• Question: can you give me any advice on how to study science in more dept < i would like to become a vetinary surgeon in the future so i would apreciate your advice :)

    Asked by meghan to Aggelos, Andrew, Eileen, Naomi, Shane on 13 Nov 2012. This question was also asked by clairemac12311.
    • Photo: Eileen Diskin

      Eileen Diskin answered on 13 Nov 2012:

      AWESOME! That’s what I wanted to be when I was in school (I think it started because I had a dog, and loved animals). Although there were lots of bits of science in school that I didn’t like (chemistry, physics), I stuck with it – because even in those courses, there were bits of information that were important to animal science.

      Right now, my PhD is kind of in zoology – I’m working with flamingos, and I’m trying to make links between diseases that animals get and disease that humans can also get. Its really fun, because I get to work outside, with wildlife! And I get to study animals, which I guess I was always interested in.

      When I was a teenager (like between 13 and 16 years old), I volunteered at the zoo in the city where I grew up. This was good experience, because by the time I got to college I was able to get some part-time jobs in wildlife/animal science…that I got paid for!

      So if you are living anywhere near a zoo, or wildlife park, (or even an animal shelter) it would be good just to volunteer your time. Whether you’re talking about the animals to visitors (like I did), or just helping out in the dog shelter (which I actually still sometimes do!), you’ll get some awesome experience. That way you get to do something you like, but also you’ll already be able to start getting some of the skills and knowledge that you’ll need one day. And its great craic!

    • Photo: Andrew Jackson

      Andrew Jackson answered on 13 Nov 2012:

      I would pick the subjects that excite you most and you should find you naturally move towards what you love doing… although some things are not that enjoyable but are necessary.. like maths.

      If you can regularly buy some nice magazines like “New Scientist” or “Scientific American” from the shops then they are a great way to learn new things and find out about new discoveries. Its also a great way to find out what excites you most about science.

    • Photo: Naomi Elster

      Naomi Elster answered on 16 Nov 2012:

      Fantastic 🙂 It’s really nice when somebody finds what they are interested in and is enthusiastic to study it. I always wanted to study human medicine and diseases, but we shared some of our lectures with veterinary students. I would recommend that getting a good understanding of both biology and chemistry will really help you in college. Your teacher will be the best person to help you with your science courses in school and get you through the leaving cert.

      But I would say that you should also look outside your school courses, as there are lots of interesting things to science that aren’t covered there, and the more feel you get for what really interests you, the better. The magazine New Scientist is really good and the language is really clear, so that’s a great place to start. If you type The Naked Scientist into google (they’re not really naked, I promise!) you’ll find a great website full of really entertaining articles, podcasts and do-it-yourself experiments. And of course here is a great start – I wish I had had the opportunity to chat to scientists when I was still at school! Wikipedia is a great resource in some ways, but remember that it is unreliable – absolutely anyone can put something there and there are no editors, so what you are reading could be completely wrong. Also, keep an eye out for events, like free talks and workshops, that are happening around you. For example, in Dublin in February there will be an event called “Open Learning Ireland” which I am helping to organise. This will be a week long event full of free talks and workshops, some of which will be related to science. Also in Dublin and given your interest in animals, I would recommend going to the Natural History Museum sometime – it’s fun and it’s free and you will learn a lot! As Eileen sayd, volunteering your time at an animal shelter and learning about animal care there is another really valuable thing you can do.

      And, of course, keep an eye on the scientists here! Unfortunately only one of us can win the prize money but we all have great ideas for what we’d like to do with it and hopefully we can all find ways to make those ideas work.

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