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Decision paralysis: how to choose
From the moment you decide to become a vet, the road before you – from the start to the end of your course – is paved with decisions.

From where to go, to what to look for in a job (although vet students do get to put off the dreaded entrance into the “real world” for a couple more years than the average student), the next choice to be made is always around the corner.

Where to study

When it comes to picking the right veterinary degree, my opinion (which is by no means gospel) is that it’s:
- 10% course content
- 90% location, location, location
For students having a tough time choosing where to attend vet school (although, understandably, most are happy to go anywhere they receive an offer), it can be important to look above and beyond the curriculum. After all, the veterinary course in the UK is heavily standardised and, as much as every school wants you to believe that theirs has something special that nobody else’s does (and maybe they do), at the end of the day, you will leave each university with the same qualifications.

I’m not studying where I am today because I fell in love with Bristol vet school, I fell in love with Bristol itself.

Clockwise from top left: Bristol Cathedral © SakhanPhotography / Adobe Stock; Bristol’s colourful houses by shauking / Pixabay; sheep © Gill / Adobe Stock; promotional image for Hot Fuzz © Universal Studios / Focus Features.

I still remember getting off the coach with my dad for an open day and having the biggest smile on my face from the moment I stepped on to the cobbled streets. To this day, I’ve no idea why – perhaps it’s the multi-coloured Balamory-esque buildings, or the accents and calls of “my lover” that made me feel like I’d stumbled into a remake of Hot Fuzz, or maybe it’s the fact there are sheep and cows roaming just a stone’s throw away from the clinical campus.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t the labs, the course brochures or the lecture theatres…

For some, staying closer to home is what’s important; maybe for childcare, financial or emotional support. For others, moving away from what is familiar and stepping out of your comfort zone can play a vital part in learning independence and gaining a wider perspective.

What to study

Selective/elective weeks, while only making up a small component of your final year, are a rare opportunity to tailor your education in what is otherwise a very nationally homogenised learning infrastructure.

Work experience is another excellent outlet through which vet students can customise their teaching opportunities and prioritise what is most important to them. Practices where we feel most immediately at home are the ones that reflect our values around the profession, and the teams and individuals we bounce off easily are often indicative of the type of professional that you would/aspire to be.

Where to work

With the average retention of a veterinary professional standing depressingly at just seven short years, there’s been a massive drive from the ground up to improve the quality of the profession, and to make the career more mentally and emotionally sustainable.

We’re taught about developing resilience and mindfulness from the first year of vet school, and in the past half-decade, four-day weeks have become the standard for a lot of vets up and down the country.

With vets in such high demand, new graduates currently have a plethora of jobs to choose from. Considerations over commute times, staff retention, caseloads, OOH work, and weekend rotas (let alone salaries) are now luxuries that are becoming more and more affordable.

I would personally love to see a day when vet students can take modules in their final year – and with mixed practices decreasing in number, there may eventually be separate institutions for small animal and large animal vets.

As somebody soon to be entering the job market, I can tell you that decision paralysis is most certainly real, but I still believe that the more choices we are able to make, and the more control we have over our careers, will make us better and happier professionals.
September 14, 2022
How the vet degree has shaped my plate

Before coming to university, I never really gave much thought to the life or journey of my food before it ended up on my plate; I wasn’t well informed on the topics of air miles, methane production or abattoir welfare standards.

If you had asked me if I wanted to make sure the foods I ate were ethically sourced, had a low carbon footprint, or had once lived a healthy and happy life, I would have said “of course” – all of these things mattered to me on a subliminal level, but I don’t think I really grasped how any of these concepts were within my control.

Welfare

Animal welfare makes up such a large part of the veterinary course from the very first year, so it’s no wonder so many students are vegetarian or vegan by the time they graduate. I must admit that my Easter Sunday lunch was a little hard to swallow after my first-year lambing placement… and one week on a pig farm certainly had me seeing my Christmas pigs in blankets in a whole new light.

The vet course provides a window into the side of meat production the public will never access – and may not even want to.

In an ideal world (where every animal has a full and healthy life devoid of stress, discomfort or suffering before it is killed), I would have no qualms about eating meat, but the sad truth is that’s just economically and logistically unviable – at least for now.

But welfare isn’t as cut and dried as people might think. Take cows, for example: if you picture a happy cow, it’s probably roaming around in a field, right? Well, frustratingly, fields have many disadvantages – offering parasites, botulism and rogue pieces of metal, while providing no protection from the elements, nor a means for the farmer to moderate their food intake to ward off laminitis, hypocalcaemia and a bunch of other welfare issues.

“One week on a pig farm certainly had me seeing my Christmas pigs in blankets in a whole new light.” Image © HQUALITY / Adobe Stock

The environment

Along with owning a pair of flared jeans, or developing calves of steel thanks to the endless hills, you didn’t go to the University of Bristol unless you’ve developed a complex over your carbon footprint.

One of the simplest ways to be more environmentally friendly is to eat less meat, but many studies are showing that a global move to veganism/vegetarianism is not the answer for our ever-growing population. A lot of land just isn’t suitable for crops, and rice farming already makes up more than 10% of global methane production.

Again, if we were looking for an ideal scenario, it would be to eat less meat, sourced locally and sustainably, and to value it enough to pay a price that would allow farmers to invest in greener technologies.

Student budgets

Working on farms at all levels of the course gives vet students an appreciation for how much farmers care about their animals, and how hard they work to balance that priority with sustaining a business. Even if you’re sceptical about the meat industry, there is always the option to do research into the farms and butchers that are close to you.

Frustratingly, making good choices from both a welfare and environmental perspective can be much pricier than the alternatives, and this has been one of my own drivers for decreasing my meat consumption during my uni career. Despite this, I still try very hard to make informed choices, and when I do buy meat I aim to prioritise quality over quantity wherever possible.

In very small, but meaningful ways, change is shaped by the decisions and purchases we all make, and understanding the steps that brought the ingredients from the farm to your plate fosters a respect and appreciation for what you are eating, beyond just its taste.

May 11, 2022
Don’t limit yourself

Fourth year at vet school seems to finish before it’s even begun – and that’s not a romanticism.

It’s only six months (running from September to February), so even if you factor in time spent on exams, it sort of feels like cramming a whole year into just half the space of time. Like too much butter over too little bread.

Short year

There are many maladies of fourth year that nobody quite prepares you for.

For starters, exams come before Easter (so you don’t even get a chocolate fix while revising), there’s no real summer holiday (unless you count an overseas EMS placement) and – the scary part – it’s the stepping stone between being a plain ol’ student and basically being an actual vet.

Despite these curveballs to the regular programming of the vet course, I believe fourth year has been my favourite so far. However, I’m not sure if it’s the nostalgia after intercalating for a year, the delicious lack of biochemistry and 9am dissections, or the slow and almost intangible sensation of everything coming together.

Mixing bowl

It’s most certainly a scary jolt when you realise that, academically speaking, the university staff have essentially taught you everything there is to teach you. There are no more ingredients to becoming a veterinary professional – all that’s left is to mix them all together and hope you come out fully baked.

It’s also a familiar type of “scary” – like holding your unopened A-level results envelope, or moving out of home and into halls. It’s a precipice of the unknown, but there’s also a lot of potential there. Staring into the jaws of final year is a humbling experience and it feels like the beginning of the end of a very long journey.

Looking back, the past five years seem like a blur and despite the fact most of the friends I started university with are now working 9 to 5 and getting on the property ladder, I can’t quite believe I’m already here. Is it really that time already?

Limitless

Academics aside (you know, the actual important bit), I’d say my takeaway from my time so far probably boils down to just one point: don’t limit yourself.

This applies to every aspect of life at vet school – from trying different clubs and sports in your first year, to keeping your options open when it comes to what type of vet you actually want to be. For example, when I first started writing for Vet Times as a wee 19 year old, I knew down to my bones that I wanted to be a farm vet… until I didn’t.

That’s not to say that cows aren’t still the cutest things that fill me with absolute joy, because they do. It’s even become a sort of car game among my vet friends to point out fields of them on long journeys. The fact of the matter is, I don’t know what I want to be any more, unless there’s an option for everything?

Growing confusion

I never really considered myself an exotics enthusiast, or a conservationist, or a wildlife welfare advocate until halfway through my veterinary degree, and with each passing EMS placement I become more and more torn as to which area I’d like to branch into.

“Don’t limit yourself” is also applicable to your life and interests outside of the course, to giving yourself a much-needed break during the revision period, and not being scared to ask questions of that vet who knows everything now, but was once just like you.

Don’t miss out

It makes for a very cheesy motto, but if you get too caught up in where you think you should be going when you first start vet school, you might miss out on some really incredible opportunities along the way.

It’s natural for you to end up being a very different person at the end of the course than you were when you first applied (a culmination of all of those years and experiences) – I know I certainly am.

March 16, 2022
Paying it forward

Towards the end of what has been, regrettably for me, a distinctly non-“vetty” summer period, I was delighted to receive an email from the headmistress of my old secondary school, asking if some of her students who were applying to vet school in the near future could get in touch.

Coming to sudden terms with the fact that I was now considered someone “in the know” rather than someone on the outside looking in made me feel grateful, nostalgic… and just a little bit ancient all in one go.

As my school has a custom of bringing in old students to speak to sixth formers aspiring to the same fields of interest, I had always thought that I may some day be called in to bring my experience full circle.

Share and share alike

Until now I think I subconsciously assumed my old stomping grounds had simply yielded no aspiring vets in the past few years, but it seems that I was mistaken – and happily so.

I enthusiastically agreed to share details with the wannabe vets in question.

As I prepared to answer any queries they might have about the application process, interview preparation or what the pearly gates of veterinary medicine at university were actually like, it got me thinking about how the veterinary community seems to stand out from the crowd in terms of rallying around each other – no matter their level of study – and holding the idiom “pay it forward” very close to heart.

From the ground up

The truth is, even the most experienced, knowledgeable and Yoda-like veterinary surgeon that ever walked this earth started off a lowly Padawan just like the rest of us – probably cleaning kennels, hoovering after hours and just trying his or her very best not to get in peoples’ way.

I think it’s this that unites us all; no matter our age, gender, race or background, we’ve all been stood on by cows, moaned at by sleep-deprived farmers and pooed or peed on more times than we can count – often both at the same time in a terrifying feat of Mother Nature’s ingenuity.

Climb every mountain

Every veterinary student works incredibly hard to even gain a foothold on one of the UK’s coveted university places, and he or she works even harder still to graduate five to six years later.

I’ve been assured the journey that awaits me on the other side of my cap and gown is no easier. The veterinary career can sometimes seem comparable to mountains piled on top of each other – each one larger than the last, with less footholds, and more treacherous and difficult terrain to navigate.

Is it any wonder those at the top want to throw down the ropes to those standing in their footwells, or climb back down and take the time to show them how they scaled the mountain in the first place, right by their side?

So grateful

I digress, but – mushy and, perhaps, overly elaborate metaphors aside – I am so deeply grateful for all the help I have been given on my journey so far – from the vets in my lecture halls to the vet nurse who first taught me how to hold a scalpel – and for all that I am still yet to receive.

I also feel so privileged to be in the position to help people myself in any way I can, and hope I never forget the value of paying it forward and how far it brought me.

September 29, 2020
Head versus heart

For those, like myself, who started off wanting to be a vet from a very young age, it was most likely with the sweetest of intentions: wanting to take care of animals (particularly the cute ones), wanting to help people – just wanting to make everything okay.

More than a decade on, I’d like to think those are still three solid goals I’ll carry with me throughout my career. But as my journey towards that career continues, I’m beginning to learn not all problems have an easy solution and, a lot of the time, you have to choose your professional opinion over your personal one.

Sense of community

Since I first stepped foot on a dairy farm, I’ve fancied myself as a farm vet. This was initially fuelled by a new found love of cows, but, over time, was reinforced by a fondness for the farming community and respect for those who worked within it. When I discovered that, despite the profession being largely dominated by women, most vets within the agricultural sector are male, I think it just spurred me on more.

Though I may still choose to pursue this path some day, my concept of what it means to be a farm vet has drastically changed over the past two years of my vet course.

I’ve touched on the fact before that treating working animals is a far cry from small animal practice. Of course, we’re still driven by the same desire to protect animal welfare, comfort and respect; but when you’re dealing with animals that are part of somebody’s livelihood (which are essentially an asset of a business) you also have to juggle costs and efficiency – and, in some cases, make a hard choice you wouldn’t have to make if the animal in front of you was, say, a golden retriever.

Weighing the options

That’s not to say evaluating costs isn’t a regular part of small animal practice. In my local practice I’ve seen more than a few cases where owners are forced to have their pets euthanised because they simply couldn’t afford the treatment.

It’s also a matter of thinking what’s best for the animal, even if the owners do have the funds. Chemotherapy, for example, is incredibly expensive. If an owner wants to opt for this treatment, the first opinion vet must still consider whether the animal would ultimately benefit or suffer from the treatment, even if life was prolonged.

Do the right thing

Judging quality of life is a job that spans the medical fields of both humans and animals. The difference is vets have the legal right to euthanise when they feel the suffering outweighs the good.

This, I think, will always be the ultimate battle between head and heart for any vet – the inherent will to prolong and protect life, weighed up with the knowledge of what, in that specific situation, is the right thing to do.

May 22, 2019
Thank you for everything (so far)

I’ve talked before about how being a vet student is tough, and how getting into a place on a vet course is maybe tougher still – and I won’t lie to you, the studying, the extra hours put in after school, the weekends (if not weeks) spent knee deep in mud or muck (or a pungent mixture of both) all helped me gain my much-coveted place at university.

But, if I’m being honest, that’s only half of the story…

For every vet student (in fact, any student) who managed to get into university with half the support I had: for you I have the utmost respect.

I think I was around six years old when I first decided to become a vet – and, from that moment on, my family’s unwavering support is probably the main reason I made it.

The unglamorous bits

Looking back, I realise my parents probably put up with a lot more than the average parent would. There’s a necessity to start getting work experience as soon as possible when you’re looking to become a vet – not just to meet course requirements, but to make certain the job is actually for you. University makes it very expensive to change your mind.

Student blogger Eleanor Goad with her “kind and dedicated” mum, Sandra.

I wasn’t lucky enough to live down the road from many farms, so, back before I could drive, my dad drove me to countless placements across the country, with only the occasional grumble about the state I’d leave his car in. It turns out you pick up straw from a farm like sand from a beach and it really does get everywhere.

My mum works as a junior sister on an endoscopy ward, so she’s no stranger to the less glamorous parts of a job, but even she would recoil from the brown patches on my jeans after a day at the dairy – not to mention the stench as I walked through the door.

The emotional bits

Of course, there’s more to support than petrol and laundry. I’ve always been somewhat of a perfectionist and I think this – combined with the pressure of such a long-term dream – made exams, and the course application process in general, a very stressful time.

Through tears and sleepless nights, I always had someone to lean on – and even when I doubted myself, they never did.

They both took valuable time off from full-time jobs to come with me to open days and interviews – and when, last minute, I decided Surrey wasn’t the right fit for me (despite that it was right on our doorstep), my nan gave up her weekend to fly with me to Edinburgh.

On results day, my parents and I crammed together on the sofa, and I think we all screamed (and probably cried) when we learned I’d got in to Bristol.

Unwavering support

With no real animal background to speak of, my parents are undoubtedly a large drive behind why I decided to become a vet. When I was young, all I knew about my mum’s occupation was that she helped people, and that seemed like a pretty good job to have!

They’re both kind and dedicated people, and I think that’s what helps inspire me to work so hard on this course, even when it seems overwhelming. I might be in my second year of vet school, but the support didn’t stop when I walked onto campus; from food and toilet paper supplies to a warm voice on the end of the phone, I know they’ve got my back.

I should probably call home more often than I do, but that doesn’t mean I’m not eternally grateful – both for everything they’ve done and continue to do.

April 13, 2019
Public health: the less recognised role of vets
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as “mad cow disease”, hit the news again after an isolated incident was reported in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

In the 1990s, this disease resulted in the mass culling of hundreds of thousands of livestock, devastating the farming community and causing ripples throughout the British economy.

Soaring meat prices, a ban on UK beef exports and sizeable public concern arising from the last outbreak led to extensive media coverage on a topic many people not involved in the medical field rarely entertain.

Not all puppies and kittens

Although you might not think it, food safety and public health are two of the most vital roles vets perform for society.

I feel there’s a common misconception all vets are bound to the same path; when speaking to my uni friends about future careers, they never seem to assume I’ll end up anywhere other than small animal practice – and this may be true for the majority or veterinary graduates, at least those from the UK. Mixed practices are dwindling and veterinary food safety workers are predominantly sourced from overseas.

That aside, veterinary involvement in the food industry is vital in keeping the public safe. Meat having the stamp of approval by professionals trained in parasites and pathology gives the British public – as well as importing countries – confidence in our farmers and serves to strengthen our economy, and build up domestic farmers and their businesses.

Only the beginning

Within the meat industry, the job of a vet is not over once the animal is slaughtered – they are just as involved in death as in life. Zoonotic diseases and parasites can be spread between people and animals, and vets ensure these never reach your supermarket shelves.

At food crisis moments – such as the events that occurred over two decades ago – vets have two main responsibilities:
- A duty of care to those animals who must be put down with a delicate combination of haste and humanity.
- To work with farmers during the financial struggle they will most likely suffer following the loss of a large proportion of their livelihood.
For the many, not the few

Medical bills make up a substantial amount of costs when running a farm, and any vet going into the industry will quickly realise treating a herd animal is a far cry from treating a pet. They need to master the art of putting the needs of the herd over any individual.

Of course, what might be the greatest responsibility of any farm vet is to aid farmers in preventing further outbreaks. To pool the resources of all field areas – researchers, clinicians, food technicians and farm workers – to improve productivity and ensure the continued safety of the public.
October 22, 2018
Friends or food?

The relationship between vets and animals is an odd one.

When I tell people the course I study, 90% of them ask me if I’m vegetarian; when I say no, all of them ask me why not – and, to be perfectly candid, I never really know what to tell them.

As a professional in practice, my relationship with animals will be as doctor to patient. This affiliation is simple enough. But when I go home, crack open the freezer and fry up a steak with a nice Sauvignon blanc, the line begins to get a little fuzzy.

Keeping a distance

Although the path my career is destined to take is still very much in the works, if I do decide to go into farm work then a certain emotional distance will have to be observed when treating patients. You have to find the perfect balance of respect for the animal and a desire to preserve life, but also the acknowledgement of that fact your patients are, and always intended to be, food.

One of the big things they taught us in the first week of vet school wasn’t scientific or mathematic. They told us, through the course, our attitude towards animals – what it meant to be a vet – was going to change.

I’d be lying if I said my own philosophy surrounding what I want to do with my life, as well as what I put on my plate, hasn’t evolved. It has, it definitely has – In fact, it still is.

Is meat murder?

“My course has forced me to confront the fact I see a beef cow and a golden retriever in very different ways.”

I know everybody has their own opinion on the subject. People tend to get very passionate about their own food choices and go to great lengths to defend them and convert other people to their way of seeing things, especially as the vegan lifestyle grows more popular.

As vets and as medical practitioners we are, of course, entitled to our opinions like everyone else, but when we step behind the examination table or don the metaphorical white coat, the way we conduct ourselves cannot always be driven by our own personal beliefs, but a combination of the welfare of the animal and concerns of the client.

The cute factor

We like things that are cute. Although some people go through life ignoring this fact, my course has forced me to confront the fact I see a beef cow and a golden retriever in very different ways. No matter how hungry I may be, I have never considered eating a dog – and yet I will one day be required to treat both.

I do not believe either is entitled to a higher standard of care and yet, quite obviously, I hold their lives in opposing regards.

Perhaps it’s purely cultural or the way my parents raised me (they’re both big meat eaters), perhaps it’s an intelligence thing – the fact I assume dogs have more cognitive awareness than the average cow – but this line of thinking does threaten to drag you down an ethical rabbit hole of sentience and animal rights.

Valuable lesson

So, perhaps it’s not that complicated, perhaps humans, on an unconscious level, simply love fluffy things.

As a veterinary student you are taught, from the off, to analyse your way of reasoning and question it. I think this might be one of the most valuable things they can ever teach us.

October 2, 2018
VN Times calendar competition
This competition is now closed for entries

Public voting on shortlisted entries begins on 02 October, 2018

Whether much-loved pets, grazing livestock or weird and wonderful wildlife, little gives many people more pleasure than seeing animals out and about in the great outdoors.

So, we’ve decided on the theme of “Out and About” for the VN Times 2019 calendar, and can’t wait to see your photos of all creatures great and small at large in Mother Nature.

Maybe a dog is having the time of its life on a sunny beach walk, or a cat is frolicking in your back garden? Perhaps you’ve encountered a deer in a country park, or spotted a lion striking an unusual pose while on a trip to the safari park? Or perhaps something in a field of cows and sheep has caught your eye? Whatever the scenario, we want entries for the next VN Times calendar competition, and if it’s a good enough photo it may be used to illustrate a month, or even the front cover.
- Please supply the best quality and largest image you can. Avoid downsampling images for emailing purposes, choosing “Actual Size” if prompted. Most smartphones and digital cameras will take a reasonable quality photo. A minimum file size of about 1.6MB should be sufficient. Anything smaller may mean the image will be unusable.
- View the terms and conditions for entry.
- View our privacy policy.
July 30, 2018
Occupational hazards
Before I started vet school, I attended a workshop for aspiring vets where students shared anecdotes about the various occupational ailments they had experienced or witnessed over the years.

Despite having to defer the start my veterinary degree due to a horse-related incident, I got through university largely unscathed by veterinary-related disease. I contracted a skin infection while on placement in Bolivia, but I don’t think that was anything zoonotic.

However, some colleagues were not so lucky…

Illnesses and injuries

The various vet-student ailments that have affected friends include:
- rotavirus caught while on a dairy EMS placement
- an odd reaction to the BCG vaccine we received en masse in the first few weeks of vet school – after investigating a persistent cough, it transpired it was actually latent tuberculosis that would flare up periodically
- a mumps epidemic – while not zoonotic, the disease spread like wildfire through those who attended “Vetski” one year (a number of other skiing-related injuries were suffered on the same trip, including two damaged knees)
- the notorious cryptosporidiosis, which claimed at least one victim on every farm rotation group
- ringworm – despite having been in close proximity to cattle heavily infected with ringworm, I have avoided it thus far (the same cannot be said for one friend, who had to claim she had thrush to convince the pharmacist to sell her the necessary antifungal cream)
Appreciating dangers

TB testing – one of the most dangerous veterinary tasks.

Since qualifying, a good proportion of my work in practice has consisted of one of the most dangerous veterinary tasks – TB testing.

While I remained relatively unharmed for the first few months, I did appreciate how easy it could be to get injured, with some dodgy crushes to contend with and, often, largely unhandled beasts.

Having tested hundreds of cattle unscathed, my final test was quite eventful…

During a previous test at this particular farm, the vet had considered sedating one of the cows because it was so wild – but this time I was prepared, with sedation at the ready in case it was needed and the crush chained so the cow couldn’t go flying out the front door.

Crushed crush

Although a great deal of jumping about took place, I managed to test the cow without needing to resort to xylazine. However, the bull, which could barely squeeze into the crush, decided to stick his head under the front door and bend it nearly in half as the farmer, his son and I watched in horror.

Luckily, the bull seemed to think better of this plan and retreated before destroying the crush.

After the farmer had bashed the door back into some resemblance of its original shape, one calf somehow jumped out of the side of the crush and ended in a neighbour’s field.

First-hand experience

Just as we thought we’d had enough entertainment for one day, one of the six-month-old sucklers managed to squash my hand between it and the crush.

The world went green for a moment and I had to park myself on an upturned bucket.

Having taken a bit of a breather, we got the next calf in and I tried to continue, but the world kept spinning and I didn’t want to take my glove off to look at the damage. Feeling highly embarrassed, I sat back down and telephoned the practice for backup while the farmer went off to fetch a cup of sugary tea.

Not the only ones

An x-ray thankfully found no breaks, but a lot of swelling and bruising.

I joked with my doctor about occupational injuries, saying I didn’t suppose GPs would be likely to get into that kind of situation. However, he said he’d had a couple of knives pulled on him – one from someone demanding a prescription!

So, maybe we’re not the only medical profession at such a high risk of injury, we’re just exposed to slightly different dangers.
January 1, 2018