Experience during school/ 2+2 vs. 3+1

[FauxxFox]

I have been doing a lot of research on hands on experience during veterinary school and 2+2 vs 3+1 schools. I learn best and retain information more efficiently when I am hands on rather than in lectures. I was wondering people's personal experience/opinions on 2+2 schools vs. 3+1 schools

Also, I have had trouble finding this next question online and have gotten my answers thus far by asking the veterinarians I work with. Any current veterinary students, I am wondering what schools do terminal surgeries/procedures and which schools do not (or which schools use tissue that is not alive). This is just something I am curious to know!

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[Lissarae06]

I can't speak to 2+2 as I did not experience it but 3+1 suited me great. We started with some hands on in first year doing more and more as we progressed through school. Oklahoma State does not do terminal surgeries or procedures but does use cadavers.

 

[orca2011]

Penn's basically a 3+1 (you can make it like 2.5 +1.5 if you want to get technical) , but the difference in 2+2 vs 3+1 is basically just when you start clinics. During your first two years, you just don't even have a lot of the clinically relevant lectures by that point (or start to get some in 2nd year) . I've only just started my clinical year (although I kind of did a 2.5 +1.5 type deal) but so far I feel like it's an appropriate amount of time. When it came to scheduling, I sometimes wished we did a full 2+2 because there were certain rotations I wanted to take twice without skimping out on others, but in reality, I feel like I'd be incredibly burnt out with a full two years.

As far as hands on experience goes, at least here, it's largely dependent on how pro-active you want to be. We have a class that incorporates things like PE's, venipuncture, etc. It gets more involved each year with what you're required to do as well. That being said, most of my hands on experience was through volunteering at vaccine clinics, wet labs or through our Shelter Medicine Club. Even with the hands on stuff, it's not necessarily clinical thinking and you don't really get that until you're actually in clinics and doing it first hand. There are also frequently summer positions or positions during the year, that allow you to work in various departments and gain experience that way.

In regards to terminal surgeries, as far as I'm aware (I haven't had a class where we did one or been asked to do one), we as students don't perform any. We practice a lot of techniques on cadavers that are donated through our educational program or on other cadavers. That being said, Penn has a ton of research going on, so there are terminal procedures occurring on campus at any given time.

 

[Kpowell14]

Mizzou is pretty much 2+2 ... We go to school from Aug- end of June for the first two years (you get about 7ish weeks of summer break). And then third year you go from Aug- middle of October and then start clinics 5 days after classes are done in October. Our classes are taught in 8 week blocks so for 8 weeks you are in one set of classes and then at the end of the 8 weeks you start a new set of classes... A couple classes are 16 weeks long like small animal medicine, equine and food animal but most others are only 8 weeks. The classes are taught at an accelerated pace since you only have 8 weeks and you normally have 2 ish exams a week, there were times we had 3 a week and then finals week you have an exam in every class- typically about 4. It is a rough schedule but it is doable. The biggest perk in getting into clinics early here at Mizzou is that we are guaranteed 16 weeks during clinics that we can do rotations at other vet schools, or pretty much any general practice/ specialty hospital we want. We are required to do 4 weeks of graded preceptorships during that time, but the rest is fair game to do with as you please. We don't track, but this free time is a great time to get experience in the field you want. I love it here and am super excited to get to clinics in 3 months!

Now for terminal surgeries. there are 2 different options: terminal or just cadaver based. Both classes perform the same procedures just on different specimens.

If you have any questions feel free to message me!

 

[FauxxFox]

I can't speak to 2+2 as I did not experience it but 3+1 suited me great. We started with some hands on in first year doing more and more as we progressed through school. Oklahoma State does not do terminal surgeries or procedures but does use cadavers.

So you believe you have received enough hands on experience? I'm interested in OKState and am trying to make sure their curriculum and experience will suit me. Also, how do you like living there? If you don't mind me asking.

 

[FauxxFox]

Penn's basically a 3+1 (you can make it like 2.5 +1.5 if you want to get technical) , but the difference in 2+2 vs 3+1 is basically just when you start clinics. During your first two years, you just don't even have a lot of the clinically relevant lectures by that point (or start to get some in 2nd year) . I've only just started my clinical year (although I kind of did a 2.5 +1.5 type deal) but so far I feel like it's an appropriate amount of time. When it came to scheduling, I sometimes wished we did a full 2+2 because there were certain rotations I wanted to take twice without skimping out on others, but in reality, I feel like I'd be incredibly burnt out with a full two years.

As far as hands on experience goes, at least here, it's largely dependent on how pro-active you want to be. We have a class that incorporates things like PE's, venipuncture, etc. It gets more involved each year with what you're required to do as well. That being said, most of my hands on experience was through volunteering at vaccine clinics, wet labs or through our Shelter Medicine Club. Even with the hands on stuff, it's not necessarily clinical thinking and you don't really get that until you're actually in clinics and doing it first hand. There are also frequently summer positions or positions during the year, that allow you to work in various departments and gain experience that way.

In regards to terminal surgeries, as far as I'm aware (I haven't had a class where we did one or been asked to do one), we as students don't perform any. We practice a lot of techniques on cadavers that are donated through our educational program or on other cadavers. That being said, Penn has a ton of research going on, so there are terminal procedures occurring on campus at any given time.

Thank you for the lengthy explanation it helped a lot! But I understand where you're coming from with the clinical thinking aspect and being proactive. I definitely will take that into consideration where ever I end up

 

[Lissarae06]

So you believe you have received enough hands on experience? I'm interested in OKState and am trying to make sure their curriculum and experience will suit me. Also, how do you like living there? If you don't mind me asking.

I do believe I received enough hands on. There is always room for improvement but I felt practice ready after graduation. I grew up in a really small town in Oklahoma so Stillwater was like a city to me lol. I lived there for 8 years (undergrad and vet school) and really enjoyed living there. I know some people from larger cities thought food/shopping was limited but it has really grown over the last decade. If you aren't a sports fan, football gamedays and homecoming can be annoying because of how busy streets are from everyone coming to town for the game.

 

[FauxxFox]

I do believe I received enough hands on. There is always room for improvement but I felt practice ready after graduation. I grew up in a really small town in Oklahoma so Stillwater was like a city to me lol. I lived there for 8 years (undergrad and vet school) and really enjoyed living there. I know some people from larger cities thought food/shopping was limited but it has really grown over the last decade. If you aren't a sports fan, football gamedays and homecoming can be annoying because of how busy streets are from everyone coming to town for the game.

Thank you for the insight! And I was the same way. Small town living and moved to a larger city, but I don't take advantage of it as much as I should. I spend less money in smaller cities so maybe that is an additional plus! Haha. But that is all good to know. I like sports and attend one of the largest universities in the US currently so I think I will actually not mind it at all.