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Glasgow Vet School Rodeo
My responsibilities included poster/flyer design.

The Glasgow Vet School Rodeo is an annual charity event organised by vet students. It is traditional for second year students to make the event happen, and so this year, I was involved in its organisation.

My responsibilities included taking minutes at weekly meetings, correspondence with print media for advertising, compiling the programme and poster/flyer design.

Each year, we support several (usually animal-related) charities with the aim of hosting a fun-filled family day out while raising money for worthy causes. The year, the final total raised came to a huge £16,162.74, which will be split between the charities [see bottom of page for a full list].

The 54th annual Rodeo was held within the grounds of Glasgow Vet School on April 12.

After the committee was soaked to the skin while unloading and directing exhibitors to their pitches in the morning, the rain (but unfortunately not the wind) stopped just in time for the gates to open at 11am – much to everyone’s relief.

The day included falconry, dancing, duck-herding and husky demonstrations in the main arena, with SMAART horse, Trec and horse rescue demonstrations in the horse arena. There was also a dog show, which offered all owners the chance to enter their dog in a variety of classes, as well as an animal tent, reptile tent and pony rides.

Jordan (left) and “friends”

If that wasn’t enough, there were craft stalls in the marquee, bouncy castles, horse and carriage rides, and local animal charities also came along to promote their work.

As has become traditional, we ended the day by drawing our “rodeo raffle”. We had some fantastic prizes, such as a family pass for Blair Drummond Safari Park, afternoon tea at Hilton Glasgow, “Tee Time” at Royal Troon Golf Club and many more – we are grateful to the various organisations for providing these.

Despite battling through the fury of Scottish weather in the morning, and relentless wind throughout the day (resulting in many stalls being relocated into one of the marquees), the committee felt the day was a success overall. After eight months of planning, we pulled it off, and celebrated that evening in true Scottish style with a ceilidh open to students at Glasgow Vet School.

The charities being supported this year were:
- World Horse Welfare, which is an international horse charity that ‘improves the lives of horses in the UK and around the world through education, campaigning, and hands- on care’.
- Blue Cross, which “finds the right homes for unwanted pets throughout the UK, treats sick and injured animals at their hospitals when owners can’t afford private fees, promotes animal welfare and provides the Pet Bereavement Support Service”.
- Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, which helps people experiencing hearing loss throughout the UK by creating “life-changing partnerships between deaf people and specially trained hearing dogs”.
- Veterinary Development Fund: the James Herriot Scholarship fund will enable Glasgow Vet School to award scholarships to excellent undergraduate and postgraduate veterinary students who, through financial constraints, may otherwise not be able to study at Glasgow.
- Inti Wara Yassi is a Bolivian charity that works to rescue wildlife by confiscating illegally kept wild animals or by offering sanctuary to animals that are voluntarily brought to the charity. These animals are cared for in one of three parks throughout Bolivia (I also volunteered at two of the parks last summer).
- Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue, is a charity in North Ayrshire, Scotland, that aims to rescue, treat, rehabilitate and release birds and animals back to the wild.
- Students for Animals In Need is a charity made up of veterinary students from the University of Glasgow who work together to provide treatment to sick or injured animals that might not otherwise be treated, due to financial difficulties.
- Riding For the Disabled Association (RDA): Glasgow RDA provides equine therapy to more than 300 children and adults with disabilities from across the greater Glasgow area.
April 30, 2014
Wednesday afternoon stress relief?

Balancing sport and vet school can become a logistical nightmare.

The opportunity to take part in sport, either competitively or recreationally, is an essential part of stress relief for all students – especially for those on intense courses such as veterinary.

There are enough people on the course to make up teams for many sports solely from vet students and, previously, I have reviewed inter-vet school sport specifically. This is often a very feasible option, with flexible training times to fit around the busy vet school timetable and the knowledge that understanding team members won’t think less of you for missing the odd session if you have a practical you can’t miss – an attitude very different from those of the main university teams, who may leave you off the team sheet for weeks after missing one fitness session.

But what if you are the competitive type and want a more challenging sport environment? Realistically, the vet school teams only have one or two important matches that training is geared towards, perhaps with a couple of “friendlies” against other university departments such as the medics. If you were looking to get involved in team sport on a more regular basis, you would want to join the main university teams.

In an ideal world, this should still be feasible, since the national governing body for Higher Education sport, British University & Colleges Sport (BUCS), schedule their fixtures for Wednesday afternoons. This is a time that should be kept free for sport, according to the University Senate policy. Unfortunately, that is often not the reality. The University of Glasgow has received several complaints this year for scheduling compulsory classes on Wednesday afternoons.

Image © iStockPhoto.com/DYashkin

The second-year Glasgow vets have practical classes on Wednesdays (at varying times of the day). As part of the main university riding team, I have had to swap these sessions around to accommodate competing on Wednesdays, and have had to miss a couple that were not scheduled for any other time. Luckily, we only have four competitions throughout the year (plus the Dick Day vet competition), so this isn’t incredibly disruptive. But for those in clubs such as hockey or tennis, which have fixtures every week, suddenly balancing sport and vet school can become a logistical nightmare.

Cambridge veterinary students do not get allocated time off for sport either.

Another issue is specifying the time frame that is a “Wednesday afternoon”. Third-year students at Liverpool vet school generally have lectures up to 2pm on Wednesdays, after which it is often too late to make away fixtures.

I don’t think this is an issue specific to veterinary schools, but is becoming a university-wide problem that needs to be addressed. It is essential for students to have the opportunity for sport as escapism, and this is particularly applicable for the vets of tomorrow, who are looking to enter arguably one of the most stressful professions.

We’ve all seen the suicide figures, and we need to be able to give ourselves the best chance at dealing with stress now, in order to apply it to a working environment later in life.

December 16, 2013
Vet school sports

The rivalry between Glasgow and Edinburgh was as fierce as ever.

Vet students have their own little community, not only within their own university but also across the eight vet schools throughout the UK.

We’re all members of the Association of Veterinary Students (AVS) and through this, take part in an annual sports weekend, hosted by a different university each year.

In addition to this, Glasgow and Edinburgh (The Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies) have their own inter-vet-school sports competition, “Dick Day”.

Both events take place in November.

Over the last few years, AVS Sports Weekend has strayed from actually involving much sport. So when the Glasgow students rocked up in Liverpool this year (dressed as the cast from Michael Jackson’s Thriller), we were all taken aback by the number of matches that had been organised and the variety of sport available… quite a contrast from the mere hint at some hungover rugby last year.

Nevertheless, we at least managed to scrape together a team for the mixed netball. Needless to say, we didn’t fare too well and finished seventh out of the eight vet schools overall.

Unsurprisingly, Liverpool won overall, putting the students from other vet schools to shame, most of whom were too busy ceilidh dancing or getting started on the pub crawl to concentrate on sport.

Dick Day 2013: the equestrian team, men’s football and men’s rugby team pulled through to give us some victory.

Dick Day, however, was another matter; the rivalry between Glasgow and Edinburgh was as fierce as ever and the sport was taken seriously.

We didn’t make a great start, losing the netball, mixed hockey, ladies football, ladies rugby and volleyball. However, it wasn’t all bad news – the equestrian team, men’s football and men’s rugby team pulled through to give us some victory.

Although we lost to Edinburgh overall, spirits were still high by the end of the day, since it was only the second time we’d beaten Edinburgh in the rugby on their home turf in 150 years.

There are few other courses that provide the opportunity to enjoy some competitive sport and social events with students from other universities in the way that we do. At AVS I saw several friends from other schools, and it was great to have a brief catch-up before resuming the inter-vet-school banter with the other Glasgow vets.

These events are just another reason to add to the list of why being a vet student in the UK is so incredible.

December 2, 2013
“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a…

After a summer of EMS, traveling and very little academic work, the time finally came for me to come back down to earth.

Having been back in Glasgow for about a month now, I think I’ve just about settled into the second-year routine. After a week of scavenging freebies and signing up to every club under the sun at the fresher’s fayres, I managed to just about fit in everything that I want to do this year around vet school.

During the day, we’re back to lectures and practicals on everything from farm animal nutrition to parasitology, respiratory system anatomy to learning where to put ECG electrodes on a dog.

I have to say that, so far, second year has been more interesting than first year was. Whether this is because of the course content, a different outlook on my part, or simply the fact that I now know the drill, I couldn’t say. But I certainly seem to have gained more passion for the subjects we’re studying at the minute.

Glasgow University Guardian

But it’s not all about studying. This year, I’ve taken on a lot more outside of vet school than I did before. Having this time made it on to the university riding team, I have training every week with my teammates at the local stables, and also hope to start doing a bit of polo. I’ve also gotten involved with Glasgow University Guardian, the student newspaper, in order to do some writing and editing, as well as to learn what goes on behind the scenes when producing a publication.

Every Easter, Glasgow vet school hosts a big charity event called the Rodeo, and it is the responsibility of the second years (with some acquired help from the freshers) to organise it. A group of my friends and classmates have formed this year’s committee, with me taking on the role of secretary and helping out with advertising the event. Hopefully it won’t be too stressful and we will work together to pull off the best Rodeo so far!

So it looks like I’m in for a busy year, but it should make being a vet student all the more exciting.

October 14, 2013
One year as a vet student

Jordan

Having received my results for the professional exams, I can finally say that I’ve finished my first year at vet school!

Being brutally honest, the first term was a bit of a culture shock. I had focused so much on getting into vet school and being a vet that I didn’t really think about what it would be like when I actually got there.

Coming from a town on the edge of the countryside in the heart of England and moving to Glasgow was quite a change. Although the vet school is on the edge of the city in a fairly green area, it wasn’t the same as being able to cycle 10 miles on quiet country roads to the farm where my horses are kept.

I think what I found the hardest was not being able to ride. I had gone from riding my horse every day to having a lesson with the uni riding club once a week. Owning a horse is a lifestyle, and not something I wanted to give up.

While the first term was largely spent getting used to the mountainous workload, I managed to squeeze other things into my time. Many of my friends from home went to uni a year earlier than me and have told me that Fresher’s Week is the craziest uni experience. But none of them are vets, and they don’t know what AVS Sports weekend is (an annual event hosted by the Association of Veterinary Students). This year, it was held in Glasgow, so we didn’t do any traveling, but certainly experienced the madness of meeting people from every other vet school, who came in all shapes and sizes – penguins, mimes, power rangers and more.

Another annual inter-vet-school event for us is Dick Day, where Glasgow competes against Edinburgh – The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies – in various team sports. Again, this year, it was held in Glasgow. Unlike AVS, the sport on Dick Day is serious and there was a strong sense of rivalry between the schools. I was part of the vet hockey team, but unfortunately we did not defeat the Dick vets in our match.

After battling through a long term of learning at a hundred times the rate we were used to and facing the stress of the class exams, I started the second term knowing better what to expect. I threw myself into getting fit for Easter by swimming, cycling and gyming. I also took up a weekly creative writing class that was put on by the Glasgow uni English department, to rekindle my love of writing.

At Easter, I had my first taste of EMS in the form of my first time lambing. The placement was great – we got loads of hands-on experience and got involved in all aspects of lambing time. We learnt loads, and everything from those seemingly endless sheep lectures started to sink in. Although tiring, we enjoyed every bit of it.

I also spent a week in Norway doing a charity dog sledding challenge to raise money for the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance, who saved my life when I had a serious riding accident two years previously. My family and I had spent a year raising money by doing bucket collections, making Christmas decorations, selling Valentines Day cupcakes, and selling bedding plants. The challenge was fantastic – I loved working with the dogs and getting to see the beautiful Arctic landscape.

However, the day after I landed back in the UK, I was driving back to Glasgow to face revision and the end of year professional exams. I especially began to feel the pressure, because I had arranged to be abroad during the summer when resits would be scheduled (not a wise move, and not something I’d recommend).

We had exams in five subjects: anatomy, physiology, biomolecular sciences, animal husbandry and veterinary professional and clinical skills (VPCS). While I felt most of them went OK, I was almost certain I’d mucked up VPCS after the first day of practicals, having gotten flustered and putting sharps in the wrong bin (we make such idiots out of ourselves when we’re nervous).

During the first month of the summer holidays (while avoiding thinking about the inevitable doom that results would bring), I did some dairy EMS. I’d never been on a dairy farm before and found the experience extremely useful in improving handling skills and my understanding of the dairy industry. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I’d retained from the two cattle lectures we’d had so far.

Without warning, our results started to trickle in, one subject at a time… and so began the momentary relief after receiving one and then the rising anticipation for the next one. Finally, the last one came in, and by some miracle (or so it felt), I had passed all of them! All that worrying about being away for resits was extinguished, and now I could get on with preparing for the next set of EMS I had planned… six weeks in Bolivia in a wildlife sanctuary.

And so I have passed first year. It’s been hard work and no doubt second year will be harder, but vet school hasn’t defeated me yet!

July 10, 2013
Tax doesn’t have to be taxing

Is calculating tax returns your idea of hell?
Image: Darren Shaw.

As students, we need all the extra cash we can get, and often a part time job will help considerably with rent, bills etc. But what about self employment?

It may seem like a scary proposal: how would I be able to run my own business while studying? What do I need to get started? What would I do? Will I have time? Are students even allowed to do that?

The answer is yes, you can be self employed while studying!

I recently registered as self employed for freelance writing. It’s something that I enjoy doing, which means it doesn’t even feel like I’m working. I also feel that it would be almost impossible to fit in a “real” part-time job around university, particularly because the veterinary course has so much contact time, and it would be very difficult to find fixed working hours that would accommodate that. The freedom and flexibility are definitely major positives of being self-employed.

But writing isn’t the only option; there are lots of things that you could do and make a bit of spare cash from. There are a few self-employed students out there, you just might not be aware of it.

Could baking be your way of earning a few extra pounds? Image (and chocolate button cake) by Rebecca Hubbard.

I know of people at Glasgow and other universities who earn money from a variety of sources. One of my high-school friends makes teddies from different fabrics by hand and sells them via her Facebook page. Another student makes very high quality professional-looking cakes for occasions in her spare time.

As an employee, you get paid every month and generally won’t get taxed because a part-time job would mean you don’t come anywhere near the earnings threshold. If you did get taxed accidentally, filling out a simple form (or having a word with your employer) would ensure a tax rebate. So getting your hands on your hard-earned cash and keeping hold of it is fairly straightforward.

Self employment, on the other hand, involves a much more proactive process. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been learning the jargon, trying to get my head around National Insurance contributions and making a start on my tax return. It’s all very new and while it seems like a headache at the minute, once I get into the swing of things, I’m sure I’ll get the paperwork done in no time.

All in all, the extra paperwork is completely worth being able to do what I love, when I want, while getting paid for it.

June 5, 2013
Rodeo time!

With pre-exam stress in full swing for most of us, we welcomed a break in the form of the Glasgow Vet School Rodeo last weekend. The annual charity event took place for the 53rd time this year.

Poster for the 53rd Glasgow Vet School Rodeo

Traditionally (from what I can gather), it used to be somewhat like a country show, with stock showing, sheep herding and the like. Now, it’s more of a family day out with many displays and stalls of different natures, though all loosely animal-related.

Entertainment throughout the day included displays such as falconry, duck herding and dog sledding. There was have-a-go dog agility and dog showing for the public to enter their pets into. For the children, there were pony rides, bouncy castles, laser quest and a climbing wall. Of course, there was a marquee full of craft stalls and all sorts of different tombola and raffle stands supporting various animal related charities.

The proceeds from the entry tickets and the main raffle went towards four key charities: The Riding for the Disabled Association, Canine Partners, The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Scottish SPCA) and The Vet Fund (James Herriot Scholarship Fund). In addition to these, many other animal and breed-specific charities had their own stalls.

It is a vet school tradition that first years “volunteer” on the day. My friend and I spent the morning helping out on the “small animal” stand – there were a selection of small furries including rabbits, hamsters, mice and guinea pigs available for the public (mainly children) to handle. Our role was to help get the animals out of their cages and make sure there were no escapees. Other than my small disagreement with a rat (it sank its teeth into my finger in response to being picked up), we enjoyed our time chatting to people and brushing up on our handling skills.

In true Glasgow style, the day ended with a ceilidh – a great day and evening was had by all of us at the vet school!

April 18, 2013
Luck of the draw

During the Easter holidays, I had my first EMS placement. Although I’d hand-reared cade lambs before, I’d never actually been lambing. Someone in the year above at Glasgow had been to the farm that I and some of my friends had arranged to go to. While they said it would be a good placement, we still didn’t really know what to expect.

Luckily, the farmer didn’t just set us doing menial tasks such as feeding and watering.

It turned out that it probably couldn’t have been better. We got a really friendly farmer who explained everything to us and seemed to strike the balance perfectly between teaching, supervision and leaving us to it when confident enough.

He also didn’t just set us doing menial tasks such as feeding and watering. Of course, we did do some, but he was eager to get us involved in as much lambing as possible and more “vetty” tasks such as injecting sheep or lambs, tube-feeding colostrum and worming. It definitely seemed like he went out of his way to make sure we experienced all aspects of ewe and lamb care during lambing time.

While talking to both the farmer and the other students that were there, we discussed horror stories of placements other people had been on. We’d heard of people sleeping in caravans, cooking for themselves (in said caravan) and being abandoned with very little instruction with a field of lambing sheep. Having warm beds to sleep in the farmhouse, home cooking and as much food as possible thrown at us, we felt very lucky, considering what we could have ended up with.

Unless a placement has been recommended, it is very much luck that determines what sort of accommodation or people you’ll end up working with. We were so grateful to draw the long straw with lambing. It would have been very easy to end up with a placement on which we wouldn’t learn or do nearly as much.

March 23, 2013
‘Real’ doctors

Image ©iStockphoto.com/Alfsky

Everyone knows that there’s an ancient feud between vet and medical students. Glasgow is no exception – only the other day, I had a heated debate on the topic with another student (who, annoyingly, wasn’t even a medic).

While, for the most part, it’s just friendly banter, there is some truth in both arguments.

A doctor will usually have one area of focus and will spend his whole career becoming more and more specialised in that particular field, whereas a vet will be the GP, surgeon, physio, neurologist and much more for several different species, not just one. As a first year student, it’s sometimes a little scary and overwhelming to think about the broad spectrum of knowledge we need to gain in just five years.

When the medics graduate, they’ll become junior doctors and from then on will begin narrowing down their fields of interest until eventually finding themselves as “left toe specialists”, or something. In 4.5 years, we’ll be let loose into the world of veterinary and, at the end of day one, will have probably already spayed a cat, pregnancy tested a few cows and euthanised a dog, with a rabbit or bird thrown in somewhere too.

Not only are the medics likely to be more specialised than us, they also “go further” than we do in terms of treatment. In my interview for Glasgow vet school two years ago, after expressing an interest in orthopaedics, I was asked the ethical question: “How far is too far?”

The Bionic Vet

I didn’t really have an answer but tried to reason my way through it, discussing things like kidney transplants in cats in America and The Bionic Vet, and came to the conclusion that every case must be treated individually, having weighed up the pros and cons of “heroic treatments” in each situation.

Now I realise that these heroic treatments are fairly uncommon in the veterinary world. Kidney transplants, for example, which are routine in medicine, are non-existent in veterinary in the UK. Is this a consequence of lack of funding and resources or lack of experience and knowledge in the field? Probably a little of both.

The GP vet will play the role of all these specialised fields to some extent (some being more qualified to do so than others). While we can specialise and work in referral practices, the average mixed or small animal vet will find themselves becoming a “Jack of all trades and master of none”.

Does that make us more intelligent than the medics, or just more well-rounded? Is it better to have a broad spectrum of knowledge and practical skills or to be very skilled at a few specific procedures?

February 25, 2013
Pony Club values

Sat in our equine lectures so far, I’ve found myself dozing off a little. Not because of the morning-after headache following one of Glasgow’s vet school socials, or from utter boredom, but because I already knew a lot of it.

The Manual of Horsemanship (14th Edition)

Yes, I’ve had my own horse and have been riding since I was 11, but I think the real culprit is The Pony Club. Years of Pony Club badges, efficiency tests and stable management sessions at camp had obviously made a lasting impression.

It’s only now, at university, that I’m beginning to appreciate just how much has sunk in over the years. From simple things like the difference between hay and haylage, to the less fundamental like laminitis and strangles – The Pony Club has taught me so much. The best part is that it rarely felt like an effort because of the friends I made and because I always had so much fun at the same time.

Not only did I pick up horsemanship knowledge, but also invaluable skills like being tested orally and having to think on your feet.

There are no written examinations in The Pony Club. The efficiency tests – which higher up can be regarded the same levels as the British Horse Society stages – require a riding and stable management element. In both, you are asked to demonstrate or explain things. Without realising it, by the time I got to the B Test, I was able to talk confidently to an examiner about all aspects of horse owning, riding or the industry in general.

Over the years, I’d also gotten roped into the team Stable Management competition, which took a similar format to the efficiency tests but required you to work as a team of three to carry out practical skills as well as discuss answers. Aside from teamwork, I’d picked up how to effectively bandage for different situations, comprehensive first aid and nutrition – all useful for a prospective vet.

I think The Pony Club has been invaluable and is a fantastic way for children of all ages to learn about the beautiful animals they ride, whether they end up having a career involving them or not. While sat in the vet school library the other day, I noticed a very old copy of The Pony Club’s Manual of Horsemanship on the shelves. I couldn’t help but smile to myself.

January 17, 2013