and food and agri sectors.”

She was keen to point out that SRUC would not be taking any spaces away from other vet schools but would rather focus on developing a home-grown workforce and prioritising rural mixed practice and veterinary public health.

“We know rural practices struggle to attract and retain vets and the shortage has been exacerbated by Brexit and the decreased flow of vets coming from Europe. So, a big focus for us will be our admissions policy which will focus on students who have the resilience to work in mixed practices and thrive in our rural communities.”

In a huge step towards addressing barriers to the veterinary profession around academic requirements, she explained that prospective students will need to demonstrate they can meet the academic demands of the course, but it will not be the sole driving factor, with increased weighting on other attributes.

“As well as direct entry of students to study veterinary medicine, we have started running an HND in rural animal health, which will lead on to careers as veterinary technicians and animal health inspection, but also provide a gateway into the veterinary course,” she added.

There is also going to be a revamp in the way in which the veterinary profession is viewed, with SRUC trying to shift public perceptions away from vets as solely dealing with sick pets, to their wider role in society and underpinning food production.

“Vets are an essential part of our food chain, enabling the promotion of high-quality food through supporting animal welfare and are vital to the social fabric of our rural communities and sustaining rural activity.

"Ultimately, we need to be producing vets who are not only making recommendations for animal health but can also understand the economic side of the job and wider implications. We need vets to be explaining to farmers that vaccinating against certain diseases could be a big financial saver in the long run.”

As part of Vivienne’s role, she explained the importance of access to work experience for students: “We need to ensure that students are exposed to what working life will entail, so as well as the usual requirement to spend time on farms and in vet practice during their holidays, the final year of teaching will take place in vet practices across Scotland, giving a more in-depth experience of life in rural communities.”

She explained that this should ease the transition from their final year in to work and provide them with opportunities to discover what type of practice they enjoy and build contacts and future job opportunities along the way.

All teaching in their final year will be delivered in line with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons standards and she said that training and support will be given to practitioners to ensure they align with these requirements.

It will also provide an additional income stream for veterinary practices as they will be paid to have students there and Vivienne suggested that it could also help solve some recruitment problems.

“Vets are understaffed yet are having to balance a lot more admin and clients, fuelled in part by pandemic puppies and Brexit certification requirements. Taking on students won’t suit every practice, but it is a model which has worked well at other newer vet schools in England.

“During their final year, a student could look to do four-week rotations each on farm animals, equine, small animal practice, rural mixed practice, veterinary public health and then they will have the opportunity to do more specialist placements in for example fish, poultry or pigs and will have the opportunity to go back and select some they really enjoyed and do another block of placements.”

Vivienne went on to explain that there is some talk of the veterinary profession as a ‘leaky bucket’ and concerns that a new vet school won’t solve this retention issue but points out that the new course has been designed with this in mind.

“We understand the answer isn’t just about creating more places, but it is about how we can improve and better target the selection process for entry and how we can ensure students are well equipped to face the realities of practice.”

Students will receive business skills training, delivered alongside students on related courses, which is aimed to help prepare vets for future business roles and decisions. There will also be a key focus on pastoral care.

“Vets are under inordinate pressure when working with animals, which can take its toll on their own wellbeing and in many cases, they take on the burden of farmers’ mental health too. We want to make sure our students are given the support to know how they can support farmers and each other without carrying that weight on their shoulders.”

SRUC plan to link up with Vet Support Scotland – a counselling service for vets – and will also be working on building in communication skills training, that is aimed to alleviate stress and equip vets with how to react and manage difficult situations.”

In preparation for the vet school opening, SRUC is currently going through the process of attaining degree awarding powers and a team of newly appointed teaching staff for the vet school are due to join in March.

Vivienne concluded by calling on veterinary practices Scotland-wide, to open their doors to prospective students and work with SRUC to help solve some of the issues around rural recruitment and retention of vets.

“We would love to hear from any practices who are interested in partnering with us to deliver our new programme. Although the main campus is in Aberdeen, rural Scotland is not just the Highlands and Islands but extends to the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway and Argyll.

"We are really looking to establish a footprint of practices across Scotland and believe that with the buy-in from both vets and farmers, we can turn the tide on veterinary retention and sustain our critical rural practices,” she added.