While respecting the highest European quality standards, the UniLaSalle veterinary school intends to participate positively in the dynamics of French veterinary education with innovative teaching methods, a new approach to clinical training, international experience and a strengthened link with the various players in the veterinary profession.
Training the sentinels of the ecosystem
The veterinary training that we offer at UniLaSalle is a human adventure in more ways than one, through its strong professional exposure and the teaching of evidence-based veterinary medicine from the first year, through its openness to the international scene and, above all, for its strong societal dimension.
The profession is in full transition, as is the world in which we evolve. We see the veterinarians of tomorrow as true sentinels of the environment, as actors in the balance between animal health and well-being and respect for human health.
Caroline Boulocher
(Dr Vet, PhD, HDR), Veterinary School Project Director
Key information
- duration of training: 6 years
- teaching in French
- post-Bac recruitment
- place of training : Rouen
- state diploma of veterinary doctor
- tuition fees : consult here
Clinical case approach
36 weeks of internship
Respect for animal welfare
Academic semester abroad
Fitness to practise
The curriculum
Veterinary training takes place over six years. The innovative and tailor-made curriculum prepares students for the diversity of the veterinary profession.
Teaching is organized around skills and includes a strong clinical research component. The objective is to teach students to reason according to an evidence-based veterinary medicine approach and to access sources of information with a critical mind, from the first year and throughout the curriculum.
The first five years are structured around eight macro-competencies which, once acquired, correspond to the Day One competencies required by the AEEEV and the national reference system, i.e., the prerequisites for veterinary practice: advising and preventing, diagnosing, caring and treating, acting for public health, working in a business environment, communicating, acting as a scientist, acting responsibly and empathically.
5 reasons to become a UniLaSalle veterinarian
A strong feature of UniLaSalle veterinary training is the "semi-distributed" clinical training system.
This is an innovative clinical training system, unique in France, which, under UniLaSalle's academic supervision and monitoring, makes it possible to combine the clinical experience acquired at the Veterinary School Hospital Center (CHEV) with that encountered in partner clinics which operate in the field on a daily basis while meeting selective and precise specifications.
Thus, from the beginning of their clinical rotations, students are confronted with the real life of a practicing veterinarian and become familiar with the work environment and interactions with animal owners. In years 4 through 6, students learn how to work in the clinic.
With 36 weeks of long internships throughout the curriculum - the maximum allowed by the AEEEV (European Association of Veterinary Educational Institutions) - students consolidate their knowledge through real-life experience.
The "pre-clinical" internships (breeding and propaedeutic) represent 16 weeks from the 1st to the 3rd year. The clinical internships represent 20 weeks from the 4th to the 6th year of study.
UniLaSalle is committed to the 3R (Reduce, Replace, Refine) and 3S (Remove, Substitute, Relieve) approaches, which translate into the "never first time on the animal" rule, analogous to the Never First Time On The Patient rule in human medicine.
Moreover, at each stage of veterinary training, UniLaSalle relies on a hybrid curriculum integrating new learning technologies when necessary (simulation, virtual reality, digital tools, etc.). This approach is facilitated by UniLaSalle's qualification as an advanced member of the Dassault Systèmes Academy, a label recognizing the intensive use of the 3DExperience platform.
In the third year, an entire semester is spent abroad. In addition to the courses, this experience allows students to discover other ways of learning, to open up to new cultures and to enrich their clinical experience through a new veterinary context (other species, other diseases, etc.).
UniLaSalle veterinary training also offers a second living language throughout the course (reinforcement of the basics, medical and veterinary vocabulary).
The veterinary curriculum is composed of modules specific to the profession of practitioner (making a diagnosis, caring for, evaluating, treating...) and others, more transversal (working in a company, acting responsibly, communicating...). Ticking all the boxes means being fit to practice!
UniLaSalle Fit to Practice Charter
- Union in work,
- New knowledge,
- Integrity and information,
- Legislation and deontology,
- Action responsible,
- Suffering of animals,
- Altruism and environment,
- Limits of personal responsibility,
- Leadership and business,
- Ethics in the workplace.
At the end of the third year, mastery of English is validated by obtaining the B2 level, which allows students to understand, communicate with ease and spontaneity, and express themselves clearly on a wide range of subjects.
The curriculum includes the teaching of a second language with the dual objective of preparing for the semester abroad and mastering medical and veterinary vocabulary.
Healthy animal and propaedeutic: fitness to practice
> Towards the acquisition of advanced veterinary skills
- Understand the physiological functioning of the body systems and the environmental needs of the animal according to the species;
- Know how to apply the medical propedeutics of each system and master the surgical approach;
- Know how to promulgate hospitalization care, conduct a consultation and accurately inform the owner/breeder;
- Know how to observe and notice clinical abnormalities;
- Know the principle of prescription cascade;
- Know and understand the collective management of production and health on the farm;
- Be able to communicate well with teams and clients;
- To reach an advanced level of English;
- Be able to approach veterinary practice in a responsible and ethical manner (fitness to practice) and in complete safety for the practitioner, the animal and the owner/breeder;
- Be able to critically analyze the scientific literature
16 weeks of internships from year 1 to year 3
Internships allow students to gain experience in breeding, management, normal behavior of as many species as possible, and typical organizational systems. They also allow the student to actively participate in the visits of the veterinarians of the farm or the community.
Objectives: to know how to identify abnormalities and master the sanitary management at the collective level and the prophylaxis.
Sick and therapeutic animals, health safety
> Towards the acquisition of veterinary degree competences
> Obtaining the CEFV and the M2 degree
- Understand and diagnose pathology including vital distress, master the semiology, etiology and physiopathogenesis of lesions;
- Know how to conduct a consultation from A to Z;
- Know how to interact with the owners to explain the clinical situation and propose the management of the animal;
- Know and understand pharmacology and toxicology, know how to apply treatments and master therapeutic management;
- Know and recognize the manifestations of pain, know how to propose a strategy for the prevention and treatment of pain for all veterinary species;
- Know and know how to apply perioperative care applicable to all veterinary species;
- To know the regulations in the veterinary profession, the organization and the sanitary regulations, to know how to apply a HACCP approach;
- Know how to put into practice an epidemiological reasoning for the benefit of the collective fight against regulated diseases and against these infectious and parasitic zoonoses;
- To acquire an ethical (deontology) and scientific behavior, to know how to apply animal ethics and to act with respect to animal welfare, taking into account public health and environmental impacts;
- To be able to conduct a basic or clinical research experiment.
20 weeks of internships from the 4th to the 6th year
The internships allow students to experience the reality of veterinary work in its various practices and in environments other than the academic one of the CHEV and semi-distributed structures.
Objectives: to consolidate the experience of practice in animal husbandry, to explore the different fields before making the choice of a more in-depth study in the 6th year.
Advanced year
> Veterinary thesis (experimental, bibliographic or educational)
> Obtaining the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM)
The program depends on the chosen field of study:
- Production animal sector or mixed (production animals / companion animals). Objectives: to take a step back on the skills of the first day, to take responsibilities, to follow specialties in the chosen field.
- Business sector with a public health track (population medicine, ecosystem health, community refuge medicine, veterinary public health) and an agri-food business and industry track (management, safety, food quality).
- Research sector (professional, research or undifferentiated Master's degree, first year of a university thesis).
Among the professional fields of the year of deepening defined by the decree of December 3, 2020 relating to veterinary studies, UniLaSalle assumes the choice to propose only the 3 sectors of deepening which are in coherence with the sector of anchoring of the Institute and with its concern to develop the rural/mixed practice, while delivering to the students a State diploma enabling them to work in a broad spectrum of activities.
A network of multidisciplinary partners
In order to enrich the ecosystem of veterinary students and to be as close as possible to the realities of the field, the training program is part of a network of local, national and international multidisciplinary partners. The semi-distributed clinics fully integrate this approach.
- Parks, shelters and associations: breeding farms and stud farms, zoos, animal shelters, animal protection associations;
- The professional world: farmers, breeders, animal feed, agri-food, pharmaceutical and medical device laboratories
- Professionals in the veterinary sector: veterinary clinics, veterinary hospitals
- Academic partners: faculties of medicine, pharmacy and science at the University of Rouen Normandy, Medical Training Center Rouen, Dassault 3D learning system, international veterinary faculties
Academic research and pedagogical innovation
The One Health concept highlights the close links between human health, animal health and ecological balance. Initiated in the early 2000s by three UN agencies (the WHO, the FAO and the World Organization for Animal Health), this concept is based on a multidisciplinary and global approach to health, considering in particular the veterinarian as an essential link in the control of health risks linked to interactions between humans, animals and the environment. In this respect, UniLaSalle's transverse research areas fully support this approach.
More than a veterinary hospital dedicated to pets and NACs (new pets), the primary function of the UniLaSalle CHEV will be the clinical training of veterinary students, based on Evidence-Based Veterinary Medicine. It will be a place for clinical research, continuing education and post-graduate training. The CHEV will be equipped with state-of-the-art clinical facilities and innovative teaching systems on more than 3000 m2.
The research activities are in the fields of veterinary public health, animal health and food quality and safety. They are articulated around three axes:
- Basic veterinary sciences in veterinary public health and animal health;
- Veterinary clinical research within the veterinary school hospital (CHEV) and the semi-distributed clinical partners;
- Translational veterinary research at the interface of basic and clinical veterinary research.
They integrate data management (big data / data mining) and artificial intelligence (deep learning) applied to veterinary sciences. The study of human and social components, which are crucial for the transformation of systems throughout the value chains, also benefits from the scientific ecosystem of the UniLaSalle group.
Clinical training is enriched by the clinical rotations followed at the UniLaSalle CHEV but also by the semi-distributed system. The latter is based on privileged partners whose objective is to enrich the pool of healthy animals (farms, shelters, animal communities, animal parks, dispensaries), to diversify experiences by approaching all species and to train in the various clinical practices (hospital, referred, generalist, ambulatory, prophylaxis).
In the logic of "never the first time on an animal", students are put in a stimulating, scripted and realistic situation with adapted simulation methods: on a physical model, digital with or without tactile feedback, 360° videos, immersive virtual reality, interactive video with decision tree, augmented reality... With, among other things, the expertise of the Medical Training Center (MTC) of the University of Rouen Normandy, as well as partnerships with start-ups.
Continuing education (life long learning) is mandatory for all veterinarians. This approach is written into the rural code and supervised by the National Council of the Order of Veterinarians. This is why students are supported in the acquisition of autonomy in learning (self-learning) throughout their course.
Teaching and research activities are part of UniLaSalle's ISO 9001 quality approach. They are also evaluated by the specific bodies that are the HCERES (High Council for Evaluation, Research and Higher Education), the AEEEV (European Association of Veterinary Teaching Establishments) and the State.
In addition, the veterinary profession and veterinary training are regulated and, as such, are very much framed by the law.
Admissions
Admission to the 1st year
You can enter the veterinary school directly after a high-school diploma, via Parcoursup (120 places available).
Access to the 2nd year (2023-2024 school year only)
Exceptionally, 20 places are available to enter the veterinary school directly into the second year for the 2023-2024 school year.
The following years, only admission to the 1st year will be possible.
Frequently asked questions
Questions about UniLaSalle's veterinary training? Consult our dedicated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)!
Another UniLaSalle training course related to animals.
Thanks to his multidisciplinary training, the Agricultural Engineer benefits from a wide choice of careers and can contribute his expertise in several fields. Unlike veterinary training, the engineer's mission is not to treat but to advise, prevent, manage and find technical solutions to ensure optimal breeding conditions and well-being for animals.