Quality and quantity in veterinary education

It wasn’t so very long ago – six years to be precise – that concern was being expressed about a potential oversupply of veterinary graduates emerging from the UK’s vet schools. That concern, widely expressed at the time, was prompted by the University of Surrey’s announcement of its intention to establish a new veterinary school. Now, following the first cohort of graduates from the Surrey vet school this summer, the picture has changed. A ‘workforce crisis’ has been a key concern for some time, bringing recruitment and retention of vets to the fore. Although the Home Office recently accepted a recommendation from the Migration Advisory Committee to return vets to the Shortage Occupation List, increasing the numbers of ‘home-grown’ vets will also help ease the situation. The capacity …