Veterinary

Veterinary Student

Hi,
I got accepted to Veterinary Medicine this year and deferred. I would like to get a head start on some of the material covered in first year. Would it be possible to contact the college to send me out the list of all the first year books needed or could a Veterinary student here help me please?!!!

Also, I found the Veterinary timetable on the UCD website but I dont know how it works. Would UCD or someone on here be able to send it to me?!!

Also are there a lot of repeats in Veterinary around the age of 19?

Thank you for your help!

PeaSoup

Hi there,

There's really no need to get started so soon. The lectures are well organised and taught in first year, there's much more of an emphasis placed on getting to know each other and becoming comfortable, etc. Oh and something I wished someone told me is that the dreaded anatomy project is actually just a test to see if you can stand the sight or blood, guts, etc. You're not meant to be able to locate anything really so don't feel too under pressure.

Most importantly, you should try and remember your animal biology but apart from that relax a little.

If you're really insistent here you go;

Courses covered are, Introduction to Basic Mammalian Structure (covers histology and embryology), Cell and Molecular Biology (similar to biology but covers things in much greater depth), Intro to the Practical Apps of Veterinary Anatomy & Comparative Topographical Anatomy of the Thorax (Dyce or Pasquini, your choice), Veterinary Cardiovascular and Respiratory (this introduces some difficult concepts that would be best studied with the lecturer but if you're insistent then read the appropriate chapters in cunningham!), Homeostasis and Introduction to Physiological Communication (this is a pretty difficult to study alone, covering how cells communicate ie. nervous system, etc so just try to have a basic understanding of neurons and the nervous system).

There are five other subjects in the second semester, ignore these for now and try and do some fun stuff with your year!! Comparative Topographical Anatomy of the Abdomen and Pelvis, Cell and Whole Body Metabolism (this is basically learning off a load of metabolical pathways similar to what you would have done in Leaving Cert) , The Physiology and Biochemistry of Digestion of Domestic Animals (digestive systems vary so much amongst animals, you can read some pages in cunningham about this), Applications & Integration I.

IN terms of buying books I would suggest you buy one anatomy (I reccommend Pasquini) book and maybe one physiology (I recommend Cunningham) book. Hold off on any others really as come 3rd,4th and 5th year the books you will require will be ones you need for your career and more expensive, cost approx 100 euro or more in some cases.

Best of luck, enjoy your year and remeber when first year does roll around it's of equal importance to get to know your class and to have fun!!

PeaSoup

Being 19 is sooo not old it's funny you'd even mention it. You'd be considered young. People have often repeated, done transition year, deffered, tried something else, gone back to do the leaving cert, completed full courses, etc.

Solja of Hispania

As a vet student at UCD myself I can tell you that 19 isn't old! I'd say 19 was about the average age of 1st years when I started the course. Don't worry about reading up before you start, you'll pick it up as you go along. You'll be doing plenty of study over the next 5 years so I'd say enjoy your deferred year and don't worry about study. Coming from leaving cert into the vet course is quite a change (you are eased into the new course smoothly enough though), so studying to get ahead before you start would not be much help. Don't worry about the textbooks yet- these go into a lot more detail than you cover in lectures and will make a lot more sense once you start 1st year. Congratulations by the way, it's a great degree!

ordinary star

yep i'm the same i really wouldnt recommend studying before you start next year - first year is well thought out and is not much hassle ~enjoy your time off

Aru

If your deferring a year then enjoy your deferred year ...vet will take over your life soon enough!

If you want to do something vet wise then get involved with the side of practice you want to work in later..or are curious about.
Do some time in stud farms/equine work-handling horses is always a good thing to have under your belt.
Go lambing(way more fun then you think,plus some of the larger flocks will pay you for your work-if you want details on placement the vet program officer usually has a number of farms contact him to advertise for students each year..ask him to send them to you)
Visit a few different type of vets to see how they do things and get more practical experience
....dont spend a year reading...the practical side will be way more beneficial in the long run...bar anatomy..maybe Histopath as well very few of your first year subjects will be relevant to day to day vet life....and even reading ahead wont put you at that much of an advantage.


If your insisting on getting books Pasquini has the best anatomy book(fantastic pictures)...and his clinic books-Guide to ..clinics.in bovine small animal and 3 equine are all very handy in the later years.

Oh and at 19 you will be the an average age irish student in vet.Loads of us repeat or get in by the long route....and taking into account the 40 mostly american postgrads ye will have join in 3rd year you will definitely be in the young side of the class.

Glitter_star94

Veterinary Student wrote: »

Hi,
I got accepted to Veterinary Medicine this year and deferred. I would like to get a head start on some of the material covered in first year. Would it be possible to contact the college to send me out the list of all the first year books needed or could a Veterinary student here help me please?!!!

Also, I found the Veterinary timetable on the UCD website but I dont know how it works. Would UCD or someone on here be able to send it to me?!!

Also are there a lot of repeats in Veterinary around the age of 19?

Thank you for your help!

Can I just ask why you deferred a year? Did you do a gap year?