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Questions for vet students (mainly Liverpool)

I'm starting at Liverpool Vet School in September and just have a few questions for current students that I couldn't really find answers for:

-What's the timetable like? What time do you start and finish each day?
-Is there any chance of having a part time job? What's the max hours you'd recommend?
-What do people use in lectures for notes, eg. pen and paper, laptops etc.?
-Is anyone in the OTC or does that take up too much time?
-Does EMS take up all holidays and does it start/need to start right from the first Christmas holiday?
-Where do you buy all the stuff like lab coats, wellies etc. on the price list?
(edited 7 years ago)
I'm not at Liverpool, but:

- Generally an hour or two short of 9-5 every day in first year. It gets progressively more intense. You'll always get Wednesday afternoons off, though.

- People do have part time jobs, e.g. weekend work in retail, tutoring, working in bars etc. You can get some positions that are really flexible albeit less reliable, such as working as a student ambassador, being an extra, working casually with an agency like AtYourService, Brightsparks etc. Hours you can do will vary from person to person, so I would recommend doing something very flexible so that you can do as few/many shifts as you deem necessary/possible.

- At RVC more people use laptops than pen and paper I would say, but it's really up to you and what you prefer. Personally, I tend to use paper in lectures because I feel like I have to engage more than if I have a laptop screen. I then type brief notes up so that they're neater/more organised/less easily lost. I can see the merits of using a laptop in lectures, though. Part of first year is figuring out what works best for you.

- I know a lot of people in the OTC and they recommend it so highly that I'm considering joining this year. From what I've heard the only commitments are one evening per week , and weekends every couple of months. You get paid for it which is a massive bonus but as far as I know there's no proper commitment to do anything if you really don't have time. Granted, you won't progress that way, but if you really feel like you have to focus on your studies then it's probably best that you sacrifice this over vet med.

- You need to do twelve weeks in your first two years of vet school. Given that every year you'll get three weeks off at Christmas, three at Easter, and summer is June-September, that shouldn't be difficult. You can start from first year Christmas, but you don't have to. Few people did in my experience.

- Usually you can buy things like that from the Student Union. Check that there are no set requirements (colour, embroidery etc), but you may be able to get stuff like lab coats for cheaper from Amazon or whatever

Hope that helped. There are a few Liverpool students here so they will probably be able to give a more specific response soon :smile:
Original post by aceofspades147
I'm starting at Liverpool Vet School in September and just have a few questions for current students that I couldn't really find answers for:

-What's the timetable like? What time do you start and finish each day?
-Is there any chance of having a part time job? What's the max hours you'd recommend?
-What do people use in lectures for notes, eg. pen and paper, laptops etc.?
-Is anyone in the OTC or does that take up too much time?
-Does EMS take up all holidays and does it start/need to start right from the first Christmas holiday?
-Where do you buy all the stuff like lab coats, wellies etc. on the price list?


1. Generally 9-5. You get weds afternoon off for sports/society stuff. Some days you'll be in at 9 and finish at 1-2 but it's not very often

2. You can, but you have to be willing to put the time in to do work in your free time for uni too. I work at anfield part time and I literally do 9 hours every 2 weeks (which is one shift on a Saturday or Sunday). I wouldn't advise doing much more to be honest the course is pretty heavy and you do have to do work outside of uni in order to understand the content and keep up to date with your notes etc

3. A LOT of people use laptops, they annotate the power points. Some print the lectures off and annotate them, some just write their own notes on paper. It's down to personal preference. I use my Mac and annotate the lectures on there as in first year I found I was printing thousands and thousands of sheets of paper off and it was a waste yet I need the lecture in front of me to annotate to concentrate in lectures as some lectures are 1/2 hours long with a 15 minute break in between them.

4. You can do EMS during whatever holiday you want but it must be during your holidays not during term time. You have approx 8 weeks to do per year, so you have to find a way to fit those in that suits you. I do a week at Christmas sometimes, a week of lambing at Easter then the rest during summer. You have quite a long summer which is plenty of time to fit it all in. Be aware that you have exams in January (approx beginning around the 17/18th) then you have exams after Easter (usually starting around 28th may) so don't spend all xmas and Easter doing EMS, I'd advise you spent that time revising for exams.


5. Lab coats you can get online anywhere, just google howie lab coats. Wellies a lot of people get Dunlop steel toe capped ones from Amazon (warning - they are massive sizes, I'm a size 5 and a size 3 is still quite spacious with thick socks on!). I have steel toe capped muck boots - expensive but much comfier than the Dunlop ones and built to last. Overalls you can either get online/farm shops or you can buy embroidered ones from the LUVS pop up shop which will be held one day either during vet freshers or the week after (we are still deciding on a day as we don't have our timetables yet). If you're after a stethoscope the medisave sell them. A littman Classic III will do the job for you, but it's not vital you have one, just nicer for clinical placement to have your own rather than having to borrow someone elses


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Only thing I can add is that I really don't know many, if anyone who has a part time job at Notts that isn't some vet receptionist work on Saturday mornings and the odd evening.

Microsoft One Note is amazing for lecture notes

OTC is done by a lot of people, a lot of people come out of it during clinical years due to the amount of time taken up and people not wanting to enter the military when they finish uni.
Thanks for all the answers!
Also what would you recommend in terms of accommodation? I have the option of catered at one of the student villages so would have to get a bus, or self-catered with a private company like Unite, which would mean I could walk.
If I wanted to do stuff with societies with catered it sounds like I'd have to go back for tea and then back to campus. So on the bus for 2 hours a day. But then with private accommodation I could be with anyone, not just first years or people from UoL, so would that change the experience? I also like to swim a lot so being on campus would make that easier, eg. going in mornings before breakfast would be served in catered.

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Original post by aceofspades147
Thanks for all the answers!
Also what would you recommend in terms of accommodation? I have the option of catered at one of the student villages so would have to get a bus, or self-catered with a private company like Unite, which would mean I could walk.
If I wanted to do stuff with societies with catered it sounds like I'd have to go back for tea and then back to campus. So on the bus for 2 hours a day. But then with private accommodation I could be with anyone, not just first years or people from UoL, so would that change the experience? I also like to swim a lot so being on campus would make that easier, eg. going in mornings before breakfast would be served in catered.

Posted from TSR Mobile


Accommodation is personal choice. It depends on whether you want to be restricted to eating at specific times or if you want the freedom of eating as and when you want. I personally would have chosen to go into self catered because I'm fussy and I prefer to eat when I want to eat not when I have no choice.

I think it's better sometimes to live with people other than other vet students but the only downside to that is you'll possibly be living with people on courses with a hell of a lot less contact hours than a vet med student, and some students struggle during exam time because if you've got flat mates who don't respect the fact that you're a vet student they'll keep you awake/make revision difficult, then again you've got the library if needed. It can either make your experience better or make it worse lol!

If you've got the choice it looks like you know where you would rather be in regards to location, and on campus you're near the gym/pool whereas off campus you're not but you're very close to the training grounds if you're planning on joining any sports societies. You'll either get a good bunch of flat mates or you won't it's a bit of a gamble, but most get on completely fine there's only a few I've heard of who have struggled with working because their flat mates are idiots.


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Reply 6
Hiya I will be starting in September too at liverpool and this may be a stupid question, but what stationary do people use? Do people hand write notes and file them or is it more posters and diagrams in which case bring sharpies? Ive got loads of paper im just not sure about post it notes, sharpies, fine liners etc
Original post by MRsmee
Hiya I will be starting in September too at liverpool and this may be a stupid question, but what stationary do people use? Do people hand write notes and file them or is it more posters and diagrams in which case bring sharpies? Ive got loads of paper im just not sure about post it notes, sharpies, fine liners etc


It depends on what works best for you. The first thing they like to drum into you at Liverpool is 'mind maps'
I personally hate them but some people love them and it's their way of consolidating material.


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Original post by MRsmee
Hiya I will be starting in September too at liverpool and this may be a stupid question, but what stationary do people use? Do people hand write notes and file them or is it more posters and diagrams in which case bring sharpies? Ive got loads of paper im just not sure about post it notes, sharpies, fine liners etc


Personally, I use lined paper, pens, lever arch files, hole punches, index cards, treasury tags, fineliners/different colour pens and felt tips. I make crappy paper notes during lectures, which get typed up in neat, then for revision purposes I make little books of flashcards and A4 posters.

As Lizziefickling said it's down to personal preference, though. If what you did at A level/IB/Highers/your last degree/whatever worked for you, then that's a good starting point for figuring out how you need to revise in vet school.
Original post by MRsmee
Hiya I will be starting in September too at liverpool and this may be a stupid question, but what stationary do people use? Do people hand write notes and file them or is it more posters and diagrams in which case bring sharpies? Ive got loads of paper im just not sure about post it notes, sharpies, fine liners etc


Personally, I use lined paper, pens, lever arch files, hole punches, index cards, treasury tags, fineliners/different colour pens and felt tips. I make crappy paper notes during lectures, which get typed up in neat, then for revision purposes I make little books of flashcards and A4 posters.

As Lizziefickling said it's down to personal preference, though. If what you did at A level/IB/Highers/your last degree/whatever worked for you, then that's a good starting point for figuring out how you need to revise in vet school.

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