Studies
Your questions about studying at USVT! What is the cost, the duration, the language of the studies? Are the diplomas recognized? How does an academic year unfold with the different semesters, vacations, exams, compulsory internships ... What are the University's infrastructures? What does the University offer in terms of specialties, species studied, practice ...?
Organization of studies at USVT
What is the cost, the duration, and the language of the studies? Is the diploma recognized internationally?
Foreign sections
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English section: 30 places, in English for all 6 years.
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French section: (since 2018): 45 places, in French for all 6 years.
Duration
In Romania, veterinary studies last 6 years. It is not possible to enter directly into the 2nd or 3rd year, unless you have already pursued veterinary studies.
Tuition fees
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For the class of 2022-2028: 5500€/yr (for all 6 years)
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For the class of 2021-2027 : 4500€/yr (for all 6 years)
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For the class of 2020-2026 : 3500€/yr (for all 6 years)
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For the class of 2019-2025 : 3200€/yr (for all 6 years)
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However, it is to be expected that the price will increase further each year, until it catches up with those offered by Cluj-Napoca or Bucharest, e.g. tuition fees of around 6000€/year. This increase is probably due to the growing notoriety of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Timisoara, but also to the experience and seniority acquired or even to the growing demand from non-Romanian students.
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The tuition fees are the same for both English and French sections.
Recognition of
Diploma
The diploma is recognized throughout Europe thanks to the Bologna Process (Hey! Pasta for lunch?), the standardization system for higher education in Europe, Turkey and Russia with its LMD system (Licence Master Doctorat) and its ECTS credits.
EAEVE
The quality of the diploma is assured by the EAEVE (European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education), a private body which aims to assess , to promote and further develop the quality and standard of establishments teaching Veterinary Medicine in the Member States of the European Union. (Thanks Wikipedia!)
Our university is an accredited member of the EAEVE.
What you need
to bring
In Timişoara, you can buy medical equipment in TAG stores, which are medical retail stores that sell all kinds of equipment (gowns, scrubs, stethoscopes, etc.). There are three in Timişoara: Zona Sinaia: Str. December 16, 1989 (bus stop of bus 33); Zona Clinicilor: Str. E. Ungureanu, No. 17; Spitalul Judetean: Str. Dr. Ioan Muresan, Nr 109.
The equipment necessary during the 6 years of study is:
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1st year : White lab coat (for practical work in laboratories)
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2nd year : Farm/rain boots (for possible outings to the farm where dung showers can be frequent...)
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3rd year : stethoscope, scrubs (t-shirt and pants), clinic shoes and dissection kit (wow, the same outfit as in Grey's Anatomy, so classy!)
Organization of studies at USVT
How does the academic year unfold with the different semesters, vacations, exams, compulsory internships?
Back to school
The academic year starts at the first week of October.
Structure of
the academic
year
The academic year is organized in two semesters:
Winter Semester: October - January with a 3-week exam session (for approx. 6 to 8 exams) in February,
Summer Semester: March - May with a 3-week exam session ( for approx. 6 to 8 exams) in June.
Each semester lasts 14 weeks.
Types of courses
The courses are divided into two parts: lectures and practical work (PW). You will go through all the theory in lectures and the PW is its implementation. In the first year, the practical work is not yet as applied to medicine as in the next years; you will rather mostly observe in Anatomy or Histology and carry out some simple experiments in Chemistry or Physics.
Most professors give us access to their course materials (slideshows, PDFs, extracts from books, etc.). This allows you to revise the information once the lessons are over. The professors will be more than happy to answer your questions, and so will students from other years.
Compulsory internships
Compulsory internships are to be carried out as part of the curriculum. This can be done anywhere in the world, with the possibility of doing it via Erasmus. It can also be done several times and in different places (eg: 1 week at Christmas with Dr Lapinou + 2 weeks in the summer with Dr Pol, if you have Dr Pol's reference you are made for this job and if not… GO WATCH THIS SERIES!!!).+
Here is a little recap of the mandatory internships depending on the year! :
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1st/2nd/3rd year : 3 weeks of mandatory free internships per year.
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4th year : 4 weeks of mandatory free internships.
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5th/6th year : The clinic shifts serve as internship hours.
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6th year : Compulsory internship in a slaughterhouse.
Exams
The exams can be either in the form of an MCQ, an oral exam, or writing about a subject on an empty piece of paper.
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1st semester: first 3 weeks of February + 1 re-examination week
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2nd semester: last 3 weeks of June + 1 re-examination week
Re-examination sessions: during the re-examination weeks or in September, if you fail during these two sessions, you will have the possibility of catching up even later, but beware, it will cost (“If your wallet to be full you want, not go to the re-examination you must" - Master Yoda).
Holidays
The summer holidays take place during the months of July, August and September (nope, you are not dreaming, 3 full months to tan your summer bodies and drink your best mojitos). We have 3 weeks of vacation for Christmas. And 1 week of Easter vacation during spring (potentially negotiable for 2 weeks so that non-orthodox Christians can celebrate with their families too, with the good will of the Dean).
In addition, after the exams, you are given a week for re-examination. So, this can constitute a significant week of vacation at the end of February for those who do not have any exams to re-pass (an old proverb says: “If at the end of February you want to have fun skiing, you will need pass your exams successfully ”).
USVT facilities
What are the facilities of the university?
The clinic
The University has a clinic where we will be on duty starting from the 4th year.
The stable
The University has a stable with private horses and a closed space for them to walk, but unfortunately it is not possible to ride them.
The farm
Not far from the University, we have a cow farm.
The mini-farm
The University has some ponies and donkeys for the practice in Semiology
Kennels
The University has a kennel and a cattery which are theoretically used to keep private animals.
Library
The University has a library with spaces to work, some sockets, and WiFi is also available for free. The ground floor has an indoor and outdoor space where it is allowed to eat and talk. On the 1st floor there is an auditorium/study room and an area to borrow books, where you will have to make a card which only requires you to bring a photo ID and present your ID and student booklet.
It is also the place where the teachers will send you to pick up their books for their lessons.
University restaurant
The University restaurant offers two option:
The first, the "Meniu zilei" (Meal of the day) is 20 lei (4€) which changes every day and usually includes a stew (very consistent, but they call it a soup), a main course with meat and vegetables, a fruit and a dessert.
The second is personalized: around 5 lei (1€) for each portion, and you can order from a catalogue of options such as schnitzel, steak, grilled chicken, fries, potato salad ... etc.
Cafeteria
A cafeteria next to the university restaurant which offers take-away meals.
The minimarket
A Profi is open 7 days a week and allows you to shop for a snack or a drink.
ATM
You will find a Raiffeisen Bank ATM win the university campus.
The gym
The gym allows you to practice basketball, tennis and volleyball, but it is generally not very accessible, often reserved for club lessons. The request for access is to be made to the sports teacher.
Sports facilities
Outdoor sports grounds are freely accessible:
● Football field (5x5 size)
● 2 hard tennis courts
● 2 clay tennis courts
● Basketball court
● Beach-volleyball field .
However, tennis courts are often reserved for lessons.
The market
Every Sunday, small kiosks open in the university campus!
What USVT offers
What does the university offer in terms of specialties and practice?
The specialties
In our university there is not really a specialty in a specific field, the diploma is more general! However there is still a “module” of 5 credits in the last year which allows to choose between 3 areas corresponding to “mini-deepening”:
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Farm animals (for those who love the great outdoors)
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Pets, sports and exotic animals (for those who love doggies and kitties, but also serpents and parrots)
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Animal production and food safety (for those who enjoy eating a good rare steak without being afraid of catching a tapeworm)
Species studied
The majority of the courses will focus on the horse as an example/base. Then, there will be 8 other species you'll learn about: cattle, small ruminants (goats / sheep), dogs, cats, pigs, rabbits and birds.
The reference species is the Horse (Equus ferus caballus), this means that the basic study is done on this animal. Then we study by comparison mainly the large ruminants represented by the Ox (Bos taurus), then the small ruminants, that is to say the Sheep (Ovis aries) and the goat (Capra hircus), the pig (Sus domesticus) , the dog (Canis lupus familiaris), the cat (Felis silvestris catus), and finally the rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)! (FYI: we mentioned the names of each species just to show off) In addition, we study the donkey a little bit as well as the guinea pig.
Birds are rarely discussed at the moment. For exotic pets, we have small mammals which are covered in “Biology of laboratory animals” in the 1st year and the option “Pathology of laboratory animals and exotic species” in the last year. But as with most veterinary training in Europe, it is really important to rely on your experiences outside the faculty for more exotic species.
The practice
Each week we have 2-3 hours of laboratories for each course, where we perform the "practice activity". Being present in the labs is compulsory and it is mandatory to wear a lab coat because you will be in contact with chemicals or substances which could leave stains.
For practice, as in all veterinary education establishments, it is above all necessary to count on internships outside the faculty! But if not, here is an overall overview for practice depending on the year of study:
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1st year: basic laboratory handling (observations under the microscope, dosages, density measurements…etc) and fiddling with bones, muscles and organs in Anatomy (Kevin! Remove your finger from the cow's nose!)
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2nd year: you'' start to do dissections (if you are the type of person that's like: “I want to cut, I want to cut… I WANT TO CUT !!!”, please keep your distance from us)
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3rd year: basic handling on living animals in Semiology (it does not only consist of hugging and petting puppies)
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4th year: beginning to work on clinical sciences with some practical work in the Faculty's clinic (Kevin, it was you who castrated this dog, so was it a female?!)
5th / 6th year: Clinic (surgeries, shifts, hygiene regulations… then you can almost say: “Hello, I'm the Doctor, #style")
Erasmus
Our faculty does Erasmus exchanges. Thus, you will have the possibility to leave for 1 semester or even 1 year in another European Veterinary School that participates in the program.
For countries outside the European Union, there could be some possibilities, depending on the administration and certain professors who have done part of their studies elsewhere in the world.
Exemption from
disciplines
Exemption from subjects is not easy to do, you will have to ask your teacher for the desired subject and show him the corresponding documents. it is then up to her to decide what he / she will do.