Training to be a VET

cathy01

My daughters 15 and wants to train to be a vet, can anyone tell me, what she needs subject wise in her leaving cert, and whats the differance betweena vet nurse and , well a vet?thanks, confused mum.

LUPE

cathy01 wrote: »

My daughters 15 and wants to train to be a vet, can anyone tell me, what she needs subject wise in her leaving cert, and whats the differance betweena vet nurse and , well a vet?thanks, confused mum.

My daughter's 15 and wants to train to be a vet. Can anyone tell me what she needs subject-wise in her Leaving Cert and what the difference is between a vet nurse and, well, a vet? Thanks, Confused Mum.

WeeBushy

cathy01 wrote: »

My daughters 15 and wants to train to be a vet, can anyone tell me, what she needs subject wise in her leaving cert, and whats the differance betweena vet nurse and , well a vet?thanks, confused mum.

Please ignore the poster above, he has a tendency to be very unhelpful.

Firstly, she will need to do chemistry and get a minimum of an honours C3. She will also need to get c. 555 in her leaving, its a high demand course with few places so competition is high I'm afraid.

The difference between a vet nurse and a vet is somewhat similar to the difference between a doctor and a nurse. They have different roles, responsibilities, knowledge etc.

I would suggest that your daughter spend as much time trailing a vet as possible, seeing exactly what it is they do. Is she in 4th year next year? If so I would definitely recommend she spend her work experience with a vet. Even if she can over the summer for a bit it would really show her what the job entails, as a lot of people have ideas about what you do, and often that differs from reality. Not trying to put her off it at all - if its what she wants it is an incredibly rewarding career. Just make sure she knows what she's getting into as it is a tough course in college and tough job afterwards.*

For more information about veterinary, the UCD prospective (https://myucd.ucd.ie/program.do?programID=52) has information on what is required, what subjects you do etc. Definitely worth a read. Here's the one for vet nursing as well: https://myucd.ucd.ie/program.do?programID=93

There are a couple vets floating around in this forum so if they see this they might be able to give you more specifics on what the course entails.

If its what she wants to do back her fully as it is a dream job for a lot of people. I wish her all the best in her LC and trying to get in.

*Based purely on my own experience in trying to get into vet since leaving school (didn't get high enough points in the LC unfortunately).

cathy01

Thanks a million for the rply.55 points is huge.Shes currently doing all higher level subjects and is getting honers, C3-A in the all.Thank God.I was telling her to do biology , I had no idea she would need chemisty so Im glad I checked. She is sitting her Jr cert next year and will have to make sure she gets a C3 Plus in chemisty so , to make sure that shes able to do it for her leaving.
I will ask about work experiance in the local vets and see what happens.Fingers crossed.thanks so much for the help.Cathy

WeeBushy

No worries. Any other questions post em up and I'll (try) and answer them, or somebody more qualified might come along

Its a tough course to get into, but there is always the possibility of graduate entry. After she finishes a degree, along with an aptitude test called the GAMSAT (similar to the HPAT that LC students do for medicine), you can apply to get in as a graduate student. I know its a long way off but keep it in mind if it is something she really wants to do. Might help take a little bit of the pressure off knowing there is another route.

The Paws

Great tips from the above.

Can I add in – Since she will need 555 Leaving Cert points to do Vet Medicine – don’t aim for that points but aim for a higher points than it is required because a lot of other students who will be applying the same course as your daughter and they will have/has a much higher points in order to secure a place eg 560+ etc and it works out that your daughter may not be able to get in even if she has 555points. I don’t want to disappoint ye but just to be aware of it.

there is a graduate entry for it too - but it does cost a lot of money (~20,000 euros) - I simply dont have the money! (marry a rich husband or even try win the lotto is all we can do at the moment!....)

Wishing your daughter the very best!

spagboll

The Paws wrote: »

there is a graduate entry for it too - but it does cost a lot of money (~20,000 euros) - I simply dont have the money! (marry a rich husband or even try win the lotto is all we can do at the moment!....)

Wishing your daughter the very best!

talk to the banks, they throw money at the grad entry med students, i imagine vet is similarly a safe bet for the banks

cathy01

We are hoping to get her work experiance forthe summer with the local vet.She perhaps could do to a dog rescue centre but I dont think thats the experiance that she would need.
Heres hoping she gets on ok.Thanks all,cathy

WeeBushy

Its a lot of fun and greatly rewarding working in rescue centres, however Tbh, any experience with animals is relevant, some more than others obviously - but its all good. And a rescue centre will certainly have a vet associated with it who she could tail and ask questions.

I would also recommend that (if she can) she gets some idea of what its like to work with farm animals, as in Ireland its obviously a big part of veterinary medicine.

I feel like I'm just throwing things at you that need to be done- hope its not bogging you down. Its a tough aul road to go down, but many people do it every year so its not impossible! And she's only 15 so plenty of time to get prepared.

cathy01

I never thought about the farm animals.:o
I rang a local vet and she can get a weeks work experience in August.
She did ask her science teacher is it biology that she needs or chemistry, as the site said chemistry, which I thought was weird but the teacher said it changes every year and from what she knows its biology.Can anyone clear that up.She might ask about doing both for her Leaving cert, but we will have to see whats needed and how helpful the school is.Thanks again for the advice, its help her get one step further towards her goal.Cathy

WeeBushy

cathy01 wrote: »

I never thought about the farm animals.:o
I rang a local vet and she can get a weeks work experience in August.
She did ask her science teacher is it biology that she needs or chemistry, as the site said chemistry, which I thought was weird but the teacher said it changes every year and from what she knows its biology.Can anyone clear that up.She might ask about doing both for her Leaving cert, but we will have to see whats needed and how helpful the school is.Thanks again for the advice, its help her get one step further towards her goal.Cathy

It has always been chemistry that is needed. And for a reason, it underpins a lot of what a vet will learn. Take pharmacology for example, the effect of any drug you administer to an animal is based on chemical and biochemical concepts. A vet has to know how and why a drug works.

No idea why her teacher thinks it changes, that's just wrong.

No harm in doing both, but a lot of the biology LC course is just rote learning, not an awful lot of comprehension needed, and little that would be relevant for veterinary (imo). However, I think its a really interesting subject for the leaving so if she likes it she should definitely do it.

Taken from a blog about medicine. The same principle applies for veterinary, however:

Like learning how to write by learning the alphabet and how to make simple sentences, chemistry is an alphabet and sentence arrangement that allows us to understand complex organisms. Whether we like it or not, chemistry is the basis of everything and allows us to understand how things behave with each other in reactions (and non reactions). Organic chemistry is the building block for biochemistry which is understanding precisely how the body keeps "running" with organic fuels and how metals interact and play a role with the body (zinc, magnesium, copper, etc.). Without a clear understanding of organic chemistry it is not possible to really understand how the body works and how drugs work in relation to the body. Understanding chemistry is how a doctor can make choices for therapy and choose the right drug for the right illness - knowing chemical pathways and what chemical processes produce a given result in tissue and organs allows the doctor to treat the patient properly.

Raphael

Biology should be worth doing as well, at least from when I did it a few years ago. There is a fair whack of rote learning, but also a lot of anatomy and suchlike that could help. Ag Science might be worth doing also, if it's offered in her school.

Solja of Hispania

Hi Cathy,
I'm a 3rd year veterinary student in UCD. Chemistry is a requirement for applying to veterinary in UCD. I studied biology too and found it helpful when I went into first year veterinary. There were a few in my year who hadn't done biology and so they had a bit more work than the rest of us to do in first year, but they were OK in the end. I would recommend she do biology- even though its not necessary it is a help and lets you know if you are interested in this area. I didn't come from a farming background myself and didn't do Ag Science for leaving cert but I didn't find this made it harder for me when I got into veterinary. However I hear from classmates that Ag science is an easy subject to get an A1 in so it might be worth doing if your daughter is aiming for the high points. I'd recommend doing a bit of work experience with a vet, I hadn't much done myself before starting the course but I think it would be helpful to get an idea of the type of work a vet does. Finally I'd say that if your daughter thinks she would like to do veterinary go for it! The course is tough at times but it really is a great degree and there are lots of different areas of work you can get into and can travel the world!

cathy01

thanks for that, I think she can only do 1 science subject for her leaving cert, and if Im correct that it must be chemisty to get into the vet course.
Im going to try and find a local school that would allow her to do two science subjects.
Thanks again for the help,Cathy, proud mum to a soon to be vet, but right now a lovely 15 :rolleyes:year old.