Maria Spiteri recently graduated from the six-year General Veterinary Medicine programme at the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Slovakia.

One of the challenges with enrolling in the course was the financial burden of tuition fees. However, the Veterinary Study Scholarship Scheme (VSSS) significantly mitigated this issue by reimbursing tuition costs for five of the six years of the programme.

To gain admission to the veterinary university, candidates must first pass an entrance examination that includes questions in chemistry, biology and physics.

The veterinary course is structured in two main phases: pre-clinical and clinical. During the pre-clinical years, the focus is primarily on theoretical subjects; it aims to provide the fundamental knowledge and lab skills necessary for clinical practice.

In the clinical years, which constitute the latter part of the programme, the curriculum is organised by animal species, including exotic animals, poultry, ruminants, horses, swine and small animals.

In the final semesters, students are assigned shifts at university clinics and farms where they are responsible for diagnosing and developing treatment plans for patients under the guidance of faculty mentors. Each clinical rotation concludes with either a final examination or a state examination.

During the programme’s final years, students also study subjects such as food hygiene and technology, and meat inspection. Different aspects of the food chain are focused on and analysed in accordance with European legislation to ensure safety and public health surveillance throughout the food production process.

Handling a piglet at the clinic of pigs at the university.

As part of these subjects, Spiteri and fellow students visited a range of facilities, including slaughterhouses, meat-processing plants, border control posts and other processing facilities where milk products, eggs and other animal products are processed.

The students were required to submit a thesis dissertation documenting an experimental study, and present it before a board of examiners.

Spiteri’s thesis, titled ‘The Binding Affinity of Potentially Therapeutic Nanobodies to Protein S of Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2’, focused on measuring and comparing the affinities of five nanobody samples to the spike protein S of the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. These nanobodies were derived from a llama housed on the university premises.

Students at the Slovak university are given numerous opportunities to establish new connections with classmates through various university clubs. One club that drew significant interest was the Falconry Club, where students engage in the care of falcons and kestrels housed at the rehabilitation centre. The Cat Care Club, which Spiteri joined, focuses on enhancing the welfare of stray cat colonies in and around Košice.

These student organisations play a crucial role in fostering new friendships, particularly during the initial stages of their studies, as students come from diverse countries.