What is WikiVet?
WikiVet was originally launched in 2007 with the objective of providing a one stop shop to support all veterinary students and graduates in their studies. Since then, the site has grown enormously to accommodate the needs of students to access reliable information which fits well with their existing course material. Now in the UK over 70% of all students are registered users of WikiVet and globally we have over 15,000 student users out of a total of over 28,000 users.
Do students really need another website?
Most students will rely heavily on web material during their course to support their study and revision. Sites such as Wikipedia or Google searches can be invaluable but most of the information is not peer reviewed and is often written for a non veterinary audience. WikiVet in contrast has been created "by vets for vets" and is specifically designed to support a veterinary curriculum. Feedback from around the world indicates that our content does provide a unique and invaluable resource.
Ten Tips on using WikiVet
- The WikiVet search is really powerful and when used correctly will take you to the information you need quickly and accurately. Notice that as you type in your search term, you will see a drop list of suitable matches.
- Try using the PDF Book Writer to select a series of pages in WikiVet and then save them as a PDF file which you can read on a mobile, tablet or laptop. You can read more about how to use the Book Writer here.
- We have developed a large collection of Multiple Choice Quizzes in WikiVet which are linked in to key sections of the site. You can also go to a complete list of all the MCQs here.
- An important resource for many students now is good quality educational videos. You can view a wide range of anatomy and clinical videos on the provided by different veterinary schools on the WikiVet Video site.
- WikiVet was a lead partner in developing the Online Veterinary Anatomy Museum. This collaboration involved 15 different veterinary schools developing a virtual museum of some of the best veterinary anatomy resources in the world.
- WikiVet has an invaluable list of standard haematology, biochemistry and physiological parameters for all domestic species which can be accessed here.
- The WikiVet site has a different interface when viewed on a mobile phone or tablet to make access easier. There is also an Android App for WikiVet which you can download from the Google Play store.
- Many students find the Dragster drag and dop applications really useful for learning anatomy. You can see a full list of all Dragster resources available for Anatomy and Histology here.
- We have also developed parts of the site in French and Spanish and produced multilingual podcasts which are available on iTunes.
- There are lots of great sections on WikiVet but everybody has their favourite - mine is the WikiVet Donkey site!
What you can do to support WikiVet
There are two main ways that students can help us currently. We want WikiVet to be used as widely as possible throughout the world so as many students as possible can have access to this great content. To do this we need to let students know that WikiVet is here, so we're on the look out for student ambassadors. These ambassadors would act as a point of contact for the WikiVet team in their school, and help us keep the student body informed and motivated. You can find out more information at the WikiVetTM Student Ambassadors page.
We're also looking to create school pages about your school. This will let students and graduates around the world find out more about your school, what the teaching is like and found out who they should contact. If you'd like to help us create a page about your school (after all, who knows it better than you?) then have a look at the help page. If you want to see which schools already have pages and ambassadors, take a look at the vet schools world map.