Fellowship

The title Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (FRCVS) has been in existence for over 140 years.

Since 2016, the RCVS Fellowship has been awarded in recognition of outstanding contributions to the veterinary profession with applications judged on:

• Meritorious Contributions to Knowledge (MCK);
• Meritorious Contributions to Clinical Practice (MCCP); or
• Meritorious Contributions to the Profession (MCP)

By offering these three broad routes to Fellowship it should be possible to become a Fellow irrespective of professional background, specialism or interest.

Purpose of the RCVS Fellowship

The main purpose of the RCVS Fellowship is:

to advance veterinary standards by providing a resource of independent knowledge for the benefit of the veterinary profession

Specifically, the RCVS Fellowship seeks to fulfil this aim by creating a thriving learned society. Its prestige is built upon its ability to attract veterinary surgeons whose activities demonstrate excellence across the entire veterinary landscape and who have distinguished themselves on account of their ongoing commitment to using their experience and knowledge to enhance the profession further.

The Fellowship, therefore, offers a platform to make this contribution within and assisted by the RCVS structures and governance framework.

A thriving learned society

In 2018, the RCVS Council agreed that the Fellowship should work to achieve its goal by:

1)    Promoting scientific excellence

For the Fellowship to support opportunities to advance veterinary standards by: working collaboratively to examine the current knowledge base; identifying knowledge gaps; and supporting the translation of knowledge and research to veterinary practice.

2)    Harnessing the expertise of its Fellows to further professional skills and practice and to invigorate a curiosity for innovation and its uses

To be committed to helping enhance the professional skills and practice of all veterinarians, wherever they are on their career path, by sharing best practice and lessons learnt. To also act as a spur for creative thinking and innovation to address the challenges the profession faces now and into the future.  

 3)    Undertaking activities that enrich public discourse about the importance of veterinary science to everyone

To be one of the trusted and authoritative voices within the veterinary profession that is able to engage with the general public to raise awareness and further understanding of veterinary science, and its importance to everyone

How to apply

Applications for 2024 are now closed..

The Fellowship Board will meet each year to consider an overall list of those proposed by the Credentials Panel as meeting the required criteria, and check that comparable standards had been applied to the consideration process across three sub-panel areas.

You can view the requirements and criteria for each of the routes, along with details on how to apply.

Please note, Fellowship applicants must be members of the RCVS (MRCVS).

Criteria for achieving Fellowship

Fellowship applications will be judged on one or more of the following criteria:

Fellows Directory

If you're thinking about applying for a Fellowship and would like to find out a bit more you can read about our existing Fellows and their areas of special interest, along with the areas of support that they offer.