New EMS guidelines consolidated and published

The RCVS Education Committee has updated its requirements and guidance on extra-mural studies (EMS) as part of the veterinary undergraduate curriculum, and published them on RCVSonline.

Responding to requests from veterinary schools for greater flexibility in EMS requirements, and more clarity on the different types of EMS that can be undertaken, the opportunity has been taken to review the policy and provide a clear set of guidelines that universities can use to shape their EMS programmes.

The aim of EMS is to enable students to gain practical experience in as many aspects of veterinary work as possible, including the handling of animals, to achieve proficiency in routine techniques, and give students first hand experience which will help them to develop as professionals.

Specifically, EMS should enable students to:

• appreciate the importance of animal welfare in animal production and in the practice of veterinary medicine;
• gain experience to help them appreciate the ethical responsibilities of the veterinary surgeon in relation to individual clients, animals, the community and society;
• gain an understanding of the practice and economics of animal management systems;
• gain an understanding of practice economics and practice management;
• acquire an understanding of medical and surgical treatments of farm, equine, companion, exotic and laboratory animals;
• develop communication skills for all aspects of veterinary work; and
• expand their experience to those disciplines and species not fully covered within the university

There has been no change in the time requirement for EMS:  students must still undertake a total of 38 weeks of EMS before they graduate. Twelve weeks should normally be spent on animal husbandry-related EMS so that students gain experience of the behaviour of normal animals in their own environments; clinical EMS must comprise 26 weeks across a broad range of areas.

The equivalent of at least one week must be devoted to veterinary public health EMS during which time visits to meat plants should take up the majority of the time. In addition to time in clinical practices, time can also be spent in government veterinary service, in diagnostic or research laboratories, and undertaking research projects.

It is a new requirement that EMS must be an integral and structured part of the education and training of veterinary students. All students are required to keep a log of their learning and experience throughout their EMS, and this should link into the Professional Development Phase once they graduate.

Veterinary schools must have systems in place to enable EMS providers to report back on students' performance during EMS, and equally there must be a mechanism to enable students to report on the quality of the instruction and experience of EMS placements.

EMS coordinators in the six UK veterinary schools have already developed common documentation for this, in order to minimise the paperwork for practices.

A new requirement is that the student's experience log and the feedback from EMS providers must form a part of the student's formative assessment against the RCVS's 'Day One' competences. The RCVS will expect to see evidence of how this is being applied during its visitations to schools.

Good communication between EMS practices and veterinary schools is an important part of successful EMS, and veterinary schools are required to allocate a member of the academic, or academically-related, staff to be responsible for the overall supervision of all types of EMS, including liaison with EMS providers.

An additional search parameter has recently been added to the RCVS Find A Vet facility to enable students to search for practices that have indicated to the RCVS their willingness to take EMS students.

However, as the data was last compiled in 2004, there may now be more practices than indicated offering EMS placements. If you would like your practice to be included, please update your practice details.

You can download the latest EMS Requirements and Guidelines, as well as the manual for participating practices, from the Education section.