Supplementary education for veterinarians

The education consists of compulsory courses but the possibility of individual adaption is available. The courses are offered as full-time in most cases, and a big part of the training is both scheduled and compulsory, especially during the clinical courses.

The education begins with theoretical courses on animal welfare and legislation knowledge, epizootic diseases, food safety and population medicine. The outline of the training during the introductory courses primarily consists of lectures, seminars and practical assignments, individually or in groups.

During the clinical introduction course and the clinical courses, theoretical and practical training is given about animal diseases and animal healthcare based on the Swedish perspective. The clinical courses include practical clinical skills training in communication with animal owners, medical examination techniques and training in the ability to independently handle patients and initiate treatments based on Swedish standards and in accordance with Swedish legislation. Species included in the education are mainly dogs, cats, horses, ruminants (cattle), small ruminants (sheep and goats), pigs and to some extent poultry.

The education ends with training in veterinary public health and applied epidemiology and epizootiology.

Want to know more? You can read more about the education at the student web. 

In order to become admitted to the education, the following requirements need to be fulfilled:

• Veterinary Diploma from a country outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland
• Decision from the Swedish Board of Agriculture on a supplementary education
• Knowledge in Swedish equivalent to the general entry requirement for Bachelor's level studies in Sweden
• Knowledge in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6  

Don't forget to complement with documents proving your qualifications when applying.

The Vice-Chancellor has decided on specific selection criteria for the supplementary education (dnr SLU ua 2015.1.1.1-802). If there are more applicants who fulfil the entry requirements to the supplementary education than there are places, a selection will be made through a special assessment of qualifications. As an applicant, you may complement your application no later than 19 April with documents proving your qualifications. Each part of the qualification assessment must be proved to give points.

The assessment is done in two steps.

Step 1:

• Number of years since graduation. (Proved by Veterinary Diploma)
• Professional work as a veterinarian. (Proved by certificate of employment)
• Professional work within Swedish animal healthcare. (Proved by certificate of employment)
• Other professional work in Sweden. (Proved by certificate of employment)
• University studies in Sweden. (Proved by transcript of records or course certificate)
• Diagnostic test performed at SLU. (Test results, which are assessed by teachers at the Faculty of veterinary medicine and animal science, will provide qualification points.) The test is held in Swedish.

Step 2:

The students with most points after step 1 will be called to an interview, which also will be assessed. During the interview, the students' potential to pass the supplementary education within given time frames will be evaluated. The interview and the assessment will be made by teachers/former teachers at the Faculty of veterinary medicine and animal science.

The applicants will then be ranked after their total qualification points. If two or more applicants achieve the same total score, places will be awarded by the drawing of lots.

Applicants who do not participate in the qualification assessment are given zero (0) points in the selection. The results of the qualification assessment are valid only during the current round of admissions.

The test is provided by SLU Uppsala and is given as a MCQ test (Multiple Choice Questions). For each question, the most correct of several possible answers must be chosen.

The purpose of the test is to evaluate the prior knowledge of the applicants, i.e. veterinary knowledge in preclinical and clinical subjects. Note that the test results are used only to rank the applicants, there is no limit to pass. The diagnostic test ends with a short writing assignment.

If you have applied to the education in time, you will shortly after the application deadline receive an invitation to the test along with a link to a separate entry form and any other information required about the test. SLU will not accept any other types of test entries than the special entry form. Only invited persons will be allowed into the test premises.