One
term down 14 to go……
“Oh my God I’m going to be sick!” It was 8.00
am, I was on the train and the stark reality of what was happening
had hit home. I knew I had to get off at the next station and I
thought my lungs would pop and my heart would burst through my chest,
the feelings were almost too much to bear.
This is what happens to me when I am nervous or worried about something
and boy did I have cause to feel both of these emotions today. I
walked the short distance from King’s Cross station giving
myself a pep talk, “It will be fine” I told myself “You’re
a nice person and they’ll all be really nice people”
My emotions swung from fear and trepidation one moment to excitement
and pride the next. It was like the first day of school all over
again except this time I was too old to hold my mum’s hand!
As I turned to climb the steps into the building I saw a large metal
plaque on the wall, it read:
“The Royal Veterinary College, Hobday Building”
I nearly cried, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that little
old me would be entering this building as a first year Veterinary
Medicine student. Bursting with pride I walked through the doors
and entered my new life.
We were to gather in the canteen for coffee at 9am and Induction
would commence at 10am. I stepped into the canteen to be greeted
by an almost audible whoosh as heads turned to look in my direction,
my worst nightmare. I did what I always do when I’m nervous
~ talk. I smiled and simply said a cheery “Morning”
I didn’t know what else to say! I’d expected there to
be many more people there, all eager to get started on the long
road to their vocation but there were only about 20 people dotted
around, all keeping a very respectful ‘British’ distance
from one another.
The room slowly started to fill up and it turned out that most
of the people, who’d arrived as early as I, were actually
the mature students. The younger students came in in dribs and drabs.
Many of them spotted familiar faces from the previous evening’s
Freshers event and naturally gravitated toward them. Induction was
a whirlwind of queues and form filling, not forgetting the painful
payment of tuition fees too!
Outside of timetabled events I spent the rest of the week drifting
around trying to orientate myself with the building layout, timetables
and wondering if I would ever get my head around all of the information
that we had been flooded with. Boy it’s a lot harder when
your 31 year old brain is on its way to mush!
I think I expected all the people in the world who want to be vets
to have come from a little mould somewhere which makes us all the
same – it turns out they don’t! There is a huge variation
in the type of people on this course: mostly teenagers, some conscientious
students, some seemingly not. Some foreign students, and of course
us oldies of which I’m thankfully not the eldest!
The RVC has recently overhauled the entire curriculum and last
year was the first time it was run in its entirety, so the current
second years were the (unfortunate) guinea pigs! Like many large
institutions organisation is not the RVC’s best skill but
they do have a huge task on their hands because with 200 first years,
the RVC has twice as many BVet Med students as any of the other
UK Universities teaching veterinary medicine.
What I have found remarkable is the variety in teaching styles
amongst the lecturers: some told us adamantly to “Stop writing
and just listen” - it was apparently more important that we
understand the bigger concept rather than avidly scribbling down
every word that spilt from his mouth. I agree with this type of
encouragement but did secretly scribble down every word he said
– just in case! Whilst others have made us all laugh with
their (I hope, intentional) comical styles. I have to say that ALL
the lecturers have been fantastic; it really does make such a huge
difference when you get a person teaching a subject from which they
obviously gain so much enjoyment.
Personally my favourite subjects so far have been the cardiovascular
and respiratory systems and I never thought I would enjoy reproduction
and embryology so much but it was simply because of the infectious
personalities of the lecturers! This first term has been packed
with things to do – email him, call that farmer about Animal
Husbandry Work Experience, double check this, that or the other!
In terms of teaching it has been pitched as a revision/introduction
term. Each week a different area has been introduced, interspersed
with some Scientific Principles and Professional Studies lectures.
Skeleton, muscles, embryology, nervous system, cardiovascular,
respiratory and renal systems, alimentary and finally reproduction
have all been tackled head on. Whilst I haven’t felt overwhelmed
there have been areas that I have never even heard of (gastrulation
anyone?). We also had dissections almost immediately – the
second week. I was surprisingly trepidatious at what to expect in
my first dissection but needn’t have worried, as I walked
into the room I slipped seamlessly into ‘work mode’.
The staff on-hand in the dissection room are fabulous, they’re
very professional and so friendly it really does put you at ease
with an area I’m sure many of us students aren’t too
familiar with – it’s not everyday you dissect canine
cadavers - actually it’s once a week!
My RVC inbox is bombarded daily with emails about a ‘bash’
or ‘social’ at some London club or The Buttery on campus.
Never let it be said that students lack initiative – they
can invent a social gathering to celebrate it simply being Monday!
Obviously being an old whinger I tend not to attend such events,
preferring to go home and try to understand what we were told in
the day’s lectures (I know I’m boring!). Not living
on-campus has enabled me to keep a healthy distance from the projectile
vomit too!
Thankfully it didn’t take too long for me to find a group
of like-minded individuals. To whom I must give my thanks because
this, very different new life, would undoubtedly have been much
harder without ‘clicking’ with such nice, friendly people
so soon. The RVC has been very good at communicating their concern
for students’ welfare and it is comforting to know there is
such support if necessary.
Some people may think it’s quite ‘sad’ to say
but I am thoroughly enjoying being exposed to and immersed in all
things veterinary. There are talks to attend and ground-breaking
research happening in the very same buildings as my lectures and
I am so thankful and happy to finally be with my kind of people,
it’s like I’ve ‘come home’!
Last Friday I did the Qualifying Exam which must be passed in order
to prove you have understood the subjects so far and which will
allow you to move onto the next stage of the course. I will finish
by saying that I love being at vet school and am so glad that I
have done a scientific degree previously and have some experience
under my belt and a mature attitude toward this very demanding and
vocational subject. Until next term….
Judy
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