To apply for the Equine Internship you must meet the following requirements:

Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (or eligible) RCVS.

You must be eligible for full Membership of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS). All applicants must be an MRCVS by the date the internship starts, and ideally by the date of application and interview. It is the applicant's responsibility to organise and pay for the annual membership fee.

Meet English language requirement 

You must be able to communicate clearly in English, both verbally and in writing. If you are not exempt from proving your English language proficiency, you must take an IELTS (Academic) test (or equivalent). 

We require an overall IELTS (Academic) score of 7.0, with no element below 6.5. A certified copy of your IELTS test result should be submitted with your application. The test result must have been obtained within 2 years of the start date of the course.  Applications that do not satisfy these criteria will not be considered for shortlisting.

Please see a list of English qualifications we will accept as alternatives to IELTS.

Foreign language applicants are encouraged to practice as a veterinary surgeon in the UK for at least one year prior to application.

Twelve months experience as a qualified veterinarian (desirable for Standard Internship, required for Surgical and Diagnostic Imaging Internships)

A minimum of twelve months experience as a qualified veterinary surgeon in the UK is desirable. However, we will consider exceptional new graduates on the Equine Standard Internship, so please do not be put off of applying if you are a new graduate, and you must have received confirmation of passing your finals in good time prior to start date of the programme. 

Overseas Students

Students classifed as "Overseas" with regards to tuition fees are very welcome to apply for the internship. We are keen to find the best candidates regardless of their nationality and have had occasional Overseas interns. Candidates should note that funding models for this programme are weighted towards "Home" fee candidates, so when candidates are equal, internships will be offered to applicants eligible for "Home" fees. To help determine whether you would be eligible for "Home" fees please see the UKCISA's 'Who pays 'home' fees for higher education in England?' guide found here.

What essential attributes do you need to join the programme?       

• Be a highly motivated recently qualified veterinary surgeon          
• Keen to  develop your veterinary skills, experience and knowledge          
• Willing to work hard        
• Ability to cope under pressure        
• Positive attitude at all times        
• Great teamwork skills        
• Work effectively and efficiently with a range of people from support staff, veterinary students to Professors        
• Patience to teach and guide veterinary undergraduate students  

Admissions Policy & Procedures

Further information on the recruitment procedure can be found here.

The programme begins with an introduction and orientation week that is partially shared with the small animal interns.  The remainder of the year is divided into rotation blocks of varying lengths.

This year we will be offering three different internship at the RVC.

- Standard Internship (5 Positions):

You will rotate through equine soft tissue and orthopaedic surgery, equine medicine, large animal anaesthesia and large animal diagnostic imaging. The time spend on each service will depend on requirements of the hospital.

You will also participate in the out of hours (OOH) rota and you should expect to work a one in four or one in three rota. Very occasionally, depending on demand, working a one in two rota might be necessary.

Two weeks of extra mural study (EMS) time will be allocated to you in the second half of your programme.

A prerequisite for successful completion of the internship programme is successful completion of the PGD VCP coursework. This includes passing of several practical and oral assessments throughout the clinical rotations. In addition, written assessments in form of case reports are required for each rotation.

- Surgical Internship (1 Position):

You will rotate through equine soft tissue and orthopaedic surgery, orthopedics (lameness), diagnostic imaging and you will also participate in the OOH rota. The time spend on each service will depend on requirements of the hospital. A prerequisite for successful completion of the internship programme is successful completion of the PGD VCP coursework. This includes passing of several practical and oral assessments throughout the clinical rotations. In addition, written assessments in form of case reports are required for each rotation. This position would be ideal for someone wishing to enter a surgical residency programme. For this reason, applicants will need to have already completed a year of rotating internship or equivalent training.

- Diagnostic Imaging Internship (1 Position):

You will rotate through all modalities of large animal diagnostic imaging, radiology, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and scintigraphy. The time spend on each service will depend on requirements of the hospital. A prerequisite for successful completion of the internship programme is successful completion of the PGD VCP coursework. This includes passing of several practical and oral assessments throughout the clinical rotations. In addition, written assessments in form of case reports are required for each rotation.

Applicants for this position will need to have already completed a year of rotating internship or equivalent training.

Visiting the RVC Equine Referral Hospital

We recommend that applicants visit prior to application and spend a day with the clinical services. Informal meetings with available members of the clinical teams will be arranged during the visit. To arrange a visit, please contact Prof Bettina Dunkel (bdunkel@rvc.ac.uk) for Standard and Surgical Internship and Dr Dagmar Berner (dberner@rvc.ac.uk) for Diagnostic Imaging Internship with your preferred date. If you are unable to visit you are still encouraged to apply to the programme. Please contact the Admissions Team (admissions@rvc.ac.uk) about requirements for non-UK applicants. You will be able to visit the facilities if you are invited for interview.  

If you have any specific queries, please contact Equine Director, Prof Bettina Dunkel at bdunkel@rvc.ac.uk or Dr Melanie Perrier at mperrier@rvc.ac.uk for the Standard and Surgical Equine Internship and Dr Dagmar Berner at dberner@rvc.ac.uk for the Diagnostic Imaging Internship.

For General application enquiries, please contact the Admissions Team at admissions@rvc.ac.uk 

If you would like to know more, the following links may be useful:

• RVC Equine Referral Hospital
• Postgraduate study options at the RVC 

Annual Leave

The total annual leave entitlement is 20 days inclusive of bank holidays. Further details can be found in the Code of Practice (see below).

Assessment

Constructive feedback will be provided both informally and formally throughout the year. Your clinical progress will be assessed on an individual basis and feedback given on an informal basis every three months based on your performance during rotations. Each intern has a formal appraisal six months after the start of the internship i.e. half-way through. This is intended to track progress, and to ensure that all learning objectives are completed by the end of the internship. Further information can be found in Course Assessment and Award Regulations 2019/20:  PGDip in Veterinary Clinical Practice.

Accommodation

Information on accommodation can be found under Funding Options.

Code of Practice

All interns must adhere and abide by the Royal Veterinary College. The Code of Practice can be found under Essential Information in the Graduate School.

Stipend

Current information on stipend can be found under Funding Options

FAQs

You may find these FAQS helpful.

We have 5 Equine Rotating Internship and 1 Equine Surgery Internship position available this year. Equine interns/students will receive advanced training and gain experience in the disciplines of equine soft tissue and orthopaedic surgery, equine medicine, large animal anaesthesia and large animal diagnostic imaging in the Equine Referral Hospital (Hawkshead campus). The Surgical Internship will have an increase number of surgical weeks (32 versus 12-14 on the standard internship). These internships count as a rotating internship for the Specialist European Colleges. Internships commence in June, and run for 54 weeks. 

Additionally, we have 1 Equine Diagnostic Imaging Internship position available. Equine interns/students will receive advanced training in large animal diagnostic imaging, radiology, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and scintigraphy, in the Equine Referral Hospital (Hawkshead campus).

Dates for 2025 Equine Internship applications

We endeavour to inform those who have been short listed for interview two weeks before the interview date. The interview typically lasts 20-30 minutes. It is designed to test the applicant’s understanding of the role and function of an intern, and their motivation for pursuing an internship.  

For an informal discussion about these internships, please contact: Prof Bettina Dunkel (bdunkel@rvc.ac.uk) or Dr Melanie Perrier (mperrier@rvc.ac.uk) for the Standard and Surgical Internship and Dr Dagmar Berner at dberner@rvc.ac.uk for Diagnostic Imaging Internship. For general queries/how to apply: admissions@rvc.ac.uk   

Please see How to Apply for more details on the application process, but if you have a specific query you should contact the Admissions Team. 

Only online application forms submitted through our system will be considered.

Please ensure that your English qualification meets our requirements in time for applying.

Tuition Fees

All Clinical Training Internships are fully funded. 

• As an intern you will be awarded a scholarship for your fees. 
• A stipend will be paid monthly in arrears. Currently the stipend is £18,100 per annum (subject to review)
• A single occupancy room in a shared (with other interns) house on-site is available for the duration of the internship for RVC-based interns. No pets are allowed in the accommodation. 

The tuition fees (which are covered by a scholarship) are as follows:

Tuition fee amounts are subject to increase each academic year, please be aware of this when making your calculations and planning how much money you will require.