Training: UCD is the only centre for veterinary medicine in Ireland, north or south. The faculty of veterinary medicine offers 65 places a year to high points' scorers - last year's cut-off points were 570. This year entrants are required to have one science Leaving Cert subject. 1999 entrants, though, must have chemistry. First-year students study anatomy, physiology, chemistry, physics and statistics. It's useful to have taken more than one science subject at Leaving Cert, but students can do well without them.
Most teaching takes place in the Shelbourne Road campus. Students gain practical training on the university's farm at Lyons Estate, Co Kildare, and on private farms. Students also gain experience in the college's Shelbourne Road veterinary hospital. No intern year is required - graduates go straight into practice.
Salaries: Difficult to quantify. Many vets are self-employed. Salaries depend on the practice and whether accommodation or car are part of the package. Graduates working in large-animal practices can expect to start on between £25,000 to £30,000, but vets in small-animal practices are likely to earn less. Large-animal practices involve a good deal of animal testing - routine work which some find boring.
Department veterinary inspectors and research officers appointed on or after April 6th, 1995, (full PRSI) earn £30,301 rising to £40,922.
Opportunities: There is almost zero unemployment among veterinary graduates, according to the Irish Veterinary Union.
