What’s vet school life like?

I am the perfect cliché of a vet student who, when asked why they wanted to be a vet, says it’s what they’ve always wanted to do. Some of my earliest memories include making my younger sister play vets with me, where we’d line up our stuffed toys and bandage them up with tissue, before charging their ‘owners’ based on a price list we’d created on a spreadsheet.

Much to 10-year old Katie’s delight, I’ve just finished my pre-clinical degree at Cambridge, and I’ll be (finally!) starting my clinical studies in September when fourth year starts. I did my intercalated degree in zoology, with a project focussing on the personalities of three-spined sticklebacks and how this influences their feeding patch choices and responses to a predator.

As much as I’ve enjoyed the chance to study something a bit different, and to have a year without the pressures of vet school, I am super excited to move onto clinical years, and can’t wait to get started.

Life as a vet student

I love it. I’d be lying if I said it was easy all the time – my timetable is packed compared to my non-vet friends, and my holidays much shorter due to EMS, but I can honestly say there is nowhere else I’d rather be. The nature of the Cambridge course means that I’ve so far had very little practical experience, but that I’ve spent plenty of time studying the theory, which suits me really well.

I like that I’ve got at least a basic grasp on how things should be working before I see them in a real-world situation. However, the amount of information we’ve had to learn has definitely been daunting.

I’ve also really enjoyed my EMS placements, especially as there has been so little practical work so far in the course, it’s been a great way for me to remind myself how much I want to be a vet when the theory gets a bit intense. However, I’m really bad at mornings, so the early starts for farm work have been a struggle at times. I’ve also caught at least one illness from every farm placement I’ve done so far, so it hasn’t been a smooth journey!

Challenges at vet school

Vet school is without a doubt the best thing I’ve done in my life, but that doesn’t mean it has been without challenges. I really struggled in my first term, to the extent that I very almost dropped out. However, the support of my family, friends and college meant that, thankfully, I’m still here, and totally loving it! It taught me that I’m much tougher than I thought I was, and also proved to me just how passionate I am about being a vet.

The best bits

I guess my experience hasn’t been a typical one of vet school. The standard at Cambridge is to live in halls for the first three years. Since I’m the only vet in my year at my college, I’m yet to live with vets, and have instead lived with friends who do engineering, politics and medicine. For the first time next year, I’ll be living with vets. There’s 4 of us in the house, and 3 of us were on the same dissection table in first and second year.

Academically speaking, dissections have definitely been one of the things that I’ve enjoyed most about vet school. We share so much of our teaching with the medics, so dissection was one of our only chances to all be together as a year. We named our dog Spotty, and as we used her for both first and second year, we definitely became attached to her! I think one of us even still has the small bullet we found lodged in one of her back legs.

Getting involved with AVS has definitely been one of the best things I’ve done at vet school. I was the Junior Cambridge Rep last year, and now I’m the Senior Rep and Junior Vice President. The main thing I’ve loved about AVS is the people.

I’ve met so many lovely vet students that I otherwise never would have met, whether that be those on committee with me, or those I meet at sports weekend/congress, both of which I would thoroughly recommend to all vet students!

Tips for students

I think studying methods are a very personal thing. When I got to university, I made the incorrect assumption that I could simply do what I did at GCSE/A-levels, where we just had to rote-learn information and then repeat it. Trying to revise in first year showed me quite quickly that this wouldn’t work.

And yet I carried on trying for first and second year regardless, spending more of my time making aesthetic notes than actually taking the time to understand or learn the information. I think I finally made some progress this year, and although I’ve by no means perfected my studying technique, my tips would be:

• Make an effort to actually understand the content after the lectures – the 1 hour this would take will make such a difference when you come to revision.
• Make as many connections as possible, I find I’m much more likely to remember things this way.
• Consolidate your revision as you go along: I like to write down everything I can remember on a topic after revising it. As much as I generally remember no more than half each time, it serves to reassure me that I’m at least remembering something! Plus, going back over the information to see what I forgot solidifies it more in my mind.
• Don’t pay too much attention to what other people are doing! No 2 people learn in the same way, and just because a method works for your friends, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will for you. Having said that, there’s definitely some benefit in trying a new study technique every now and then.

As my friends will tell you, I’ve often struggled to get the work-life balance right during exam term, becoming totally immersed in library life while completely ignoring all semblance of self-care. Something I’ve really worked on this year is taking better care of myself, not only during exams but throughout the year, and it’s made such a difference; I’m happier, healthier and more confident in both myself and my abilities.

I think my number one top tip would therefore be to take time out when you need it, whether that be going home for the weekend, visiting a friend at another university, reading a book, having a bath, whatever works for you! Vet school life is immensely rewarding, but also demanding, so make sure you make time for yourself too.

Plans beyond vet school

Honestly, they’re changing all the time! Before I got to vet school, I wanted to go into small animal practice, now I’m leaning much more towards mixed, and I really wouldn’t be surprised if I changed my mind again once I get to clinical school. I know that I’d love to spend a couple of years working outside the UK soon after I graduate, hopefully in New Zealand, but I’m planning to then stay in the UK, hopefully opening my own practice in the future.