Lizzie Slack

About me

Lizzie Slack - eslack@rvc.ac.uk

I am a (almost) third year vet student from Edinburgh and have just finished an intercalated year in Veterinary Pathology at the RVC.

What I hope to get out of this project

I think this project will provide a great opportunity to meet some new people and exchange views in order to gain insight into their various areas of expertise and the exciting ideas they may have. I also hope to become more familiar with the concept of Wiki and help establish a link between the vet schools.

My best learning experience

Was learning to play the flute

and why it was good

because it is not something I am a "natural" at, so I know that what I gained was purely due to my own effort and comittment :-)

Pathology that interests me

I like the wierd and wonderful world of exotics.

Pathology that is difficult

Histopathology is an absolute nightmare. To me it is a blur of pink and blue blobs.

Day one thoughts

What (three things) I learnt today

1) Information entered needs to be in a form appropriate and accessible to people with a wide variety of interests and learning methods
2) Liason is going to be the key to success!
3) It is important to keep the bigger picture in mind whilst also focussing on the finer detail

What I still need to learn

• The format and depth of content required from me
  
• How to access and amalgamate the relevant information
  
• The best way of dividing up and linking information

How I feel about what has happened today

Today has been very interesting and has brought a lot of points to mind that I would never have considered myself. I feel that the way forward is not yet clear-cut, but that once the work starts things will begin to clarify and that we will learn as we go along.

Three weeks into the wikivet project (or thereabouts)

Sections I've been working on

• Forestomach and Stomach and Abomasum - Pathology
• The Small and Large Intestines
• General Pathology

What I feel I've gained so far from being involved in the project

• I have learned a lot that I didn't know about the pathology of the stomach and intestines.
• I have realised that there are a lot of different ways to do things, and that sometimes none of them are ideal!
• I have shared a positive experience and enjoyed working as part of a team.

Problems or issues that I've had or can forsee

• It will be very difficult to link to other articles - at this stage, when they haven't been written, it can be frustrating to leave a dead link. In future too, when pages are written, it will be difficult to link the to these dead links if the pages are differently named, or if others aren't aware the original link exists.
• There could be a lot of overlap between sections and it is hard to know what to put where.
• I do worry that when the Wiki "goes live", some people might abuse the editing facility - I think that students will find it hard to resist having a bit of fun...

My suggestions for improving the way the project works for the future

• I think the very nature of the project is that the plans and guidelines evolve as the structure and content develops. The best way for the project to work in future is therefore to act and then react on these actions, as we are constantly discovering new hurdles and realising the potential of the Wiki.

What involvement (if any!) I would like to have with the project in the future

• As much as possible!
• To continue entering data.
• To use the site as a resource when it is ready.

This is Sarah's page
RVC website