Week 1 BVSc
Hello everyone and welcome to the first week of I don't want to think how many BVSc blogs, as you may have gathered I have just started studying at the University of Bristol, on the course Veterinary Science. I'm so honoured and happy to be here as I worked so hard to get here. The new layout of my blog is going to be an overview of my week, followed by what's in the veterinary news this week, then any things I wish I'd know at the beginning of the week and any things I would've done differently for any other potential university students out there.
My Week
So this week has been a real blast, I am a very strange person I feel because I try to actively avoid alcohol. As a fresher most people expect us to be going out every night but I have only been out twice this week and I've not drank any alcohol since last Friday. Not only does not drinking alcohol make a night out very cheap it also means that you are aware of the people around you and able to help them if they get into trouble.
Meeting my flatmates has been amazing, I have been so lucky there's such a great group of us and though there are 7 of us in the flat 5 of us have formed "the squad of 307" we comprise of a medic and dentist an economics student and an aerospace engineer and me the vet. So far this week we've been on a squad trip to Lidl and to the student fair and just this evening we all bought dominos and sat around the kitchen table eating our 5 pizzas 2 potato wedge sides and 4 cookies that we only spent £8 feeling very proud of ourselves. I feel so lucky that we all get on so well we already have a lot of banter and I have already been designated the name of "mum"which I'm absolutely fine with, I know I'm always the mum in a group .
One thing I've found hard about this week is the intro into all of the veterinary stuff, this week we've been given so much information about who we can contact but I have no idea why I'd need to contact these people. Also there are so many questions that haven't been answered and I'm certain they will be and it's just me being impatient, however it is rather annoying because I have no clue really what's going on, I have a revision card full of questions that I need to ask on Monday. I have worked out some things for example the how to work the blackboard system that is used for our course and I've tried and semi succeeded to work the library system. But in terms of my course in general I am truly in the dark about most things, for example a task popped up today on blackboard and I have no idea what its for or what to do with it, hopefully all will be explained on Monday.
The SU fair was on today which was super duper fun we as a squad had pancakes for breakfast made by moi then we got the early bus to the fair so that we got there when it started, I always knew that I wanted to sign up for rowing which was the first thing I went to do, I would have loved to go straight into the team however because I haven't raced much before I had to sign up for the learn to row section but we'll see where it goes from there and I'll makes sure to keep you updated. I also signed up to the dog society where we get to walk dogs once every two weeks which I'm ecstatic about, I do really miss my dog. This week I also went out for a meal with 5 other vet students which was really nice, it was all girls and so we started all talking about what we were really finding hard about uni and it was so comforting to know that other people were finding the same things hard as I was. I would really recommend that if you are finding something hard to adjust to just speak to people even if you don't know them super well, the likelihood is that at least 1 of them will be feeling the same thing that you are.
So the best night out I've had this week has been to an ABBA disco, I didn't drink a thing all night which granted did make me very dehydrated but I pushed though, we turned up at the club which was PACKED and from the get go I pretty much knew the words to every song which meant that by about midnight I didn't have much of my voice left. Trust me jumping up and down and dancing and trying to hold your space in a crowd is very difficult I would say close to a workout. Knowing all of the songs was both a blessing and a curse but it was incredibly fun and it made me ecstatic to see how many people loved ABBA and were so pumped by it. The one problem with ABBA is the songs run out quickly so we didn't get back to the flat too late getting in about 2 am which for a Bristol night I would say is very early.
Veterinary News
Well the news I have isn't super recent but I swiped past a few interesting articles a few weeks ago and saved them solely for this moment. The first article is US news but it still seemed very interesting. The information is taken from the veterinary practice news. Zoetis announced that the USDA have granted and expanded indication of Cytopoint, a monoclonal antibody threapy for the treatment of allergic dermatitis in dogs. The company believe that an injection every 4-8 weeks which targets the protein formed in dogs that makes them itch has sustained efficacy. This allows vets in the US to come up with more tailored personalised approaches to their patients with dermatitis. I thought that this was interesting because I can't remember ever seeing McA being used in animal medicine before, I remember learning about them in A-Level biology but hadn't seen it linked to the veterinary field.
The next article I saw was a slightly harder hitting one. I have done a blog post on this before however I saw this article and wanted to put it in here. The information is taken from the McGill website. It starts by stating that vets are between 4 and 8 times more likely to take their lives than the general population, which isn't the same for human doctors or other graduate degree holders. All of the professions stated above do come out of uni with a lot of debt, are expected to work long hours and have a lot of empathy. It isn't understood why due to the similarities that vets have such a much higher suicide rate than the others. It is believed that due to the high stakes, all around high pressure and long working hours can affect the statistics, along with the fact that like doctors vets have a deep understanding of drugs that could end their lives, hence why poisoning is very common in vet suicides. Veterinary can also be quite a isolating job as they work in small clinics or even alone whereas doctors often work in hospitals or with many co-workers who they can ask for help from. On top of this vets though they choose their line of work because they love the animals they do get paid on average two times less than doctors. Vets also have to cope with euthanasia and they are the first port of call for animal abuse. I know that the veterinary profession does have all of these problems and that they aren't improving massively however I believe that I can help and others once we are qualified vets and if vets worked out just one or two of these named problems then maybe their mental health would improve. If you would like to read more about this please feel free to look back into the posts and I have done a fully dedicated post to suicide in the veterinary profession.
Tips
My Week
So this week has been a real blast, I am a very strange person I feel because I try to actively avoid alcohol. As a fresher most people expect us to be going out every night but I have only been out twice this week and I've not drank any alcohol since last Friday. Not only does not drinking alcohol make a night out very cheap it also means that you are aware of the people around you and able to help them if they get into trouble.
Meeting my flatmates has been amazing, I have been so lucky there's such a great group of us and though there are 7 of us in the flat 5 of us have formed "the squad of 307" we comprise of a medic and dentist an economics student and an aerospace engineer and me the vet. So far this week we've been on a squad trip to Lidl and to the student fair and just this evening we all bought dominos and sat around the kitchen table eating our 5 pizzas 2 potato wedge sides and 4 cookies that we only spent £8 feeling very proud of ourselves. I feel so lucky that we all get on so well we already have a lot of banter and I have already been designated the name of "mum"which I'm absolutely fine with, I know I'm always the mum in a group .
One thing I've found hard about this week is the intro into all of the veterinary stuff, this week we've been given so much information about who we can contact but I have no idea why I'd need to contact these people. Also there are so many questions that haven't been answered and I'm certain they will be and it's just me being impatient, however it is rather annoying because I have no clue really what's going on, I have a revision card full of questions that I need to ask on Monday. I have worked out some things for example the how to work the blackboard system that is used for our course and I've tried and semi succeeded to work the library system. But in terms of my course in general I am truly in the dark about most things, for example a task popped up today on blackboard and I have no idea what its for or what to do with it, hopefully all will be explained on Monday.
The SU fair was on today which was super duper fun we as a squad had pancakes for breakfast made by moi then we got the early bus to the fair so that we got there when it started, I always knew that I wanted to sign up for rowing which was the first thing I went to do, I would have loved to go straight into the team however because I haven't raced much before I had to sign up for the learn to row section but we'll see where it goes from there and I'll makes sure to keep you updated. I also signed up to the dog society where we get to walk dogs once every two weeks which I'm ecstatic about, I do really miss my dog. This week I also went out for a meal with 5 other vet students which was really nice, it was all girls and so we started all talking about what we were really finding hard about uni and it was so comforting to know that other people were finding the same things hard as I was. I would really recommend that if you are finding something hard to adjust to just speak to people even if you don't know them super well, the likelihood is that at least 1 of them will be feeling the same thing that you are.
So the best night out I've had this week has been to an ABBA disco, I didn't drink a thing all night which granted did make me very dehydrated but I pushed though, we turned up at the club which was PACKED and from the get go I pretty much knew the words to every song which meant that by about midnight I didn't have much of my voice left. Trust me jumping up and down and dancing and trying to hold your space in a crowd is very difficult I would say close to a workout. Knowing all of the songs was both a blessing and a curse but it was incredibly fun and it made me ecstatic to see how many people loved ABBA and were so pumped by it. The one problem with ABBA is the songs run out quickly so we didn't get back to the flat too late getting in about 2 am which for a Bristol night I would say is very early.
Veterinary News
Well the news I have isn't super recent but I swiped past a few interesting articles a few weeks ago and saved them solely for this moment. The first article is US news but it still seemed very interesting. The information is taken from the veterinary practice news. Zoetis announced that the USDA have granted and expanded indication of Cytopoint, a monoclonal antibody threapy for the treatment of allergic dermatitis in dogs. The company believe that an injection every 4-8 weeks which targets the protein formed in dogs that makes them itch has sustained efficacy. This allows vets in the US to come up with more tailored personalised approaches to their patients with dermatitis. I thought that this was interesting because I can't remember ever seeing McA being used in animal medicine before, I remember learning about them in A-Level biology but hadn't seen it linked to the veterinary field.
The next article I saw was a slightly harder hitting one. I have done a blog post on this before however I saw this article and wanted to put it in here. The information is taken from the McGill website. It starts by stating that vets are between 4 and 8 times more likely to take their lives than the general population, which isn't the same for human doctors or other graduate degree holders. All of the professions stated above do come out of uni with a lot of debt, are expected to work long hours and have a lot of empathy. It isn't understood why due to the similarities that vets have such a much higher suicide rate than the others. It is believed that due to the high stakes, all around high pressure and long working hours can affect the statistics, along with the fact that like doctors vets have a deep understanding of drugs that could end their lives, hence why poisoning is very common in vet suicides. Veterinary can also be quite a isolating job as they work in small clinics or even alone whereas doctors often work in hospitals or with many co-workers who they can ask for help from. On top of this vets though they choose their line of work because they love the animals they do get paid on average two times less than doctors. Vets also have to cope with euthanasia and they are the first port of call for animal abuse. I know that the veterinary profession does have all of these problems and that they aren't improving massively however I believe that I can help and others once we are qualified vets and if vets worked out just one or two of these named problems then maybe their mental health would improve. If you would like to read more about this please feel free to look back into the posts and I have done a fully dedicated post to suicide in the veterinary profession.
Tips
- don't be scared to approach people, yes you'll forget their names but they may not forget yours and having a friendly face in a crowd is very comforting. And make friends in all parts of the uni in halls, societies and on your course.
- Get as many deals as possible my earlier mentioned dominos deal for example a great way to bond as a flat and to stuff our faces. Plus you're a student now get a student card and get the discount in the stores, every penny counts.
- Bulk cook food, it will save you a tonne of money and mean that you don't have to think about what you're going to eat every day.
- Decorate your room and keep it tidy from the get go, my room at home is rather messy however because my uni room is much smaller I'm having to keep it tidy and cosy just so that I'm comfortable in it and it feels like home.
To learn next week
- I need to learn the best place for me to work and how to take lecture notes.
- I need to learn how to make sure my cupboard and fridge rotation works so that I don't waste food.
- I need to learn how to fit my rowing into my academic timetable.
And that is all for today people. I hope you liked the new layout I'm going to try do it every week so that my family and friends can keep up and anyone else who is interested in my life at uni. Thank you so much for reading remember to be happy and to smile and people, you never know it could make their day, kindness cost nothing. See you all next week.
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