Veterinary practitioners in the border region have raised concerns about the accreditation standards of a potential new vet school in the republic of Ireland.
While a process is underway to identify capacity across third-level institutions in Ireland to expand or create new veterinary programmes, calls have been made to consider all-island traditions.
University College Dublin (UCD) is currently the only institution offering courses in veterinary medicine on the island of Ireland. However, every year dozens of students travel to eastern Europe to get a degree.
As the countdown is now on with a handful of colleges being assessed by an expert panel before a decision will be made by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Agriland spoke to vets in the border region.
Traditions
The royal vet school in Dublin first opened in 1900 as the sole Irish vet school where students from the 32 counties were trained together allowing all graduates to practise across the island, Co. Donegal vet Gerald Roarty said.
When UCD solely took over the training of veterinary medicine from Trinity College Dublin (TCD), a commitment was made to reserve places for students from Northern Ireland, Roarty, who is a TCD graduate himself, said.
Today, there are two regulatory bodies on the island: The Veterinary Council of Ireland (VCI) and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) in London, which operated in tandem until 1987, Roarty said.
While UCD is both VCI and RCVS accredited, allowing graduates to work in the republic and in Northern Ireland, when it comes to the establishment of a potential second vet school in Ireland, accreditation standard remains a concern for some vets.
“If I was a Northern Irish student, I would be very apprehensive about going to a school where I don’t know until in six years’ time when the course is finished whether or not I will be able to go back and work in Northern Ireland.
“It is not taking cognisance of the fact at all that there are two regulatory bodies,” the Donegal-based vet said adding that RCVS standard is vital for border practices in Co. Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan, Meath and Louth, or anyone providing services in Northern Ireland.
“Following Brexit, the UK and Northern Ireland will insist that to gain accreditation to work there a vet school in Europe passes an inspection,” he added.
Accreditation standard
Higher education minister Simon Harris previously told the Dáil, and his department confirmed to Agriland that, “it will be a matter for any education provider to decide if and when they will apply for accreditation with the RCVS or any other international body”.
Any programmes selected in the process of establishing a new vet school will be subject to VCI accreditation, enabling professional recognition in Ireland, which then “further affords access to registration in the UK, Europe and Australasia”, the VCI said.
Criticising that the proposed new vet school is “not being designed to meet” RCVS accreditation, Roarty is calling for both regulatory bodies and both accreditations on the island of Ireland to be considered in assessing new programmes.
Under EU legislation, citizens can transfer their qualifications and skills between member states, which in the case of veterinary practitioners means that there is a “harmonised minimum training standard” across the EU.
However, the TCD graduate claims that the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE) standard is so low that it causes “massive problems” for animal welfare.
“The public is unaware upon graduation a vet can go from any EU country straight onto the VCI register and open a practice in Ireland with horrendous animal welfare consequences.
“As someone who trained over fifty new graduates over thirty years in Donegal, many of the southern Europeans are just not equipped to go into cattle practice,” he told Agriland.
“Some of the European schools, particularly the Northern and Eastern countries, can in contrast to the southern European ones be at a higher standard – but they have only to reach the EU level.
“The new school must aim to emulate UCD, not the lowest common denominator set by the EU,” the Donegal vet urged.
Vet school
UCD graduate Liam Strain from Clones, Co. Monaghan, whose mainly large-animal practice is split between north and south, has three sons who all went to Budapest to study veterinary medicine.
Commenting on the fact that over 100 students travel abroad to get their degree every year, he said: “It is not for the love of Poland or Hungary that they are out studying there, they study there because they see it as the only way to get the qualification.
“Whenever they study in those countries, these universities have been accredited by VCI and RCVS so they can come back and study the same way a UCD graduate can and then work in the UK.
“In the east European countries the college is easier to get in, but there is a sort of perception that the qualification is at a lesser value or accreditation standard but it is not.”
A new vet school must properly assess students applying to take up a veterinary programme, he said claiming that part of the “problem with UCD” at the minute is that the points required are very high.
A new assessment method such as an entrance exam or a pre-veterinary course, and proper resources are needed for a new veterinary programme, he said, which would allow students to learn on small and large animals.
“There are a lot of students that would make excellent vets in practice but they would never be able to get through UCD,” the cross-border practitioner commented.
