Veterinary training and education
RZSS has one of the UK’s most highly qualified in-house veterinary services and is committed to providing training and further education to the next generation of zoo veterinarians. Our team frequently lecture at UK vet schools and speak at both national and international conferences.
In 2013 RZSS became the first certified UK training centre for the European College of Zoo Medicine (ECZM) diploma in Zoo Health Management. The three-year ECZM veterinary residency position provides a qualified veterinary surgeon the opportunity to become a specialist in the field of zoological medicine with the aim of achieving ECZM diplomat status.
In addition, the vet team annually host a select group of students from both the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and the University of Glasgow, School of Veterinary Medicine as part of their final year clinical rotations. This is a rare opportunity for undergraduate veterinary students to achieve training in the highly specialised field of zoological medicine.
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Extra mural study at Edinburgh Zoo
The team take final year vet students from Glasgow and Edinburgh University veterinary schools for their zoo selective rotations. This has significantly expanded over the last few years and now fills the calendar year. As a consequence, RZSS is not able to offer additional EMS for other students at this time.
I want to be a zoo vet
Zoo veterinarians complete the same veterinary undergraduate training as those who work with domestic animals. After graduation significant additional training is then required to specialise into the zoological medicine field. For more information on becoming a veterinary surgeon, please see the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons website.
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I want to be a zoo vet nurse
There are currently two routes to becoming a qualified veterinary nurse - either by vocational training or a higher degree. A few additional courses are also available to qualified nurses in order to gain training in exotic and zoo animals.
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