Here at Liverpool, we’re proud to have a team focused on supporting the welfare of every single vet student, from Freshers’ Week to graduation. We’re vet students in years 2-5 who have had training from the University Counselling Service and work together to make the vet school a slightly less stressful place.
Want to get more of an insight into the benefits of Peer Support at Liverpool, and the honest advantages of becoming one in your second year? Check out the report below from the Association of Veterinary Students (AVS):
We offer a confidential service for any vet student to come and talk to us individually – through email, Facebook, Skype or in person to ask for advice or chat over any worries they may have. We also can direct students to other places to answer queries they may have e.g. to staff in the university, a helpful website etc. This is always kept completely private, unless we are worried a student is in danger, and seeking help doesn’t necessarily affect fitness to practice or be at vet school. Students come to us for a variety of reasons, to talk through worries about workload or financial issues, or even just to see a friendly face and chat over a cup of coffee. No issue is too big or too small to reach out to a peer supporter. In addition to this, we run events to help students unwind and build a more positive mindset, as well as to get things off their chest. These might be talks and workshops on topics like time management, challenges new graduates encounter, tools to cope with stress, overcoming perfectionism, or study skills. Tea and coffee meetings offer an informal environment to chat about vet school or other life frustrations, sometimes with cake too! We also do social events, from pub quizzes to more relaxed ‘de-stress’ events which are non-alcohol-focused events like picnics, movie or games nights. In partnership with Liverpool Guide Dogs for the Blind, we also arrange for some guide dogs to come over to campus in revision time to cuddle.
The Buddy System
Peer Support work in partnership with the main LUVS Committee to help offer the Buddy System. This system has been newly re-vamped for September 2020, to create the “Buddy Family” system, where a person from each year is put together to form “families” of students. This means that you will have a point of contact in every year to ask any questions you need about the course and means you have at least one friendly face in each year to go to!
As well as an introduction to the social scene here at Liverpool, buddies are a knowledge lifeline for new students finding their feet at University. They are someone to ask about the minutia that can be stressful at the start – study skills, time management, housing, life as a mature student etc – and offer advice based on their own experience, as well as just meeting up to chat. Students can keep in contact with their buddy family as much or as little as they like (within reason). Ideally though, student families hit it off and stay ‘buddies’ for life!