Vet Times

Tag: Students

  • Be Kind

    Be Kind

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    It’s Mental Health Awareness Week. I hadn’t planned it, but a certain package I had been waiting for arrived just in time – a navy sweatshirt with pale blue writing on. Many vets will know what this symbolises, demonstrating how tightly knit our profession is. From the age of 15, I spent a lot of…

  • The only way is ethics part 1: meat

    The only way is ethics part 1: meat

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    I had expected the smell, of course, although it was worse than I imagined. What I hadn’t expected was the speed of it all – the sheer mechanisation of the destruction. We had already visited the sheep and pig sections of the massive abattoir – myself and a small huddle of veterinary students on a…

  • Testing times: reliving the exam nightmare

    Testing times: reliving the exam nightmare

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    Remind me why I’m doing this? I swore I’d never put myself through it again. Amid the bittersweet feelings at the end of my veterinary degree – sadness I’d never pass time in quite the same way with many of my fellow students again, nervousness about a suddenly unplanned future (I’d known exactly what I…

  • Occupational hazards

    Occupational hazards

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    Before I started vet school, I attended a workshop for aspiring vets where students shared anecdotes about the various occupational ailments they had experienced or witnessed over the years. Despite having to defer the start my veterinary degree due to a horse-related incident, I got through university largely unscathed by veterinary-related disease. I contracted a…

  • Accountability and responsibility: which causes more fear?

    Accountability and responsibility: which causes more fear?

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    It’s very daunting standing in your first consult as a real, qualified vet – even if it is “just a vaccine”, which invariably turns into “actually, this has happened“, or “now you mention it“, and so on. But why is it we have that constant feeling of being on edge – more so than a…

  • New vet schools are not the solution

    New vet schools are not the solution

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    We’ve barely had a day of news in the past year that didn’t include Brexit. Yet, do any of us really know what the real consequences will be? Within the veterinary profession, specific factors are undoubtedly going to be influenced by Brexit, even if we don’t know the extent of these yet. They do, however,…

  • Tale as old as time…

    Tale as old as time…

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    Yes! I’m off to Singalonga Beauty and the Beast next week! I need to learn the lyrics, however, so I’m listening while I write this blog. (Whoever said this writing lark was hard work really hasn’t got a clue *cough* – Oh, and despite my excitement, there is a purpose to my Disney-inspired blog, I…

  • Back to school

    Back to school

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    This week, I returned to my old school to talk to some A-level students about university life. During the question and answer session, fellow ex-students and I were asked the reasons why we chose our respective universities. We discussed the criteria we considered before coming to our individual conclusions, such as: accommodation city versus rural location…

  • Reflection rebranded

    Reflection rebranded

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    Reflection. Yep, it’s the R word again. Now, don’t turn off, because I’m actually thinking we need a rebrand. Bear with me. As an idea, reflection seems to cause a whole heap of negativity in people. But, when you think about it, isn’t it just a process of reviewing new information and applying it to…

  • Green is not the only colour

    Green is not the only colour

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    I’m in a bit of a rut – I’ll apologise for that now. There’s a bit of a theme coming out in my current writing; it’s all about our identity, or lack thereof, as seen from different viewpoints. I started digging into this subject at the beginning of the year (Are vet nurses hidden in…