Extra Mural Studies award winners
Cats Protection and Dogs Trust have announced the winners of the Veterinary Student Extra Mural Studies (EMS) awards.
Now in their second year, the awards are part of a scheme that enables veterinary students to gain hands-on work experience at the charities.
Those that submit a report after are then entered into the EMS awards, to help elevate their studies and win a £500 prize.
Cats Protection chose Mary Fletcher from Nottingham as its winner, for her report titled "Environmental enrichment options for cats in the care of rescue/rehoming organisations".
The charity's finalists were Miriam Kaltz from Cambridge Veterinary School, Troy Jackson from the Royal Veterinary College and Freja Dunnet from Bristol Veterinary School.
Meanwhile, Richard Hesketh was selected as Dogs Trust's winner for his report "Adapting to a kennels environment".
Gloria Feltham, Rachel Ottridge and Susan Price were the charity's finalists.
"I am delighted by the incredible amount of positive feedback from the participations of this year's EMS placements," commented Paula Boyden, veterinary director at Dogs Trust.
"The initiative is a great opportunity for vet students to focus not only on clinical aspects of veterinary work, but the behavioural side too."
On behalf of Cats Protection, Maggie Roberts, director of veterinary services, said: "The scheme is great as it gives the students exposure to shelter medicine and more experience of feline welfare issues.
"I hope the experience will be useful to [the students] in their future careers."
The BSAVA has opened submissions for the BSAVA Clinical Research Abstracts 2026.
