Hi, i am 12 years old and love animals. ive been looking into becoming a vet for some time now and will be going to local zoo to get hands on experience. Seeing as you are a vet, especially as me being at such a young age, what advice can you give to me about becoming a vet?

Im at a grammar school, will that help??

Thankyou very much.

Ethan Griffiths

Hi, Ethan,

I see from your e-mail that you live in the UK, so I can explain how you set about becoming a vet there.

You have to go to University for 5 years, at one of the seven which have veterinary schools. It is difficult to get into the veterinary schools, since many other people wish to be vets, too. You will need A or A* grades at A level in Chemistry, Biology and Physics at least
THERE IS NO OTHER WAY OF BECOMING A VET.
Talk to the careers master at your school - if you have to select the subjects you wish to take exams in, you need to start thinking about electing them quite soon.
Good luck!

W

Thankyou for such a quick reply.

At what age did you want to be a vet and when did you start studying to become one? my age or above? And im not quite sure what a careers master is because ive not been at the school long? i have lots of Alevel chemistry and biology books so im sure they will help but what is the actual reason you need to learn these subjects, i didnt think they had anything to do with veterinary? but what is true is that i love animals and im also a vegetarian, hopefuly the passion i have will help.

thankyou again.

ethan

Hi, Ethan,

Veterinary medicine, like human medicine is science based, and a thorough grounding in the three science subjects I have mentioned is absolutely essential.

Just 'loving animals' and 'being a vegetarian' are not sufficient motivations to becoming a vet.

It was about at your age that I too set my sights on being a vet, but I was the son of a dairy farmer, and I had followed our vet around when he came to attend to our farm animals, so I did have some idea of what it was all about.

A Careers master is a member of the school staff who should be able to advise you on what subjects you need to take to get into the university course of your choice, and indeed, if he thinks you have the academic ability to reach the required standards in the necessary subjects. thje veterinary course is one of the most difficult ones to get into, with the highest standard of school examination results of all.

You can get more information if you go the www.rcvs.org.uk

W

Thankyou for all of your advice.

Ive read some of your other replys and noticed you said you should go to a local vets and watch them in practise, i would love to do that and will be really looking into the being a vet a lot more in the coming moments.
when i say about loving animals etc., i dont mean thats all you need, just that it helps, if you were a vet and hated animals..

well, thankyou again and i have bookmarked this site, so when i have trouble with my pets i will come straight here.

ethan

Hi, Ethan,
That sounds sensible.
What pets do you have at prsent?
W

At the moment i have a syrian hamster and a whippet, but im looking to get more pets as my dog is very tame and loves all kinds of animals and would be fine around them. the thing is is that i want to get more up close to more different animals to get used to them and also learn things along the way.

ethan

Hi, Ethan,

Whippets make great pets - like greyhounds, they love exercise, but are not too demanding, because they like sleeping of the effects of the exercise!

W

PS I am moving this thread - you wuill find it in the Vet Students' forum from now on.