BBC turns the spotlight on vet school

A new series going behind the scenes at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) starts on BBC2 next week (Monday 18 August).

Young Vets follows 10 students in their final year of education, showing them tackling a variety of cases, including equine.

Jo Hardy (pictured above), who intends to work with horses, was involved.

“In your final year you’re really thrown in at the deep end and cover lots of areas, from horses to surgery and small animals,” she told H&H.

“It was quite intense and daunting to be filmed the entire time, but I relaxed more as the year went on.

“I’ve seen one of the episodes and it didn’t seem like me, it was surreal. I think it will give viewers a good insight into veterinary training, and it’s heartwarming at times, too.”

The RVC treats 20,000 animals a year and the series aims to show how much work goes into being a vet.

“It takes a special kind of person to become a vet,” said a spokesman for producers ITN.

“Veterinary medicine is among the most competitive and challenging degrees on offer: a gruelling five-year slog. Once qualified, the hours are long and the patients are unco-operative and sometimes very smelly. The training is hard and only the best make the final cut.

“Here we join them as they take their last steps to graduating and are immersed in the stories of the animals they treat along the way.”

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound magazine, 7 August 2014

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