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Tag: Ophthalmology

Could COVID-19 close the door to the veterinary course?

It has long been a fear – among those inside the profession and outside – that university places to study veterinary medicine are not as accessible as they should be.

There is a perception the course, if not the vocation, is slightly elitist – not helped by the impression of most clients that the medical bills they are unaccustomed to paying for themselves mean vets must be absolutely rolling in it.

I certainly think of myself as extraordinarily lucky to have snagged one of the over-subscribed university places four years ago. I had parents who could afford the time and who were willing to drive me to various EMS placements, and I lived in close proximity to friendly veterinary practices with the patience to have me shadowing them every week.

Resources

I also went to a school with the resources to support me through my studies and had a stable and happy home life, which gave me the secure space I needed to revise and prepare for interviews. I even had a grandmother willing and able to drop everything to fly to the other end of the UK for my Edinburgh interview at pretty much last minute’s notice.

Veterinary medicine is an incredibly competitive, and sometimes arduous, application process, and even students with all the money, time, and educational and familial support in the world struggle to make it in.

I can only imagine how the added pressure of COVID-19 could have made this process so much harder and reduced its accessibility even further.

Striking a toll…

When you combine the mental health pandemic secondary to the coronavirus pandemic with the mental health crisis affecting medical students at every stage of their training – even as early as pre-interview – it becomes apparent how striking a toll this year may have had on some would-be vets.

Money can also, unfortunately, be a crucial factor when applying to any university position. With the financial burden impressed on countless families since the start of 2020 – and with national unemployment sky-rocketing – the door to further education may be closing to many more.

Parents worrying about job losses and money problems may be less able to support a child through the application process, and those students coming from complicated or disruptive households have not had the option to take their studies elsewhere – namely a café or school library.

Tears in tiers

Those students who have remained in Tier 3 for the majority of the year will have been hit harder by these factors than those in lower tiers.

Concerns have also risen for international students and maintaining diversity in the course. Overseas vets and vet students are invaluable in many facets of veterinary medicine – for example, they make up a large proportion of vets working in food safety and public health.

I think it’s important that universities consider an application from every angle and consider the less obvious setbacks brought about by COVID-19 that are perhaps being over-looked. I want the veterinary community to be diverse and self-supporting, and this starts at the very beginning.

December 22, 2020
You got a friend in me

Over the past three years, I’ve found one of the hardest parts about revising at home over the holidays isn’t actually the fact you’re revising at home, but that you’re not revising back at university.

Now let me explain, because I know it sounds odd…

Why would anyone not want to go home for the holidays, or right before some hideous, stressful exams? I will admit the food, festivities, time with family and pets is a nice bolster during revision (and certainly doesn’t hurt), but, at the same time, unless you’re fortunate enough to come home to someone studying the same course as you, and also preparing for exams, there’s nobody around you in the same boat.

One for all…

One thing I really miss when I’m at home, nose deep in textbooks, is that sense of camaraderie that comes with tackling the vet course with a group of friends.

Nobody wants to climb Everest alone, and it can be hard when those around you are enjoying time off and eating mince pies while you sit alone in your room, like the Grinch, muttering to yourself about hygiene laws and ethical quandaries of actual mince.

However, it’s not only during exam season that friends are so vital – they keep you company during the best and worst of everything uni has to throw at you. But, around exams, it’s not untrue that misery loves company. That’s not to say you can’t help pick each other up when the going gets tough, but if you’re all in the tough together, the going might not be so bad after all.

…and all for one

Group revision sessions with lots of chocolate, crisps (and maybe a few tears) are a godsend to me after days of seeing nobody but the animals on my flash cards.

Group revision sessions with lots of chocolate, crisps (and maybe a few tears) are a godsend, says Eleanor. Image © Prostock-studio / Adobe Stock

Spreading the workload among your friends is also a great way to make revision more manageable – and it’s true when they say teaching is one of the best ways to learn.

I’m so lucky to have the supportive network I do, and to know I’m not in it alone. On such a challenging course, it can easy for things to get on top of you (both academically and mentally), but by working together and leaning on each other, you won’t just survive uni – you’ll nail it!

January 7, 2020
Que será, será

What will be will be: this mantra is one of a handful of things that kept me sane during university exam season.

Exam stress has definitely taken its toll, and, one week after finishing, I am still none the wiser as to what day it is or whether I’m coming or going – but that’s the price you pay for memorising everything from organ locations to the proportion of “medium” sized chicken eggs in the UK (38.5%, apparently, for those of you who might be curious).

Exams are a trying time for anyone, no matter your degree, or, in fact, your level of education; I remember GCSEs putting me through my paces.

Aftermath

I’ve already written a lot about exams and their stresses. But, right now, I want to address a different kind of stress – a whole new hurdle to jump when really, in all fairness, you just deserve a break – results day.

In truth, no matter how horrendous my exams ever were, nothing ever succeeded in keeping me up at night like results day. Hours and days and weeks of effort, sweat and most likely a few tears, all culminating in what will inevitably feel like a very anticlimactic, but nevertheless staggeringly significant number of digits on a page (not even a physical page at that when you reach university).

“You deserve that pot of Ben & Jerry’s (or five)” – Photo © Sarah Richter / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

It’s a real reminder of how much you must love your course, and, in my case, how much I want to be a vet. After all, there’s no point going through all that, alongside a few weeks of mandatory poop scooping, more affectionately known as extramural studies (EMS) if the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t worth it.

Treat yourself

But enough about exams, what do you do afterwards?

The term “self-care” is thrown around a lot these days, but I think it’s just as important to treat yourself after exams as it is right before and during. What you just did took time and sacrifice, and, however your results turn out – whether they reflect the effort or not – you should still be so proud of that effort.

You deserve that pot of Ben & Jerry’s (or five), that night out with your friends, or night in, slobbing around in your PJs and a face mask, watching all the Netflix you’ve deprived yourself of for the past month.

Have faith

Yes, results day is a scary prospect and not something to forget about completely, but the fact is, once exams are over, you’ve done what you can, and whatever will be will be.

I find this thought rather comforting; although, for others, I know it’s somewhat frustrating. It takes a lot to relinquish control, especially when it’s something you’ve worked so hard for, but it’s important to have faith in yourself and to take the well-earned rest that is the summer holidays.

June 19, 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
Being a millennial vet

Millennials are stereotypically considered lazy, entitled and always wanting something for nothing. And having previously discussed the many advantages of employing new graduates (and, therefore, millennials), this sort of labelling angers me.

The choices our generation makes are not due to lack of work ethic and naiveté about the future, but rather a reflection on the hand we have been dealt by society.

Recent statistics show the average baby boomer had to save for 3 years for an average-sized house deposit in comparison to the predicted 19 years it would take for millennials to do the same. By the age of 30, the number of millennials still renting is double that of their predecessors in “Generation X”.

At my age, my mother owned a house, had her first child (yours truly) and had been married. I can’t even comprehend the possibility of being able to afford one of those things at this stage in my life, let alone all of them.

We may prioritise our meagre disposable income in different ways, but, despite all the jokes, our love of avocados and lattes are not the reason we can’t afford to get on the property ladder. (For the record, I can’t stand avocado).

Unyielding abyss

It is excruciatingly impossible, says Jordan, to save enough in today’s financial climate to even consider a house deposit. Image © zimmytws / Adobe Stock

It is excruciatingly impossible to save enough in today’s financial climate to even consider a house deposit, while pouring money into the unyielding abyss of renting.

One of the biggest snags in the rental black hole is the deposit and associated agency fees. Shortly after leaving university, I had to magic £1,500 out of somewhere to rent a place close to my first job (and that’s a lot when your bank account hasn’t been above zero since you started uni).

Six months after that, I was faced with having to do the same again because I quit that job.

As vets, we bang on about being happy, having a supportive first job and leaving if it’s not right. That’s all very well, but what if you’re trapped financially?

I didn’t give much thought to my financial situation at the time because I was too unhappy to carry on. While I think it was ultimately the right decision for my mental health, I would carefully consider my situation before doing it again – two months of no salary left me in a very vulnerable position, and if it had been much longer, I would have been in serious trouble.

Luckily, I was offered accommodation for my second job, which was an enormous help, taking the burden of having to find a deposit again off my mind. This is one of the benefits of being a vet as a millennial – very few other jobs would offer a house as part of the package.

If you have to repeatedly uproot and keep forking out for rental deposits every time your circumstances change, it’s easy to appreciate how quickly you can find yourself in a mess.

And for me and my classmates, this is while holding down a respectable job with supposedly “good pay” for someone of the same age. But is the pay all that “good”?

Non-vet friends

My non-vet friends earn varying amounts dependent on their careers or jobs, but these certainly include plenty of non-professionals earning far more than me. However, multiple factors need consideration here.

Those who didn’t go to uni have six years of “work experience” and climbing their respective career ladders more than me. Those who did go to uni have a two or three-year head start, which is significant in certain industries.

While it’s understandable they have had more time to progress in the world of work, that doesn’t entirely quieten the resentment at having put so much money, blood, sweat and tears into a professional degree without the remuneration to reflect that.

And while we may have a decent starting salary in comparison to other graduate roles, we are very quickly overtaken.

The ceiling salary of the GP vet is a much-discussed topic, with an increase in salary seen early on, but thereafter very little difference is seen, despite further years of experience. In the current financial climate, the traditional partnership route becomes less and less tangible for the millennial veterinary graduate.

I struggled to be approved for a credit card, and with the very real possibility of never owning a house, I wouldn’t dream of asking for a loan for the kind of money needed to buy into a practice – and I think I’d be laughed out of the bank if I tried.

For my generation, the type of career, and therefore salary progression, is just not what it has been for previous generations.

Enjoy life in present

Perhaps this is why we value work-life balance more than our predecessors – for them, they worked hard in their early careers because there was a light at the end of the tunnel, being partnership.

Many of my millennial colleagues don’t even consider that as a possibility, with many of us not really knowing what we want to do long-term career-wise, and so we take each day as it comes, not just trying to survive, but striving to enjoy life in the present.

Millennials are all in the same boat – still young adults driving battered cars with bleak property-buying prospects. Image © Deyan Georgiev / Adobe Stock

It deeply upsets me that vets are still perceived as rich money-grabbers. I am not a rich vet, I’m just a millennial, struggling to make headway in an economy set up to put young people on the back foot.

The difference between me and my desk-bound friends, however, is I have the privilege to do a job that I love, and while it comes with all manner of stress, it’s worth it for being able to care for someone else’s beloved pets.

At the end of the day, though, millennials are all in the same boat – we’re still young adults driving battered cars with bleak property-buying prospects.

We didn’t choose to inherit this situation. We’ve drawn the short straw in the birthdate lottery, so all we can do is live the millennial lifestyle and enjoy our lattes and avocados.

May 3, 2018
The blind leading the blind
As part of one of our small animal rotations, I spent a couple of days with the ophthalmology service at the University of Glasgow Small Animal Hospital.

Recognising common eye conditions and being able to localise lesions was uncharted territory for Jordan before her time with the ophthalmology service. Image: thenineworld / fotolia.

Not exactly the most clued-up on eyes, I was going in almost blind. I had an idea of common eye conditions and how to manage them, but recognising them and being able to localise a lesion in an eye was uncharted territory.

After a mind-boggling tutorial in which we tried to drag physics from the depths of our brains (A-levels were five years ago), consults began – and with them, ocular examination after examination after examination.

By the end of day one, despite my brain feeling fairly frazzled, I felt I could locate roughly where in the eye a problem was and begin to deduce differentials, or at least know which chapter of the book to look in.

We discussed the differences between referral and first opinion practice. One of the main reasons eye conditions are misdiagnosed or missed is simply lack of time in the consult room.

For example, if you have a five-minute consult and want to do a Schirmer’s tear test, half the time is already taken.

Several components exist to a thorough ocular examination, with some better than others at identifying certain conditions or highlighting certain anatomical regions of the eye.

One important thing I took away was you can still achieve a good examination with limited equipment – in our case, we found a broken otoscope the ideal instrument for distant direct ophthalmoscopy.

Guide Dogs patient

So it came to one of the final patients on our final day – a bubbly golden retriever about to begin formal training to become a guide dog. By this point, we thought we could accurately identify basic conditions, but didn’t want to believe what we found on his lenses. When asked for the diagnosis, I hesitantly answered “cataracts” for two reasons:
1. The cataracts themselves looked different to others we’d seen – they had a triangular shape with a clear area in the centre, making them not entirely opaque.
2. This young dog’s career as a guide dog would come to an abrupt end with this diagnosis.
However, a breed predilection exists for hereditary cataracts in retrievers and the Guide Dogs staff member who was accompanying the puppy walker – the person who fosters a puppy before they enter formal training – was not shocked by the news, having experienced the condition several times previously.

While the dog still had fairly good vision at the minute, it would have to be withdrawn from training.

Several options exist for guide dogs withdrawn for health or behavioural reasons – they can be put into another work sector, such as the police or other assistance dog programmes like buddies for disabled children. Otherwise, they are rehomed as pets – hopefully our golden friend will find a new family shortly.

Having looked into the Guide Dogs scheme a bit more, it’s astonishing how much work and money goes into the training and upkeep of a guide dog.

They are a fantastic aid to people with impaired or no vision and, while it was disheartening to see a dog that wouldn’t tick the health boxes for continued training, I could appreciate the vet’s role in the process.

Eyes may always be a tricky area of veterinary medicine, but I don’t think I’ll miss a triangular cataract from now on.
December 6, 2016