• Question: What was/is your university course like and would you recommend it?

    Asked by danrumford to Cat, Daz, Holly, Johnson, Pamela on 16 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Pamela Lithgow

      Pamela Lithgow answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      Hi Dan,
      I did Veterinary Science at the Royal Veterinary college in London. It gave me a good basis in all areas of animal science from microbiology and immunology to embryology and endocrinology. I would definitely recommend it, it was a great course and I loved it.
      Pam 🙂

    • Photo: Cat O'Connor

      Cat O'Connor answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      Heya,

      Well I’ve done two courses thus far and i’m in the middle of my third. One undergraduate and two postgraduate…….my parents think i’ll never get a real job!

      So I started out in a general Science degree, which was to study biological and chemical sciences. In first year we had to do all four traditional sciences though, bio, chem, physics and maths. Then for second year we chose whether we wanted to study bio or chem subjects. I chose subjects like physiology, anatomy, biochemistry, microbiology 🙂 and ecology, as well as a load more. Then in third year we had to choose one main subject and then three other subjects so I chose Micro, pharmacology and physiology. And then in final year, I chose all medical micro subjects. Wow, just typing this has made me realise how many subjects I know a little about! I think this sort of course is great for people who are not 100% sure which sort of science to go into.

      Then in my masters I learned all about zoonotic diseases, which are disease that pass from humans to animals and from animals to humans. I love this course, I learned so much and to this day I’m the only non-vet to do this course!

      Hope this gives you some good ideas,

      Cat

Comments

  • Photo: danrumford

    danrumford commented on :

    Thanks for your answer 🙂 Which aspect of your course did you enjoy the most?

  • Photo: Cat

    Cat commented on :

    Oh there was loads I liked, and then loads I HATED!! Obvioulsy, going through the course, Micro was my favourite (otherwise I wouldn’t have chosen it) and my favourite classes or subjects within that were epidemiology or virology or medical micro. Really, I just loved learning about disease. In second year I did a course in Ecology which involves us going away for four days to rural areas in Cork (in Ireland) looking at all different ecosystems! That was lots of fun, but hard work too. Would you believe we even trapped badgers for a bTB project that was going on there so technically i’ve worked on bTB for a very long time 😀

  • Photo: danrumford

    danrumford commented on :

    What would you change about your course if you could re-do it?

    • Photo: Cat

      Cat commented on :

      Hum, good question. Because my course was such a pick-n’-mix of subjects, I guess I could have changed anything myself really. But the main thing I regret is not understanding molecular microbiology more, which is using little pieces of DNA to identify certain strains. This bit has become so important to me in my research and because I didn’t really understand it when I was in uni, it’s made learning about it now even harder.

      If I could change anything about the course, I would include at least one lecture on animal diseases…we didn’t learn any except for BSE. Shocking! And, I would make one month work experience compulsory per year….obviously paid and organised by the Uni!

      Cat