Frontier Vets is a South African docu-reality series which follows eight soon to be qualified vet students who have to take on the responsibility of running a rural animal clinic in a community on the border of the Kruger National Park.
This is their first chance at gaining real work experience as the responsibility for the lives of the animals, and the livelihoods of their owners, is firmly placed on their young shoulders. Their patients can vary from dogs and cattle, to lions, elephants and rhino.
Working under stressful conditions, with very little sleep and the constant threat of disease and the unknown, they will need to be able to manage their relationships with their patients, their clients, and their fellow colleagues.
It's a brutal learning ground where the constant threat of emotional burnout hangs heavily over the young charges. They will deal with life and death on a daily basis and learn tough life lessons they were never taught in the classroom.
Frontier Vets is a dramatic journey of personal and professional growth as we follow the idealistic vets-to-be as they put theory into practice and find this beautiful but harsh environment to be a tough teacher.
Will they overcome the obstacles? How will the experience shape them? What kind of vets, and people, will they become?
South Africa is desperately short of veterinarians in certain areas and the series highlights the exciting and rewarding nature of the profession in the hope that it will inspire young people to consider becoming veterinarians.
Frontier Vets was created and produced by Greg Simpson and Jonty Acton for Green Films. The voice over artist was Craig Smith.