Our students - tomorrow’s veterinary scientists
The 2009 President of the Veterinary Students Society of Victoria (VSSV), Ben Kaye, reflects on what it means to be a veterinary student at the University of Melbourne.
All the students are honoured to be a part of this year’s centenary milestone of the Melbourne School of Veterinary Science. We are all well aware of the School’s proud tradition and its role in shaping veterinary care and animal welfare, not only locally in Victoria but also throughout Australia and internationally. Like all students, I have long dreamt of becoming a veterinarian from an early age. But as for why exactly, many are unable to articulate the exact reason – flippant justifications, such as “I like animals” or “I just couldn’t work with humans”, seem too simplistic. Perhaps it is that we all feel as veterinarians that we are helping some of the most vulnerable members of our society.
Like most, I have found the veterinary course at the University of Melbourne to be very challenging and demanding yet deeply fulfilling. Whilst in early years, we questioned the relevance of physics and some of the esoterical aspects of biology and chemistry, we know that we have been given an outstanding preclinical foundation at the Parkville campus. The inaugural White Coat Ceremony heralded our transition into clinical training and our migration to the Werribee campus. The Melbourne School of Veterinary Science is a small, tightly
knit community, particularly in the final years at Werribee. There is an extraordinary camaraderie that develops both in the student body and with the staff. Our moments of adversity and life-changing experiences
to date have bound us into an intimate cohort, and we know that life-long friendships have been made.
James Herriot, a childhood inspiration for many, said: “If you decide to become a veterinary surgeon you will
never grow rich, but you will have a life of endless interest and variety.” Many students could not agree more – but in what other undergraduate course would you start with a physics prac on Newton’s fundamental laws, proceed to learn the language of pathology, and end up treating a dog with chocolate toxicity and pregnancy testing cows over the Christmas break? We have spent many long hours in lecture theatres learning the theory, but the moment you step forward and take full responsibility for the primary care of a debilitated animal in intensive care is when you realise it has been worthwhile. I had never dreamt that I would look after a lame pig, a horse with colic, a cow with a uterine prolapse, and a dog with a snake bite – all in one week. What other undergraduate course can give you this experience and more?
On entering my final year at the University, I have glimpsed some of the doors that can be opened in the
future, but now realise the enormity of how much more there is yet to learn and understand. Whatever we may decide to undertake in the future in the world of veterinary medicine, we are all reassured and encouraged, as many generations of veterinarians that have gone before us were, that we will be well prepared to commence a life-time commitment to animal health and welfare.