Information for students
Full Benefits of Membership
BCVA has a very attractive student rate membership. For a nominal annual sum (about the cost of a round of beer) as a full time veterinary student you can enjoy all the benefits of full membership. Student membership is only available for those studying for an MRCVS.
Undergraduate Education
BCVA is committed to the education of cattle vets from undergraduate to specialist level. The first steps can be daunting and stressful as well as being exciting and very rewarding. To make the transition into working life easier, preparation and having an idea of what will be required from you is essential. With this in mind BCVA provides
- Council members to speak at Clinical Clubs at the vet schools
- A database of members who are willing and able to provide EMS. Contact the office for further details.
- Day One skills list for undergraduates.
Day One skills list
The BCVA wishes to ensure that undergraduates are well prepared when starting their first job, to ensure both competence and confidence. The SPVS ‘Your First Job’ final year seminar shows that on average the percentage of final year students who have trimmed a bovine foot is 47%, assisted with a caesarean is 64%, and collected blood is 83%.
BCVA has therefore developed a list of day one skills as either essential or desirable requirements. This is to enable students who wish to develop a career in cattle practice to have guidance when seeing practice. Click on here to access the list.
EMS - ‘Seeing Practice'
The BCVA has a database of members who are able and willing to provide EMS. It is important to make the most of your time on EMS and have realistic goals. Guidance on EMS can be found at the EMS Driving Licence devised by the University of Edinburgh and the Royal Veterinary College at www.vet.ed.ac.uk/ems_driving_licence.
Stewarding
BCVA requires the regular assistance of student members as stewards at the annual Congress. As a steward you receive free registration (including accommodation and meals) to the meeting. Please contact us if you are interested.
Clinical Research Grants
The BCVA makes available a small number of clinical research grants to members and student members of the association each year. We are particularly interested in supporting projects likely to provide results of immediate relevance to our members. Therefore, in the majority of cases the subject under investigation will be of clinical importance to cattle practitioners within the UK. The maximum available grant at the current time is £1,000. Application Forms and Guidelines for Application are available from the CPD page of the members pages.