Equine vet students attending equine bootcamps in August 2023
Immersive Bootcamps Give Equine Students A Sneak Peek Into Life As Fully Qualified Vets
2 years ago 
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Two equine bootcamps were held across the UK in August, orchestrated by IVC Evidensia Equine Vets, designed to give students the best start in their careers with vital skills taught through hands-on training.
Practical sessions included dentistry, ultrasound and scanning, wounds and bandaging, endoscopy and gastroscopy, lameness and colic, amongst other topics.
It was also a great opportunity for vet students to meet existing equine teams and envisage how they might fit into their own teams in the future.
In the north of the country, twelve students attended Scarsdale Equine Clinic and Oakham Veterinary Hospital, whilst southern bootcamps were held at Sussex Equine Hospital and Cliffe Equine Hospital with twelve other students. This meant that in total, 24 students attended across 5 days.
Mark Tabachnik, UK Head of Equine for IVC Evidensia, commented:
“By offering an immersive EMS experience over 5 days, involving lectures and practical sessions, we have given equine veterinary students the opportunity to see what life as a fully qualified vet will look like, and the basic tools of the trade they will need to hit the ground running in their careers.
“There is clearly a need and a want for vet students to connect with the equine vet community as early as possible and I am proud that we as Equine Vets can offer this experience in a coordinated effort across the UK.”
The bootcamps themselves were heavily subsidised by IVC Evidensia, ensuring that students who were able to make it would have less of a financial impact and were able to access the practical education they needed in their journey to becoming fully qualified.
All food, drinks and accommodation were generously funded by a raft of sponsors including BOVA, Veterinary X-Rays, IMV Imaging, Vesco, and Boehringer.
“This experience has been incredible”
This is the first time the Equine Vets team have ran the bootcamps, and they were so popular with students in the north and south of England that two separate groups were organised to accommodate them all.
Students in attendance had a lot of positive feedback to give, which allowed organisers to see which elements stood out to attendees, and also start planning for future bootcamps in 2024.
Holly Keys, one of the students who attended the bootcamps, commented:
“This bootcamp was my most useful week of EMS so far! The lectures were very informative and focused on day one skills and the practical sessions allowed me to learn and develop skills that university teaching did not provide.
“It was run by an enthusiastic team keen to impart decades of knowledge, this experience has been incredible, and I am so grateful to have been able to attend!”
Nathan West, another participating vet student, added:
“The practical experience and skills gained in one week would probably be the same as three to four weeks of clinical EMS in practice. Most valuable week of EMS to date and confirmed equine is definitely the sector I want to go into.”
Jacqui Paton, Clinical Director at Scarsdale Vets and organiser for the northern bootcamps, commented:
“I’m so glad we’ve been able to give vet students hands-on experience and confidence in the fundamental skills they need before they embark on exciting careers as equine vets. The demand for the course was high and it was inspiring to work with such an enthusiastic and committed group of students.
“I have no doubt that, with the right skills, graduates will flourish when it comes to working in practice, and I hope our bootcamps will have contributed to that in a positive way.”
The bootcamps are not the only option that vet students have, as the Equine Graduate Academy also provides structured support with clear pathways for new graduates who are thinking of going straight into practice.
To find out more about the Graduate Academy and Equine Vets, head over to the website here.
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