BVA expresses concern about new vet school

RE: BVA expresses concern about new vet school

gillg — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 18:45:58 GMT

I agree with Victor that more UK graduates will not stop graduates from other European countries coming over here to work. I am surprised the government does not have a supply and demand mechanism in place as I think they will find in 20-30 years that many graduates will NEVER be able to pay back their student loans - vet students being one of the most likely to fall into this category in my view.

RE: BVA expresses concern about new vet school

Janet Ritchie — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 11:47:31 GMT

We have had manpower surveys in the past, surely we need another to provide the information before another university jumps onto the bandwaggon to make money. They know there a lots of potential vet students out there. It is likely that UK vetting will go the way of the Danes and Germans, many single handed practices which leads to an overall poorer quality of service for our ever decreasing client base. Remember the figures showing a decrease of pet ownership?

RE: BVA expresses concern about new vet school

conor rowan — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 17:35:53 GMT

I fear this may further deflate wages for new grads who we it is understood are generally underpaid when the skills required and hours spent both working as and training to be a vet. There are now accredited universities in Budapest, Slovakia, St Kitts and in another bracket Grenada which are taking in UK students. There are also a large number of vets from UCD in Ireland (of which I am one). Martin I think you may be guilty of being idealistic (which is admirable) but I dont think a new university will alter the quality of veterinary surgeons being trained merely the quantity.

RE: BVA expresses concern about new vet school

Mike Priest — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 23:41:11 GMT

With the established schools the graduate rate is offset by the retirement rate. Nottingham has only had 2 years of graduates and though some will leave the job market for maternity/paternity or career breaks/changes we are 40 years away from any Nottingham graduate retiring. Has anyone done the calculations for the numbers from Nottingham, before we increase these extra numbers two fold with Surrey. The results for new graduates may be catastrophic, just so Surrey can have a feather in its cap, but more importantly, this could lead to multiple 1 man joint venture partnerships with limited facilities, young vets with no support network and heading for mental health issues, and consequently a poorer service for animals

If Surrey wants to wait 10-15 years to get a better guage of Nottinghams long-term effect, then consider again if a new course is needed, well and good, but go ahead now and results could be disastrous

RE: BVA expresses concern about new vet school

Victor Ortiz — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 19:19:46 GMT

I come from Spain where there are way too many vet schools (as in Portugal and Italy), and having more UK graduates won't stop the foreign graduates coming over, as the conditions here are much better; What will happen is that more people will apply for the same position and many of the employers out there will go for the cheapest (I have a friend who was getting less than 15k pounds a year as a full time vet when she started in the UK). I would expect the salaries going down if more vets are available.

RE: BVA expresses concern about new vet school

Martin Whiting — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 17:49:24 GMT

I wonder if the BVA is expressing valid concerns. Are the numbers the are reviewing including the international students who come to the uk to train and return home? My understanding is that the UK is still a net importer of practicing veterinary surgeons. It also represents a slightly limited view that a qualified veterinary graduate will only aim to go into general practice whereas the number of potential different jobs they may want to do is huge.

Removal from the home office shortage list does not mean we are safe, we are just no longer on a shortage list. If the government (the funders of the venture) did not wish for it to happen then the funding would not be available.

I am in favour of this (to a degree) and am surprised the BVA is not. After all with greater competition out there amongst veterinary surgeons it means practices can choose the highest graduates and thus push the profession forward. Surely that is a good thing?

We don't want a profession who is protectionist for its existing members, rather a profession who is always driving forward for the best vets to serve animal welfare to the highest degree.