Studying veterinary medicine is notorious for its extensive subject matter and the opportunities and challenges that come with it. In this conversation, which can also be heard on our podcast, Feline talks about her experiences as a veterinary student, sources of motivation and lack of appreciation.
I always wanted to study veterinary medicine. I've had this desire since kindergarten, like many other girls. Since then, I've also thought about human medicine, but actually I always wanted to work with animals and so studying veterinary medicine was the perfect fit.
The course of studies is generally very school-like. It is designed for eleven semesters and you are given a timetable every semester. That's why you study the planned eleven semesters if you don't actively repeat a whole year. It does happen that some students repeat something, but the majority do it within the planned period.
The most important thing when studying veterinary medicine is that you are interested in the subject. The course requires a lot of learning and memorisation, so you need a strong basic interest. It is easy to manage and brings a lot of joy if you find the content exciting. However, it can quickly become difficult if this basic curiosity for the subject is missing.
The course is extremely broad, which many people don't realise beforehand. As a result, you have to learn a lot at first - even though you only work in a small sub-area of veterinary medicine later on. It is sometimes difficult to filter what is really relevant. A lot has changed in recent years, but it is still the case that there's a lot that you need to learn by heart.
Yes definitely, there's a lot to do. That's why it's important to have a balance. You can't just sit at home and study all day. And it also helps to remember that you are doing all this to become a vet one day. Sometimes you may get really upset about the fact that there is so much to learn - so remembering that might help a bit, too.
### What else do you get so worked up about when you study veterinary medicine? One problem is certainly the lack of social recognition of the subject. In comparable courses such as law or human medicine, the amount of work involved in studying is more appreciated. That's why motivation and interest in the subject of veterinary medicine and animals is crucial: You really have to burn for it.
### Do you have any suggestions on how the study programme could be redesigned from an organisational point of view in order to reduce the workload? It's not that easy. There is simply a lot of material and many subjects that you have to fit into these eleven semesters of study. If this were to be equalised, the study programme would be significantly longer. A sensible approach would be to incorporate more practice from the beginning. The first two years are very theoretical, it's all about chemistry, physics, biochemistry and so on. I think it could be more varied. I think it would be more varied if the practical approaches, when you're closer to animals, were incorporated earlier.
In any case, I would advise to look for a part-time job where you already work practically on animals. I was a student assistant in a university clinic, which I definitely benefited from. There I could apply the theoretical knowledge, get an idea of what it looks like in practice and what is really important. It's great fun and you remember what all the theoretical knowledge is for.
