Just a couple of years ago Elisabeth was in doing her practicals in the classrooms of our very own Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Her time at CEU was very rewarding, she didn’t just go to class: she was the student rep and went to all the activities organised by Campus Life. Although she has moved back to France in order to start her career she talked to us about here current job in a veterinary clinic and the memories she has of her time at our university.
Can you tell us briefly what brought you to Valencia and why you chose CEU Valencia?
A friend that I went to school with told me about University CEU Cardenal Herrera. Although I had already reserved my place in preparatory class in France (which is compulsory after the baccalaureate to get into one of the four French veterinary medicine schools), I decided to go to Valencia to start my degree.
Student Representative, Campus Life, Na Jordana…
During your time at the university, you were the degree representative, can you tell us about your initiatives?
As representative, I did so many things, always with the help from the other marvellous reps. I organised various theoretical and practical courses, canine agility competitions, conferences on themes related to the news (for example we held one on the arguments for and against experimenting on animals)…
I organised meetings, parties and debates to successfully integrate the maximum number of international students.
We also know that you were very involved in all of the activities that the university organised, which one did you enjoy the most and why?
If I had to choose only one… it would have to be the activities related to Falla Na Jordana. As an international student it was incredible to be able to be part of this huge Valencian party and to be able to discover the culture from the inside, with the people who are the most involved and dedicated to the Fallas.
Having worked on the reading of the classical book Tirant Lo Blanc, sharing moments with the people who built the fallas, eating paella, enjoying the Cremà from close up… it was unforgettable!
Once you finished studying you returned to France to launch your career as a vet, how did you find integrating into your job?
At the beginning I dedicated my time to working in A&E. For a couple of months I was the on call vet for nights and weekends. I liked it a lot! My colleagues where always available if I had any doubts.
I have just had to move city and I have recently started working in a day clinic, which also has a vet on call during the night.
The work of a vet
Can you tell us about a day at work?
I’ll start with a night in A&E; it always starts with the same routine: a meeting with the day vets to get to know the state of each animal that is in the clinic. This lets us to know what we need to do to look after them, give them medication etc.…
After the meeting I start to care for the hospitalised as well as deal with emergency visits and phone calls. I really enjoy my work in veterinary emergencies.
Now, I am in a much smaller clinic with more conventional hours, my work is a lot calmer: in the morning we carry out surgeries and then in the afternoon people bring in their animals for all types of problems.
Do you have any habits that you picked up at the university and that you still use on a daily basis?
Carrying out a good clinical exam that is complete and systematic is fundamental. “From the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail”, this is the base of any consultation and must be respected in order to get the correct diagnosis.
Memories from CEU
What stands out from your time at CEU? What do you miss the most?
The quality of the teaching and the availability of the professors. In the faculty there was always someone we trusted that we could express our doubts to knowing that we would get a reliable scientific answer. In the practice there are lots of vets that have their own habits and everyone’s are different, without wanting to/being able to follow scientific evolutions.
What advice would you give to a French student that is thinking about studying Veterinary Medicine at CEU Valencia?
Don’t think twice about it. Get in contact with us, the alumni (there are a lot of us and every year we answer questions from future students that can’t make up their mind) and ask anything that you want to ask. Be part of the CEU family!
