Unit information: Clinical Veterinary Science and Professional Practice 2 in 2026/27

Please note: Programme and unit information may change as the relevant academic field develops. We may also make changes to the structure of programmes and assessments to improve the student experience.

Unit name Clinical Veterinary Science and Professional Practice 2
Unit code VETS30042
Credit points 0
Level of study H/6
Teaching block(s) Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52)
Unit director Professor. Love
Open unit status Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)

Successful completion of BVSc Year 3 or BVSc AGEP Year 2.
Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)

There are no co-requisite units. However, as specified by the RCVS and outlined in the Extra-Mural Studies (EMS) handbook, you will need to undertake EMS placements during vacation time.
Units you may not take alongside this one

Not applicable
School/department Bristol Veterinary School
Faculty Faculty of Health Sciences

Unit Information

At this point in your training you will have developed a strong foundational knowledge of what it is to be a vet. You will learn how to diagnose and manage common diseases across all body systems, integrating your knowledge from previous years to develop a holistic approach to practice. You will apply your knowledge in a wide range of species and across a broad spectrum of care. You will meet challenges ranging from local to global and will need to apply your knowledge in novel and complex situations taking into account factors including sustainability, ethics, diversity and the unknown.

This Unit will continue to build on your knowledge of diagnosis and management of common conditions, exploring additional body systems and species. You will work through increasingly complex cases and problems, and learn more advanced practical skills to prepare you for clinics in Final Year. You will continue to undertake Extra-Mural Studies (EMS) during vacation periods. All of the teaching and assessment in BVSc4 is incorporated within this Unit. It is a "must pass" unit for progression to BVSc5.

Your learning on this unit

This Unit will cover the pathophysiology, diagnosis and management of common conditions in a wide range of body systems and species. Case-based and practical sessions will increase in complexity and challenge. Coursework will include production of a Knowledge Summary, requiring you to work as a team to appraise evidence related to common clinical challenges.

You will learn to handle problems of increasing complexity, make decisions, take risks and navigate difficult outcomes as you continue to develop your professional identity and leadership skills. You will become more comfortable managing the uncertainty that vets face every day, working with stakeholders to come to the right decisions for their animals in different situations. Learning outcomes related to the programme's five vertical themes are outlined below.

Scientific foundations of veterinary medicine

Explain animal disease pathogenesis, diagnosis and management across a wider range of body systems, integrating and applying your knowledge to increasingly complex scenarios.

Practical and clinical skills

Perform more complex veterinary procedures, and apply your communication skills to more challenging scenarios

Clinical and professional reasoning

Apply professional and clinical reasoning skills to increasingly complex clinical situations across a wide range of species, at individual, herd and population level.

Developing as a professional and lifelong learner

Further evaluate and reflect on your developing professional identity, and integrate your understanding of professional practice to explain the role of the veterinary surgeon as a business person and the principles of clinical governance

Animals, people and planet

Further develop your understanding of welfare-friendly, safe food production from Farm to Fork, and analyse and create sustainable management proposals for disease outbreak scenarios in international contexts

How you will learn

You will learn through a blend of online resources (such as videos, readings and worksheets) and in-person teaching. The online resources, many of which you will work through independently, will prepare you for a range of in-person teaching including case-based learning classes (where you will work through real veterinary scenarios in groups, with responsibility for identifying), practicals and quizzes. The teaching will be structured into blocks, with each block focussing on a different body system. Coursework and other tasks will provide opportunities for reflection and for "deep dives" to focus on specific areas of interest. As specified by the RCVS, and outlined in the Extra-Mural Studies (EMS) handbook, you will need to undertake EMS placements during vacation time.

Teaching in this unit may extend beyond published University term dates.

How you will be assessed

The programme has a pass/fail assessment strategy. Where appropriate, marks are provided for individual feedback purposes only.
You will be required to complete a range of tasks and activities during the Unit, with formative feedback provided. You will also receive formative feedback through online and in-class quizzes, peer feedback and meetings with personal tutors.
Summative Written Assessments: An integrated programmatic assessment will be undertaken at the end of Year 4, covering a wide range of ILOs across themes, as a test of application of knowledge derived from all the Year 4 learning opportunities. The summative written assessment will comprise a 2-hour single-best-answer (SBA) paper and a 2-hour multiple-short-answer (MSA) paper. You must gain a minimum of 50% overall to pass this examination. The End of Year 4 Summative Written Assessments will be taken as a first attempt in Teaching Block 2 and, if required, as a second attempt (resit) in July.
Summative Practical Assessment: Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) will be held during the year. The OSCEs are a "must pass" assessment for progression to BVSc5. There will be resit opportunities for the OSCE assessment.
Formative assessments and engagement milestones:
Students must satisfy all engagement requirements (including formative assessments) and successfully complete all 'must pass' assessments, as set out in the BVSc4 Student Progression Requirements. Requirements for demonstration and remediation of engagement and must-do tasks are detailed in the BVSc Student Progression Requirements document.
Satisfactory and appropriate engagement with the programme will be determined by the Progress Committee which will normally meet termly. The committee will monitor engagement against the engagement and progression criteria, review performance in formative and 'must pass' assessments and monitor levels of professionalism.
A student who has not demonstrated satisfactory and appropriate engagement with the programme, nor reached a satisfactory level of professionalism (as determined by level of engagement and any other evidence relating to professionalism presented to the Progress Committee) will not be permitted to sit the End of Year 4 Summative Assessments and thus will not be able be progress to Year 5.
In accordance with University regulations, students will be permitted two attempts at summative assessments in Year 4 BVSc. Dependent on extenuating circumstances, and subject to University regulations, a student may be permitted a second attempt at Year 4 or otherwise will be required to withdraw from the programme.
Progression to Year 5:
In order to progress to Year 5 of the BVSc programme students must pass the Summative Year 4 assessments at first or second (resit) attempt as determined by the Board of Examiners. The pass marks for the Summative Year 4 assessments will be determined by a formal standard setting process.
The end-of-year written examinations marks are recorded and contribute to awards with Distinction/Merit at the end of the Programme.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. VETS30042).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.

The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.

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