NOTTINGHAM UNIVERSITY
VETERINARY SOCIETY
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RECENT NEWS
VetSoc 2017-2018
Congratulations to the new elected committee! As we are about to say goodbye to the very successful team that has been running the society over the past year, I thought it would be an amazing opportunity to look back on the highlights of 2017-2018 for Nottingham VetSoc.
In May 2017, VetSoc hosted our annual River Cruise, a members exclusive event. We sailed down the Trent river on a spring evening followed by a trip to a local bar. Members were able to let off some steam before their revision period and exams. Also during this month, VetSoc sub-societies put on many clinical talks including laparoscopic left displaced abomasum from NFAV’s, CV writing workshops for the fourth and fifth years and an equine talk from RBS bank. We even included two trips away from campus to Horse badminton and a farm walk. Sometimes the best way to destress is a change in environment. Our bigvets (first years going into second year) were also trained in peer support for their little vets (freshers) ready for September.
Lucky for some, the Nottingham branch of international veterinary students association took students to Milan vet school for one week where they took part in practical’s, spent time in lectures at the vet school and improved relations with international schools.
In June, we held our annual ‘tough farmer’, a 2 mile obstacle run around campus all in aid of Vets4Pets. Obstacles including hay bales and slip and slides, and the marshals for the obstacles were students from other SB societies, improving intersociety relationships on campus. The final clinical club talk of the year was held by NSAV’s on ophthalmology, timed when 1st and 4th years were undertaking the neurological module, ideal for revision.
Over summer VetSoc were pretty quiet however we supported the organisation of Graduation Ball for the current fifth years which was a huge success. This year we have included a fifth year rep into our committee to be the main organiser of Graduation Ball next year.
September is the busiest month for VetSoc. 30 of our students pounded the streets over summer to train for the Robin Hood half marathon. On the 24th of September we raised over £2000 for Vets in the community at the Robin Hood half marathon, a charity ran by members of staff at the vet school supporting the homeless and their pets. We welcomed 165 new first years into the school this year. The committee were there on their first day to meet and greet them, to show them we are here to support them throughout the year. During freshers week we organised a Ceilidh for returners and freshers to intermingle and we also organised a hog roast so that the ‘big vets’ could meet their ‘little vets’. Finally we held a stand at freshers fair where we collected a large percentage of our membership from the freshers this year.
In October we held the ‘bigvetlittlevet’ social where we took the first and second year cohort to the national ice centre to try their hand at ice skating. Some students opted to stay out and join us at the optional bar social in Nottingham afterwards. NEV’s took students to Ascot, their annual trip every year which was very successful. We held many educational talks during the month, including a joint talk from NEV’s and NSAV’s on osteoarthritis including several others.
The vet students competed in the annual Ward Round bar crawl, organised by the medical student society where vet students compete against other health schools to be crowned winners. Our students prowled the streets of Nottingham dressed as Dalmatians, 150 to be exact. The clinical clubs held many talks this month again, but also held two practicals. NSAV’s signed students up to an airway practical and NEV’s taught their members all about colic. This month we celebrated wellbeing at the vet school with our annual wellbeing week organised by the welfare officer. This year we decided to collaborate with the guild (branch of the students union on SB) to promote wellbeing campus wide including yoga sessions, animal handling, mental health first aid training and and well-fair with veterinary related mental health charities. Finally we transported our students all the way up to Edinburgh vet school for the annual AVS sports weekend, dressed of course like pirates.
During December we raised lots of money for a local charity called college garth kennels. We held a new initiative called Christmas charities week where students were encouraged to buy candy canes that were handed out into lectures during the week. We also sold krispy crème doughnuts which went down like a treat! NFAV’s delighted their students and brought back their annual foot trimming practical this term which was classically over-subscribed.
In January, our members walked through the sounds of the rainforest and interacted with live parrots and snakes at our annual Vet Ball! This year 651 guests attended the ball, the highest number yet! We invited a new band Loxley to play who were a great success and our dean and sub-dean got on stage and joined in! It was a night to remember, as always. NFAV’s, NEV’s and NSAV’s held DOP practise sessions for the first year students to ensure their animal handling skills were appropriate before their exams. Finally we celebrated blooming Monday by holding a cake sale with colourful bakes in order to spread some light on the sad day.
In the past two months we have filled the calendar with VetSoc events. We took students to Ocean nightclub with surf society as an intersociety social. During valentines week students wrote vet valentines as jokes to their friends and these were read out in lectures by our committee dressed as cupid. We included many talks about alternative careers paths as a vet including pet blood bank uk and eat pray love from NSAV’s and many other talks from NFAV’s and NEV’s.
This year, 300+ students voted in our elections. This is the highest number of votes we have received before. The new committee has been elected and will take over after Easter.
We will miss the committee who organised such an incredible year for VetSoc, well done guys, you did an amazing job.
VetSoc's 2017 So Far
We ended the autumn term with a bang when VetSoc took Ward Round by storm. In this main campus organised bar crawl we joined with the medical students, as well as nursing students, dieticians, pharmacy students and neuroscience students. The bar crawl took the form of a competition and the course based teams were pitted against one another in a challenge at each bar. We entered the event expecting a small group to come and represent us and have a good time socialising, so we were astounded when around 200 vet students gathered in the atrium and ended up winning the ward round trophy! It was a great event and we look forward to more intercampus activities with the medics and other related courses in the future.
We kicked off 2017 with Vet Ball in January , our Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe at Athena was a huge success and the Nania theme went down a storm with glamorous décor, thrones and even a bit of juggling. It was clear that the standard expected of vet ball was at least upheld if not surpassed and we look forward to even more success next year. Socials and events involving other societies on campus will continue and as always the Ceilidh we organise annually will be the highlight of Fresher’s Week. In May we hosted the hugely successful Tough Farmer fundraiser, over 100 participants tackled this themed obstacle course which raised over £200 for charity and was featured in a number of veterinary publications, more details can be found in the previous post.
Besides these great VetSoc events, our clinical subdivisions have had a busy year hosting their own events and activities.
All the events described only represent the year so far, but there is much more to come. In September we will be back with our legendary fresher’s events and in October we are entering a team into the Ikano Robin Hood Half Marathon. This will be an exciting year for VetSoc and we can’t wait for you to be part of it!
VetSoc's Tough Farmer
Tough farmer this year raised just under £300 for the PDSA. Katie waller, our new charity officer organised a fantastic event including a fun run and competitive run with over 12 obstacles, each donated from societies present on Sutton Bonington campus. Competetors dove down a slip and slide, squatted with heavy rucksacks and climbed hay bales before crossing the finish line. The winners were third years, Rhys Lloyd Jones and Lucy Jones.
Extra money was raised in the form of a raffle, with prizes including restaurant vouches and club vouchers.
The event took place at the monthy farmers market which meant that competetors indulged in local delights once completing the race.
We want to say thank you to all the runners who competed, volunteers who helped organise the event and people who donated money via the raffle. Congratulations on such a fantastic final term of the year and we will see you all in September!
Vets4Pets' #StopAlabamaRot Initiative
02/06/2015
As we come into summer, it’s important for vets and pet owners to be aware of certain seasonal diseases, diseases which have a higher prevalence or may only appear at a specific time of year. Vets4Pets have been promoting an initiative to raise awareness of seasonal diseases and in particular a nasty condition called Alabama Rot, the cause of which is currently unknown. Also known as CRGV (Cutaneous and Renal Glomerular Vasculopathy), Alabama Rot is a mysterious disease which first appeared in the US in the 1980s, and was almost exclusively found in Greyhounds. Since its spread to the UK the disease has become less selective and seems to target any dog regardless of breed, sex, age or weight.
Presenting signs of Alabama Rot include ulcer-like skins sores and/or sudden kidney failure. Incidences of the disease in the US steadily declined since the disease was first identified, but a number of cases have now been reported in the UK, most prevalently in Hampshire and the New Forest. It is important to diagnose Alabama Rot early to avoid severe and potentially fatal kidney failure. The most common early sign is skin sores not caused by any apparent trauma which may be followed by signs of kidney failure, such as vomiting, lethargy and reduced appetite, after a few days.
Once Alabama Rot is suspected take your dog straight to the vet. Some preventative measures include thoroughly washing woodland mud off the paws and legs and avoiding contact with affected or potentially affected dogs. Visit Vets4Pets’ dedicated website for more information and to fill out a questionnaire which will help with research into the condition.
Nottingham Vetsoc Tough Farmer Fundraiser
10/05/15
At the beginning of May Vetsoc hosted a charity fundraiser in aid of Papworth Hospital charity, the UK's leading hospital for heart and lung transplants. Over 100 students and staff tackled the 5km ‘tough mudder’ style obstacle course. The route raced through local farms and Sutton Bonington campus and included various ‘farm inspired’ obstacles for the runners to attack! The enthusiastic competitors jumped haybale hurdles, tossed wellies and plunged into pools all to raise money for the inspirational work carried out at Papworth Hospital. The event was a huge success, and certainly brought out the competitive spirit in many runners aiming for the ‘Toughest Farmer’ title. Prizes were not only awarded for speed but also the best dressed, leading to numerous cow onesies taking to the course!
The event was hosted in memory of Hugh Salmon, a Devonshire vet and friend to a number of Nottingham students. Hugh was the senior GB endurance team vet for over 8 years and loved working at his practice at Wolfgar Veterinary Group. Unfortunately Hugh suffered from several cardiac conditions and despite receiving a heart transplant at Papworth in July 2014 sadly passed away in February 2015. The support and care provided by Papworth hospital was invaluable to Hugh, as it is to so many other families The Vetsoc Tough Farmer event was a great opportunity to fundraise for such a worthy cause.
Over £240 was raised through the event as well as raising much needed awareness of the importance of the organ donation, with several competitors signing up on the day. News of the event was published in both The Veterinary Times and Veterinary Practice. Furthermore SB Tough Farmer was awarded the SB Guild ‘Best Event’ 2015. SB Tough Farmer will most definitely be taking over the campus next summer to challenge your courage and farming prowess once again!
