Rural Animal Health

An HND qualification in Rural Animal Health will provide students with the educational background to become Veterinary Technicians.

Veterinary Technicians are a relatively new addition to the Vet-Led team and now perform many procedures which are essential in maintaining the health and welfare of farm animals and horses, as delegated by the Veterinary surgeon and authorised by the RCVS.

The course will take a blended learning approach with some online educational provision and will provide an educational platform for students to enrol onto accreditation courses for Meat Hygiene Inspection, for example the level 2 Certificate for Proficiency in Poultry Meat Inspection and the level 4 Diploma for Proficiency in Meat Inspection.

Examples of activities that the veterinary technician will be able to perform at the end of the course will include:
Foot Trimming.
Genomic Testing.
Locomotion Assessments.
Housing assessments.
De-horning.
Body Condition Scoring.
Herd and health management.
Ram/Bull fertility (semen collection/storage).
Embryo transfer/in vitro fertilisation/pregnancy scanning.
Collating and understanding Veterinary Data.

Students will be given a thorough grounding in both anatomy and physiology of rural animals, aetiology and pathology of diseases that are common in rural animals, as well as Rural Agriculture and Public Health.

Examples of Modules that students will study include:
Large Animal Anatomy and Physiology; Livestock/Equine Growth, Health and Welfare; Livestock Husbandry; Livestock/Equine Nutrition; Livestock/Equine Health and Disease; Food Animal and Public Health; Livestock Production systems; Practical Animal Handling; Meat Hygiene Inspection and Public Health.

Student assessment will be varied to include:
Assessment of coursework associated with each module in the form of written examinations, presentations, and Objective Structures Practical Examinations (OSPES).

The final grades for the course will be determined by student performance in graded unit examinations which will be in the form of both written and practical assessments.

There will be assessments (the type will depend on the module and the knowledge required) at the end of each Learning Outcome for each module.