'Six years is so long', is the standard response when I tell people about my veterinary course. However, given that two years have flown by, I can honestly say I’m glad to have a few years left. I love every aspect of my degree, from the hours spent learning about the structure and functions of the brain, to celebrating finishing exams by participating in the famous Cambridge May Week.
My favourite part of studying veterinary medicine is the variety of the course. In a day, I can do everything from learn about different types of viruses, to dissecting a horse head to look at the structure of the nasal cavities (which is more complicated than you would think!).
A job where your patients can’t tell you what’s wrong is a job where you need to go armed with everything you know to enable you to figure it out. But the veterinary course gives you a lot more than just information. It shows you how to use it, how to eliminate possibilities and narrow the options down until you come to the right answer.
In short, the veterinary course doesn’t just arm you with knowledge, but also teaches you how to use it to tackle problems you may never have seen before, and solve them.
On top of everything taught, is everything not taught. This includes the huge number of university-wide sports clubs and other societies. I have particularly enjoyed taking advantage of some of the many lecture series, conferences, and courses that are open for students to attend. It has been amazing to attend some of the talks held by the veterinary society to keep up-to-date with some of the new challenges and research in the veterinary industry. Even more exciting is feeling that you can apply what you have learnt on the course to the concepts presented, and that you are actually, finally, becoming a vet.
Alongside everything provided by the university is the vast array of opportunities provided by your college. This includes supervisions: small group tutoring sessions with an expert in your subject, that aim to improve your understanding.