Leaving vet school: Reflections on making the most of my student experience

It’s an exciting time. Final years are graduating, and the 2022 cohort are on a countdown to join the profession. It’s a time for celebrations and rightly so. However, while many are looking to the future, this period has left me deeply reflective. As much as I’m eager to apply my training, I’ve been left lamenting on my incredible experiences at vet school and the lessons hard learnt.

The student experience

My fond reminiscing led me to a deep introspection on the ‘student experience’, with this going far beyond solely academic or intellectual development. In my opinion, students’ focus while at vet school is becoming more exclusively concentrated on academics. This is changing the student experience. The pandemic may have accelerated this with a lack of social opportunities and engagement, but how does this trend change vet schools?

My student experience has been defined by extra-curricular activities. This is where I’ve made connections and kindled close friendships by exploring new hobbies and societies. On reflection, it’s the social interactions that forged these connections that I’m now pining for post-graduation. These interactions are also where key skills in my professional portfolio were bolstered. The importance of the hidden curriculum in professionally preparing students and new graduates is well known.^1-2 However, with the above trend, I fear some students may miss out.

The role of identity in a vet student’s experience

I think this trend is partly driven by fervent aspirations and sub-identity conflicts. Personal identities distinguish us and are extremely powerful. We should celebrate the distinctive personal or group identities (and perspectives) that comprise our profession. Yet, we have several components that make up our identity and where challenge or friction arises, we can experience conflict. The intersection of personal and professional identities can be particularly troublesome. Vet schools often have an identity that is rooted deeper than the wider university - personally, I’m a Dick Vet graduate before a University of Edinburgh graduate. As vet students, is the magnitude of this conflict magnified?

I’d argue yes. Literature suggests veterinary professional identities form well before vet school.³ Veterinary identities become visceral far earlier than most realise, and it runs deep, intertwined with other sub-identities that make us who we are.

The AVS presidency taught me how damaging the identity paradox can be. Despite a huge amount of support and often unbeknownst to those closest to me, I sometimes struggled to fulfil this huge privilege mid-pandemic. At times I pushed to meet false expectations, riddled by accountability anxiety, and began to feel overworked. Eventually I was neglecting what really satisfied or gave me fulfilment – my peers, hobbies, and friends – to fulfil AVS duties. Unintentionally, my professional identity encroached upon my personal. In vulnerability, I felt lost and disconnected. I’ve now witnessed vet students make huge sacrifices in the pursuit of their aspirations. Like my own identity paradox, are my fellow students’ professional aspirations leading them to the sacrifice too much – namely what personally fulfils them? My experience left a marked imprint on me, shining a focal lens on my priorities, morals, relationships, connections, and everything between. The presidency offered a moment of existentiality. As the countdown clock to graduation continued to tick, it’s what led me to fully appreciate how incredible the years we have as vet students truly are. But how do we make the most of them?

Making the most of vet school

The AVS presidency was likely the defining year of my vet school experience. Yet, I’ve also mentioned that at times I was pushed. How can I then advocate that the broader student experience, involving such activities, are what makes the student experience so special? In the right moderation extra-curricular activities are positive experiences and enhance competencies through the hidden curriculum.^4-6  In my case, I’ve been able to build so many amazing connections. As I’ve immersed myself in the wider profession, I’ve quickly realised it’s connecting with the people in this profession that makes it so special. This is why I’ve grown such an affinity for the profession I’m now joining. Vet schools are a community vibrant in spirit that should echo the same ethos of the profession. The journey may culminate in reaching the aspiration of qualifying as a vet, but it’s the connections that make that journey truly exquisite.

Of course, my student experience and thoughts on vet school may be very different to others. Everyone is facing different circumstances and there are barriers to studying veterinary medicine. Yet, the aspiration of qualifying as a veterinary surgeon is a common driver. It’s in hindsight that I’ve realised how special my experience was and I wish I’d taken the time to savour it more. Yes, we need to successfully navigate the academic challenges of vet school. Yet, this shouldn’t hinder us from revelling in the wider opportunities’ being a student offers. If we can’t enjoy the vet school journey, is it just a means to an end? Are we truly satisfied once we reach that end goal?

Setting a good foundation for professional life

I also believe that the new graduate transition, including how new graduates deal with adversity in practice, could be influenced by identity development in vet schools. If vet students’ professional identities are encompassing, could transitional pressures, felt during the new graduate transition period, link to some of the much-discussed issues affecting the profession? This too is why we must address barriers that impact students’ inclusion at vet schools; to ensure students can enrich and make the most of their student experience. If we can’t enjoy the vet school experience for all its worth, how can we be satisfied and empowered to move forward into the profession?

In developing future veterinary surgeons, we need to create an environment that prioritises the student experience, encompassing both professional and personal development. In my opinion this will benefit the profession. As a new graduate I’m now looking to savour the next step in my development. I’m reprioritising what’s important to me - reviving connections that perhaps became distant, while exploring new ones. Throughout the challenges it was these connections that made the difference. With heartfelt appreciation to those I’ve shared moments of blissful connection with, I can only hope that current and prospective students get to experience similar too.

If, like Calum, you have graduated recently or are due to soon, BVA members can read the BVA graduate guide for lots of tips and advice from us and many other vets. From what to do to prepare for your first day in practice, to advice on wellbeing and financial matters, managing euthanasia, or useful contacts, you can flick through the recently updated version online.

1. Mossop, L., Dennick, R., Hammond, R. and Robbé, I., 2013. Analysing the hidden curriculum: use of a cultural web. Medical Education, [online] 47(2), pp.134-143. Available at: <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/medu.12072> [Accessed 25 July 2022].
2. Whitcomb, T., 2014. Raising Awareness of the Hidden Curriculum in Veterinary Medical Education: A Review and Call for Research. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, [online] 41(4), pp.344-349. Available at: <https://jvme.utpjournals.press/doi/10.3138/jvme.0314-032R1> [Accessed 25 July 2022].
3. Allister, R., 2020. Veterinary Transition Study - investigating the transition from veterinary student to practising veterinary surgeon: prospective cohort study. [online] Edinburgh Research Archive. Available at: <http://dx.doi.org/10.7488/era/551> [Accessed 24 July 2022].
4. Buckley, P. and Lee, P., 2018. The impact of extra-curricular activity on the student experience. Active Learning in Higher Education, [online] 22(1), pp.37-48. Available at: <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1469787418808988> [Accessed 25 July 2022].
5. Chan, Y., 2016. Investigating the relationship among extracurricular activities, learning approach and academic outcomes: A case study. Active Learning in Higher Education, [online] 17(3), pp.223-233. Available at: <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1469787416654795?casa_token=MRIqTYC2VCIAAAAA%3AkTO-qW3gDtKU24r2Cy4XTa7d3AVahKKTVkx8Ey_NWvSgUO7wQjgaocaC0A5NiXLmR-gQQs5DW0qnJQ> [Accessed 25 July 2022].
6. Jones, M., Rush, B., Elmore, R. and White, B., 2014. Level of and Motivation for Extracurricular Activity Are Associated with Academic Performance in the Veterinary Curriculum. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, [online] 41(3), pp.275-283. Available at: <https://jvme.utpjournals.press/doi/full/10.3138/jvme.1213-163R> [Accessed 25 July 2022].