Pre-Veterianry Students Wake Up Call

Bianca writes: I was super sad to see that there is a low amount of participation for the club this year. During my interview at UF, the interview panel asked me tons of questions with two main themes: Teamwork Skills and Community Involvement.

The pre-vet club allowed me to answer many of these questions and made me feel proud! I was part of a family that worked together to make each other more successful which is what vet school is about.

Being an active member in the club allowed me to experience more within the community and helped me develop the skills to shape our team into a functioning and productive unit. Not every thing we did was a success but it's not how much money you raise or how you rank in comparison to other clubs, it's the experience of bringing people together and working towards a group cause that matters. You learn skills that are 100% applicable to being successful in class, clinics, and your profession.

I know that many people may be worried about taking on the responsibility of becoming an officer. It is an an extra responsibility and can be an added pressure when vet schools want to see 4.0 GPAs. Also, I know that applying is also extremely stressful in itself. BUT, in speaking with my classmates and learning everyone's experiences at UF, there are more people here with 3.5 GPAs and interesting and meaningful experiences than those with 4.0 GPAs.

Everyone here was ACTIVELY involved with their respective pre-vet clubs at their schools. Participating as a leader like president, VP, secretary is a BIG deal, and your biggest responsibility is to keep it going and be a support for each other to make everyone successful.

On that note, any questions anyone has about UF, don't ever be afraid to email me! bianca.murphy@ufl.edu. When I was applying, I wish I had had a contact to ask questions! I hope to see everyone at one of our Operation Catnip events soon!

Bianca Murphy
First-Year UF Veterinary Student

Changing It Up

So, over the last several months, it has become more and more difficult to try and maintain the participation of our students in PVMA activities due to busy schedules and a myriad of other issues that life throws our way. Car issues, illnesses, inflexible bosses...they all work to try and throw students off-track and it can be easy to lose focus.

In order to keep everyone focused on the prize, committed to their path, and motivated to go out and participate in activities that will help them get to where they want to go, this page has been changed. It will now be managed by two FAU alumni in order to blog about their experiences as they make their way through the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida. These students, Bianca Murphy and Alissa Demming, were FAU students just like you, struggling to make it through undergad, worried about their chances for acceptance, and working hard to try and make it to the next level.

Alissa worked at FAU as a Vertebrate Morphogenesis TA and entered the FAU masters program. She did not get in on her first try but she is now a strong student in her second year of vet school at UF.



Bianca was a member of the PVMA during our first year on campus and worked hard as our Relay For Life Chairperson. She also took advantage of directed independent study programs at Scripps to gain some much-needed experience in avian research.

Both young ladies had very different experiences and backgrounds but reached the same goal. Now, they are willing to help PVMA members learn from those experiences. Their day-to-day messages will help everyone see what skill sets these two young women are having to draw upon to make it. It will show the huge amounts of teamwork required of them to get through their coursework. I think it will also be a great way for our PVMA members to be able to ask questions in order to determine a course of action to follow in their footsteps.

If you have questions or comments, you are free to add them to this blog. Use it as a window to find out what vet school is really like and to determine if this is the right career choice for you. Be patient though. These are active students with full course loads to keep up with so responses to e-mails may be sporadic, however, I think this will be a wonderful tool for everyone to get a better idea of what they are getting themselves into and how to plan their actions accordingly to meet academic and professional goals.

So, follow along and watch the vetamorphosis!