Page 24 - RVC International Prospectus 2023-2024

TEACHING AND LEARNING

Veterinary medicine is a strand-based course that follows a ‘spiral’ curriculum. This means that key concepts are presented
repeatedly to you as you progress through the course, at deepening levels of complexity and in different contexts. The progression
of knowledge and understanding from preclinical basic concepts to clinical knowledge and reasoning skills is achieved by revisits
to each strand at different stages of the course. For example, when learning about the kidney, you will learn basic anatomy, and
physiology during the preclinical phase of the course and then learn about the common diseases of the kidney and how they
are diagnosed and treated during the clinical phase. This is then enriched by working with animal patients presented with kidney
disease in our first opinion and referral hospitals, or other practices, during clinical rotations and extra-mural rotations. Our Panopto
software allows you to re-watch or catch up on lectures by providing a recorded lecture through our virtual learning environment.

PRACTICAL AND CLINICAL TEACHING

A fundamental part of our veterinary medicine courses is the practical experience you gain that will prepare you for your career
once you have graduated. We believe that it is critical to your development that you are able to apply your theoretical learning in a
practical environment, such as client cases.
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY EXTRA-MURAL STUDIES (AHEMS)

AHEMS is undertaken during the first two years (preclinical years) of the five and six year veterinary medicine courses, or your first
year if studying the Graduate Accelerated BVetMed. AHEMS placements are designed to help you consolidate your learning about
animal husbandry, develop animal handling skills, and learn about animal industries. You must complete 12 weeks of AHEMS
before entry to Year 3 (or Year 2 if studying the Graduate Accelerated BVetMed) of the course, comprising:
• Two weeks on a lambing enterprise
• Two weeks on a dairy cattle farm
• Two weeks at a commercial pig operation
• Two weeks of equine experience
• Four weeks of your choice
If you are studying the Graduate Accelerated BVetMed, you can do six weeks of AHEMS prior to starting your course.

CLINICAL EXTRA-MURAL STUDIES (CLINEMS)

ClinEMS occurs in veterinary practices and other veterinary industries. It will help you build on and enhance the clinical
training you will receive from on the RVC’s intramural clinical rotations. You will consolidate your learning about diagnosis and
management of animal diseases, enhance your practical clinical skills, and acquire greater understanding of how veterinary
organisations operate.

24 PROFESSION-SHAPING • CAREER-MAKING • WORLD-LEADING