Hectic Term

I've found it hard to keep updating this as I have sooo much work! I've now been back for 4 weeks and we have already learnt about around 100 different viruses/insects/protozoa! In the next 4 weeks we'll be learning about 100 worms and lots of bacteria! I had a horse handling exam on Wednesday which was ok although there were a few things I didn't know how to do. It involved tieing up and putting a rug on a VERY large horse, trotting a horse up and down, picking out a horse's hoof and putting on a stable bandage. Fairly simple for those who have known horses all their life but I have very little experience with them. Hopefully I have passed.
On Monday the whole of my year participated in a protest against the college campaigning for safe, cheap travel to college. It was good fun and very peaceful but didn't have much effect. For more information, click here.
Watching Supervets on Thursday was really strange as I now know the campus fairly well and also recognise some members of staff and students. I also understand a lot more of the cases!

Third year

I had a fantastic summer and returned to the RVC feeling refreshed and ready for the new year. We are currently learning about microbiology and parasites and I am finding it a lot more interesting than I anticipated! There are so many people in the year now that our practicals are not as hands-on as they would have been in the past. We spend a lot of time just looking at specimens and pictures which were prepared a few years ago. It is still fairly interesting though. The facilities at Hawkshead are amazing, particularly the Clinical Skills centre which is the only one of its kind in the UK. At my first session on Tuesday we learnt to suture, tie knots, prepare blood smears and take a packed cell volume measurement on a blood sample. We are allowed to go in there whenever we have free time (not that often!) and practise whatever we need to.