A former Derby College Group (DCG) animal care student is one of the first undergraduates in the country to enrol on an innovative new veterinary degree programme.
Liberty Stamp Hanes is among an initial cohort of just 78 students nationally to get a place on the Bachelor Veterinary Medicine and Surgery (BVMS) course at UCLan, the University of Central Lancashire.
The programme, at the university’s new state-of-the art veterinary school, aims to innovate through technology and by encouraging students to take up clinical placements in their first year.
Liberty, who has wanted to be a vet since her mid-teens, completed the Extended Technical Diploma in Animal Management – Level 3 at DCG’s Broomfield Hall with triple distinction. Before that she took the Level 2 Diploma in Animal Care, gaining a distinction star.
The nineteen-year-old from Heanor, is the first person in her family to go to university and credits Broomfield Hall and the hands-on experience she gained there for helping her get to vet school.
She said: “At Broomfield we learned the animal anatomical directional terms such as cranial for head and caudal for tail as part of our animal nursing which is proving to be very useful in certain areas of my degree studies.
My college personal tutor and course manager was always there for me. She pushed me to get my place at UCLan. I wouldn’t have got it without her.
The new degree programme is very popular and I’m pleased to be among the first cohort of students. We go to Myerscough for half a day a week but are at the Preston campus five days a week. Myerscough is land-based and closely resembles Broomfield Hall, which is one of the reasons I chose to apply to UCLan.”
Once Liberty has qualified as a vet, she would like to specialise in either veterinary neurology or cardiology. This will require extra studying for a few more years at university, publication of a paper, an internship and some other additional training.
Liberty enjoys working with all animals, but particularly exotic creatures and farm livestock.
Details of Animal care courses at Derby College can be accessed by clicking here.