Requirements

Veterinarian - requirements

Work as a veterinarian and you'll be responsible for the health and wellbeing of animals. You could be diagnosing and treating ill and injured animals in environments from pet hospitals to zoos. Learn more about a career in veterinary medicine, find out what it involves and what you’ll need to study and do to get a role as a vet.

Know what you'll need to land a job below.

What qualifications do you need to be a veterinarian?

You’ll need a university degree approved by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) to become a vet. Approved degrees include:

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Do you need a postgraduate qualification to be a veterinarian?

Undergraduate Veterinary Medicine courses usually last five years, giving you the skills and experience needed to enter the vet profession, so you won’t need any postgraduate qualifications. But there are postgraduate opportunities that allow you to develop specialist knowledge.

Examples of taught master's and research degrees at postgraduate level include degrees in:

Animal health and welfare
Animal science
Aquatic veterinary studies
Clinical animal behaviour
Feline practice
Global wildlife health and conservation
Research methods in animal behaviour
Veterinary parasitology
Veterinary public health
Wild animal health

What skills do you need to be a veterinarian?

You’ll need a lot of specialist medical skills and animal knowledge, as well as various soft skills as you’ll likely be working with other people.

Hard skills usually include:

Animal handling
Clinical skills
Scientific aptitude

Soft skills include:

Ability to use initiative and stay calm in stressful situations
Interpersonal and customer service skills
Empathy and sensitivity
Problem-solving and decision-making
Teamwork and leadership
Verbal communication

Do you need work experience to be a veterinarian?

Work experience is essential for vets and you'll get this on clinical placements during your degree course. You get to work as a full-time member of staff under supervision from industry professionals. Placements allow you to apply what you’ve learned during your studies to real situations and in a variety of animal environments.

You’ll probably need work experience when applying for a veterinary medicine course at university. You should be able to find volunteering or shadowing opportunities at local veterinary clinics, kennels and farms or with animal welfare centres or charities such as PDSA.

It's a good idea to get a range of experiences in various environments with different-sized animals.