Diary of a Vet Student

Vet school with a virus

How COVID-19 has drastically altered the DVM program

ARTICLE AND PHOTO BY CARLEIGH CATHCART

Student column with some brutal honesty about the demands of vet school and the toll they can take on students’ mental and physical health. In a subsequent column, I attempted to counteract some of that harsh reality by outlining the many rewarding aspects of the veterinary program at the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC), and highlighted some of the significant events and experiences awaiting me as I neared the end of my third year.

On the same day that column was published, its contents were rendered irrelevant. The very things serving as the light at the end of the tunnel of a very difficult year were at first postponed, and later cancelled outright. The community events, professional ceremonies, class celebrations, and peer activities disappeared from our calendars in the blink of an eye; months of anticipation and excitement instead crushed by disappointment.

A global pandemic has thrown even the most developed countries into unprecedented challenges, and there is nary a soul unaffected by this virus in one way or another. Education at all ages and in all subjects has suffered, and my heart goes out to every student who has had the already difficult university experience upended by drastic changes.

Things are no different here at the OVC, where the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program has been forced into novel pedagogical approaches for its students. While important to note that the chips have not yet all fallen where they may, the 2020-2021 school year is shaping up to be a foreign, frustrating one for DVM students (even if the reasons behind the changes are arguably understandable).

Veterinary medicine is very much a hands-on discipline. There are many concepts and skills that cannot be adequately taught in a virtual setting, including anatomy, surgical procedures, physical exams, and laboratory exercises. For this reason, DVM students at the OVC will be delivered a ‘hybrid’ curriculum this year, with some on-campus activities interspersed with virtual learning. This was a problematic transition in March, where many practical and technological issues interfered with the teaching process. One can only hope many of these wrinkles have since been ironed out if the expectation is to host an entire academic year on such a platform.

It is impossible at this point to say what vet school will look like this year, as the ‘phases’, or years, were all very different from one another before COVID. Students at all stages of the DVM program are still awaiting information on the logistics of this year, and there is no doubt that some snags and suggestions for improvement will occur along the way.

For those entering the program this year, please know that while your upper-year colleagues may be less physically present than usual, we are still here. There is the ‘Ask an Upper Year’ Facebook group specifically for OVC students, and you can join to receive many email updates from the leaders of student clubs, councils, etc. regarding student life involvement for this year. I similarly encourage you to consider joining the Omega Tau Sigma (OTS) professional veterinary fraternity, which provides mentorship and support for members across all years.

Vet school is hard at the best of times, and the uncharted territory we are currently facing leaves a looming question mark over an already daunting period of our lives. In future columns I plan on explaining to the general public what the phases of OVC usually look like, and how they have been changed by COVID-19. For today, I am reminding vet students – and all U of G Gryphons – that in this time of uncertainty and isolation, it is more important than ever to reach out if needed.

You can email me personally with any questions or concerns at ccathcar@ uoguelph.ca. I wouldn’t have survived this far without the help of others, and now it’s my turn to give back.

Carleigh Cathcart is a Phase 4 veterinary student at the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph, Ont. She is the regular author of The

“The transition from new vet student to impending graduate is a whirlwind at the best of times, and a question mark amid a global pandemic.”

In early 2020, I wrote a Diary of a Vet

Ontarion’s Diary of a Vet Student column.