Episode 10 Young Vets

Britain is a nation in love with its animals.

How are you doing?

We own 27 million pets...

..and 900 million farm animals.

A very frisky one.

All of them...

..need vets.

Over the course of their final year,

ten students at the prestigious Royal Veterinary College,

in Hertfordshire, are taking what they've learned in the classroom...

Do it.

..and putting it to the test.

In practices...

..farms...

This is all new territory for me.

..and state-of-the-art animal hospitals.

It's a whirlwind of back-to-back work placements.

MONKEY SCREECHES

Sounds like an unhappy monkey!

Nice and quick, good.

And they can't afford to fail...

..a single one.

I need to do my job properly. I need to do it better.

It's the most challenging stretch...

Whoa!

..of a very long journey...

I have a serious problem with my hand shaking.

..to become...

..fully qualified young vets.

Saved a life today, which is good!

It's late March and our young vets are nearly at the finish line.

Just two weeks away are their finals, the toughest, practical

and written exams they'll ever face.

If I fail these exams, that's it, really.

They're the most important exams I'll ever do,

because they are the things that define you, either as a vet,

or not a vet.

So, yeah, failure's not really an option.

But until then they've got one more clinical placement to complete.

One last chance to brush up their practical skills

and prepare themselves for their first jobs as real vets.

Would you like to come through?

It's the last rotation, it's the last thing you're going to do,

and the next time you set foot in a veterinary practice,

it's actually, you're going to be qualified, you're going to be a vet.

The onus is going to be on you.

With a year's experience already under their belts,

these last placements should be a walk in the park for our students.

But, as they're about to find out, life as a vet is full of surprises.

This is really weird.

Vet student Matt Wilkinson is back in Eastbourne, his home town.

He's on his second placement at a small animal practice

based in a pet store.

He's working with husband and wife team, Warwick and Vicky Payne.

And last time he was here, Warwick dangled the carrot of a job offer

IF he proves himself.

It's a fun, family practice.

Pocket puppy.

But he needs to impress them to get the job.

Oh, I just want to keep you!

All right, sweetie. You're not looking very good at all, poppet.

What's happened?

Matt's first case today is Lolly, a ten-year-old Basset Hound.

Her owners, Jerry and Marlene,

have brought her in because Lolly's obviously not well.

Last night, four-and-a-half hours after she had something to eat,

it came out in big... I could tell what she'd eaten.

It was big lumps still as if it hadn't been digested.

Today she's been being sick and it's yellow and green.

Last night, I took her out for a walk and she didn't want to walk,

she kept sitting down, she's got no energy.

How old is she now?

We reckon she was a rescue, we picked her off the streets in Spain,

we reckon about ten, between nine and ten years old.

Stand up for me, sweetheart.

She's just never ever ill.

You just have a hand feel of her belly

and have a feel of her back there and tell me what you think?

Lolly has some other symptoms, which are even more worrying.

We started to get a bit suspicious of something,

she had just one or two, a couple of lymph nodes that were much

much bigger than they should be.

Took her for a little walk, she keeps panting a lot.

She's very pale. Looking at her gums, she's...

Have a listen to that.

Listening to Lolly's heart tells Matt this is extremely serious.

-Gallop rhythm.

-Yeah.

Erm...

Bad, she's very pale,

she's got a very fast heart rate,

with an abnormal rhythm, a gallop rhythm,

Instead of hearing the two heart sounds,

the two sort of lub-dub, it's going like a little horse galloping.

I was a bit concerned there was something a bit lumpy feeling.

-There was, yeah.

-Yeah.

Not sure entirely what part of her insides,

could be spleen, could be thickening in the gut.

Because owners come in not expecting the worst,

and they come to us to for reassurance or something

and then as you're doing your physical exam you start

feeling things and in your head you're just thinking

"Oh, dear, this...I'm going to have to say something horrible here."

My gut feeling is that it's probably a cancer of some variety.

I think she's been a very brave little dog,

pretending that everything's fine,

while actually things haven't been fine for a little while.

She's never been ill, never been ill, it's the first time.

It's most likely to be a lymphoma, which is a white blood cell cancer.

We very rarely cure them.

So is she suffering at the moment, do you think?

-I think she is.

-Now if this was your dog, what would you do?

I think...we're never allowed to answer that question, but...

I've never had a dog...

I have to say I don't think she'd be a great candidate for going ahead

with a lot of testing and chemo and things like that.

She's a sick dog, and I don't think she'd stand any treatment.

If I'd have brought her in earlier would that have made any difference?

-No, probably not. Some of these...

-There's really no signs?

No, some of these most aggressive types of lymphoma,

it's six weeks maximum from picking them up to losing them...

I know it's kind of a big shock and not exactly what you were expecting.

-Not really, no.

-I don't necessarily need you to make a decision tonight.

If you want to go home, have a chat amongst yourselves,

and come back to us, that would be absolutely fine.

It's eventually going to happen, isn't it?

-It is eventually going to happen.

-If it was me I wouldn't want to suffer.

Marlene and Jerry have the night to make a heartbreaking decision,

to let nature take its course and have Lolly at home

for a few more precious weeks,

or end it now to prevent her suffering.

-Shall we take you home?

-Take her home, spoil her rotten.

With cases like Lolly, I was just the vet student

and I was doing my physical exam, but I wasn't going to be the one

who says to the owner, "Look, your dog's got something nasty here."

You're grateful in those situations

that you're not the one who has to be the bearer of bad news,

but, you know, that's all going to change and...

..one day that will be me.

Come on then, darling. Come here girl.

Come on, then.

It's one of the toughest lessons a young vet has to learn.

It's not always happy news, is it? Unfortunately.

Lots of things really point to a not very nice prognosis, unfortunately.

As sick as she is, there's different types.

There's some, no matter how you treat them

they're not going to be here in six weeks,

and, unfortunately, she looks like one of those.

With an incredibly difficult decision to make, Jerry and Marlene

head home to spend what could be their final night with Lolly.

Because we've been together so long,

it's been like five, six years, that's a long time.

For me that's going to be the worst part, just missing friends.

I'll be here. It'll be like splitting up a big family, really,

cos everyone's really good friends.

Yeah, and it's taken me five years to learn how to live with Dru.

ALL LAUGH

Student Amy Clithero has grown up around horses at her mum's

riding stables, so she's no stranger to large animals,

or physical hard work.

Amy's chosen to come back to her home turf,

the Yorkshire Dales, for her final placement.

Go on!

Spring is a busy time for vets,

so she'll have plenty of chances to prove herself to her

supervisor, Russell Howarth, a man who definitely loves his job.

A lot of the time you turn up in the office in the morning,

you don't know what's coming, which is, sort of, quite nice.

-And...

-Days like this.

Days like this when, you know, I'm at work now, so yeah!

I don't know how you can do stuff like this and not enjoy it.

Amy's very much at home on a farm

but there are still some important jobs she hasn't tackled before.

And today she's going to learn a new skill, how to dehorn a cow.

What we do when we take the horns off, we put a local anaesthetic,

near the eye and, basically, that numbs most of the horn.

If they know they've got horns, they'll learn how to use them

to their advantage, so it saves injury to each other,

it saves injury to us humans because, obviously,

getting headbutted by a cow without horns is a lot nicer

than getting headbutted with the horns.

So you want to be at an angle, like this,

whilst feeling a bit of vibration, or something, at the start.

A nice steady rhythm on there.

Russell shows Amy how to use the wire saw.

Thankfully the anaesthetic means it's painless for the cow.

Russell made it look easy.

-Come here, Amy.

-Do you want me to do that one?

Now it's Amy's turn to have a go.

AMY GIGGLES

Clearly, it's not easy at all.

Basically, I think it was a combination of me leaning back,

my feet slipped, the wire snapped and it was just like, "Oh, dear."

Yeah, so strong I can snap wire!

I got a bit of a muddy bum after that.

It wasn't great!

But Amy soon gets into the swing of it.

Not a drop of blood, awesome!

You just whip the horns off as fast as you can,

and then the cow can go off, after he's had his purple spray.

It's a great learning experience and a great work-out for Amy.

She's anaesthetised half the herd, conquered the dehorning

and cauterised the stumps.

It's all thirsty work.

I'm going to have a cup of tea.

I could do with a cup of tea!

Mature student Judy Puddifoot always wanted to be a vet

but it's been a long journey

via two degrees and a pet care business.

Now she's just a few short weeks away from achieving her dream.

Good afternoon, Icknield Vets in Luton, Brook Street branch.

Her final placement is at a small animal surgery in Luton...

..and she's hoping that the next two weeks will be very straightforward.

-So, yeah, do exactly that.

-As long as I've got time for cuddles.

But as vet-in-waiting Judy is about to find out,

when you least expect it, a medical emergency walks through the door.

This way, Snowy!

Snowy is showing all the symptoms of pyometra,

an infection in her uterus.

Untreated, she could die from septicaemia.

So she must have surgery to remove it straightaway.

Crudely, it's a womb full of pus, to put it bluntly,

so that's a huge bacterial infection, which is

just continuing to go on and on and on and makes the animal very sick.

It gets larger and larger and larger and it can potentially rupture

and that's really dangerous if that happens. They are very common.

Yeah, surprised, I've never scrubbed in on one actually.

-Well you'll be scrubbing in on this one!

-Whoo!

Supervising vet Katy Wragg asks Judy to calculate Snowy's

anaesthetic dose.

Oh, here we go!

God!

I need a calculator. How much does she weigh? Sorry, she weighs?

-About 15 and a half kilos.

-Good.

Maths WAS Judy's Achilles heel...

6.2 mls.

..but not any more. Today she gets it right first time.

-How much?

-6.2 mls.

I've got the pussy end.

Have we got the whole caboodle there?

Have you got 90% of the weight as well, have you?

Now it's time for Judy to prove herself in surgery.

My first pyo I've ever actually got my hands on so, erm...

..it is very exciting...

-Access is key in pyo, I guess?

-Exactamondo.

Because snowy has pyometra, her infected uterus is

so full of pus, it's three times the size it should be.

So you can see all of this fluid in here, it's just all pus.

Katy starts the delicate job of removing one side.

If we accidentally were to nick that with a scalpel,

or instrument, that pus could end up in the abdomen of the animal

and that could be fatal.

That's why it has to undergo the surgery, because that could

rupture or pop of its own accord.

If it gets sufficiently full, it could pop and then

you've got an animal that's really in danger of dying.

Judy thinks she's just assisting Katy today

but there's a surprise in store for her,

a chance to take over this difficult surgery.

-Now do you want to do the other side?

-Yeah, definitely.

I've done the easy side for you, just so you know.

Thanks. I'll do the difficult one.

Oh, dear. Right, OK, here it goes, let's find you.

You think back over the last 12 months,

you know, it only seems like yesterday really that I was doing

my first ever spay on a dog and that was fantastic,

and then, 12 months later, here I am doing a slightly riskier surgery,

a higher risk surgery on a dog

and the progression is phenomenal, when you think about it,

how far we've come, actually.

Very calm, very impressed!

Yeah.

-Thanks. Inside I'm crying...

-"I'm dying inside"

Yeah, I bet your heart's thundering along.

It's one of the last times Judy will do surgery under supervision.

If I was on my own, phew,

I would be somewhat panicking.

You could do this, though, if you wanted to. Yeah, you could do this.

OK, I'll take your word for it.

You know the procedure, you know what you're doing,

you know what the risks are.

-This is true.

-You're careful.

OK.

But no, well done! Superstar.

Yeah, more things keep getting added to this bucket list,

so pyometra wasn't even on there, but, hey! Tick!

Yeah, really well. She did really, really well.

It's a tough operation even on healthy dogs,

so doing that with all of that extra blood flow and swelling,

she did really well.

And the operation's been a success for Snowy too.

Just four hours later she's feeling much better.

Ready to be reunited with her family.

Who's that!

Yes!

Oh, very happy.

She's my baby, she's my best friend.

You know, she's like my little boy.

-She's part of the family.

-Yeah.

-Definitely.

Sit!

Sit!

Sit.

Sit.

In Eastbourne, Matt knows he has an extremely difficult day ahead.

He's facing one of the hardest jobs a vet has to do.

His first patient is Basset Hound Lolly,

who yesterday was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Her owners, Jerry and Marlene, need to decide whether they should let

Lolly die naturally, or spare her the pain and have her put to sleep.

We're talking about a condition for which there is no cure.

You know, this is a particularly nasty type of cancer

that affects the whole body.

It's a situation all vets dread and a tough lesson for Matt.

-Can I just ask you one...?

-Mm-hm.

I know it might seem stupid to you,

but how can you be 100% certain it's cancer?

Erm, we can't without doing tests.

We can do something called fine needle aspirates where we put

a needle into some of the lumps and suck out some cells

and send them off to the lab and find out,

but lymphoma is one of those sorts of diseases

that there's not much else that looks like it.

When you get dogs that present with these sorts of swellings,

you're 95% certain of the diagnosis before you begin the tests.

-It's just two days ago, she was fine.

-Yeah, I know.

She was going on the beach, she was playing with other dogs,

she's been eating, then all of a sudden, within 24 hours

she goes downhill like this.

Well, she's never been ill, this is what we can't get over.

No. She's a horrible colour.

And she's just being sick all the time.

It's more about quality than anything else

and if she's not happy then it's time to call it a day.

We could fill her up with steroids but it's still a matter of time.

No, it's not worth it, it's just prolonging it for her

and she's still going to be suffering, even with chemo,

I could say do chemo but she's still going to suffer having that.

Yeah, and there will be some side effects and things and...

Right, then. No.

Reluctantly Jerry and Marlene decide it's best that Lolly

is put to sleep.

I don't want her to suffer.

I don't want her to go but I don't want her to suffer.

You've got to be certain cos in effect we're killing her.

This is the biggest favour you'll ever do your best friend.

We haven't slept all night, we've just been cuddling her all night.

She's been in bed with us cuddling us.

This is, this is helping her have a nice, dignified end.

-You'd better do it then, mate.

-Yeah.

Come on love, just a couple of minutes, darling.

Oops-a-daisy, here we go.

After their final goodbyes to Lolly,

Jerry and Marlene are finding it hard to come to terms

with their loss.

I can't believe it's happened.

I just want her back.

I just can't believe how quick it happened.

24 hours ago she was fine.

She's gone now.

Yes, we shall be lost without her

and so will the other dogs.

Better than her suffering.

We've done the right thing, I know. We've done the right thing, I know.

I couldn't bear her suffering but it doesn't make it any easier, does it?

No.

I don't know if it's either a privilege or a curse.

Erm...

In some ways it's horrible because you have to do it,

but in other ways it's nice because you're helping in a way.

You're ending suffering and there's nothing worse than

some poor animal suffering for absolutely no reason.

They don't know what's going on. All they know is that they're in pain,

or they're really uncomfortable.

In a way it's a gift that we get the ability to do that,

but it doesn't make it easier.

It's still horrible.

I don't really want to tell you about the cow story in first year,

how I let the cows out.

-You let the cows out?

-Yeah, detrimental to my career, I think.

-Did you forget to shut a gate?

-No, someone did!

Yeah...

In Yorkshire, outdoorsy Amy has got stuck in to her

farm vet duties with real gusto.

It's not really me to sit down all day,

I like to get out and about and crack on.

Today she's tackling another first,

treating a cow with a displaced stomach.

Oh, yeah, I've got it.

Cows have four stomachs, the abomasum is the last of the four

and, in dairy cows, it has the capacity to move.

What can happen is that gas can build up in the abomasum

and it floats into the wrong position.

When you're flicking, if there's gas trapped, it sounds like sort of a...

The classic thing is flicking a metal bucket.

It's not uncommon in cows who've recently given birth

so it's something Amy's likely to come across

if she opts for a rural practice.

You do need to correct that cos it can cause the cow to, you know,

to feel poorly. They go off their food and then when cows

have been off their food they can basically become a downer cow.

They lie down and they can't physically get back up again,

and then you've got some big issues.

While many vets use surgery to pull the stomach back into position,

today they're using a different technique.

Come on. There we go.

Pull her onto her right...

Just hold her for a second on her side so she gets..

She'll calm down a bit.

Rolling the cow onto her back will hopefully cause the stomach

to float back into the correct position.

Basically their stomach's a ball of gas, because they've not been

eating, so if you, yeah when you roll them over you're using that gas,

it's going to rise and move where it needs to go.

That's great. That's great.

It's great fun, cos it's something I can actually help with.

The cow's sedated to make sure she doesn't get distressed

or feel pain during the procedure.

Vet Russell punctures the displaced stomach to let out the gas.

You hear the gas coming out, straightaway,

so we're in the right place.

We've done a procedure called a toggle operation.

What we've effectively done is put a stitch into the abomasum

to try and hold it in the correct position.

It had displaced off to the left.

Right, we'll just carry on rolling it towards you TJ.

Stomach sorted, she's still a bit dozy from the anaesthetic

so Amy helps out with a pick me up.

It's like cow Lucozade. It's got a bit of calcium, a bit of energy,

all the things that a new calved cow like this can become a bit

deficient in, there's a bit in that drench.

It's been a great opportunity for Amy to see how you move

a cow's stomach without resorting to surgery.

In a few months time, she could be using the technique

without Russell's help.

But only if she qualifies!

Small minor, very minor obstacle of exams,

which are starting to get a little bit scary

cos you can't just say, "Oh, they're ages off".

No, they're actually getting a bit close now.

If I pass my exams, I'm quite... I think I'm quite proud of myself.

I'm not the naturally like, the brainiest person.

I've got to work at stuff, but, yeah, I'd be proud of myself.

Give myself a pat on the back.

Only if I pass. Otherwise I'll give myself a kick up the backside.

Student Charlie Tewson is finishing up his clinical year

at a busy small animal practice in South West London.

Morning!

And this is just the sort of place Charlie

has in mind for his first job.

I think, ultimately, I've decided I'm definitely heading

towards the small animal route and I've learnt that there's still

gaps in my knowledge that I'm going to have to really fill for finals.

Good dog.

With this in mind, he's aiming to get as much hands-on experience

as possible this week.

He's also hoping to make a good impression on his

supervising vet, Aimee Warner.

He could go somewhere where day one he's on his own

and that can be quite scary,

so he needs to build the skills during work experience.

We're looking at now, the next time he's in a veterinary practice

it might actually be his first job, so you want him to feel confident.

But Charlie's confidence is about to be put to the test.

It turns out that he's somehow managed to complete a whole

year of clinical placements without performing one of a vet's

most basic, and important, operations.

So this is Tilly, who is an eight-month-old female cat,

and we're going to spay her later today.

Strangely I've happened to not have any cat spays come in

when it's been appropriate for me to do them,

so I'm quite looking forward to this.

I'm just going to do a pre-op check and see how it goes.

It's really important Charlie does learn his way around a cat

spay today because he's got a rather special holiday planned.

Me and my girlfriend are going to Thailand,

where we're going to spend three weeks neutering stray animals.

Every neuter is of benefit to start you on that road.

Charlie gets off to a good start.

Most importantly, you just have to check that they are female...

At least Tilly's not a boy!

I'm confident there's no testicles there.

Though she does look a bit apprehensive.

There are areas where I feel confident and comfortable.

-Ready?

-Who's a good girl.

But other areas where it's nice to have your safety net.

This cat is not very sleepy.

How's your clipping skills?

Let's find out!

OK.

I'm feeling pretty good, Aimee's a good teacher.

I've done surgery before

but I just happen to have not done any spays before.

Erm, in terms of abdominal surgery, it's relatively minor.

I'm quite excited!

-So are you happy with anaesthetic?

-Yeah.

-Sweet?

To get started on the spay,

Charlie needs to make the right sized incision in the skin.

So I want to raise with the...

No, you're fine for the skin, just go in.

And remove some of the excess fat in Tilly's abdomen.

Looks good.

So far, so good.

He then needs to grab a tight hold of her tiny uterus.

There you go, that's her uterus.

I see, yep.

Now follow it, see if you've got the ovary.

If you've got the ovary then you're good to go.

It's fiddly, isn't it?

Lost it!

Whoops!

OK, you've got to find it this time!

I take up quite a lot of space,

because well I've got quite big fingers, as it is,

but also my dexterity isn't...

Hasn't had the practice yet.

You need three hands, don't you?

-Yep.

-OK?

Always looks so much easier when someone else is doing it.

Charlie's relocated Tilly's uterus,

but unfortunately he's taking too long.

So it's time for Aimee to step in.

OK, for the interests of speed if I do the other side

-and then you carry on.

-OK.

For the safety of the animal it's better that Aimee stepped in.

Show me how to do it. Real-time.

Yeah, I think my fingers is a bit of a disadvantage.

So you can see Aimee's rocking it.

Practice as well.

I haven't had a huge amount of surgical experience,

and I feel like that's something I'd really like to do.

-Done?

-Yeah.

Within minutes, Tilly comes around from the anaesthetic.

-There's your arm.

-Hello!

And, at last, Charlie has at least half a spay under his belt,

news which will no doubt be a comfort to the cats of Thailand.

I can remember being in that stage

and it's the feelings of excitement of knowing that you're

getting close, and it is an exciting time but a bit scary.

Blame Charlie. It's all his fault.

-It's always Charlie's fault.

-It's all his fault.

How do you think he'll do as a qualified vet?

I think he'll be great. He's got a lovely way with clients and animals,

and his knowledge already is very good

and that's only going to get better,

and the same with his skills, so I'm sure he'll be a very good vet.

So do you want to give me a job?

THEY LAUGH

SHE LAUGHS

Today, Judy's taking some time out from her final placement.

She's at the College's London campus to lend a helping

hand on an open day.

We're basically going to act as a bit of a student ambassador.

They bring students, school kids really, 10, 11-years-old,

from surrounding schools, bring them in

and widen their horizons, let them know this is what vets do.

This is the kind of thing that we do in the Royal Veterinary College,

and try and get these kids to realise just what

they can do, really, if they put their minds to it.

I was one of those kids at school who thought,

"I could never be a vet, I can't do it."

We've got a live horse, a live cow and a live dog.

And what we want you to do is to basically pretend to be

a vet for about half an hour.

Never work with children or animals.

Oh, my God, you've got both in the same room!

Now the mini vets get to meet some four-legged friends...and Judy.

So over here we've got Judy, who is a final-year student

and is a student of us for today.

If this had been me when I was ten

I would have been just over the moon,

so excited by now, doing this - live animals, stethoscopes.

Oh, my God, heaven. Absolute heaven.

OK, you four, would you like to go and start to meet Bonnie over there?

What do you think cows eat? Go on, go for it.

-Grass?

-Grass, fantastic. How many stomachs do you think a cow's got?

-Five.

-Two.

-Seven?

-No, no, no.

Four, exactly.

And each part of the stomach has got a different job,

and it breaks down the grass that they eat and it breaks it down

and they get all their energy from that grass, OK?

This little dip here, if you put your stethoscope on there,

push it down a little bit, tell me if you hear, you might have to

listen for a little bit of time, but just tell me if you hear anything.

It's like a sound like growling.

Like growling, exactly. Like rumbling, isn't it?

Yeah, that's inside one of the parts of her stomach.

Judy's as good with children as she is with animals

and their owners, but spending time with them

has made her appreciate just how long it's taken her to get this far.

You know, when I was at school I told my careers advisor that

I wanted to be a vet and, unfortunately, he kind

of knocked me back and said, "You're not going to be a vet, Judy.

"You're not clever enough, really."

He had my grades right in front of him,

he knew the path I was going down and he knew that.

He said, "No, no, you're not going to be a vet. You can't do it."

That kind of negative feeling stayed with me for a long time,

thinking, "I can't do it, there's no point, I won't even try."

But then, eventually you get round and you think, "You know what?

"I'm just going to try, I'm just going to shoot for the stars,

"see what happens, see if I can get there."

And I did, and hence why I'm doing it now.

If I'd had this when I was ten?

Oh, crikey, I think I'd have been in vet school a lot earlier,

because I would've been dead set, "This is what I want to do,"

and I would not have been dissuaded by anyone or anything.

And if we make one vet out of these kids...job done!

-Morning.

-Morning, Judy!

The next day, it's back to work in Luton,

to finish off her very last placement.

Next time she does a consultation, provided she passes her exams,

she'll be on her own.

Last day to tick things off my list.

Scarily, last day I'll ever need to wear this!

Hopefully, in a few weeks it won't say "veterinary student" on it

-any more.

-It'll say "vet".

But, to realise her childhood dream, Judy still needs to pass not

only written exams, but also a dreaded practical exam.

DOG BARKS

Oi, oi!

SHE SIGHS

OK.

I've just received the e-mail that we get giving us

the list of the stations for our practical exams next week.

OK, that one's OK, that one's OK.

I've got a sheep udder! Yay!

Which involves rolling a sheep over, which is going to be great fun.

Huh? Oh, my God, it gets worse.

"Calculate and administer an anaesthetic drug."

SHE SIGHS

I knew there'd have to be something about darn anaesthetics in there.

Wash your hands?

I'll pull it back with the hand washing, that'll be fine.

No, there's no point panicking about it now.

I've got six hours to practise, while I'm in a vet practice, so...

Do you think they could rustle up a sheep while I'm here?

Let's ask them.

Let's check, I tell you what, let's check my spare first.

There's no sheep, but Judy's taking no chances with

the anaesthesia test.

She's got five minutes to practise,

which is exactly how long she'll have on the day.

Good, done.

Are you all right?

Now it's time for her very last consultation -

and even at this late stage there's a brand-new challenge ahead.

This is Connie, one of six chickens that we have,

and she's been hen-pecked

by a couple of the other hens in the hen house.

There's always a bit of pecking going on

but this is the worst that we've seen.

Chickens are quite cool, I love chickens.

I like chickens. Especially with roast dinner.

While Connie's waiting, vet, Katy, shares her all-important

chicken-handling tips.

We've got gauntlets?

We do have lots of gauntlets, yeah,

but it's all about getting them to stand still whilst you can

look at it, but, no, they tend to be relatively handle-able.

they're quite hardy birds generally.

Chickens are really underrated in this country.

People just think, "They make a great roast."

No, there's so much more than that.

Do you want to pop her out on the table?

CHICKEN CLUCKS

Yes, hello to you, too. Let's pop that down there.

Oh, dear, yes. They've done a good job there haven't they? Oh, dear.

Chickens.

They have a very strict hierarchy,

and "henpecked" is not just your down-beaten husband. OK?

"Henpecked" comes from chickens.

To keep this hierarchy, keep everybody in their position,

they will peck at the other chickens, that's what they do.

Have you got the facility to kind of isolate her

away from the ones who're pecking her, just while this heals?

Yeah, I'm going to have to. I've got a cage, I'll put her in that.

Great. Oh, dear. How is she otherwise?

She's fine.

They will kick you when you're down, chickens.

Come on, then.

Connie's taken away for a checkup and a clean-up.

-Aw, you're such a good chicken!

-CHICKEN CLUCKS

Good girl!

I know, oh, lovely(!) Thank you.

-Don't keep that close to your eye!

-Good lesson for life.

Sometimes they can pick up on illnesses or weakness,

or they view them as being sick,

that can be what starts it off.

And then they get rejected from the rest of the chickens.

But...she's pretty.

She's not the fattest chicken in the world but she's not underweight.

So, don't know, they've just taken a dislike to you, hey?

It was a good one to end on.

The first ever chicken consult that I did, little Connie!

So, very good teaching chicken, she was very nice to me,

didn't peck me, she didn't bite me, and she didn't try

and fly out the window, so I class that as a successful consultation.

Judy's happy, the chicken's happy, and so is Judy's supervisor.

You're already there,

you're probably a lot further ahead than a lot of students

in your kind of, stage, so you'll going to be absolutely fine.

She's already a vet, she just has to pass her exams now, which is...

..important!

SHE LAUGHS

Obviously!

But she's comfortable doing surgery,

she's comfortable doing consultations, which is

the main sort of things that we'll be doing day-to-day.

She's comfortable talking to people. Cleaning and clean-wise,

she's very clever, she knows all of the stuff that she

needs to know at this stage and she'll continue to learn

and build on that once she's actually graduated and got a job.

So, she's very good.

Yeah, it feels really good when a qualified vet says,

"You're good, you're ready, you can do it now!

It's nice, it gives you the confidence to think,

"You know what? Let's just get out there and do it now, I'm ready."

I just want to get stuck in. Finally, I'm ready.

It's definitely easier for guys to look good on rotations

than it is for girls on rotations.

I got really good at ironing this bit and this bit.

And rolling these up, yeah.

I've got to say I've never ironed, one does not iron.

-Not even your scrub top?

-No!

Ah, no, iron the scrub tops!

Here's my thing. You wash, you shake, you dry. It's all good.

My mum will be so proud of me.

THEY LAUGH

In Eastbourne, it's Matt's very last day on the job, and just

like his fellow students, he's facing a tricky set of patients.

First up, he's worming Terence the tortoise.

Terence was brought into the vets

because he was found on the beach and had an injury to his shell.

Next patient is Bilko, the cockatiel.

His beak has grown too long and it needs trimming.

Bilko is 21 this year, we've had him ever since he was

out of the egg. He's my husband's bird, really. If my husband's in,

he's normally straight on his shoulder and that's where he stays.

With small caged birds

and aviary birds it's all about handling, really, and students

probably don't get a lot of practice at handling small birds.

Not my forte.

Birds can be a vet's worst nightmare.

They can literally die in your hands.

It's all about trying to minimise stress, because, unfortunately,

some small birds, if they get too stressed, will just expire.

Luckily with Bilko's little beak problem...

He can't bite properly.

He can't bite very well.

Hoping not to scare Bilko to death, Matt now needs to trim his beak.

BILKO SQUAWKS

But Bilko is one angry bird.

In so much of a rage, in fact, he's snapped off a bit of his own beak.

He got really annoyed with us, tried to bite us

through the towel, and in the end just sort of broke it off a bit.

Which was, you know, what we were aiming to do really

in the first place, so thank you, Bilko, for doing that job for us!

Yeah, thanks, Bill.

Bilko was not in the best of moods, and he can,

or did get a little bit stressy.

But, on the bright side, at least Bilko hasn't expired.

No, it was all right, actually.

Warwick has saved Matt's biggest challenge till last.

Theodora needs to be neutered,

and spaying rabbits is daunting, even for experienced vets.

Yeah, this is the tricky one.

Gut anatomy is very, very similar to a horse.

just imagine all those horse guts, but ickle,

and we also have to get those out of the way as well.

It's very, very easy to pick up the muscle layer

to try and get into the abdomen and pinch the cecum

at the same time, and put your scalpel through it.

-So that's something we don't want to happen.

-Yay.

HE LAUGHS

I haven't ever operated on a rabbit, but at one point I will need

to, so best place to start is under a great amount of supervision.

Even anaesthesia on rabbits is risky, so Matt needs to work fast.

Incision-wise, I'd start here and extend towards the umbilicus.

Try not to go too much longer than that.

-Happy?

-Yep.

OK, that's fine.

This is the first rabbit spay I think I've supervised, on a student.

They can be tricky, so you do want to get them right, and you kind

of want to do things a bit quicker as well because you are aware

that rabbits don't like anaesthesia, they don't like spending too

long under anaesthetics, so you do want to try and get everything

done quickly, successfully, and have them recover nicely.

This is the part where all your surgical principles are the same,

you're doing exactly the same...

Exactly the same principles,

slightly different anatomy, slightly different feel to the tissues.

Bit trickier in rabbits, because things are smaller,

things are slightly different, and things are fattier...

..which makes things very greasy, very...what we call friable,

which means they break really easily.

Just grabbing on to things in general just becomes a bit more difficult.

Tissue handling and instrument handling

becomes a bit more challenging.

Right, you've spayed your first bunny.

-Indeed.

-Wahey!

-Phew.

I was impressed with the way he handled the rabbit spay,

because they are daunting, they're daunting even for me, so for

Matt to do it all on his own was really quite impressive, actually.

Well, that was my first one, so it's still alive, and it didn't

bleed horrifically, so, yeah, I'm pretty chuffed with that, I think.

How'd I do, Lisa?

HE LAUGHS

You did really well, you should be very proud of yourself.

I like doing things for the first time, it's exciting.

And, four hours later, Theodora is fully recovered.

and a very happy bunny.

Warwick's been keeping a close eye on his young protege this week,

and he's obviously very impressed.

So much so, in fact, he's got some good news for Matt.

You fit in really well and, you know, you're definitely good enough. Your

surgical skills alone, you're above and beyond the average new grad.

So, yeah, I'd really like you in the team, it's definitely what we want.

At the end of university you want to be able to go to practices

and have them feel immediately confident in you,

because they can see that you know what you're doing.

And it's just nice because I've been able to kind of do that slowly

with Companion Care, with Warwick, and to have then at the end of that

him offer me a job is just such an astronomical feeling, it's amazing.

There are some perks of this job!

You know, I've got a job, and I'm going to be a vet!

It's time for Matt to say au revoir to the folks in Eastbourne...

-Bye.

-..and time for all our young vets

to finish their year of clinical placements.

-Bye. guys!

-ALL: Bye!

-Thanks.

Good luck. Break a leg.

I'll try not to.

Last day of rotations, finished.

Oh, man! It only seems like yesterday

that we started and we were all

so looking forward to it, but so scared.

Yes!

The next time they're hands-on with animals, they'll hopefully

have passed their exams and be responsible, qualified vets.

Just a little hurdle with the exams, get over that.

Once we've done that, crikey, I'll be a real vet!

Scary!

Your breath really smells!

LAUGHTER

The following week,

it's straight into a whole raft of make-or-break exams.

Our final-year students must pass every single one of them,

or they won't qualify.

I don't think I've ever been this stressed in my entire life.

You just want to do your best, and you just want to get in there

and vomit information onto that page!

It's pretty terrifying. I think I worked out the other day

there's something like 500 lectures to go over.

I mean, it's just...dry.

I just can't wait for it to be over. I actually cannot wait.

This is the final push, this is that final hill, this is like when you're

on the bike and you're like, "I'm really tired, no more cycling.!

Then you're like, "OK, top of the hill, get to the top of the hill!"

And then that last day, 26th of June,

that's going to be like, "Wheeeeeeee!" "Freeeeeeeee!" See?

The ordeal starts with the dreaded practical test -

the Objective Structured Clinical Exams.

The OSCEs, as they're known,

are like a driving test for vets' skills.

Every student must complete 20 back-to-back high-pressure

practical exams over the space of three gruelling hours.

From suturing to anaesthesia, sheep tipping to chicken handling,

every skill is tested.

It is terrifying. I mean, it's one thing doing a written exam,

and it's very anonymous, whereas OSCEs are very personal.

You've got 20-odd stations where you're literally working with

clinicians that you've been working with all year, who are expecting

you to be able to have these skills that they have probably taught you.

Tutor, Nicki Coombes, is very aware of the pressures.

They're very critical,

because if they don't pass these exams then they won't graduate.

We have had students where, what happened the other day,

they'll just cry, and we had a student in one of the exams who just

completely melted down and took an hour to stop crying.

Took me by surprise because I wouldn't have thought it of him.

It's a lot of pressure for them, and I've heard one of the students

call it, "the Hunger Games of the RVC."

SHEEP BLEATS

SHE SIGHS

God, I've made some schoolboy errors on that, I tell ya!

SHE LAUGHS

The gloves were extra-tight, and so my fingers kind of got caught

and I was just standing there in giggles in front

of the examiner, who was also starting to giggle.

I think at one point I really had the moment where I was like,

"This is the first step towards being proper vettingness."

And that made me freak out a bit.

Right, I have to go, where's the bar?

They've sat through hundreds of lectures, they've spent

a year at vet surgeries, farms and animal hospitals across the country.

In total, it's taken them five years to get this far,

but whether our students will become vets all depends

on their final, written exams.

There's such a build-up to them,

they're not like any other exams, they are the exams at the end,

they're the exams you start that course terrified about.

Then suddenly you're there on the first day and you're

taking them, you're opening that question paper, and you appreciate

that it really is your finals, and that they matter so much.

This is a long time, you know, but it's coming to an end, finally.

This roundabout is going to stop,

this merry-go-round that I've been on for a year is going to stop,

and I can get off and just stand still for five minutes.

Just one week later, it's D-Day for our students.

At 10am precisely, our young vets will find out

whether they've passed or failed.

At Judy's house in Rickmansworth this morning,

you could hear a pin drop.

Oh, my God, it's four minutes to ten.

SHE SIGHS

I've been pacing my house since four o'clock this morning, basically,

just running it through my head again and again and again.

"Please, God, let it say 'pass'."

Three minutes, I'll either be a vet or I'm not.

What does that mean?

At the College, housemates Charlie and Dru brave the notice board.

We passed.

Um, yeah, I passed.

HE LAUGHS

I'm a vet!

-HE LAUGHS

-It's terrifying!

Yeah, I think he almost crashed his car, he was like "Ahhh!"

HE LAUGHS

In St Albans, Elly's sharing her make-or-break moment with

boyfriend, Matt.

Good times! Good times!

Dad!

New results, you ready?

-Ready.

-Ah! Pass!

Yes! Yes!

Oh, my gosh!

You're a vet!

Yeah!

Honours?! No!

Passed. I'm so happy I passed. I'm a vet.

I've passed!

I passed with honours!

Back in Rickmansworth, Judy's near the end of her own especially

long and rocky journey.

Her twin brother, Steve, has arrived to support her,

But whether he's here to celebrate, or pick up the pieces,

they're about to find out.

Oh, my God ,there it is. Year finals.

Huh?

Oh, my God, I've passed!

SHE SNIFFS

Passed! Oh, my God!

I got a merit!

-BLEEP.

-I need to walk. Oh, my God!

Oh!

Well done.

It's all she's ever wanted.

Yeah, I really can't say.

I am really, really proud of her.

I always knew she would do it.

Once she started I always knew she'd do it.

I'm a vet. Do you know how long I've waited for that?

I'm a bloody vet! Who'd've thunk it?

I'm a vet!

Just three weeks later...

Hello, Westminster Hall, please!

..our young vets are in Central London,

and they're finally about to graduate.

Ah, come out, Mum.

Thanks very much! Yeah, it's a big day, eh?

It's been a massive journey. I think I've come a hell of a long way.

I'm completely ready and I want to take on a challenge

and it's been so long coming that I've had enough of being a student.

I want to get out there and do stuff.

It's incredibly exciting, but it's just terrifying.

I declare the ceremony for the presentation of graduates

from the Royal Veterinary College,

for the confirmative degrees and awards, open.

Eleanor Grace Berry.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Just like grinning from ear to ear,

face hurts, good, very happy!

SHE GIGGLES

Amazing! Yeah, relieved.

Amy Louise Clitheroe.

APPLAUSE

I'm glad I've done it but I'm glad I've finished.

I'm really glad I've finished.

Dru Jordan Shearn.

APPLAUSE

Charles Edward Tewson.

APPLAUSE

-Well done.

-Thank you very much.

Fairly sombering,

but also pretty exciting, as well.

-It's finally hit home.

-Everything's to come!

-Yeah.

This is what we're going to do!

It's suddenly all got a bit real, I think, today.

Joanna Nevison Hardy.

APPLAUSE

My legs were like jelly when I got on stage,

I genuinely forgot how to walk. A very, very proud moment.

Catherine Jennifer Needham.

APPLAUSE

Quite emotional in there, finally I can say I'm a vet!

Hannah Laura Jane Nevin.

APPLAUSE

It's just crazy, I can't believe we've got to this stage.

Being there with all those amazing clinicians and they're

shaking your hands and welcoming you on stage and saying

that we're now their colleagues is so nice to hear.

Matthew Thomas Peter Wilkinson.

APPLAUSE

Danielle Emma Wiley.

APPLAUSE

We're vets, yeah.

Hi, I'm Dani, I'm a vet.

Hi, I'm Matt, I'm also a vet.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-So weird.

Judy Puddifoot.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Congratulations, well done.

-Thank you.

-Relax and enjoy the moment.

-I'll try.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

I do hereby admit you to be known and deemed

and recognised henceforth

as duly qualified members of the veterinary profession.

APPLAUSE

HE LAUGHS

I feel amazing. Feel like a vet.

Yes! Feel like a vet!

THEY CHEER

I can't believe we've all done it. Pats on back all round!

I'm a vet.

Finally, I'm officially a vet!

I'm Charlie, I'm a vet.

-CAMERAMAN:

-Keep smiling for me, thank you.

I'm not a student any more. I'm a vet.

What better job is there?

THEY CHEER

I wouldn't do anything else?

God, I'm going to cry!

THEY LAUGH