Five years goes incredibly fast: Charlie reflects on his vet school journey

“Five years goes incredibly fast. One minute you’re unpacking your bags for the first time in halls and the next you’re packing your truck before heading out on your first calls on the road.” 

Five years after arriving at university as a first-year student, Charlie Padfield has begun his career as a farm animal vet in Sussex.  He shared his inspiration to becoming a vet and advice for anyone considering applying to veterinary school. 

Growing up on a mixed farm in Sussex, Charlie has a long-standing enthusiasm for farm animal veterinary medicine. He said: “ The opportunity to work outside for a living, with the sociability of going farm to farm and the desire to help farmers improve the health and performance of their livestock meant that the world of veterinary medicine seemed an ideal fit for me. Fortunately that worked out, and it’s been an unbelievable experience so far.” 

“My fondest memories will be the people of HKVS, from students to lecturers, everyone knew everyone giving it that real community feel. Going away for weekends like The Association of Veterinary Students Congress and AGM as well as the many Vet Society balls made for brilliant memories.” 

Charlie was appointed as the National Farm Animal Veterinary Society (FAVS) President for 2025–2026. A group for students from around the UK and Ireland, the National FAVS hope to encourage more veterinary students to pursue a career in farm animal practice by providing additional opportunities, trips, and information about life as a large animal vet. They hold an annual congress hosted by a different university each year, providing practical sessions and lectures by leading farm vets from across the country.   

“My year as National FAVS president was a great learning curve on the time and effort required to organise conferences. It was brilliant to see the efforts of all those from Bristol FAVS and National FAVS to create a fun and informative weekend. The success of the weekend relies heavily on engagement from speakers and businesses in the farming and veterinary industry, who really stood up to help us organise the event.” 

Charlie’s advice for anyone considering a career in veterinary medicine would be to “spend time immersing yourself in the industry before and during vet school as much as possible. Learning the content is really only part of being a vet, developing vocational skills and experience in the industry will get you a long way.”