Female students continue to dominate veterinary schools

Less than a quarter of veterinary students starting their degrees in 2009 were male (24%), according to figures released in RCVS Facts, from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

This is up slightly from 23% last year, but down from just over 30% in 1999: ten years before that, the gender balance of new students was approximately 50:50. Meanwhile, 53% of UK-practising veterinary surgeons are female.

RCVS Facts is part two of the RCVS Annual Report, and presents a statistical picture of the veterinary and veterinary nursing professions. Other headline facts include a 21% increase in the number of practice premises registered with the College since 1 April 2009, bringing the total on the Register of Veterinary Practice Premises to 4,821; some 766 veterinary nurse students completing their training and becoming eligible to register (an increase of 28% compared with those eligible to register during the previous two-year period) and an increase of nearly 10% in the number of complaints received about veterinary surgeons, to 739.

Figures are also available for:

• New membership admissions and veterinary nurse registrations
• A break-down of the veterinary profession: gender, age, geographic distribution, type of work
• Type of complaints received and the time taken to act upon them
• Disciplinary cases
• Postgraduate qualifications awarded this year
• Financial accounts

The reporting year is 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010, and part one of the RCVS Annual Report, RCVS Review, takes a more personal look at the activities of the College during the period, through the eyes of some of those involved. Topics include reviews of Extra-Mural Studies and the Practice Standards Scheme, the modular Diploma in Advanced Veterinary Nursing producing the first diplomates, a focus on mental health and wellbeing, fund-raising for the RCVS Trust and the College’s joint work with other authorities to bring justice in cases of fraudulent ‘veterinary surgeons’.

Both publications are available online at: www.rcvs.org.uk/review and /www.rcvs.org.uk/publications/rcvs-facts-2009/.