Working in government with a veterinary degree

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Opportunities exist for qualified vets to work for the government in a range of specialist and technical areas.

These can involve disease surveillance, prevention and control, promotion of animal welfare, assurance of food quality, regulation of veterinary medicine and providing support for human security and public health.

Find out more about science careers beyond the lab

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Linda Smith, Veterinary Head of Careers at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)

Linda talks about the four groups of vets they employ:

field vets
veterinary advisers
vets in surveillance and pathology
research work

Roles in government

Departments and agencies that employ vets include:

Animal and Plant Health Agency
Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
Department for International Development (DfID)
Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera)
Food Standards Agency
Health Protection Agency
Home Office
Ministry of Defence

As a general rule, jobs fall into two categories: operational or policy-based. Key areas include epidemiology, disease control and global or national population medicine.

As a government vet you are automatically a member of the Government Veterinary Surgeons (GVS) network. Through the GVS there is scope to get involved in education.

Defra and APHA are two of the largest government employers of vets and roles would include safeguarding animal health and welfare, protecting and enhancing food security through research, surveillance and inspection, disease monitoring and epidemiological studies.

Routes into the roles

Your veterinary training is a major benefit in terms of working in many governmental roles. Additionally, beyond your formal qualifications, there are further perceived benefits to having come from a veterinary background:

Specialist knowledge
Ability to conduct research, both in terms of policy and in the laboratory
Experience in animal welfare
Communication and interpersonal skills

There is no formal training required to make this career transition, but you may wish to consider ways to gain useful work experience to support your application.

If you are interested in moving into the policy side, this may include an internship in a team within parliament, government, think tanks, charities or higher education.

If you are still studying, you may want to take advantage of EMS opportunities available through the GVS network.

Short-term research and project opportunities may also be available within particular parts of government throughout the year.

Finding employment in government

All vacancies within the government are advertised on the Civil Service Jobs website

Civil Service Jobs

The recruitment criteria for government positions is very transparent and based on your ability to evidence the required competencies by means of examples.

Some core competencies that you are expected to be able to evidence will be:

Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons registered (or eligible for registration)
Professional experience/skills relevant to the job
Basic knowledge of the regulatory framework
An appreciation of the contribution that state veterinary medicine makes to the economy and society
An appreciation of the importance of public health and/or animal welfare

Further information on competencies can be found on the GVS network framework.

Civil Service Fast Stream

If you are interested in a more generalist role within the Civil Service, in addition to applying directly to advertised vacancies, you can also enter the civil service through the Civil Service Fast Stream. As a graduate there is a huge variety of career paths available to you. The Fast Stream programme offers the opportunity to experience government policy and operational roles through placements in a number of departments.