What does a Veterinary Surgeon / Vet Nurse actually do?

The short version

Vets are clinicians — consulting, operating, delivering bad news kindly, and rotating through out-of-hours cover. Most work in small-animal practice; farm and equine work is a minority and genuinely short-staffed. Registered vet nurses run the nursing side and qualify far faster.

The pitch: meaningful clinical work, improving pay (published annually by SPVS), and demand for farm vets in particular. The catch: a 5–6 year degree with six-figure cost, widespread unpaid overtime, and the profession's well-documented wellbeing problem. It rewards people who want the reality, not the idea.

Entry routes that actually work

• RCVS-accredited veterinary degree (5–6 years) — the only route to practising; RCVS registration is mandatory.
• Graduate entry (4 years) — for those with a first degree in a related subject.
• Veterinary nursing via accredited diploma/degree — a real clinical career with a far shorter runway.