Just how hard is vet school?

Veterinary Science is widely recognised as one of the hardest degrees you can do. Quite a lot of potential applicants have asked me on open days just how hard vet school is as they worry about the workload and the stress that comes with it, and whether they will be able to cope. 

What prompted me to write this post is that, well I'm in the middle of revision. I always take the full amount of time to do something so even though I know if I start after my blog I could finish the work I need to go through by teatime, it'll probably take me somewhere up to the region of 8 o clock because I get easily distracted! Another trick I do- I'll start working at x time. What I really should be doing is starting work now! :). 

Anyway, back to the topic of the post. Just how hard is vet school?

Vet school isn't easy. It can be very stressful balancing work experience placements that you have to organise yourself around exams and revision, as well as trying to maintain some sort of social life/hobbies. However, one thing I can say for Liverpool is that the work doesn't get harder, there's just a lot more of it. The main step up from A level is the fact that there's so much to remember about every species. The hard thing about veterinary science is remembering the subtle differences as this could even be a matter of life and death for that animal. There is even variation in the sensitivities that breeds of dog have to certain flea treatment.

For the first three years at Liverpool I say I do a lot of work, a lot more than a few people on my course. This is because I've got to work hard as I don't naturally have a very good memory which others can get away with. Even though I do a lot of work, I found time to go out every so often, especially in first year, and even now I still go out and go horseriding once a week for an afternoon when its not around exam time :). Its doable. 

My revision techniques; I always go through most lectures initially after the lecture to make sure I understood it. This gives me a template to work off for revision period as I've already absorbed the information once. Revision weeks are around a period of three straight weeks of easter and christmas to revise and I aim to go through every topic in that period at least once. This means around those times quite a lot of the day is devoted to revision time. I go through things in different ways. Some things I type out on my blog at the moment, others I do mind maps for/colours (pathology). Find what works for you :).

Whilst vet school is a lot of hard work, its possible to have a life as well and its not quite as scary as some people might think. Just thought some current applicants might appreciate this post. 

As an aside, I was just watching junior vets for the first time. Definately interesting to see how these younger children cope with the aspects of the career without the five years training! Worth a watch :).