First year Veterinary Science University of Bristol
Hi everyone,
Does anyone have any advice on how to stay on top of studying for veterinary science at the University of Bristol? There are a lot of lectures and CBL sessions, and I’m worried about falling behind. I’ve downloaded a few of the recommended textbooks, but I’m unsure which sections to focus on first.
Any tips or insights would be really appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
Does anyone have any advice on how to stay on top of studying for veterinary science at the University of Bristol? There are a lot of lectures and CBL sessions, and I’m worried about falling behind. I’ve downloaded a few of the recommended textbooks, but I’m unsure which sections to focus on first.
Any tips or insights would be really appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
Hey! What year are you? I’m a 2nd year at Bristol so hopefully will be of some help..
Firstly, I’m going on the assumption you are a first year, use this year as a year of trial and error. I did one method up until Xmas to do content and then completely changed it after Xmas.
Secondly, treat CBL as you would a lecture however there are ways of actually using the fact it’s group learning to your advantage.
With CBL a lot of groups in my year would make quizlet, MCQs etc with their ilos so they made revision materials as they went along for eachother to use.
The way I have found works for me is- I read lectures beforehand but that’s it, when it comes to the lecture I just listen and annotate the PowerPoint as the lecturer goes through it. If I have any burning questions I’ll speak to the lecturer but often my questions appear later when I am going over it again so just email them. If I am confused by anything in the lecture I will just teach those bits and annotate anything more I need for my own understanding and that could include watching other videos and YouTube etc.
Something I have found very useful with particularly difficult concepts and ideas is chat GPT, now be very aware this must not be used for any assessed work however for understanding purposes it is honestly a life saver at times. You can get it to explain things to you in whichever way suits you best, sometimes take the info with a punch of salt but honestly don’t ignore AI for learning purposes!
Once I have got the lecture down with my understanding I will do flashcards for it as that is how I will revise. Everyone has a different way of dealing with flashcards and I prefer short answers but lots of them.
With CBL I tend to wait for the ask an expert session because they will clarify anything and you can ensure the most important stuff is correct, I will then write flashcards for the ILOs and include any additional info from the expert session.
With anatomy practicals, BRING A NOTEBOOK. I cannot stress this enough, Louise and Julie have SO much insane info to share with you and I made the mistake for first term not writing anything down. When they are speaking to you, write stuff down, draw diagrams honestly it helped my learning SO much. The workbooks they produce are also a great revision tool for spotting gaps in your learning. Often you will finish anatomy early (aka before the 2 hrs is up) and they will let you leave, this is a great time to speak to the demonstrators and leads alike about any questions you may have regarding content or what is discussed as it’s quieter and they have less students to deal with.
Final thing, Langford days- you will often have hours of nothing. You are welcome to just sit and chat (and sometimes it’s needed) but honestly if you can get an extra hour of work done, that’s an hour you don’t have to do later. You deserve to give yourself a break and sometimes I leave lectures just feeling overwhelmed and frazzled so I know for a fact I won’t get any work done that’s productive so just give myself the night off.
This is a long degree and a process that you need to learn to love, don’t make yourself hate studying because you have so much more to come. Build healthy habits and find what works for you
)
If you want me to message you my instagram I am happy to do so to give you a point of contact if you ever have any questions or need advice 🥰
(Just a ps I don’t think I’ve picked up a textbook properly once or done any extra reading and I’m doing just fine! You will never be on top of the work and it’s kind of a situation you learn to live and deal with)
Firstly, I’m going on the assumption you are a first year, use this year as a year of trial and error. I did one method up until Xmas to do content and then completely changed it after Xmas.
Secondly, treat CBL as you would a lecture however there are ways of actually using the fact it’s group learning to your advantage.
With CBL a lot of groups in my year would make quizlet, MCQs etc with their ilos so they made revision materials as they went along for eachother to use.
The way I have found works for me is- I read lectures beforehand but that’s it, when it comes to the lecture I just listen and annotate the PowerPoint as the lecturer goes through it. If I have any burning questions I’ll speak to the lecturer but often my questions appear later when I am going over it again so just email them. If I am confused by anything in the lecture I will just teach those bits and annotate anything more I need for my own understanding and that could include watching other videos and YouTube etc.
Something I have found very useful with particularly difficult concepts and ideas is chat GPT, now be very aware this must not be used for any assessed work however for understanding purposes it is honestly a life saver at times. You can get it to explain things to you in whichever way suits you best, sometimes take the info with a punch of salt but honestly don’t ignore AI for learning purposes!
Once I have got the lecture down with my understanding I will do flashcards for it as that is how I will revise. Everyone has a different way of dealing with flashcards and I prefer short answers but lots of them.
With CBL I tend to wait for the ask an expert session because they will clarify anything and you can ensure the most important stuff is correct, I will then write flashcards for the ILOs and include any additional info from the expert session.
With anatomy practicals, BRING A NOTEBOOK. I cannot stress this enough, Louise and Julie have SO much insane info to share with you and I made the mistake for first term not writing anything down. When they are speaking to you, write stuff down, draw diagrams honestly it helped my learning SO much. The workbooks they produce are also a great revision tool for spotting gaps in your learning. Often you will finish anatomy early (aka before the 2 hrs is up) and they will let you leave, this is a great time to speak to the demonstrators and leads alike about any questions you may have regarding content or what is discussed as it’s quieter and they have less students to deal with.
Final thing, Langford days- you will often have hours of nothing. You are welcome to just sit and chat (and sometimes it’s needed) but honestly if you can get an extra hour of work done, that’s an hour you don’t have to do later. You deserve to give yourself a break and sometimes I leave lectures just feeling overwhelmed and frazzled so I know for a fact I won’t get any work done that’s productive so just give myself the night off.
This is a long degree and a process that you need to learn to love, don’t make yourself hate studying because you have so much more to come. Build healthy habits and find what works for you
)If you want me to message you my instagram I am happy to do so to give you a point of contact if you ever have any questions or need advice 🥰
(Just a ps I don’t think I’ve picked up a textbook properly once or done any extra reading and I’m doing just fine! You will never be on top of the work and it’s kind of a situation you learn to live and deal with)
(edited 7 months ago)
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