According to the company, it's the first large-scale EMS online booking system of its type in the veterinary profession and it will mean students can find practice placements at the touch of a button, instead of having to spend time contacting individual surgeries.
With the new system, the 200 CVS practices which currently offer EMS have their own page, where information is provided about the practice, along with a list of available placements.
Once registered, students can search for placements by practice name, location and date.
When a student finds a suitable placement a booking request is triggered, connecting the student to the host practice so that the booking can be confirmed.
CVS has also created a new EMS support framework, based on the RCVS day one competencies, to help practices and students structure each placement.
The company says the new framework puts health, wellbeing and professional skills on a par with clinical skills, to encourage students to take a holistic approach to their development - helping them to grow into happy, competent and confident veterinary surgeons.
Nigel Stansbie, Head of Online Course Creation at CVS, said: “As a major employer within the industry, we are fully committed to supporting the education and development of vet students, by offering high-quality EMS placements, to help them gain the skills and knowledge they will need to thrive when they join the workforce.
“Though we know that there is current debate about the future EMS requirements, we recognise the importance of EMS and are confident that the support we have put in place will enable students to make the most of these valuable work experience opportunties.”
The new CVS EMS online booking system is hosted on the company's knowledge hub: https://www.cvs-knowledgehub.com/.
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