As an academic training hospital, the OVAH is expected to facilitate top quality training for final year veterinary and final year veterinary nursing students. The hospital provides modern and high tech facilities and equipment in order to achieve this. For instance, the Outpatients clinic contains student consultation rooms so that final year veterinary students can perform first opinion consultations, and learn how to interact with owners while clinically examining their animals. There is a dedicated student theatre containing a number of theatre tables and anaesthetic machines to enable each final year veterinary student to perform dog and cat sterilisations under direct supervision of specialist veterinary surgeons. There are student labs in several areas of the hospital so that students can examine blood smears and various other samples – as they will be expected to do once they are qualified.

A final year veterinary student is allotted to each patient admitted to the OVAH for treatment, and is responsible to ensure that the patient’s basic needs are taken care of and that fussy patients eat properly – even if that means hand-feeding them. Students form an integral part of the veterinary team responsible for patient treatment, and are present during all clinical and surgical procedures in order to assist and observe.