RE: College of animal welfare in Leeds !

Alison Clare Hickman — Tue, 30 Dec 2014 12:17:55 GMT

I qualified from there in 2011.FAb. faB. Fab. FAB. Faaaaab.

Whatever your level of ability and requirement for support they helped, guided and pulled us all through.You just had to let them in and then you found you could swim! I CANNOT speak highly enough of the team at Leeds and, in general, CAW itself. Head and shoulders above for training as an SVN, excellent OSCE practical days support and then subsequently for CPD after qualification.

As for job prospects in the UK, can't comment as I was already employed and did Day release. However, in comparison to some other colleges around the area, I have heared from current students that they feel they are far better at securing placements and monitoring the students in-situ.

The only thing I would say is that at Leeds, now the Doggy Day Care centre has closed (Pet Stop, I think it was called), I'd miss the manic woofing noises as a background to my learning days there...

Aaah, happy memories!

Ali h

RE: College of animal welfare in Leeds !

Mark Hedberg — Tue, 30 Dec 2014 09:21:50 GMT

Disclaimer: I work for CAW in Huntingdon.

Because of this, of course I can't give an unbiased opinion of the Leeds centre. Yes, I think the teaching staff there are great at what they do, but of course I would say that, wouldn't I? It's a tough course, mind you; but then that's the case no matter where you do your training.

Across 2 or 3 years (depending on where and which course) you will be run very hard; getting those GCSE grades is only the first step. (If you haven't got them, that's ok, you can do a VCA pre-nursing course and a Level 2 Functional Skills in Maths, and Level 2 Functional Skills in English, and then you can get on the course without the GCSEs. But that's another post.) A day in college and the rest in clinical placement; you will be rota'd on like a normal staff member and it's occasionally a very dirty job.

In terms of job prospects, however, I'm on very firm ground when I say that as an RVN you can honestly have your pick. Look in the back of the VN Times or Vet Times and there are 2 or even 3 pages of 'RVN wanted' ads, and several topics here on VetNurse asking 'where all the nurses have gone' - so if you're qualified and you've got a head on your shoulders you won't have a problem getting a job.

Check out the latest edition of RCVS Facts (http://www.rcvs.org.uk/publications/rcvs-facts-2014/), and there's a lovely chart on page 5 comparing numbers of vet nurses and vet surgeons per region. In the Yorkshire (Northeast), for example, in July 2014 there were 1395 vets and 696 RVNs, making an average of 1 nurse for every 2 vets.

(So yes, you lot who've got more nurses than vets? Help us train more! )

It could be worse, of course - you could be in Northern Ireland, where you've got 1 nurse for every 5.6 vets.

Short version: Pretty much the only way you won't be able to get a job as an RVN is if you burn your CV, sell your car, and hide under your bed in a locked room.

(There may be more scientific ways of phrasing that, of course.)

Good luck with your decision!

Boa sorte!