VetGEMS
VETGEMS – Your Vet Student Society promoting research and evidence-based decision making
The Univeristy of Glasgow Veterinary School proudly supports the student-run society VetGEMS (Veterinary Glasgow Evidence-Based Medicine Society). VetGEMS is part of a vet school-wide initiative to encourage evidence-based decision making and promote careers in research for veterinary and bioveterinary students at the University of Glasgow. VetGEMS organises talks, workshops, and practical sessions with a research focus, and encourages students to partake in research activities within the University of Glasgow.
The society not only targets aspiring academics but also aims to make research relevant for students and professional alike. Whether you are a student writing a case discussion, a farm animal practitioner deciding if a new drug is worth the expense, or a hospital intern participating in a clinical trial, good medical practice starts with evidence-based decision making. Through various research activities and workshops, VetGEMS helps vet students gain valuable experiences and research skills, practice strong decision-making, and widen professional networks that can help kick-start any career.
VetGEMS is supported by the University of Glasgow Veterinary School following a successful grant application to the INSPIRE scheme. INSPIRE is a nationwide body designed to encourage research at UK medical, veterinary, and dental schools. The money awarded will be used to help bolster student research at the school (summer research projects, intercalated degrees, and student prizes), and develop new projects.
Through the INSPIRE website the University of Glasgow Vet School provides information, advertises research projects, and links students to research mentors. The INSPIRE scheme also provides students with the opportunity to present their research and win prizes via the Research Forum and Governors Prize.
Interested in research? Want to improve your clinical decision-making skills? Want to learn about referencing, efficiently reading and summarizing primary literature, or writing a review article? VetGEMS can help! Visit their facebook.com/vetgems or contact them directly at vetgems@gmail.com
VetGEMS 2021/2022 committee members
Your VetGEMS 2021/2022 committee members are: Erin Beever, Yewool Kim, Chloe Montreuil-Spencer, Elena Bruce, Willa Richmond, Kelsey McCoy, Sophia Wagner, Cleo Seger and Ben Salva.
Report from the VetGEMS talk - 14 March 2017
VetGEMS held its first talk on Tuesday the 14th of March 2017. This talk aimed at exposing students to a career in research after graduation, and the many ways that one can get involved research. We were delighted to have PhD students Rob Coultous and Joshua Leach to talk about their careers so far, especially their work in veterinary research.
A Horse Betting Levy Board Research Scholar, Rob is currently in his second year of his PhD in equine piroplasmosis at the Weipers Centre Equine Hospital. He brought us through his veterinary journey after graduation, and explained how he felt that being in mixed practice for 6 years was getting a bit too routine and decided to go back to university and to a PhD.
Josh is a MRC Clinical Research Fellow at The Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, and is doing a PhD on colorectal cancer. He has had a vast amount of experience in research, having completed numerous projects, such as “Evaluating the prognostic significance of intratumoural microvessel density (iMVD) in Canine Histiocytic Sarcoma”, "Effects of clinical mastitis caused by gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and other organisms on the probability of conception in New York State Holstein dairy cows" and “Establishing an in vitro model of the equine blood-brain barrier”. Josh is also an American diplomate in veterinary pathology, having completed a combined residency and Master of Science by Research in the University of Glasgow. He encouraged students to take the opportunities during veterinary school to experience doing research, such as by doing an intercalated degree.
One student commented that “it's really nice that the speakers were both so open/honest about their experiences and willing/eager to answer questions.”
Both speakers emphasised the lack of clinically experienced vets in research, and encouraged students to consider it as a career path after graduation. 70% of the attendees felt that this talk was useful and 85% would like more opportunities to chat with researchers in the vet school and to get a feel of why they got interested in research.