The college was established thanks to a race horse called Eclipse, who won every race he ever ran. When he died scientists wanted to conduct an autopsy to see why he was such an amazing racehorse. The autopsy revealed that he was normal except for an extra large heart which allowed him to pump increased amounts of blood throughout his body. Phar Lap also had an enlarged heart! The RVC was given royal charter in 1875.
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| The skeleton of Eclipse |
It's the largest and only independent vet school in the UK. It's unique in that it only offers 3 courses - veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biomedical science. The college graduates approximately 210 veterinary science students and 60 veterinary nurses each year.
It's also home to the Queen Mother Hospital (a referral/second opinion hospital) which sees approx 10,000 cases per year. It employs over 200 staff and is the largest small animal hospital in the UK.
Our visit included a tour of both the college and the hospital - both of which are very impressive facilities. We also visited the Clinical Skills Centre and had a practical session on suturing - great fun and nice to try correct instrument handling.
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| Suturing prac at RVC - a surreal experience! |
We also attended a veterinary nursing presentation by Sue Gregory - Professor of Veterinary Nursing. This was interesting as it broke down the veterinary nurse training pathways and explained the difference between a foundation science VN and a bachelor of science VN. These are university educated nurses with placement experience as opposed to vocational trained nurses, who work full/part time and study part time as we do in Australia.
It was a very informative day that gave us lots to think about!
We ended the day with tea at an Italian restaurant and handover for tomorrows excursion to see the "Bionic Vet" at Fitzpatrick Referrals in Surrey. We're hoping to see some very innovative surgery!
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