Opinions on cambridge VET MED

Hey I've just finished my first year of vet med at Cambridge, and am happy to answer anyone's questions!

I've heard that although Nottingham are fantastic in terms of practical experience in years 1-4, the final year rotations aren't as good in comparison to other vet schools as you have associate practices rather than teaching hospitals? My friend has recently done a placement at Dick Whites and she said the students on rotations just observed and did very little. At the teaching hospitals, certainly at Langford, the students are hugely involved in all aspects of patient care right through from the intial consults, which we do ourselves, to discharging the patient. We adminster all medications, take blood samples, place catheters, do all the overnight checks for equine patients, write reports, phone owners and arrange visits, amongst other things!!

I was just wondering what your view on this is Angry Cucumber as I've never actually spoken to a Nottingham student myself and have just heard rumours!

I've heard that although Nottingham are fantastic in terms of practical experience in years 1-4, the final year rotations aren't as good in comparison to other vet schools as you have associate practices rather than teaching hospitals? My friend has recently done a placement at Dick Whites and she said the students on rotations just observed and did very little. At the teaching hospitals, certainly at Langford, the students are hugely involved in all aspects of patient care right through from the intial consults, which we do ourselves, to discharging the patient. We adminster all medications, take blood samples, place catheters, do all the overnight checks for equine patients, write reports, phone owners and arrange visits, amongst other things!!

I was just wondering what your view on this is Angry Cucumber as I've never actually spoken to a Nottingham student myself and have just heard rumours!

Hi
Thanks that was really helpful!

I'm a fourth year vet at cambridge. Happy to answer any questions


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I read this thread and realised all of the replies about the "lack of practical experience" at Cambridge have been from students at other vet schools! I'm 5th year at Cam, so hopefully I can give you a good idea of what to expect

I won't lie to you and say that we have huge amounts of practical experience in the first two years, but it's definitely not as bad as everyone makes out! No, we don't start "clinical" practical experience from day one, but we do have animal handling & husbandry classes in first year, as well as live-anatomy sessions. The second year is quite intensely theoretical, but we still do some animal handling, particularly with exotics in the Comparative Vertebrate Biology module. This isn't necessarilly a bad thing:

...Firstly, Cambridge is not the only vet school to have highly theoretical pre-clinical years, but for some reason we get the stigma. Also, this is how ALL of the vet schools worked at one point... I think it's safe to say they still churned out some pretty damn good vets

Secondly, there is a reason we are taught the theory before the practical (clinically speaking). I want to go into vet practices knowing the anatomy and physiology, the pharmacology of drugs, the pathology of diseases... I want to have an understanding of all this before I do anything else, otherwise it all seems a bit futile. Although I moaned and groaned at the amount of pathology and theory we had to learn, I am so grateful for it now. They don't just teach us a set of symptoms, the disease, and the treatment - they teach us tiny (often annoying) details which let us strip everything back to the underlying mechanics/biochemistry/physiology of the animal. That way, when a bizarre case pops up that doesn't fit the text book, we should (theoretically!) be able to make sense of it all.

Thirdly, people always seem to forget about the importance of pre-clinical EMS! Throwing yourself into placements for 10 hours a day for weeks on-end will teach you a lot more practical skills than a morning a week with a cow during term time. Everyone - at all vet schools - has to do this, so everyone should be on fairly level footing with regards to animal handling abilities (providing you've made the most of your placements).

Finally, the course is slowly changing. Whilst the pre-clinical years will still remain quite theoretical, more is being organised to get students up to the vet school and handling animals. The new clinical skills centre also opened this year - as well as scheduled practical lessons, you can also pop in whenever you want to practice suturing, intubating models, putting IVs in, setting up anaesthetic eqipment, rectalling (on the haptic cow) etc. You can make as much or as little as you want of it! The final year has also changed significantly - it is 100% practical, split into groups of three students. The rotation timetable is different for everyone, with all students having free time during term time to go and complete EMS (when there will be no competition from other students for a place).

The lovely thing about Cambridge is that you can make it more practical if you want - the veterinary societies (run by students) are absolutely great, and organise events such as alpaca handling days, exotics days, birds of prey days, cattle reproduction days etc. These are totally optional, and often free or a couple of quid, and help you get a lot more confidence in a wide range of areas. You can also pop up to the vet school at any point and grab a horse to practice on - Sam at the yard is absolutely fab and will go out of her way to teach you anything you want.

On a final note, being taught more practically from day one doesn't neccessarily make you better. I have been on placements with students from other vet schools that have put me to shame, but equally I have been on placements with other vet students who weren't capable of basic things. Often it's not representative of the vet school, it's representative of the individual!

All vet schools have their pros and cons, and Cambridge isn't for everyone. However, hopefully you're not put off applying purely because of a "lack of practical experience"

Sorry for the essay! I'm happy to answer any more questions