Have you ever considered taking the leap from Veterinary Nurse to Vet Surgeon? If so, you will love this interview with Corrine Millington.
She is an absolute powerhouse when it comes to learning and is currently in her final year of Vet School at the RVC. We discuss her journey of applying to vet school as a Veterinary Nurse and why a lack of progression in nursing ultimately pushed her to take the leap.
Veterinary Nurse to Vet Surgeon
Can you tell us a little about your career so far?
I started working as a trainee veterinary nurse in 1999, it took me 2 years after leaving school to get a trainee job. There were few places in practice available and many people applying so it is very competitive. I qualified in 2003 after having my son in the middle of training which was quite a challenge!
I became a senior nurse at my training practice where I taught pre-veterinary nurses and became a clinical coach for veterinary nurses. I really enjoy teaching students, you get such immense pride in their achievements and it’s really rewarding to pass your knowledge on to the next generation.
I wanted to get a degree and I was one of the first cohorts for the BSc in veterinary nursing which ignited my love for academia. I decided to leave my job to gain more experience and so I started locuming at an emergency vet and in general practice where I was offered a job at the first and only general practice I locumed for!
I graduated in 2007 with a 2:1 BSc in veterinary nursing, I was the first person in my family to attend university so I was extremely proud and a little shocked to have gained such a grade.
While on maternity leave with my daughter in 2010, I completed the C-SQP course. I wanted to spend more time with her and so I went back to locuming for the emergency practice I had worked at before. This provided more flexibility to be able to still do the job I loved and maintain my career path but also still spend quality time with my young family.
While working part-time I started the Vets Now emergency certificate in 2014 which cemented my love for emergency and critical care nursing.
When my daughter started school in 2015 I took a leap of faith and applied to be a head nurse at a local practice where I lead a team of 16 veterinary nurses and veterinary care assistants. I really enjoyed forming a supportive and encouraging environment for all the staff within my team.
Early on in my career I gained a place on the diploma of advanced veterinary nursing but it was too far to travel and I didn’t take the place, but I still wanted to achieve this qualification. It was announced that this course was being withdrawn to pave the way for new courses and Myerscough college was only taking two more cohorts so I really wanted to take the course. It also allowed you to achieve a diploma in higher education as part of the Dip AVN.
I had also frequently looked into an MSc but the only courses that were available were not in nursing-related subjects. So when the University of Glasgow advertised that they had a distance learning MSc in veterinary nursing I was very excited.
I decided that I wanted to gain both awards but they are both 3-year courses which meant 6 years to achieve this goal. So as they were both part-time I decided to enroll on both in 2017 to achieve my goals in only 3 years!
In 2018 I applied for vet school, not expecting to get an interview, but in I had an interview and in 2019 I gained a place and started vet school In September.
After 2 years in 2019, I also achieved a merit in the diploma of higher education. I only had a year left of each of the courses I had started and so I decided to finish these courses, as well as the first year of vet school. In hindsight, this was far too ambitious but I was determined to finish what I started.
In 2020 I passed my first-year vet exams with distinction, the Diploma AVN with distinction, and the MSc with merit.
I continue to work in emergency practices part-time which allows me to self-fund the veterinary medicine course and still be able to utilise my skills in nursing.
Why did you decide you wanted to take the route you are on now?
I wanted to be a veterinary surgeon for about 10 years until I was advised in secondary school that I wouldn’t achieve the A* grades needed and to pick a different career path.
They suggested an RSPCA inspector or a laboratory technician but these didn’t excite me and I found Veterinary Nursing but it was very competitive. I did contemplate applying to vet school after the BSc course, I didn’t have any A levels and the BSc was an acceptable alternative. The tuition fee was not a capped rate back then and the fees would be self-funded so the expense was too great and I pushed that dream to one side.
During my career, I envisaged becoming a head nurse at a referral centre and so I spent some time at a referral centre for work experience but I found that I enjoyed the variety of cases in general practice.
So I stayed in general practice and worked hard to improve my knowledge and become the best nurse that I could be and encourage others to do the same. Although while at the referral centre they were teaching vet students CPR and they were dealing with really interesting cases and I thought that was very exciting.
The more courses and experience I gained in nursing and the older I got I thought, why not try to achieve that dream of becoming a vet?
I didn’t want to have any regrets about not trying to achieve my dreams and so I took a deep breath and applied and it started to come true.
Were previous colleagues supportive of your decision to apply for Vet school?
My colleagues were incredibly supportive and they wrote letters of recommendation for my application. They also helped me with the application process.
They were very encouraging and very kindly said I was well suited to becoming a surgeon. The vets all had such joy on their faces when they recalled their time at vet school and it really made me feel secure about my decision to go.
The practice manager where I was head nurse gave me a letter detailing my small animal experience for the UCAS application.
Did you need to undertake any further training, qualifications, or work experience to apply for Vet school?
I was able to use the BSc degree in Veterinary Nursing to apply to some vet schools and so I could apply to Bristol, Surrey, RVC, and the University of Edinburgh.
I lived close to the RVC and so I started gaining the work experience requirements needed for the application. I had the small animal experience from work but I needed to have work experience in equine and in a nonveterinary setting. I completed my work experience at local stables and groomers.
Do you believe your role as an RVN has given you any advantages in Vet School?
I think being an RVN has helped me with many of the practical skills that are taught in vet school.
IV catheter placement, taking blood, fluid therapy, lab work, diagnostics, intubation, theatre prep, and suturing wounds.
It really helped to have knowledge of veterinary drugs, and calculations, and to be previously taught anatomy and physiology.
Have there been any downsides to this?
I get told off for pattern recognition in cases because your nursing instinct, tends to draw you to a conclusion about cases you have seen multiple times. I would look at cases and guess what they had from clinical signs and diagnostics just using experience but this could cause bias and you may miss a diagnosis.
I have learned to break a case down into the clinical signs, prioritise those clinical signs and consider more differential diagnoses before considering diagnostic and treatments.
Do you feel if there was more progression in the Veterinary Nursing industry you would have stayed within this area?
Although it had always been a dream to become a Veterinary Surgeon, I was very happy nursing for quite some time.
I gained a lot of knowledge and I wasn’t able to utilise some of this in practice and so I was learning more but being able to do less with that knowledge, which could at times be a bit frustrating.
I think if there was better pay and more room for clinical progression then perhaps I may have stayed in nursing.
At the time I applied to vet school the progression options were: more courses but not an increase in pay or responsibilities or to progress to nonclinical roles such as practice manager.
I really enjoy the clinical side of practice so I wouldn’t enjoy a more administrative role.
What advice would you give to any Vet Nurse thinking of applying to Vet School to become a Veterinary Surgeons?
It is really intensive and I know everyone says vet school is hard but be prepared that you spend lots of time preparing for lectures, doing lectures, extra reading, and revising.
If you work part-time it really helps with your course but it does take dedication to keep on top of everything you need to get done. When getting ready to apply refresh your with anatomy and physiology, the entire first year of the graduate accelerated programme I’m doing is anatomy and physiology.
Brush up on your biochemistry and pharmacology, I couldn’t recall learning much biochemistry but it is really fundamental to understanding everything you are learning.
Do your research on farm animals and equine, these are areas that I had very little knowledge of but they are a big part of the course.
Gain as much work experience as you can in any areas that you aren’t familiar with, it will really help you.
Finally, as a Registered Veterinary Nurse and a future Veterinary Surgeon, what are your current future career goals or aspirations?
I would like to work in small animal general practice for a year after graduating before applying for an internship.
My dream is to try to get a residency after this, which at the moment, I would like the residency to be in cardiology. I spent a lot of time in practice with certificate holders and diplomat cardiologists and I find this such a fascinating subject.
The rotations that we are completing now in final year will give me more insight into all of the disciplines and so I may end up on a different path!
