How to survive veterinary School

It's no joke when they say veterinary is one of the hardest programs in the world. Always remember that vet school is a marathon and not a sprint and it should be treated as such. Everyone accepted into the veterinary program is capable of successfully making it through and making it as a doctor of veterinary medicine.

It's just all about little pointers and tricks to help you get through when you are feeling down or too overwhelmed to carry on. Although they might seem like obvious points, the smaller ones that make a large impact are also the ones that can be taken for granted the most. Below is a list of suggestive tips and tricks to help you get through the challenges you might face during vet school:

Find your people

Nobody gets through vet school alone (well, mostly nobody, there’s always special cases). However, more often than not, they don’t. The saying stands true: “teamwork makes the dream work”. It is hard trying to find a balance between making sure you have all your notes done and actually having a sufficient amount of time to study and learn them before midterms and finals.

Find yourself a solid group of friends that are there for the good times and bad: they are there to help study, help with notes, and even to help motivate each other when it all just becomes a little too much to handle but also a group that can be there for the fun times too. This little tribe will be your friends for life. Together you will go through and experience so much that not everyone outside of the field can relate to making the friendship that much stronger.

Have faith in yourself

In professional school, sometimes when you’re surrounded by other intelligent, energetic, over-achieving students it is easy to lose yourself and feel as though everyone else is superior and doing better than you (imposter syndrome). But in reality, that is not the case. Almost everyone feels secretly overwhelmed at some stage in vet school even though they do not necessarily show it.

Don’t judge yourself and keep on going. Grades do not necessarily matter, they rarely reflect how well you understand or can practice the material. If anything, it indicates how well a professor can trick you on a test. Of course, this does not mean that one should not put in the effort and time when it comes to an exam/midterm or not to try and do well at all, it just means that if the grade you get does not reflect the amount of blood sweat and tears that went into it, it does not necessarily mean that you do not understand the material.

The truth is that unfortunately you are going to come across a lot of teachers who pride themselves in making their tests so difficult that only a small percentage of students will be able to pass them whilst the majority will find the test impossible/difficult. They think that this means they are doing a good job as a teacher. It’s crazy but true. There is an alarming number of professors with a backwards theory that by making the test as difficult as they possibly can this will only allow the “good” students of the class to pass; those students who spend hours upon hours trying to memorize every word (unnecessary or not) out of a textbook. These students eventually end up burning out way faster and earlier than most because it is not a system that can last very long as the number of material increases with each year.

A sense of competence and capability within the veterinary field will eventually come with time and experience but as a student, it is hard to think that there will be a time when you are more confident in your line of work. It is important that in times when you feel like this, have some outside interests/hobbies that you are good at and can give you that immediate sense of satisfaction. You never know, you might struggle a lot with the theory but strive when it comes to practicals and really be able to do a lot better than some of the “good students” can.

Have fun

Give yourself and your mind a break and find something fun and engaging for yourself (or with friends) to do. From now on veterinary will forever be a huge part of your student life as well as your career life, but it should not be the only part of your life. After the bucketloads of information, your brain deserves a break. It needs time to rest and recharge. Whether it be veterinary related or not, get out of the house, engage in activities that help stimulate the mind and soul and overall just relax and have a good time or else, you will burn out far before graduation.

Read beyond schoolwork

Scientific research and discoveries (especially in the veterinary and medical field) continue to grow and develop on a daily basis. Theories come and go, myths get busted, forms of treatment and therapies vary etc. It can change the way we diagnose and deal with our future patients. We strive to make it the best as possible for them and by doing so hopefully increasing success rates in treatments. It is important to keep up with the latest discoveries because it may encourage you into a path that you didn’t know you wanted to pursue and be the cause of a new revolutionary theory in the medical field. It may even teach you new methods of diagnostic procedures which in turn helps you grow and develop as a veterinarian and as a result lets you expand on your own skills in more than just the medical side of veterinary, but also in a more personal, in-depth knowledge about your patients wants and needs.

Be open to trying new things

Some people enter vet school with a strict mindset that they will only work with one certain species of animals because it is all they are interested in and do not really care for learning about other species of animals, which is fine, however, don’t be that person. More often than not, after learning about each animal the person's attitude changes. It is an all too common occurrence. Sometimes those who thought they will only work with small animals end up enjoying the experience and knowledge that was gained from large and farm animals and therefore decide to continue pursuing in that direction.

Take advantage of your time in vet school. Enjoy learning about all the animals big, small, exotic or domestic and allow yourself to test out new experiences and to step out of your comfort zone. Apply for internships, externships and opportunities for various types of clinics/countries/diagnostics etc, apply to places which you would not have originally thought of trying out and you might surprise yourself by how much you enjoy it.

One day at a time

For the next five and a half years, you are going to be exposed to an entire ocean worth of workload and information. It's going to be a big challenge to try and keep on top of it all. No matter how much you try it is impossible to be able to memorize and absorb everything. This may add another level of stress; the fact that you may not be able to really be caught up with everything all the time.

In addition to that, trying to juggle the workload, work, study and going to classes, all whilst trying to still remain somewhat human is very challenging but more so, overwhelming. By taking it one day at a time and focusing on just getting through the day and getting the daily workload done, the smaller accomplishments add up in the end and result in the successful completion of the year and courses all without the higher risk of burnout. Learning how to study efficiently will be your key to success. Study smarter not harder.

Show up to classes

It may seem like an obvious point but it can be easily missed or taken for granted. Sometimes you are tempted to skip classes for various reasons and doing this once or twice you may be able to get away with it but in the long run, it’ll do more harm. The volume of information you learn in class is massive, and sometimes professors give out important information that you might miss whether it be about a topic on the final exam or an important case study. The time you have in class gives you the chance to ask questions and clear up any misunderstandings about any topic or subject that you may have. It is time to take advantage of the professors' knowledge and experience in the field you will end up in.

Attending classes and lectures help keep you on top of things, helps keep you organized and helps you focus on the important subjects for final examinations.

Read ahead (if possible)

If you get the opportunity, try and read the lecture or lab topics before attending the lesson. By doing so, you will introduce yourself to the new materials that are going to be discussed and you will have a better basic understanding of what is going on which then lets you ask the questions you need to answer instead of wasting time trying to figure it all out for yourself. It also induces a sense of confidence that you are not lost in where you are in the course and helps you keep on top of and keep track of your notes.

Be prepared for failure 

Regardless of how much you study, how many hours you put in, and how many all-nighters you pull, there is always a test that you might fail. This is normal and it happens to everyone.

Some people who are used to being at the top of the class and have been that way throughout high school may have never failed a test in their life before and once they do for the first time it feels like the end of the world. It really is not. As frustrating as it can be, it is also a big life lesson: you are not going to be successful or ace everything you do, but it also does not mean that you should just give up and leave it at that. It just means that you just have to push through and keep going until you reach your goal(s) and at the end of the day you can and will. it.

Get involved

Most vet schools offer a wide range of extracurricular activities that students of all years can get involved in. Join them! There are a lot of benefits from doing so: clubs and programs provide fantastic opportunities to further educate yourself with additional information about your field that may not be in the textbooks.

Some of these clubs even offer more hands-on experience which preps you for future clinical rotations. The knowledge gained can be used in the practical field and really cementing it in your future line of work. It may even allow you to test out different skills and experience species that you wouldn’t have normally done

Professional Organizations

In addition to providing students with extracurricular activities and clubs, some vet schools have also given the students the option to join more professional organizations (student chapter versions). Professional organizations like these provide a huge range of activities and opportunities for students to grow and develop themselves from the start of vets school to the end of graduation and more.

Some include: assisting in job placements, mentorships, better clinical experience, international opportunities, educational material to further develop skills and knowledge and social support in the form of a specific community that can relate to everything you are going through and that share the same interest and drive that you do except with the experience that you can get inspired by and learn from because they will be beneficial for your future self. Having this kind of support system and opportunities and being able to connect and network with others that are in the same situation as you are and have been through the same procedure as you really helps.

Get enough sleep

Sleep is by far one of the absolute and most vital things needed to survive vet school and it is one of those that are taken for granted much too often. The brain needs to sleep in order to retain all the information from the day and to be able to function the next day as well.

All those all-nighters, late nights and cramming sessions are not worth it and in the end, will just catch up to you in the long run and just cause a big burnout very quickly on into the course. At some point, your brain will refuse to take in any more information and no matter how much to continue to read or cram and push the limits, it will be useless.

Always make sure sleep is a priority because if you are well-rested, in the course of time it will help you study better, retain more information, allow you to focus better and perform better on exams than if you keep pushing the limits. Sleep is key!

Exercise

I could go on and on and name about a hundred and one reasons as to why exercise is (or should be) an important factor in someone's life. There is a huge amount of mental and physical benefits related to exercising.

To name just a few is that: it increases your endorphins (brain’s ‘feel-good’ neurotransmitters), it reduces negative effects of stress (exercise provides stress relief to the body whilst also releasing the flight or fight form of responses in the same matter as stress would but the difference is that instead, it helps the body’s system work together through the effects and make better decisions at the moment), it is a physical form of meditation (after a long and stressful day, exercising can help get rid of the day’s irritations), etc. It is important to make exercise a part of your life. Any form of exercise from cardio, weightlifting, aerobics to yoga, and pilates can act as a stress reliever and be beneficial for the mind and soul.

Relax

Amongst all the classes and chaos of vet school, it is important to find some time in the hustle and bustle to physically and mentally take a step back, unplug and recharge. The brain needs this kind of break as well in order to better enhance its function.

It can be in any shape or form whether it be a simple gathering with friends, meditation, movies etc as long as it's giving yourself and your mind a break and rest.

Make it a Job

Veterinary school is a marathon, not a sprint and it should be treated as such. All-nighters and cramming may have worked in high school and undergraduate school but that approach will not work in a graduate/professional course like vet school. Similar results will not be achieved and you will end up quite disappointed and exhausted. This is why it is a good idea if you approach vet school the same/similar way you would approach and make effort for a job. Treat vet school as a job of its own.

For example: whether you have classes or not, treat every weekday as your average eight-to-five job or as a daily life of a student. Resist the urge to go home as soon as classes are done for the day, instead make study dates at the library, a coffee shop or even at a friend's house, whichever situation helps you focus and be productive.

Ask for help

Everyone is in the same situation and everyone is in need of help and assistance at some point for whatever reason it may be, so don’t be afraid to ask for help from friends, classmates, older years, teachers, anyone you feel comfortable with confiding in. In some schools, they even offer counselling services. It can be related to vet school or it can be personal.

Sharing any stressors, concerns or having questions about the material and actual studies at an early stage can help you gain some perspective and guidance from early on and prevent the stressors from getting any worse. If these stressors and worries get worse and are not dealt with at the start then they can grow and cause other issues to escalate as well.

There are a lot of things happening around the world, in private homes and at vet school (which is already an overwhelming experience on its own) and nobody can manage every situation single-handedly. Asking for help is a sign of strength and determination will help you be at your best.

Play with animals

Between all the late nights, information overload, lack of contact with live animals for the first few years and exam stress we can sometimes forget why we started this journey in the first place. Sometimes it is important to get back to the core reason as to why we chose this path.

Find situations in which you can play, take care, handle live animals and just spend time with them. It is important that we don’t lose sight of what we enjoy doing and keep the motivation we have to save the animals alive as much as we can.

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All these little points that are mentioned above can, in their own way, help better your time at vet school and ease a lot of the stresses that you might have, however, the most important of all the tips and tricks on how to survive vet school is to have fun! It's going to be the hardest but also the funniest and most exciting few years of your life.

Vet school is a unique experience that only a few people in the world will truly understand and never again will you be able to have the same camaraderie and community that you find and experience here. Not only are you building knowledge and passion for the welfare of animals but you are also developing friendships that will last a lifetime and experiences that will result in the most unique and incredible adventure of your life!

About the author

Nahal is a 4th-year US student of veterinary medicine who in her free time loves strolling around the Wrocław main square, restaurant hopping and always enjoys a cup of good coffee. She is fascinated by exotic animals and after graduation plans to start her professional career in a zoo.