Class of 2017.... how you doin?

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I've been back since Friday and haven't done a single thing. I'm so not prepared for Wednesday to get here. :bang:
It would help if we could at least get our OneNote notebooks. But yeah, I did a little cleaning and then some food prep. But I need to step up my game tomorrow.

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It would help if we could at least get our OneNote notebooks. But yeah, I did a little cleaning and then some food prep. But I need to step up my game tomorrow.
I've just been binge watching the entire series of Sex and the City. Lol. If you want to hang out at all tomorrow or Tuesday, let me know.
 
Tomorrow I start at a shelter and I have to admit I am a little nervous.. I haven't done a solo spay or neuter yet & it's been 6 months since our surgery class.. Fingers-crossed everything goes well!
 
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I have officially submitted my clinical school choices! I may be joining some of you in May! Can't believe I have less than 4 months on this island...time sure has flown by.
 
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I've just been binge watching the entire series of Sex and the City. Lol. If you want to hang out at all tomorrow or Tuesday, let me know.
Ugh I just saw this! Sorry!

I am glad we have Monday off, but that will be spent doing online classes.
 
I just want to watch this surgery video! Why does the Internet have to suck?
 
The UT administration wants every 3rd year class to take this Veterinary Educational Assessment test before they go into clinics, and our class is the guinea pig for it. They specifically told us not to study for it and just go off of memory. I took it today and probably knew about 30% of the material. I realize it's just a way to assess where the class is, but it's obnoxious feeling like such a ******* for four hours.
 
The UT administration wants every 3rd year class to take this Veterinary Educational Assessment test before they go into clinics, and our class is the guinea pig for it. They specifically told us not to study for it and just go off of memory. I took it today and probably knew about 30% of the material. I realize it's just a way to assess where the class is, but it's obnoxious feeling like such a ******* for four hours.

They're implementing that at our school too at the beginning of our third year, so my class is guinea pigging it next semester :\ However they're making it part of a grade for one of our classes, therefore defeating the purpose of not studying to assess how much you are actually retaining. It's frustrating, and I'm not looking forward to it at all. I already know where I'm going to be weakest...
 
The UT administration wants every 3rd year class to take this Veterinary Educational Assessment test before they go into clinics, and our class is the guinea pig for it. They specifically told us not to study for it and just go off of memory. I took it today and probably knew about 30% of the material. I realize it's just a way to assess where the class is, but it's obnoxious feeling like such a ******* for four hours.

And welcome to somewhat how it feels to take the NAVLE. Just add on a few hours and the feeling of complete and utter idiocy. ;)
 
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The UT administration wants every 3rd year class to take this Veterinary Educational Assessment test before they go into clinics, and our class is the guinea pig for it. They specifically told us not to study for it and just go off of memory. I took it today and probably knew about 30% of the material. I realize it's just a way to assess where the class is, but it's obnoxious feeling like such a ******* for four hours.

Mizzou had us take it a couple weeks before we started clinics and told us not to study as well. You remember more than you think you do!!
 
The UT administration wants every 3rd year class to take this Veterinary Educational Assessment test before they go into clinics, and our class is the guinea pig for it. They specifically told us not to study for it and just go off of memory. I took it today and probably knew about 30% of the material. I realize it's just a way to assess where the class is, but it's obnoxious feeling like such a ******* for four hours.

Have them make their graduates 5 years out take it and share the scores. You'll feel much better about yourself.
 
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Mizzou had us take it a couple weeks before we started clinics and told us not to study as well. You remember more than you think you do!!

Yeah, we had to take it too. Really wasn't that bad. I definitely didn't study since we took it right after coming back from Christmas break and I was definitely not about to do any studying over break.
 
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Yeah, we had to take it too. Really wasn't that bad. I definitely didn't study since we took it right after coming back from Christmas break and I was definitely not about to do any studying over break.

They made us take it during our most difficult block of classes... There is no way in hell I was studying for that. I ended up powering through the whole thing in one sitting because we had exams to study for.
 
They made us take it during our most difficult block of classes... There is no way in hell I was studying for that. I ended up powering through the whole thing in one sitting because we had exams to study for.

I get this feeling that it is something new that all the schools are doing that has to do with accreditation. I could be wrong, but I kept hearing whispers about how they are trying to implement some type of testing prior to students going into clinical rotations to get an idea of what their knowledge base is from the years prior to clinics. The problem ends up being when you are told "don't worry about this, it isn't graded and it has no impact on your grades. We are just using this to get an idea of where the class stands knowledge wise." So then you have the students who basically sit down and randomly click through the exam without taking the time to even attempt the exam. We had a few people basically walk out within 20-30 minutes completely done with the exam and it isn't a quick exam if you are actually putting in some effort. Really doesn't help the school and doesn't help the student either. It is supposed to be fairly accurate on how you will perform on NAVLE too.
 
I get this feeling that it is something new that all the schools are doing that has to do with accreditation. I could be wrong, but I kept hearing whispers about how they are trying to implement some type of testing prior to students going into clinical rotations to get an idea of what their knowledge base is from the years prior to clinics. The problem ends up being when you are told "don't worry about this, it isn't graded and it has no impact on your grades. We are just using this to get an idea of where the class stands knowledge wise." So then you have the students who basically sit down and randomly click through the exam without taking the time to even attempt the exam. We had a few people basically walk out within 20-30 minutes completely done with the exam and it isn't a quick exam if you are actually putting in some effort. Really doesn't help the school and doesn't help the student either. It is supposed to be fairly accurate on how you will perform on NAVLE too.

That's why they're making it a part of a grade for us, they don't want students to do that... But then people are going to study for it so it also defeats the purpose.
 
I get this feeling that it is something new that all the schools are doing that has to do with accreditation. I could be wrong, but I kept hearing whispers about how they are trying to implement some type of testing prior to students going into clinical rotations to get an idea of what their knowledge base is from the years prior to clinics. The problem ends up being when you are told "don't worry about this, it isn't graded and it has no impact on your grades. We are just using this to get an idea of where the class stands knowledge wise." So then you have the students who basically sit down and randomly click through the exam without taking the time to even attempt the exam. We had a few people basically walk out within 20-30 minutes completely done with the exam and it isn't a quick exam if you are actually putting in some effort. Really doesn't help the school and doesn't help the student either. It is supposed to be fairly accurate on how you will perform on NAVLE too.

Yea that definitely makes sense regarding accreditation. I wonder how that will come into play in the future. I didn't see anyone leave that fast during our exam. But there were several of us that just chose to not take the available breaks between sections. I still did my normal testing routine as far as eliminating obvious wrong answers / narrowing down to 2 options and then choosing my best guess for questions I didn't know right off the bat. I was pretty happy with my scores so hopefully it is a decent indicator for the NAVLE!
 
The UT administration wants every 3rd year class to take this Veterinary Educational Assessment test before they go into clinics, and our class is the guinea pig for it. They specifically told us not to study for it and just go off of memory. I took it today and probably knew about 30% of the material. I realize it's just a way to assess where the class is, but it's obnoxious feeling like such a ******* for four hours.

If retained 30% of what I learned in school I would be so proud.
 
I stopped by SDN for the first time in [too long] and realized I can now finally (!!!!!) make my strikethrough clinical rotation signature.

hahaha i have surgery first wtf why u do this 2 me admin

But... if anyone is thinking about a career in exotic/zoo/wildlife med, this is what LSU can offer. And I had to get a schedule change and *remove* one of my exotics rotations at school to fit in an outside externship, otherwise there'd be one more.
 
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I stopped by SDN for the first time in [too long] and realized I can now finally (!!!!!) make my strikethrough clinical rotation signature.

hahaha i have surgery first wtf why u do this 2 me admin

But... if anyone is thinking about a career in exotic/zoo/wildlife med, this is what LSU can offer. And I had to get a schedule change and *remove* one of my exotics rotations at school to fit in an outside externship, otherwise there'd be one more.

I might be asking you some questions about their exotics and zoo rotations in a bit! I have to put in my choices for clinical year next semester and LSU is in my top 3. The representative from LSU that came to the fair last year where all the reps come to talk to us was less than helpful...
 
I stopped by SDN for the first time in [too long] and realized I can now finally (!!!!!) make my strikethrough clinical rotation signature.

hahaha i have surgery first wtf why u do this 2 me admin

But... if anyone is thinking about a career in exotic/zoo/wildlife med, this is what LSU can offer. And I had to get a schedule change and *remove* one of my exotics rotations at school to fit in an outside externship, otherwise there'd be one more.
I had surgery first and I loved it!
 
The verdict is in and I will be completing my clinical year at Purdue University :) It was my number 3 choice so I'm a little bummed but I know in the end it's what's meant to be and it's only 5 hours from home in Ohio. I don't know if I recall seeing any 2017'ers that are at Purdue. But if any current Purdue students see this please shoot me a PM! I really don't know much about the school or the area and I'd love to learn more. I also need to blindly secure housing so if anyone has any apartment suggestions I'm all ears! 2.5 months until I say goodbye to this little island!
 
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C
The verdict is in and I will be completing my clinical year at Purdue University :) It was my number 3 choice so I'm a little bummed but I know in the end it's what's meant to be and it's only 5 hours from home in Ohio. I don't know if I recall seeing any 2017'ers that are at Purdue. But if any current Purdue students see this please shoot me a PM! I really don't know much about the school or the area and I'd love to learn more. I also need to blindly secure housing so if anyone has any apartment suggestions I'm all ears! 2.5 months until I say goodbye to this little island!

Congrats! Would you mind sharing what your first and second choices were? Just curious :) We have all the delegates from our affiliations coming down this Saturday to talk to us. Right now Tennessee is my top choice, with LSU and Florida tied for second.
 
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Congrats! Would you mind sharing what your first and second choices were? Just curious :) We have all the delegates from our affiliations coming down this Saturday to talk to us. Right now Tennessee is my top choice, with LSU and Florida tied for second.
obviously I'm biased, but Tennessee is probably a good choice if you still have interest in exotics/wildlife.
 
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obviously I'm biased, but Tennessee is probably a good choice if you still have interest in exotics/wildlife.

I do for sure! Which is why they are my top choice :) I've also heard nothing but good things from other people from SGU who have done their fourth years there too. It seems like a great place!
 
I do for sure! Which is why they are my top choice :) I've also heard nothing but good things from other people from SGU who have done their fourth years there too. It seems like a great place!
Happy to answer any questions I can :)

There isn't a single exotics person that isn't excellent there
 
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C


Congrats! Would you mind sharing what your first and second choices were? Just curious :) We have all the delegates from our affiliations coming down this Saturday to talk to us. Right now Tennessee is my top choice, with LSU and Florida tied for second.
That is so cool that delegates come and talk to you guys. I wish they did that for us at Ross. We did get a pretty information loaded PowerPoint with info about each school's strengths and other basic info but I feel like getting to speak with people is pretty beneficial too.
So due to my interests being super broad (I don't want to specialize in anything, just want to be a practice-ready small animal vet at the end of clinics) I ended up putting the 4 schools closest to home. I knew I would get a great experience at any school for small animal stuff so location ended up guiding my choices. I'm so over being long distance with my fiancé and trying to plan our wedding from St. Kitts has been next to impossible. We don't get to rank our choices though. Even if the people that do the placements didn't know it, my rank was Ohio, Michigan, Purdue, Illinois.

One of my best friends was placed at Tennessee :) She's really big into rehab and pain management so I think she'll be happy there.
 
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But... if anyone is thinking about a career in exotic/zoo/wildlife med, this is what LSU can offer. And I had to get a schedule change and *remove* one of my exotics rotations at school to fit in an outside externship, otherwise there'd be one more.

I'm glad you could get so many rotations in the field that interests you, but I'd be cautious. I was someone who was dead set on a particular specialty field, had good connections, as many rotations as I could get, etc. and I did not match. In retrospect I wish I had taken another SA rotation or two to prepare myself for GP...
 
Happy to answer any questions I can :)

There isn't a single exotics person that isn't excellent there

Awesome to hear! I definitely might be coming to you with questions in the future. I still have two more semesters after this one on the island, but we have to put in our choices next term!
 
That is so cool that delegates come and talk to you guys. I wish they did that for us at Ross. We did get a pretty information loaded PowerPoint with info about each school's strengths and other basic info but I feel like getting to speak with people is pretty beneficial too.
So due to my interests being super broad (I don't want to specialize in anything, just want to be a practice-ready small animal vet at the end of clinics) I ended up putting the 4 schools closest to home. I knew I would get a great experience at any school for small animal stuff so location ended up guiding my choices. I'm so over being long distance with my fiancé and trying to plan our wedding from St. Kitts has been next to impossible. We don't get to rank our choices though. Even if the people that do the placements didn't know it, my rank was Ohio, Michigan, Purdue, Illinois.

One of my best friends was placed at Tennessee :) She's really big into rehab and pain management so I think she'll be happy there.

Gotcha, definitely understandable to choose based on location! I'm from Virginia so Tennessee will be a whole lot closer than Grenada haha.
 
We start clinics May 2nd. I'm alternating between being nervous, being super excited, and asking @NStarz a million questions.

Don't be nervous. 4th year was the most fun year by a LONG shot.

Also the most tiring, but so what? It's just a year. There's light at the end of the tunnel.
 
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Yeah, 4th year is definitely better than the other years.

And more exhausting. And yes I am counting down the days until I am done now, since I am done in March...

But definitely 4th year is the best and you will be amazed with just how much you learn in that one year.
 
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I am both excited and terrified for clinics. Excited to just get the experience, get my hands dirty, and learn a ton but afraid of feeling dumb and feeling like I have something to prove, coming from Ross. I'm going to try and suppress that fear because I know the stigma has for the most part gone away but I'm sure it'll always be in the back of my mind. I've always had upper classmen around to ask what to expect for the upcoming semester, exam, etc and not really knowing what to expect in clinics makes me nervous but I have a feeling everyone is kind of in the same boat.
 
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I am both excited and terrified for clinics. Excited to just get the experience, get my hands dirty, and learn a ton but afraid of feeling dumb and feeling like I have something to prove, coming from Ross. I'm going to try and suppress that fear because I know the stigma has for the most part gone away but I'm sure it'll always be in the back of my mind. I've always had upper classmen around to ask what to expect for the upcoming semester, exam, etc and not really knowing what to expect in clinics makes me nervous but I have a feeling everyone is kind of in the same boat.
Too bad you didn't get Ohio - I would have shown you around! I'm sure you'll be fine though. My friend told me the other day that after a few months of clinics that people even forget who was from Ross/sgu and who has been here the whole time because they fit right it!
 
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We start clinics May 2nd. I'm alternating between being nervous, being super excited, and asking @NStarz a million questions.

You are gonna love it!!! And I looked at your signature, Wheew Im glad their are horsey people like you in the world!!! Can I give you my 6 week equine rotation?!?!
 
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This last Friday marked 15 months to graduation. That's not terrifying at all. :nailbiting:
 
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This last Friday marked 15 months to graduation. That's not terrifying at all. :nailbiting:
Try <3 months :uhno:

And I'm over here like:

WOO%20HOO.gif
 
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Potentially presenting some research in March... and April... and June... I bought VetPrep for NAVLE in November/December. Match opens in October. Real life is coming up way too fast and I really can't believe I'm almost a fourth year.
 
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I'm finally finished tinkering with my schedule and I absolutely love it! I'm interested in going into shelter medicine after school so I've been trying to get as much spay/neuter experience as possible. I'm doing six shelter externships and a forensics externship. I truly can't wait to get started!
 
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Well, I'm officially done with my third year rotations. Exams next week and then 8 weeks of global health, public health, etc... The exams next week are supposed to be the worst at my school for all four years and routinely convert A students to C students. Can't wait.
 
Hey guys, looking for some quick VetPrep advice...today is the last day to get the 180 day subscription with the extension through the end of the December testing period. I was reading through the last page or so of discussion regarding the VetPrep deals. Is the deal that comes out in May a price break with extended time? Right now there's no price break but it's extended through December. I'm still in classes through late April and I know I won't be doing any VetPrep until then, maybe not even until I start clinics in late May. So would it be smarter for me to wait until the May deal? Is the deal something that is definitely offered every year? I just don't want to wait for that deal and then be stuck when it doesn't happen.

Then my next question is the standard version vs the premium with the power lectures. We were told a few weeks ago that if we pass the NAVLE on our first try, we get a $600 scholarship so I'm kind of wanting to splurge a little on the prep for the test and get the premium. But I'd love to hear if anyone has seen/watched any of the power lectures that come with the premium and if you found them helpful or a waste of precious time in clinics.
 
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