Applications now open for RCVS Fellowship 2022, celebrating excellence across veterinary knowledge

The RCVS officially opened RCVS Fellowship applications for 2022 at last week’s RCVS Fellowship Evening (7 October 2021), when 38 eminent veterinary surgeons were welcomed into the Fellowship.

Being admitted to the Fellowship is a recognition of veterinary surgeons whose activities demonstrate excellence across the entire veterinary landscape and who have distinguished themselves on account of their ongoing commitment to using their experience and knowledge to enhance the profession.

 Anyone who would like to be considered for the RCVS Fellowship next year is encouraged to apply and, if successful, will be formally welcomed into the Fellowship at the RCVS Fellowship Event 2022.

There are three different routes to Fellowship, which are:

• Meritorious Contributions to Clinical Practice – for those who have contributed to the advancement of clinical practice for example, through clinical or educational scholarship and leadership
• Meritorious Contributions to Knowledge – for those who have contributed to the advancement of the profession, for example, through scientific or educational scholarship and leadership
• Meritorious Contributions to the Profession – for those who have made a notable contribution to the profession or society

This year, the process for joining the Fellowship is slightly different as applicants will now need two signed referee forms instead of three professional references and five assessors will review each application instead of three. These measures have been put in place as part of the Fellowship’s aims to become more diverse and inclusive, as they are expected to reduce the effect of unconscious bias during the assessment process.

The Fellowship panel assesses applications against the criteria listed below:

• Original innovative discovery or application of knowledge or development of the veterinary profession in a ground-breaking way
• Sustained contribution to scholarship
• Producing a body of creative work that will have been disseminated, for example, in a body of publications in teaching materials, in educational documents, in political documents
• Indisputable advancement of their subject
• Providing leadership to the veterinary profession
• Advancement of the public understanding of the veterinary profession

Cheryl Scudamore, Vice-Chair of the Fellowship Board, said: “We were delighted to welcome 38 exceptional veterinary professionals to the RCVS Fellowship this year.

“This year’s Fellowship Evening was a landmark occasion, as for the first time in the Fellowship’s history, the majority of successful applicants were women. We are keen to continue to diversify the Fellowship in order to make it as inclusive and supportive as possible and I would encourage anyone who feels that they meet the criteria to apply to join the Fellowship.”

The deadline for Fellowship applications is 14 February 2022.

You can find out how to apply for RCVS Fellowship on the Fellowship webpage. If you have any questions about the Fellowship or would like informal advice from previous successful applicants on how to approach your application then please contact Ceri at [email protected].