FAQs

We appreciate that life in practice is very busy and this has not been helped by Covid-19. However, in order to ensure that veterinary graduates are well-supported in developing into experienced professionals as quickly as possible, we are appealing to vets to become VetGDP Advisers.

The training, which will take approximately 20 hours to complete, is available online and must be completed before the veterinary graduate(s) begin work. The training can be counted towards your CPD for the year. 

Providing support for graduates will help them move beyond day one competencies as effectively as possible in the knowledge that they will receive the level of support that reflects their capabilities.

Throughout their first year of practice, these capabilities will develop, lessening their need for support. By providing a supportive environment, building confidence and resilience we envisage graduates will be more likely to stay in their role and retention will increase.

We also anticipate that the VetGDP Adviser role will be highly rewarding, providing an opportunity to motivate and develop the next generation of vets as they establish themselves in their career.

It is now too late to transfer from the 'old' certificate scheme, but you may enrol on the modular certificate system as a new candidate.

All veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses must disclose to us any caution or conviction, including absolute and conditional discharges or adverse findings which may affect their registration, whether in the UK or overseas (except for minor offences excluded from disclosure by the RCVS). Minor road traffic offences, including fixed speeding penalty notices, are exempt from disclosure.

Veterinary surgeons must also disclose any spent convictions.

For further information, please see the RCVS Protocol on Handling Convictions. You may also contact the Professional Conduct Department on 020 3821 1142 or at [email protected] for more information.

Unfortunately not. VetGDP Advisers need to be on the UK practising register and be up to date with their CPD. 

If you are a vet listed on the RCVS Register of Members as inactive and non-practising, then you are not expected to comply with the RCVS requirement of 105 hours of CPD over three years. The same applies if you are a VN who has voluntarily removed themselves from the RCVS Register of Veterinary Nurses. However, if you plan to return to practise at some point in the future, you are strongly advised to keep up-to-date with the profession and your area of practice, as far as possible.

Keeping a record of CPD activities during any period away from practice will help you to plan and prepare for your return to work as a veterinary surgeon or a veterinary nurse. Vets who return to work after a few years out of practice, can if they wish use the PDP section of the online Professional Development Record in order to benchmark and track ‘Year One competences’.

We’re hoping VetGDP will provide greater consistency and help to develop a learning culture across the profession. There shouldn't be any stigma in having a VetGDP Adviser; in fact, it shows more professionalism to ask for guidance when you need it than to pretend everything is fine when it isn't. As a veterinary professional, you are in charge of your own progress and development. The VetGDP Adviser training will include how to deliver feedback effectively and how to provide support. The training will also demonstrate what is expected in this programme so your VetGDP Adviser will understand this.

You can disclose a new caution, conviction or absolute and conditional discharge online in the ‘My Account’ area as part of your annual renewal. You will be asked to provide supporting documentation, where relevant. Alternatively, you can notify the Professional Conduct Department, using the details below. Either way a member of the Professional Conduct Department will contact you following the disclosure of a conviction, to confirm they have received it.

For further information on disclosing a new conviction, please contact the Professional Conduct Department directly on 020 3821 1142 or [email protected]

If you want to start practising (subject to certain conditions) ahead of the conferment of your degree and full registration with the RCVS, you can apply for temporary registration.

To meet the criteria you must:

• be a graduand from Cambridge or Glasgow
• have passed your final exams
• have completed all the requirements for a recognised UK veterinary degree. 

Further information about this type of registration and how to apply can be found on the Temporary Registration page.

Yes; all practice premises from which medicines are supplied must be registered with the RCVS.

Premises likely to be considered as ‘veterinary practice premises’ by the RCVS and the VMD are those

• from which the veterinary surgeons of a practice provide veterinary services; and/or, 
• advertised or promoted as premises of a veterinary practice; and/or, 
• open to members of the public to bring animals for veterinary treatment and care; and/or, 
• not open to the public, but which are the base from which a veterinary surgeon practises or provides veterinary services to more than one client; and/or, 
• to which medicines have been and/or will continue to be delivered wholesale, on the authority of one or more veterinary surgeons in practice, even if those medicines have not yet been used or have only been used on your own animals or those of family and/or friends

This is not an exhaustive list of premises that may be considered as veterinary practice premises.