Scholars

Scholars are welcome to visit our clinic to gain first-hand experience into the daily activities of a veterinary specialist, veterinarians and veterinary nurses. Scholars and their parents are strongly encouraged to familiarise themselves with the stringent requirements for entrance into the veterinary course and veterinary nurse course. It has always been difficult to get into these courses and has become increasingly difficult. Planning for application should be done timeously during the grade 11 year. Basic competency with natural science, biological science and mathematics as well as a good memory are helpful. It is my opinion that it is very important that scholars and their parents keep in mind that they should have a second and third option (choice) of courses at the university. Even more important is that these second and third options of different courses should indeed be a course that the applicant enjoys and that it qualifies them for an actual occupation. All too often many students that do not make the first selection at school are placed under the impression that if they enrol for a BSc course with similar subjects to veterinary science, that they have a good chance to gain entrance into the BVSc (veterinary) course. This is not true. The reality is that the competition for allocation into the BVSc course is very fierce. The numbers applying are so vast that less than 10% of applicants have a realistic chance of entry. Also remember that when there are so many applicants, they will compete with other very good applicants for the limited number students selected. The reality is then that 90% of these candidates will not gain entry. Therefore it is important that all students follow courses which (may allow them entry into veterinary science if they do exceptionally well and have some luck), but more importantly, qualifies them for the workplace out there in the very real case of them never getting in. We are no experts in this but courses such as BSc zoology and BSc botany offers very limited job opportunities whereas BSc Agric and other do. Please get appropriate professional advice in this regard. Completing a BSc course and even attaining honours and MSc level does not guarantee entry either. There are very many other exiting courses and careers out there. Veterinary science is not the alpha and the omega.