As we welcome our students to the Michaelmas term – those moving up to their next academic year, and also to those new veterinary medicine students who are just beginning their journey with us at the vet school - we wanted to share with you an article written by one of our recent vet school graduates - Ollie Bardsley - or as he is now known as: Dr Ollie Bardsley MA VetMB AFHEA MRCVS
How Cambridge has shaped my career
Like many aspiring vets, applying to vet school was one of the most daunting experiences of my life. Now, being able to look back on a wonderful 6 years at Cambridge, I’m reminded of the memories I’ve made and I’m so grateful for every opportunity that Cambridge Vet School gave me. I have started work as a companion animal veterinary surgeon in a busy hospital in Newcastle, and I feel that Cambridge Vet School stood me in good stead for the challenges I face day-to-day, such as complex medical workups, challenging client communication and difficult surgeries. I’m keen to share my experience at Cambridge Vet School, and why it was the best vet school for me.
Why I chose Cambridge
During the application process for vet school, I was drawn to Cambridge because of its world-class reputation as one of the strongest Universities in the world for producing brilliant scientists. That ‘Cambridge’-spin on the veterinary course is exemplified by the first three pre-clinical years, which focus on the science that underpins veterinary medicine. I knew that I wanted a strong scientific foundation for my studies at vet school. I didn’t just want to pass exams, or rote-learn how to treat different diseases – I wanted to know the why behind what vets do and why animals get better. I believe this understanding is crucial to providing the best care for the individual patient, especially in more complex cases!
Additionally, the opportunity to study at a Cambridge college, with its own community and environment, was one I couldn’t pass up. In contrast with other UK vet schools, I knew that studying at Cambridge meant that I would be studying in a collegiate University – a once-in-a-lifetime experience to form close relationships with academics and other students studying a wide range of disciplines.
Being the first person in my family to have applied to University, I started to question myself. What if it’s too difficult? What if I don’t fit in? Is Cambridge the right place for me? Although these were all concerns I had before making my application, I found out that Cambridge looks for potential and perseverance, not a set background or perfect grades.
Life at Cambridge
The pre-clinical years at Cambridge are tough. There are no two ways about it! But they’re also fascinating – you’ll cover each biological discipline in depth, from anatomy and physiology, to pathology, pharmacology, biochemistry and even neuroscience. Dissections are hands-on from the beginning, and the practicals offered within each discipline help to provide context behind the theory that the lectures provide. Many of these lectures are unique compared with other UK vet schools in that they are shared with Medicine and/or Natural Sciences students, meaning that you learn a lot about how different processes work across body systems and across species, but also how different diseases are treated in humans compared with animals. I felt that this furthered my interest in each of the disciplines substantially and taught me a lot about translational medicine and the importance of One Health.
Between the numerous lectures, practicals and dissections, Cambridge prepares you for your EMS and eventual clinical practice from the beginning with animal handling sessions across all domestic species. These serve to increase your basic confidence handling and husbandry of the major domestic species. They form an extremely useful basis for the clinical skills you’ll be learning and practicing in the clinical years. I was initially quite apprehensive about handling horses, but with supported practice and dedication, by the end of the course it was a toss up between taking a job working with horses or cats and dogs!
One of Cambridge’s many stand-out opportunities is the supervisions – small-group tutorials held between an academic in a particular scientific field and a handful of students. This meant that when I didn’t understand something from the lectures (and this happened a lot!), there was always the opportunity to discuss it through with somebody that really did, in order to ensure I got a good grasp of how the science works. This system means that nobody ‘slips through the net’ in terms of understanding – every student is supported through the areas that they’re struggling with.
The pre-clinical years also teach you how to think like a scientist – encouraging you to think critically, write scientifically in essays, read and evaluate academic literature from numerous different fields, and even develop a basic grounding in statistics through an introductory course taken during the first year.
Outside of academics, college life is a huge part of the Cambridge Experience. Each college is like its own mini-campus, where you eat, sleep, study and make friends. I participated in a number of societies, both vet-related and otherwise, and found a brilliant support network in my college. I particularly enjoyed unwinding after a day of learning in the bar or gardens at my college, Madgalene.
The third-year project: Putting scientific teaching into practice
One thing that makes the Cambridge course unique is the third year, where you will do a research project or dissertation, and graduate with a BA mid-way as well as your veterinary medicine degree at the end of the six years. Having enjoyed the complexities of learning how the body functions, I joined the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience for the year. I was honoured to work with Professor Chris Huang, a respected muscle physiologist who has contributed extensively to our understanding of skeletal muscle function, and Professor Hugh Matthews, a well-renowned sensory neuroscientist with multiple contributions to the literature around retinal cell mechanics. My research focused on using a computer modelling technique normally used in the field of mechanical engineering – but we adapted its use for biological systems to simulate ion diffusion in 3D space. We then produced a model of calcium movements within skeletal muscle, demonstrating regions of ion build-up which could have significant implications for both healthy and diseased muscle function. I was supported in learning how to navigate complex literature and think like a researcher, and eventually I was able to publish our findings as a first author in Scientific Reports, Nature. I was really proud to have felt like I made a real contribution to scientific understanding with potential benefits to human and animal medicine one day!
I believe this experience was unique to Cambridge as the vet school allows you to take your third year in one of a wide range of subjects extending well beyond Biomedical Sciences or Zoology. My decision to apply to Cambridge was largely influenced by the knowledge that if I wanted to do something a little bit different during my course it would be the best vet school to allow me to do that.
Doing a whole year focused around novel research so early in the course as well as a veterinary-related project in the later years really gives you an unrivalled ability to perform and interpret literature. For me, this really kindled my love for evidence-based medicine. This is something that I use now in clinical practice and will become even more important as I develop as a clinician.
The clinical years: Building skills and expanding horizons
After the third year, the focus shifts to clinical teaching – and this is where everything begins to come together. The scientific knowledge built in the pre-clinical years serves as a strong foundation onto which clinical teaching focuses on diseases seen across species, and how to diagnose and manage them. Practicals begin to focus on common procedures, and you’ll be taught how to run consultations, work with clients and veterinary teams, and perform basic surgery. The lecture-free final year at Cambridge was the first of its kind in the UK, and you’ll rotate through different disciplines at the on-site Queen’s Veterinary School Hospital. I found working with specialists on such complex referral cases daunting at first, but extremely rewarding. Working in a referral hospital for my final year has inspired me to work in a similar setting in the future, but has also helped me to educate clients about the options available beyond general practice. Of course, this was alongside my invaluable clinical EMS placements that complimented the course well.
Although the clinical workload was intense, I was keen to continue the research I’d started in third year. I worked closely with a medical student who developed my ion diffusion model further and used it to investigate conduction between cardiac muscle cells. With some help from colleagues in the Department of Biochemistry, we successfully published this work in Frontiers in Physiology. We continued as a research group of-sorts with more students starting projects with us, and used the refined model in a another study revisiting skeletal muscle as a focus. This work was published in Frontiers in Physiology, and was the third peer-reviewed scientific research paper that I’d co-authored during my time at Cambridge Vet School. The opportunity to conduct and contribute to so much scientific research at Cambridge was one of the reasons that I applied, and it was amazing to see it happen in real life!
During my clinical years, I was also given the unexpected chance to become an Undergraduate Supervisor and teach veterinary and natural sciences students in small groups to help develop their understanding. I hugely benefitted from the ability to work with students and really enjoyed re-exploring those topics that I’d loved learning about in my pre-clinical studies. It also really helped to reinforce my knowledge, and it was so rewarding to see my students enjoying their courses as much as I did, and thrive in their exams. I taught around 50 students over my three clinical years, and was encouraged and supported by one of my past Professors to gain recognition for this and obtain my Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA). This role has also unexpectedly helped me in my current job as a vet, both with my client communication and with mentoring vet students spending time on placement at my practice.
All of this happened alongside making time to spend with friends, learning the hard way that you need to train before doing a half marathon for the first time, countless formal dinners in college and fancy balls at the end of each year. These are key Cambridge experiences that really made me appreciate the time I had as a student and serve as memories I look back on fondly!
Where am I now?
Having graduated from Cambridge in 2024, I still maintain links with the University as a supervisor and member of our mini research group. My experiences at Cambridge have inspired me to develop as a small animal general practitioner, but I’m also keen to explore routes to specialisation. I think the strong academic foundation that I’ve received at Cambridge has made further study seem achievable rather than intimidating. I hope to return to Cambridge soon and I miss working with the team at the QVSH!
Final thoughts
Cambridge Vet School has shaped me into both a vet and a scientist, and that’s had a huge impact on the way that I deliver clinical practice today. The scientific mindset that it encouraged me to develop is what I fall back on when faced with a more complicated case – I feel comfortable working from first principles even when I haven’t seen a condition before. The vet school has inspired me to push beyond my limits and has taught me that working hard and taking opportunities as they present themselves is extremely rewarding. The people I’ve met, the teams I’ve worked with and the students I’ve taught have shaped me into the practitioner and person that I am today, and I’m extremely proud of that!
If you’re considering Cambridge Vet School, but aren’t quite sure if you’re the right “kind of person”, remember that Cambridge isn’t looking for perfect people. It’s looking for potential – those who are curious about what they learn, driven, and enthusiastic will succeed at Cambridge. My vet school has given me both the tools I need in practice, as well as the confidence to remain in the profession and keep growing and developing as a veterinary surgeon. It might just do the same for you.
Thanks Ollie for this fascinating insight into your student years! - We hope to welcome you back to the Cambridge Vet School in the not so distant future - you are always welcome!