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Veterinary Medicine 2015 hopefuls!

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Reply 1700
Original post by Little Tail Chaser
Phew, I'd forgotten just how tiring farm work can be :tongue: ! We have even more micro piglets now.. 13, with another litter on the way in a few days!

Also, you know you've been Googling too much vetty stuff when you start getting targeted ads for 'Neurology Boot Camp' :rolleyes: . Hen Top Ten in five days :biggrin:

Oooh, that sounds awesome! Would certainly be interesting :h:

***Linky*** :wink:


Woop! I love piggies! Escpecially kune-kunes :biggrin:.

Hahaha, awk it wonยดt let me on the site over here :frown: why? WHY?!? :lol:

Posted :wink:
Thanks again guys :biggrin: turns out the placement is from 2:50-5:00 (afternoon milking, makes much more sense now) but the farmer said 'ten to three' so I thought he meant 10am-3pm :P


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Reply 1702
Does anyone know if it matters if you take higher biology or higher human biology for vet med? I told them woman I wanted to be a vet when I was choosing my subjects, she didn't say anything when I said I wanted to do human biology so I didn't even think about this before, but I can change if I need to. While is was talking to the vet he mentioned something's that were different to what she told me. Now I'm not sure if she knows what she's talking about!


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(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 1703
Original post by Tiffanya
Does anyone know if it matters if you take higher biology or higher human biology for vet med? I told them woman I wanted to be a vet when I was choosing my subjects, she didn't say anything when I said I wanted to do human biology so I didn't even think about this before. While is was talking to the vet he mentioned something's that were different to what she told me. Now I'm not sure if she knows what she's talking about!


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Within the Scottish education system I believe it is fine to take either as appropriately passing both Biology and Human will grant access to do AH Biology which is essential. This is what I remember hearing but I am not sure if I am 100% correct so it would be best to clarify with your school (guidance teacher or admissions officer) and with any universities you wish to apply to (particularly those in Scotland who take a focus on highers unlike the ones in England). :smile:
More piggies have been born at the farm :biggrin: There's another litter due on Thursday as well, so hopefully we'll have at least 20 mad baby micro pigs after that :tongue: Got to see some TB testing as well :smile:

Original post by CanineVet
Woop! I love piggies! Escpecially kune-kunes :biggrin:.

Hahaha, awk it wonยดt let me on the site over here :frown: why? WHY?!? :lol:

Posted :wink:

I'm not going to watch it live :tongue: It's going to be available afterwards, though.
Reply 1705
Original post by Little Tail Chaser
More piggies have been born at the farm :biggrin: There's another litter due on Thursday as well, so hopefully we'll have at least 20 mad baby micro pigs after that :tongue: Got to see some TB testing as well :smile:



That sounds fun I can't wait until I do some farm experience ๐Ÿ˜ƒ


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Original post by Tiffanya
That sounds fun I can't wait until I do some farm experience ๐Ÿ˜ƒ


Fun is an understatement :biggrin: Do you have any farm work booked? :smile:
Reply 1707
Original post by Little Tail Chaser
Fun is an understatement :biggrin: Do you have any farm work booked? :smile:


Not yet but I'm sending letters soon :smile:


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Just want to say GOOD LUCK to anyone receiving their results today! :woo:



Original post by Tiffanya
Not yet but I'm sending letters soon :smile:

Good good :yep:
Reply 1709
Original post by Little Tail Chaser
Just want to say GOOD LUCK to anyone receiving their results today! :woo:




Good good :yep:


I got mine at 1am :biggrin:


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Original post by Tiffanya
I got mine at 1am :biggrin:


I assume it was good news :biggrin: ? Good for you, I'm so pleased you did well :jumphug: .
Reply 1711
Original post by Little Tail Chaser
I assume it was good news :biggrin: ? Good for you, I'm so pleased you did well :jumphug: .


Yeah it's quite good I got a 3 for art! Hahahaha I'm not really bothered though. The rest is on my profile if you want to see it. :biggrin:


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Original post by Tiffanya
Yeah it's quite good I got a 3 for art! Hahahaha I'm not really bothered though. The rest is on my profile if you want to see it. :biggrin:


Just had a look, those grades are awesome, well done! :biggrin:

Psssht, no one cares about art. I know I've done really badly, it must be a vetty thing :wink:
Original post by Tiffanya
Yeah it's quite good I got a 3 for art! Hahahaha I'm not really bothered though. The rest is on my profile if you want to see it. :biggrin:


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Sorry to butt in but I just wanted to say congratulations on your exam results :biggrin:


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Reply 1714
:biggrin: thanks! Good luck for your results too!
A bird pooped on me yesterday, I don't really believe in that kind of thing, but lucky me!! :biggrin:


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Reply 1715
Original post by chaarlotte
Sorry to butt in but I just wanted to say congratulations on your exam results :biggrin:


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Thank you! I saw yours, all As well done!!! :biggrin:


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Original post by chaarlotte
Sorry to butt in but I just wanted to say congratulations on your exam results :biggrin:


Congratulations on getting all As, you must be so proud :biggrin: ! Gosh you guys are too bloody smart :lol: .


On an unrelated note, I stumbled upon this while browsing Tumblr :tongue: . It's a Facebook group with a stack of veterinary textbooks available for free download. Might come in handy in a few years, just thought I'd share in case anyone wanted to bookmark it. :h:
(edited 10 years ago)
thank you guys :h: (as u can tell i'm too lazy to quote!) Little Tail Chaser, good luck in your GCSE's, I bet you've done brilliantly :biggrin:

also, I have a little bit of a problem. I just started a dairy farm placement yesterday, helping out at the afternoon milking, and try as I might, I just hated it. Really hated it. I didn't realise how much I didn't like cows up until now. For two hours I stood there in a short, narrow corridor trying to avoid the machines (still got bashed a few times), cows doing their business and the violent cows that like to kick. Normally, I'm a vain, dont-touch-my-hair type girl so it was well out my comfort zone smelling like cow pats from head to toe. I don't know if I can do this for another two weeks, or if I should do vet med at all. I do wex once a week at a SA vets and it's ok mostly but a lot of the time I'm just standing there aimlessly because it's quiet or there's a vet student in and they get priority in shadowing.

I just don't know if I'm cut out for vet med. my back up option is earth science/geology or microbiology which are both beginning to look more appealing especially since I have the grades, and because they aren't nearly as competitive or require weeks and weeks of work experience. My friend knows someone who got five A's at higher, did all the work experience required (SA & LA vets, stables for years, kennel, cattery, abattoir, dairy, lambing, pet shop, zoo, lab) and got rejected by every university. She only got accepted to do vet bioscience at Glasgow. So, what if that happens to me? Would I be happier doing earth science or microbiology?

Any thoughts? I don't really know who to ask about this, so I thought I'd ask on a public forum cos yolo (sarcasm just to clear things up :smile: )
Original post by chaarlotte
thank you guys :h: (as u can tell i'm too lazy to quote!) Little Tail Chaser, good luck in your GCSE's, I bet you've done brilliantly :biggrin:

...

Any thoughts? I don't really know who to ask about this, so I thought I'd ask on a public forum cos yolo (sarcasm just to clear things up :smile: )


Thank you :colondollar:

As for your question, I'm afraid that I think that's something you have to ask yourself :frown: . My advice would be to stick it out at the dairy farm for a few more days to see if it gets any more bearable. I absolutely hated my first day at a small animal vet last year (spent my lunch break crying and wondering if they'd call my mother if I went home :tongue: ), but by the end I loved it and I wanted to stay for longer. I can understand why you didn't enjoy yourself; I'd worked at an urban farm for several months before I did my dairy work so I was used to the smell/mess, but I'm afraid that's just something that comes along with working with animals. I have never been a finicky person (clothes were made to get dirty!), but if you haven't had much experience working with larger, messier animals then I can see that getting used to them could be a steep learning curve. As for the kicking, you'll just have to learn to not stand in an area where the cow could potentially kick you and learn to recognize the signs that they are about to kick. Usually (this goes for horses as well) cows will kick because they're startled rather than when they're angry, so just make sure you're very deliberate when moving close to them so that the animals are aware of your presence. When putting on clusters it is good practice to gently touch the back of the cows' legs so that they know you're there and don't kick out in shock when you touch their udders. The farmer might also have kick bars that hook onto the animals' hips to try to stop them kicking, so you could ask the farmer to put these on any of the cows you're worried about?

Not liking cows is a bit of a problem. You may not want to be a LA vet (me neither, exotics are bloody awesome :cool: ), but all vets at each university do the same course (i.e. no separate LA or SA units as far as I know), and there are certainly jobs dirtier than simply assisting with milking (think pregnancy diagnosing :wink: ). You will have to learn about cows if you study VetMed, and I would very surprised if you didn't treat at least one over the course of your career. All jobs have their downsides, and although with VetMed we already have to deal with quite a few (long hours, relatively low pay, idiotic clients, vicious animals... I could go on :rolleyes: ), having to treat animals that you may not particularly like may just be another thing you have to contend with as part of the job. The only thing I might be a little bit wary of (correct me if I'm wrong here :smile: ) is that you sound as if you're a tiny bit scared of the cows? Again, if you've never worked with cows before then that is totally understandable, but vets need to be confident when dealing with animals that could, to put it bluntly, potentially kill people if stressed. I'd reiterate my previous point about continuing to work at the dairy parlour for as long as you can manage, as that way hopefully your wariness will wear off over time.

There's no getting around it, getting into VetMed is HARD. Even with outstanding grades and all the work experience in the world you're still not guaranteed an interview let alone an offer. I don't know the exact circumstances of your friend's friend, but that just proves my point. There's no point attending a million and one placements if you're not trying as hard as possible to enjoy and learn from them. Your work at the SA vet sounds good, but "a lot of the time I'm just standing there aimlessly" is ringing alarm bells. Don't wait to be told what to do, ask! Ask the vets questions after consults, take notes on how they handle and restrain patients, compare different cases in your head (i.e. guess what tests, questions etc the vet is going to do next based on what you've seen before). It's a vet, there's always more cleaning to do! Get involved! :smile:

Ooops, I appear to have rambled on quite a bit! I hope my mindless musings have helped a bit... feel free to ignore anything that you disagree with, these are all my own views drawn from my personal experiences and as a wee little year 11 student I barely know anything yet! All I'm saying is that only you know if VetMed is the right course for you. I'm not going to sugar coat it, at the moment you don't sound too keen, but that's fine! As I mentioned previously, I've had my moments of confusion about whether this is really what I want to do, and I'm still not 101% sure. Maybe geology or microbiology is what's right for you, I don't know. Both of those could probably have some links with VetMed anyway, so you wouldn't have to throw the idea of working with animals away completely.

Best of luck for whatever you choose to do :smile: .
Original post by chaarlotte
thank you guys :h: (as u can tell i'm too lazy to quote!) Little Tail Chaser, good luck in your GCSE's, I bet you've done brilliantly :biggrin:

also, I have a little bit of a problem. I just started a dairy farm placement yesterday, helping out at the afternoon milking, and try as I might, I just hated it. Really hated it. I didn't realise how much I didn't like cows up until now. For two hours I stood there in a short, narrow corridor trying to avoid the machines (still got bashed a few times), cows doing their business and the violent cows that like to kick. Normally, I'm a vain, dont-touch-my-hair type girl so it was well out my comfort zone smelling like cow pats from head to toe. I don't know if I can do this for another two weeks, or if I should do vet med at all. I do wex once a week at a SA vets and it's ok mostly but a lot of the time I'm just standing there aimlessly because it's quiet or there's a vet student in and they get priority in shadowing.


From your comment it seems you don't like cows because they smell and you are worried about getting kicked. The reality is 30% of your exams will be based on farm medicine at uni as you don't get a chance to specialise, and you will be expected to do work experience with cattle on farms and with farm vets too. And the farmers and farm vets you will be with won't have much respect for you if you refuse to stick your hand up a cow's vagina or rectum to be blunt. No, it's not all about doing that, but it is part of the job and something you need to learn to do too.

As for the kicking, you just need to watch out for yourself. Sometimes cows might kick because the clusters aren't put on correctly or if it is heifer who wasn't used the parlour much. Or they can sense your fear/dislike and be genuinely nervous and scared of you; most black and white cows are quite sensitive believe it or not! All animals will or have the potential to use the defences they have evolved as prey animals or predators to dislodge you from your allocated tasks at some point or another.

Even if you go into small animal practice, there will be times when you will smell (e.g. have you ever seen anal sacs being emptied?). As a vet, it is inevitable that you will on occasion get covered in excrement, and body fluids of various sorts. If you are unable to accept that, then this is not the career for you.

At a SA vets you are really there to observe most of the time. That is usual and even as a vet student in the early years you won't be allowed to do everything and will need to just watch. But that doesn't mean you can't learn from that. Certainly, that's why I enjoyed farms because they are more hands on and let you do a lot if you show interest.


I just don't know if I'm cut out for vet med. my back up option is earth science/geology or microbiology which are both beginning to look more appealing especially since I have the grades, and because they aren't nearly as competitive or require weeks and weeks of work experience. My friend knows someone who got five A's at higher, did all the work experience required (SA & LA vets, stables for years, kennel, cattery, abattoir, dairy, lambing, pet shop, zoo, lab) and got rejected by every university. She only got accepted to do vet bioscience at Glasgow. So, what if that happens to me? Would I be happier doing earth science or microbiology?

Any thoughts? I don't really know who to ask about this, so I thought I'd ask on a public forum cos yolo (sarcasm just to clear things up :smile: )


Your friend might have met work experience requirements and had good grades, but it is possible she did not perform well at her interviews. You are right it is very competitive and hard to get into, even more so than medicine. If you do not have the drive to complete "weeks and weeks" of work experience (which, for the most part should be enjoyable and not a chore; you have to do 38 weeks during your holiday time at vet school on top of this) than I doubt you have what it takes to get in to vet school. You need to be 100% determined and dedicated as it's a long course and you have to do unpleasant things.

Not sure about Earth science or microbiology - you need to look into this at university. Both seems to be laboratory-based jobs.

If you are in real doubt as to what to apply to, a gap year might be a good idea to get some money under you belt and clear your mind as to what you would prefer to do as a degree and career.

Hope this helps!

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