What Qualifications Do I need?

You must be eligible for full Membership of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), this includes meeting the RCVS English language requirements. You must organise and pay for this yourself. Applicants must be an MRCVS by the date the Residency starts, and ideally by the date of application and interview.

You will also need to:

• Hold a veterinary degree which is registrable by the RCVS and provide certificate and transcripts
• Confirm you have the right to study in the UK. 
• Students classified as "Overseas" with regards to tuition fees are very welcome to apply for the residency. We are keen to find the best candidates regardless of their nationality and have had occasional Overseas residents. Candidates should note that funding models for this programme are weighted towards "Home" fee candidates, so when candidates are equal, residencies will be offered to applicants eligible for "Home" fees. To help determine whether you would be eligible for "Home" fees please see the UKCISA's 'Who pays 'home' fees for higher education in England?' guide found here.
• Confirm how you meet the English language requirements, and if applicable submit your English language test results (see below)
• Provide evidence of:
• Work you have undertaken in a veterinary practice
• Any postgraduate qualifications, with certificates
• Your experience of research
• Published any papers or conference presentations
• Previous visits to the RVC
• Completion of an internship programme (minimum duration 12 months) or similar experience in practice

Some of the Residency disciplines require additional qualifications and experience which you will find in the relevant pages.

English Language Requirement

You must be able to communicate clearly in English, both verbally and in writing. If you are not exempt from proving your English language proficiency, you must take an IELTS (Academic) test (or equivalent). 

We require an overall score of 7 in IELTS (Academic) with no component below 6.5. A certified copy of your IELTS test result should be submitted with your application. The test result must have been obtained within 2 years of the start date of the course.  Applications that do not satisfy these criteria will not be considered for shortlisting.

Please see a list of English qualifications we will accept as alternatives to IELTS

Foreign language applicants are encouraged to practice as a veterinary surgeon in the UK for at least one year prior to application to the Residency programme.

What individual attributes do I need?

The programme is designed for highly motivated veterinary professionals who wish to specialise in a specific clinical field whose goals include:

• Advanced development of their veterinary skills
• Experience and knowledge by working under supervision in a multi-disciplinary referral hospital.

What attributes do you need to demonstrate to join the programme?

• Willingness to work hard
• Highly developed organisational and time management skills
• Ability to cope under pressure
• A positive attitude at all times
• Desire to take part in advancing veterinary science
• Able work with a range of people including veterinary students, senior clinicians and nursing and support staff
• Excellent interpersonal skills with an ability to communicate well with other team members, clients, and referring veterinary surgeons
• Have the patience to teach and guide veterinary undergraduate students

How to apply

For details see How to Apply.

Admissions Policy & Procedures

Further information on the recruitment procedure can be found here.

Informal enquiries are encouraged in the first instance to:

Dr Richard Booth (rbooth@rvc.ac.uk)

For more information about postgraduate study see: RVC Graduate School

Annual Leave

The annual leave entitlement is 25 days inclusive of bank holidays; however, timing needs to be coordinated with the hospital’s needs and fellow residents.  Further details can be found in the Code of Practice (see below).

Assessment

Constructive feedback will be provided both informally and formally throughout the programme. Your clinical and academic progress will be assessed on an individual basis. Each resident has a formal appraisal after the first and second year to track progress, and to ensure that all learning objectives are completed and requirements for board certification are met.  Please click here for Assessment and Award Regulations.

Code of Practice

All residents must adhere and abide by the Royal Veterinary College.  The Code of Practice can be found under Essential Information in the Graduate School.

Stipend

Current information on stipend can be found under Funding Options.

FAQs

You may also find these FAQs helpful

Bovine Residency with RVC in collaboration with Torch Farm Vets in North Devon

The resident will join a forward thinking team of vets, vet techs and support staff based at Torch Farm Vets near Barnstaple in North Devon. They will be embedded in this very proactive livestock practice and will be exposed to a wide range of production animal activities and case material. The practice has a strong track record of direct involvement in clinical research, both within the practice and in association with other establishments. The close working relationship between Torch Farm Vets and RVC assures a supportive environment for progression of research and advanced clinical training relevant to becoming a diplomat of the European College of Bovine Health Management. Mentoring will be undertaken by ECBHM diplomats within the RVC alongside production animal certificate and diploma holders within the practice and will include regular meetings to ensure that the ECBHM case requirements and deadlines are being met.

There will be opportunities to be involved in clinical training within the practice. This will include mentoring for undergraduate students attending the practice on intra-mural tracking rotations with RVC as well as tutorials for interns and external (farmer) training. It is also expected that the resident will participate in regular clinical and journal clubs.

We enjoy excellent staff retention and have a fun, progressive environment where a good work life balance is important. Living in North Devon gives easy access to Exmoor and some of the best beaches in the country.

We are looking for a motivated and enthusiastic graduate with the desire to fully engage across the varied range of activities with the Torch Farm Vet team. This will be an ideal residency for anyone looking to specialise in bovine health management, engage more on farm, support the clinical team and develop the practice activities further.

Small Ruminant Residency with RVC in collaboration with Synergy Farm Health in Dorset

This residency programme will run jointly with Synergy Farm Health and Royal Veterinary College Regional Veterinary Centre - South of England near Dorchester in Dorset to provide an environment which delivers quality clinical training and exposure to a substantial caseload. The residents will work with the clinical and teaching teams at both RVC and Synergy to provide experience at the interface of clinical work, research and teaching. By embedding the resident in the clinical activities at Synergy, they will be exposed to a wide range of production animal activities with an emphasis on small ruminant work and case material. The clinical teams across RVC and Synergy include ECSRHM specialists, ECBHM specialists, certificate holders and MSc holders; all actively involved in educational support. The practice has a large and established small ruminant caseload with both flock and individual animal work and an active team of seven clinicians focused on commercially focused, evidence based medicine.  

The 40+ farm-only veterinary team at Synergy allows for a wide range of client demographic and business types across the South West of England and the practice also boasts an active small ruminant research and development department that is keen on data analysis and exploring new and innovative services and technology. Working together with RVC, the practice provides great potential for clinical field research that will satisfy the requirements of the residency programme.

Education is an integral part of the Synergy ethos and the practice is involved with RVC Core rotation teaching as well as having run a successful internship programme in collaboration with RVC for over 12 years after which many interns have gone on to be employed within the practice and now perform important roles whilst simultaneously growing the business and advancing their careers. The joint Residency programme between RVC and Synergy already has two active Bovine residents enrolled and will build on this success and aim to develop future Small Ruminant specialists.

Bovine Residency with RVC in collaboration with Synergy Farm Health in Dorset

This residency programme will run jointly with Synergy Farm Health and the Royal Veterinary College Regional Veterinary Centre - South of England near Dorchester in Dorset to provide an environment which delivers quality clinical training and development. The residents will work with the clinical and teaching teams at both RVC and Synergy to provide experience at the interface of teaching, research and clinical work. By embedding the resident in the clinical activities at Synergy, they will be exposed to a wide range of production animal activities and case material. The clinical teams across RVC and Synergy include Diplomates (Bovine & Small Ruminant), Certificate holders and a variety of MSc holders; all actively involved in educational support. The practice has a large and established bovine caseload with both dairy and beef work with in a pro-active team focused on commercially focused, evidence based medicine.  

The 40+ farm-only veterinary team at Synergy allows for a wide range of client demographic and business types across the South West of England and the practice also boasts an active research and development department that is keen on data analysis and exploring new and innovative services and technology. Working together with RVC, provides great potential for clinical field research that will satisfy the requirements of the residency programme.

Education is an integral part of the Synergy ethos and the practice is involved with RVC Core rotation teaching as well as having run a successful internship programme in collaboration with RVC for over 12 years after which many interns have gone on to be employed within the practice and now perform important roles whilst simultaneously growing the business and advancing their careers. The joint Residency programme between RVC and Synergy already has two active Bovine residents enrolled and will continue to build on this success and aim to develop future Bovine specialists.

For an informal discussion about these residencies, please contact:

Dr Richard Booth (rbooth@rvc.ac.uk) or for general queries/how to apply: admissions@rvc.ac.uk   

How to Apply

Please see How to Apply for details of the application process.

Only online application forms submitted through our system will be considered.

Please ensure that your English Qualification meets our requirements in time for applying. 

We endeavour to inform those who have been short listed for interview, in writing, at least 2 weeks before the interview date. The interview typically lasts 20-30 minutes.  It is designed to test the applicant’s understanding of the role and function of a resident, and their motivation for pursuing a residency.

The residencies are highly competitive and, regrettably, this inevitably means that many good applicants are not successful. If you are unsuccessful you may re-apply the following year but you should contact the appropriate programme director before doing so.

Tuition Fees

All Clinical Training Residencies are fully funded.

• As a resident your fees will be covered by the department that you are working in. 
• A stipend will be paid monthly in arrears. Currently the stipend is £24,500 per annum (subject to review)

The tuition fees (which are covered by your department) are as follows:

Tuition fee amounts are subject to increase each academic year.