Vet Student Diary

Rotations

2008-05-14T16:43:00.004+01:00

Well, as usual I haven't updated this for ages! A lot has happened since February. I have now finished lectures and have started my year of rotations. This involves splitting the year into 4 week blocks and spending each block doing a different discipline. We have 3 1/2 blocks of small animal, 1 block of farm animal and 1 1/2 blocks of horses. We also have 2 weeks of pathology and 2 weeks of anaesthesia. The rest of the time is taken up with work experience and writing a research report. At the end of each week of rotations, we receive a mark which counts towards our finals.

So far I have done a week of neurology, a week of night work, a week of dermatology and a week at the Blue Cross animal hospital in Victoria. I have really enjoyed this and have learnt a lot. It's really great being able to put things that we have learnt into practice and I find I know a lot more than I think I do!

Next week I am back off on work experience, spending two weeks with horses and two weeks at a PDSA animal hospital. Hopefully I will learn even more during this time and it will be nice to stay with old friends who I haven't seen for ages.

Public health

2008-02-02T17:55:00.000Z

This has been a very relaxing term so far with not many lectures. We are doing Population Medicine and Public Health which involves doing a lot of economics, meat hygiene and just generally bringing everything together. Not the most interesting module but it's good to have a bit of a rest before the busyness of rotations begins in 5 weeks time.
Talking of rotations, maybe I ought to explain what they are. The year is divided into 12 groups and during 4 week blocks throughout the year we spend time in different areas - small animal hospital, equine hospital, farm animal practice, and out on placements that we organise ourselves. It involves working long hours but it is vital experience and I think it will be enjoyable - if exhausting!
The sheep at the college farm are lambing at the moment and my year have been asked to provide cover for the evenings. A friend and I are doing the 8-11 shift this evening which I'm sure will be VERY cold. Hopefully some lambs will be born to make up for it!

Christmas!

2007-12-12T17:20:00.000Z

Well, it's been a very busy few months and it's ages since I last posted on here!

I really enjoyed all the work experience I did in the summer. It was very useful and I learnt a lot of theory and practical things.

Since the end of the summer, I have been working towards my fourth year exams which I took yesterday. I have no idea how they've gone but I'm going to enjoy the Christmas holidays and not worry about them until the results come out in January! I do hope I've passed though as I really do not want to have to resit.

Next week I've got another week's work experience and then it really is the holidays. I'm hoping to learn a lot more practical stuff this time which I really need to know.

End of term

2007-06-30T12:18:00.000+01:00

Well, I've finally finished 3rd year. I now have a weekend break before starting my EMS (Extramural studies) on Monday. The last few weeks have been ok although I have been continually struggling to stay awake in lectures! We have had some practicals in the small animal hospital learning to test reflexes and examine eyes. These have been very interesting and helpful.
Although I wish I had a bit more of a break now, I am looking forward to my work experience. At least it's a change of scenery. I am starting off at an equine practice near Chelmsford in Essex. I then have 4 weeks small animal practice and 2 weeks farm in Somerset.

Will it ever end?

2007-06-10T09:31:00.000+01:00

Only 3 weeks away from the end of term! Everyone's feeling very tired and wishing we could have some kind of holiday but that'll have to wait until September. We've just finished our Locomotor System module which I found very difficult and not overly interesting. Tomorrow we start Neurology. I really need to revise which nerves go where but I don't think I've got enough time. Hopefully I'll pick it up again fairly quickly. We have a couple of practicals which sound really interesting - learning to examine eyes on real dogs and going into the small animal hospital to see current neurology cases. Hopefully it will be enjoyable.
The second years are having exams this week. At least I haven't got any of them to worry about. I passed my horse handling resit so haven't got any more outstanding results.

Third year exam results

2007-05-26T19:50:00.000+01:00

I got my third year exam results a couple of weeks ago and fortunately I passed. This means that I will now get a tiny bit of holiday this summer. I am spending 8 weeks working at 4 different vet practices around the country and will get 2 weeks off at the beginning of September. Work is getting progressively more complicated but is quite interesting, as we are now learning about specific conditions and diseases that we will be treating once we graduate.
I helped out at the college Open Day two weeks ago which went really well. Prospective students were able to find out a lot of stuff about college life, as well as visit the clinical skills centre and speak to current students. I hope anyone who came had a good time.

Extramural Studies

2007-03-08T19:47:00.000Z

For the last two weeks I have been working at Howe and Starnes Veterinary Practice in East Sussex. It is a large mixed practice and I have really enjoyed my time here. I have been out on visits with the vets and have spent time in consultations as well. One of the highlights of my time here was going out to check up on a bitch with her 11 puppies - she had four more after we left!
I am spending the next week working another practice before I return home to revise for my third year exams which take place towards the end of April.

Second term

2007-01-13T19:45:00.000Z

Life has been pretty hectic the last few months which is why I haven't updated this site for ages! The end of last term was really interesting as we learnt about clinical techniques for example anaesthesia, radiology, wound management and diagnostic tests. It finally seemed relevant to what we will actually be doing on work experience placements and when we graduate.
This term, we have started our Systems modules, where we work through different areas of the body learning about disease and treatments. The first module is the Alimentary system which lasts for 5 weeks (one of the longest). We spent a day yesterday learning about animal dentistry, which made everyone want to go home and check their animals' teeth!

Hectic Term

2006-10-20T19:42:00.000+01:00

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

2006-10-07T19:41:00.000+01:00

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.

Summer School

2006-07-15T19:40:00.000+01:00

I have just returned from the Hawkshead campus of the RVC where I have spent a week helping to lead a summer school for Year 11 students who wish to become vets. It was a great week with lots of activities. We spent some time at the Camden Campus doing dissection and looking at the live animals before going on the London Eye in the evening. We went to the Clinical Skills centre where the students learnt how to bandage, gown and suture which gave me a sneak preview of what I will be doing next year! We had lectures from an army vet and a vet doing research, showing the different careers that are open to veterinary graduates. All the students enjoyed themselves a great deal. Unfortunately, due to funding difficulties, this summer school will probably not happen next year, but for more information, please visit the RVC website.

Second year results

2006-07-05T19:37:00.000+01:00

I got my results today. To my great relief, I passed! I'm so happy because I can now relax for the rest of the summer. Many of my friends are doing work experience on farms but I have already completed the 12 weeks required by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons so I will use my summer to try and earn some money, something I will be unable to do for another 3 years if I do not now!

Welcome

2006-07-02T15:01:00.000+01:00

Welcome to my diary. I am a vet student at the Royal Veterinary College and have just finished my second year. The first two years at the RVC take place in Camden where you learn all about the 'normal' animal. We learn through lectures, directed learning sessions (problem-solving in groups), dissections and laboratory practicals. I have found it all very interesting and are really looking forward to applying my knowledge more next year when we learn more about the diseased animal. I get my results this week so will find out then whether I need to resit my exams in September. Hopefully, it'll all be ok! For more information about becoming a vet student, please click here.