Veterinary Medicine
What is the requirement for DN300?
Applicants for 2018 must have at least 60 hours practical experience relevant to animal handling. This must include experience with at least two of the following four animal categories:
- Pets
- Horses
- Farm Animals
- Wildlife/Zoos
Animal categories will only be considered if you have a minimum of 5 hours experience.
The practical experience must have been undertaken between 1 February 2015 and 20 March 2018 and all details must be submitted 20 March 2018 to be taken in to consideration.
Here are some examples of the types of experience and whether they fit the criteria.
| Experience: | Acceptable | |
| Working at a riding school or mucking out stables and looking after the horses |  |
Counts as equine experience |
| Working at an animal rescue facility: walking and grooming dogs, cleaning kennels, feeding and grooming animals |  |
Counts as pet experience |
| Working on a commercial farm: assisting the farmer with daily chores – milking cows, feeding stock, lambing ewes, etc. | |
Counts as farm animal experience |
| Working in a seal sanctuary | |
Counts as wildlife/zoo experience |
| Looking after my own pets |  |
Not acceptable - handling pets with which you are familiar is not sufficient experience. |
| Working on the farm I was brought up on |  |
Not acceptable unless it can be verified by a supervisor who isn't a parent/guardian |
Why was this introduced?
This new initiative is to encourage prospective applicants to learn about the profession before applying to the programme. It should increase applicant awareness of what the career entails and cement their determination to follow this path. The requirement for practical experience does not in any circumstance involve ranking of applicants.
What do I need to do?
Apply via CAO for DN300 no later than 1 February 2018. Following your CAO application, you will receive an email from UCD Registry - Admissions with a link to an Online Form. For each practical experience undertaken you will need to provide UCD with the following information:
- Name of the premises where you conducted your practical experience
- Number of hours experience
- Animal category
- Contact details for the responsible person who will verify your experience.
- You will need to upload a signed practical experience form for each placement..
(The responsible person will be the owner or manager of the animal premises where you worked. UCD School of Veterinary Medicine will be contacting this person to verify the information you have provided). You will not be eligible to compete for a place on DN300 Veterinary Medicine, unless details of your practical experience are submitted by 20 March 2018 at 5 pm and can subsequently be verified by the School of Veterinary Medicine.
I did the UCD Veterinary Medicine Summer School. Do I still have to complete the form?
Yes. You must complete the form and include the Summer School (you can upload your certificate of attendance). This counts as 30 hours experience, so you must also enter details of a further 30 hours of experience.When will I hear back from UCD?
You will receive an acknowledgement via e-mail, once your form has been submitted. We will advise you whether or not you have met the practical experience requirement in late June, provided DN300 remains on your application.
Where can I get further information?
Please see our Frequently Asked Questions Page