Diseases of Ruminants State

Another one bites the dust! We all passed our Diseases of Ruminants exam and have finished for Christmas

To be honest I didn't really enjoy this block as much as I did Horses as we had a lot of free time (I was home for two weeks and went to the BVZS conference) which was great and we went on four farm trips which I really enjoyed, I just missed having a structure of daily lectures and practicals.
Anyone that knows me will know I need pressure to study and I didn't get "The Fear" until a couple days before this exam!

There were 'only' 17 questions for the Ruminants State so we are given 17 topics, study those, pick one from an envelope on the day and speak your answer to a panel of four examiners. The topics were really broad and of course I picked one of the topics I didn't want, Vitamins, but it was actually fine and I passed.

We're all heading home for Christmas over the next few days for some much needed time off.

4 States done, 2 to go before graduation!

Final Freshers Week

We've just finished my final (hopefully!) Freshers Week and had an awesome time with the best people.
I usually organise the week for the new students, booking bars and events then we finished with a house party at ours on Friday night. There were a few hundred bottles to clean up the next morning so I think everyone had a good time!

This pair came to visit and I didn't take many photos but these sum up the week pretty well...



Reeya and Mairi, bae's from the beginning, moved into our house last week. We lived together for three years in dorms so it's been really nice to have them back!

Kraków and Auschwitz Trip

We usually go away at the end of Freshers week so this year we decided to go to Kraków in Poland. There were 14 of us so we hired a minibus and driver and off we went.

The AirBnB we booked was really nice and the lady told us the best sights to see so off we went and found the main square. It's a much bigger city that Košice and definitely geared more towards tourists so was easy to get around.

After walking around the city, along the river and castle we found the Jewish Quarter and went for food. There were quite a few vegans and veggies in the group and it was really easy to find somewhere they could eat.

For Saturday we had booked a tour of the Auschwitz concentration camps. I stopped History at school after year 8 so the most modern history I studied was the Tudors and never really learnt about the Second World War so was interested to visit. 

We had a tour guide who was great at explaining the various buildings and exhibits. It's hard to believe over 1.1millions prisoners died at Auschwitz, around 90% of them Jewish. We know that Jews were put on the train in Košice bound for Auschwitz, 170miles away.

I didn't take many photos for obvious reasons;

Auschwitz Camp I

Auschwitz Birkenau II

Back in Kraków we went for food and met up with a few friends before heading out

On Saturday, our final day, we had planned to do the Salt Mines but half the group went earlier in the morning and queued for 2 hours to get in so we decided against it.

We booked an open top bus tour of the city and the heavens opened. We got soaked and didn't get off at any of the stops but it was good all the same!

Home time!

I definitely want to go back at some point to do the Salt Mines and a few other bits we missed out.

Freshers Fundraising - UV Party

A couple months ago we thought it would be a good idea to arrange an event get all the Vet, Medic and Dentist Freshers together and raise some money for charity.

We started with the idea of a UV Party and it all went from there booking the venue, DJs, security and started advertising.

Tickets sold out before the night and Medics were selling glowsticks to raise even more money for charity.

The event was held at Tabačka Kulturfabrik on Wednedsay and was a great night which went down really well with everyone out.

All the proceeds from ticket sales went to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières providing medical aid, food and water to refugees in Greece and the Balkans areas who have been forced out of their homes due to war and human rights violations.

Sarah and Max some of the Medics were the driving force and overall we managed to raise €1,413 which is an amazing achievement!

They donated the money today, the International Day of Peace; here's the guys making the donation:

UVM Košice Dorms

I've had a few people message me to ask about dorms and what the rooms are like so hopefully this will help. When I first visited before coming I was worried about what we'd seen of dorms but now I'm settled in it's not an issue and I kinda like the place.
It's cheap, easy and convenient being close to campus and other students, especially during exam period for sharing notes, past papers and bones for revision; as everyone living in dorms are vet students it's not too loud either as we should all be studying at the same time.

Dorms are a 5-10 minute walk from campus and 20-30 minute walk into town - there's a bus stop right outside which either goes into town and train station or up to the Zoo/ski slopes.
There are two grocery store/supermarkets with cashpoints a 5 minute walk away, big Tesco is 20mins away and Vet Bar opposite does decent food and drinks; €3.50 for a pizza. On the ground floor there's a takeout pizza place, canteen and vending machines and 'F Club' a bar underneath dorms. here are three gyms, a sports hall and outdoor basketball courts which people arrange games of football, basketball, volleyball and badminton each week.

International students get a room to themselves whereas Slovak students share so as the rooms are meant for 2 people they're pretty big, much bigger than UK student halls I've seen. They come with:
2 single beds which can be pushed together to make a double or stacked to make a tall single
2 desks, 2 chairs, 2 desk lamps
2 shelves and a large wardrobe
Sink and mirror
Fridge (some have a freezer, mine doesn't)

We are allowed to decorate and keep our rooms for the whole time we're here which is good as we don't have to take everything home for summer as in UK halls. Some people are lucky that the people before them have left things but I guess that's down to the luck of the draw. As more people who have decorated are graduating, I guess the odds of having a better room are increasing?

When I moved in my room was bright orange with a bed either side of the window and desks in the middle:

There is a tiny kitchen on the corridor with a sink, cupboards and hot plate but I've never been in there and most people tend to cook in their rooms. The bathrooms have just been redone so they're alright with 3 showers and 4 toilets for the 10 rooms on the corridor - there's a washing machine on nearly every floor.

We painted our rooms the first few days we arrived to make it our own before we unpacked and settled in. The girls both went for purple but I just painted mine all white with one grey wall and a bit of grey around the sink

I've inherited a shelving unit since then which I still need to paint and have bought things like the oven, kettle and microwave.

Once you get unpacked, put photos up and start using the room you find out which layout works and settle in pretty quickly.

At the moment we pay €120 (£85) per month and only half rent when we're away for Christmas, Easter, Summer which is a bargain and I paid more than that per week for my previous student accommodation!

The best thing is the view over Košice...

Skiing in Slovakia

My coursemates and I took a break from revision today to go skiing.

Kavečany is a 10 minute bus ride from vet school dormitories so we decided to go and spend an afternoon there.

We hired our ski's, boots, poles and helmets for €13 and spent €19 on ski lift passes for 4 hours and off we went...

The view from the top of the slopes was amazing; you can see the whole of Košice in the background, on the right hand side.

There are nine ski lifts there, so nine slopes, though only three were open today.

I haven't been skiing for over 10 years after going to Courmayeur for a week with school but surprisingly I remembered how to ski and was off!

A couple of the guys hadn't been before so they had a lesson last Friday and were still learning but we tried to look after them. Ryan forgot how to stop at one point, ended up flying straight down the slope, over one fence at the bottom and through the fence behind it!

Luckily we had helmets so everyone was fine, just took a few minutes to stop laughing.

Had an amazing time and can't wait to go back again soon!

Genetics

So this morning I failed my Genetics Final...

It's an oral exam where we're given 3 questions from a list of 80, given 30 minutes to write our answers and then we present them to the lecturer. My topics were Meiosis; Blood Groups; and GMO's and Health Care.

I started with my weakest question, Meiosis and after 10 minutes of trying to explain the different phases and stages of Prophase, he stopped me and basically stopped me and said I wasn't ready for the exam and to come back and try again.
He's not the nicest lecturer I've met but to be fair to him he put me at ease and was really nice about it, so I think it was fair enough.

I'm glad I tried the exam because at least now I know I underestimated how much work I should have put in and the amount of detail required for the questions, so I'll be more prepared come the summer.

I was meant to be doing my Anatomy Final on Monday (in 3 days time) but after today I decided that's not long enough to revise and so have cancelled that and applied to do it the following Monday - I guess that's one benefit of having oral exams, that we can choose when to sit them!

Genetics Karyotyping - Chromosomal Analysis

Today we had a Genetics practical in which we examined chromosomes from samples of bovine blood and bone marrow which I collected in clinic last week.

We also used Mouse bone marrow samples which we harvested in a previous practical.

We were then given random unmarked slides which we had to find and count the number of chromosomes to identify the species and sex of the specimen.

My slide had 38 chromosomes, 19 pairs, which could have been a Cat or a Pig but I worked out it was a pig from the market chromosomes; the smallest chromosome wasn't half the size of the second smallest, meaning it was a pig.

There was no Y sex chromosome so I also determined that it was a female or sow.

Maxime's slide had 46 chromosomes which is a Human karyotype!

Pretty awesome that I'm only in the eighth week of Vet School but we have already collected blood and bone marrow from three species of animals - Rabbits, Mice and Cows.

Homework we've been given is a photo similar to the chromosomes above which we have to determine species, marker chromosomes and sex then cut them out and arrange the Karyotype according to international rules!

Milk Hygiene; Dairy Visit

This afternoon, straight after our Physiology exam, we went on a field trip to the University Dairy farm.

It's a 45min drive outside of Kosice and although the bus was something out of the 1950's the view was really nice.

They have 410 dairy cows in lactation so a decent sized farm.

They made us put on lab coats, wellies and hair nets (not typical dairy farmer attire) and showed us around the farm, the parlour and the milk room.

I was impressed with the parlour but the milk room could have done with several improvements... It wasn't the cleanest and the floor was broken etc but that's why we were there, to 'inspect' the hygiene of the place.

Afterwards they took us to see the young calves...

Very cute!

Apparently we'll be back again to see the other animals with different modules and might have to come back to stay over for calving which would be really good!

Officially a Vet Student!

I've officially registered as a student of UVMP Košice!

We've had a hectic few days getting settled.

When we arrived at the airport on Tuesday there were some students on the same flight from years above and they sorted out our taxis to dorms for us. They've all been amazing help settling us in, taking us out for drinks and telling us where to buy paint, which shops to go to etc.

Me, Sian and Roxie who all went to Aberystwyth together all have rooms next to each other and we've spent the last 3 days decorating our rooms - when we arrived they were bright orange and yellow!

It's now white and grey but I need to unpack and get photos tomorrow as it looks like a building site at the moment!

I have the most amazing view from my room on the eighth floor...

...and I can't wait to see it in the Autumn and Winter.

We've been into town and to Tesco a couple times and as it was Roxie's birthday yesterday we went for a nice meal together at Napoli's which was really nice and really cheap!

University of Veterinary Medicine in Kosice, Slovakia

I guess that now I've been accepted I should probably post a bit more about the vet school I could be spending the next 4 years of my life at!

The University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy is in in Kosice, the second biggest city in Slovakia - behind Bratislava, the capital.
I was born and raised in Birmingham, England's second city but Kosice is ever so slightly different!

They offer a 6 year course for A-level leavers who have to do an entrance exam as well as a graduate entry 4 year post-BSc course for animal or science related degree schemes. The courses are ran in either Slovak or English so I'll be with lots of other English speaking international students from all over the world.

At the end of it we end up with a DVM qualification; Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.
The course is fully accredited and allows you to register with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), the same as all the UK universities, which means I can practice in the UK and the EU.
It's also accredited by EAEVE, European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education, which Martin from the Uni explained when we visited, the same as the UK vet schools.

Tuition fees are €7,500 a year (around £6,100 with current exchange rate) compared with £9,000-£26,500 per year studying in the UK.
Taking the cheaper UK universities at £9,000 for 5 years would mean £45,000 compared with ~£24,400 for 4 years in Kosice; if I was to compare with £26,500 its a difference of £108,100...

Accommodation in dorms is €120 a month during term time and half price during summer months which averages out at €100 a month over the year and equates to £80 a month. I paid £80 a week to live in Aberystwyth and have friends who pay £140 a week in Manchester and London!
The cost of living is comparable with food being a lot cheaper but other items like toiletries being slightly more expensive than the UK.

I was worried about potential employment after studying abroad but having spoken to a few vets, they don't see it as an issue. One of the vets where I saw practice in Aberystwyth studied in Budapest and the more senior vets I spoke to said they were impressed with how practical the course seemed to be. As long as the course is accredited I will be fine and as more and more students are looking abroad for their studies, the prospects can only get better.

The way I see it is living and studying abroad can only be a good thing and rounds you as a person. When else may I get the opportunity to move away and live in another country without ties of a mortgage or family?

Been accepted into Vet School

I didn't mention it before but I applied to UMV Kosice vet school in Slovakia a few weeks ago and have been accepted onto the 4 year post-BSc course!

I'm obviously really excited but also quite daunted at the prospect; since graduating I've settled at home, have a full-time job and the money that comes with it, a new car, friends and family all around me and hadn't got my head around moving away again, especially not to Eastern Europe!
But its been a few weeks now since I applied and got accepted and visiting both uni's definitely answered a lot of questions I had and I'm looking forward to it.

Since we visited I've put myself off studying in Budapest mainly due to the extra 3 years it will take me and the extra €30,000 fees (not including living costs) that goes with that.

I really really loved the city of Budapest and could really see myself living there and would love to study there but Kosice is winning at the moment.

It also costs a lot more to apply to Budapest, €200 application plus €250 entrance exam, which isn't much in the grand scheme of things but a lot of money to waste applying if I can't see myself there.

Before I go I want to get some more placements seeing practice in vets and have sent emails to all the local practices - so far I've had 1 rejection and 1 email saying its been forwarded to the practice manager.

I've asked my office job if I can go down to 4 days a week (either part time or do 4 longer days) which they were reluctant to do but they know its for my career and if I can't do 4 days I'll hand my notice in to get work experience...
I've worked 8am-8pm four days a week and 8-4 on a Friday for a good few months now, so one day a week off seeing practice would be ideal.

Visiting Budapest and Kosice Vet Schools

We've been saying for literally years that we need to visit the vet schools in Budapest and Slovakia but have never got round to arranging it 'cos people always had something in the way or couldn't do a certain date, so a couple months ago I looked at when the cheapest flights were and just booked it.

I put on Facebook that I was going with an open invite to come with and 3 other friends booked, so at least I wasn't going on my own.

We arrived in Budapest on Sunday evening and spent most of the week there - I love the city! It has a cool, trendy vibe was really clean and reminded me a lot of Berlin.

It's really easy to get around and nearly everything is in English which I didn't expect.

We went to have a look at the Uni and for a quick self-guided tour as there was noone from the uni to show us around. I didn't realise they didn't offer a shorter post-BSc course so minimum is 5.5 years and speaking to students, on average it takes 7.5 years!! The campus was great with pretty modern facilities but it was tiny (much smaller than my secondary school) and there were no animals on campus.
Apparently they have a really high fail rate so people end up doing retakes, taking inactive semesters to revise or retaking semesters if they failed it previously.
It was really good to speak to some 5th year Norwegian girls who were (a bit too) critical but told it how it is so we're prepared for what the course is like.

On Thursday we hired a car and drove 250km to Košice in Slovakia - I drove and we survived!

Kosice was completely different to Budapest; very little English in the town and much less touristy.

We met up with Louise, a friend from my undergrad BSc, who is now a 1st year in Kosice and went for dinner. We went to Piano bar and ordered pizzas in English and the waitress understoon us fine, even if we had to do a bit of pointing at the menu!
I guess if I move out there I'll pick up some of the language and will get to know the places to go, though that said, they have a McDonalds, two 24hr Tesco's and a Marks & Spencer!

The next morning we went to visit UVMP Kosice (University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy) which was a quick tram ride away and pretty easy to find.

The Uni seemed to have good facilities, we met Martin and Denisa from the Foreign Office who gave us a tour of campus and answered lots of questions for us.

Anatomy Museum & Library:

 Lots of the buildings are older but they're obviously spending a lot of money developing it and building new facilities all the time which I was really impressed with. I guess as more international students are going out there to study it is building up the reputation and facilities so things can only get better.

A new Equine clinic with stables was built last year with cameras for 24/7 observation: 

Every stable has a separate yard so the horses can go outside if they want to. There was even a lecture room which looked onto a horse operating theatre which was a neat idea!

The only thing that really put me off was the dorms accommodation, but in saying that, it's only €120 a month which is silly cheap compared to home! We had a look at adverts for private apartments which were about €420 a month for 2 people so still pretty cheap and about half of what I paid in Aberystwyth.

They're both completely different universities and vet schools and not at all what I expected so I'm really glad we came. I've made a list of Pro's and Con's... If I could put Kosice University in the city of Budapest that would be perfect!

I now have some thinking to do and life decisions to make!

Graduation

Today, I graduated from Aberystwyth University with a BSc Hons 2(II) in Animal Science! :D

Had the most amazing week ever.
Spent it with my best friends in 30 degree sunshine, on the beach and in the sea!

Dissertation

Can I use this photo in my Dissertation to sum up my Materials and Methods section?

Dermanyssus gallinae - Poultry Red Mite

Looking at Dermanyssus gallinae, Poultry Red Mite, under the microscope for my Dissertation!

I'm testing the efficacy of 5 essential oils at killing red mite in a lab situation...