CVS companion animal surgery course for new graduates goes live
22 July 2025
CVS has created a new ‘Further surgical skills for the General Practitioner’ companion animal course, to help new graduate vets develop their confidence and competence in undertaking commonly performed operations.
The training programme will equip inexperienced vets on CVS New Graduate Programme with the skills, understanding and experience to carry out a range of routine small animal surgery, including pre-operative and post-operative management.
Modules will cover a variety of procedures, from forelimb, hindlimb and tail amputations, to enucleations, and simple eyelid mass removals. Graduates will also begin learning about the use of basic skin flaps to close larger wounds. In addition, learners will be taught how to recognise a patient requiring urgent or emergent care and initiate evaluation and management.
The ‘Further surgical skills for the General Practitioner’ course is placed within the second year of CVS’ New Graduate Programme. Running over one day, it will take place at CVS’ new veterinary training centre in Harrogate which boasts state-of-the-art surgical equipment, a dedicated wet room, and access to real sustainably-sourced cadavers. The training has been developed by CVS in-house LED team and will be led by experienced veterinary General Practitioners Frances Guard BVetMed MRCVS and Andrew Golightly MRCVS.
Sarah Rutherford, Head of Clinical Education at CVS, said:
“When we spoke to our graduates, they told us that they were keen for us to run this course, so that they could build experience and confidence in these common procedures, post their university and extra mural training.
These are GP procedures. So, thinking about contextualised care, we felt it was important for all of our companion animal veterinary General Practitioners to offer these treatment options - no matter how many years they’d been practicing. It’s great to empower our new graduates to conduct these salvage-type procedures - rather than book them in with experienced, certified and advanced vets, or even a referrals specialist.
It was also important for us to have GP vets Frances and Andy teaching our new surgical GP course, as they appreciate the challenges and practicalities of first opinion practice (FOP). It hopefully shows the opportunities that are available in teaching within CVS for all of our general practitioners.”
Hannah Spooner BVSc MRCVS, New Graduate Programme Lead, said:
‘’I recently took a poll at the Cambridge AVS congress this spring and this course came out on top - as the course students would ‘most be looking forward to’ if they were to join the CVS New graduate programme in the future. So that’s very encouraging to know!”
CVS’ New Graduate Programme was the first in the UK, with a two-year structured clinical training programme supporting transition into general practice in small animal, equine and farm disciplines. It has included a ‘Practical abdominal surgery’ course since spring 2023.
CVS Group operates across small animal, farm animal, equine and laboratories, with over 500 veterinary practices, referral centres and sites in the UK and Australia. In the last five years the company has invested nearly £80 million in its sites, facilities and equipment, in addition to industry leading training and support, to give the best possible care to animals. For more information about careers with CVS Group visit their dedicated careers website.