Vet Times

Tag: Glasgow

  • Out of Africa: two weeks in the wild

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    Wildlife veterinary medicine is more than being a good shot with a dart gun and knowing what anaesthetics to fill the darts with. I know this because I was part of a group from Glasgow vet school that visited the Shamwari Game Reserve in South Africa to find out exactly what wildlife medicine entails. Minimal intervention…

  • What is normal in the veterinary world?

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    As veterinary students (and probably later as vets), we have a very distorted view of “normal”. Exam season (for Glasgow) is now over, but during revision, the social media stakes noticeably increase. While many of my non-veterinary friends share photos of their piles of notes captioned “T-minus 2 weeks”, “Revision hell” or the like, in…

  • Self-confessed expert syndrome

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    The world has changed enormously since I qualified as a vet in the nineties, but my first taste of the “brave new world” of technology was when Glasgow vet school installed a 40-strong computer room, all connected up to the internet and the then-new World Wide Web. These computers used NCSA Mosaic to view web…

  • The unfortunate adventures of Lucky the horse

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    Although the UK’s fire and rescue services are not obligated to rescue a cat stuck up a tree or a horse stuck in an overturned trailer, the skills and resources of their firefighting teams lead to the assumption that they are the best people for the job – but while they are excellent at what…

  • Represent, support, engage!

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    The AVS (Association of Veterinary Students) Congress marks one year since my involvement with the association began. Last year, in Nottingham, I stood up at the AGM and gave a hustings speech. Before long, I found myself elected the editor of JAVS (the Journal of the Association of Veterinary Students), which is sent out to students…

  • Helping the hounds of the homeless

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    The homeless come with a certain stigma – particularly those with pets at their side. Should we be concerned for the welfare of those animals, whose owners cannot afford to feed themselves so surely cannot adequately care for a companion? Of course we should. However, instead of claiming these pets should be removed from their owners, Ruby…

  • Hitting the third-year wall

    Hitting the third-year wall

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    Everyone had heard rumours third year at veterinary school was the worst. On coming back to university after a long summer of extra-mural studies and relaxation, we were nervous. Two weeks in, things didn’t seem too bad and we were sceptical. We were indifferently meandering through the bewildering world of Latin names and impossible-to-spell drugs, resigned…

  • D-day

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    It’s that time of year again, when vet students become more competitive than ever and inter-school rivalry (friendly and, for the most part, light-hearted) culminates in the biggest sporting event in the Scottish vet school’s calendar. The renowned “Dick Day” – the annual event where Glasgow’s vet students take on those from the Royal (Dick)…

  • Vet School’s Got Talent

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    When you apply to vet school, there are certain boxes you have to tick: achieve the right A-Levels (or Advanced Highers), complete a number of weeks of work experience, and pass that dreaded interview. What nobody tells you, however, is that being a vet student requires a number of other skills that seemingly have nothing…

  • Familiarity is the gateway to empathy

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    In our line of work we not only confront, but make use of death as a means to an end – stopping or preventing suffering. But how do we know what we’re putting our patients through really is an “easy death”? I qualified in 1997; it was quite a long, warm summer as I recall. I…