Really, really discouraged. I think I need a break. Advice please?

[The Cat]

Hello all.

Well, allow me to vent.....

So far 2016 has been quite sucky for me. Failed two of the most difficult classes of my VT program (something had to give, had 8 classes in total), Animal Medicine and Animal Surgery. Tuition is 5000$ and I must retake the classes in Spring 2017.
Ever since I've been out of school in April, I have been studying my notes, packet by packet, making an essential magnum opus of studying material for the next go round. I have also been vigorously applying to clinics and hospitals in hopes of finally getting a formal position in a facility as a veterinary assistant or OTJ trained VT so I can garner experience and confidence in the environment and most importantly in surgery as that is partly why I failed the class.

I've been on multiple interviews and no one wants me. I smile, I say great things, I do my homework on these hospitals before I interview with them and no luck. I've just gone on a working interview to a facility that trains VTs on the job - this would be a perfect chance for me but something tells me, I do not have the position as the hiring manager is giving me the run around (or he could be very busy).

I plan to volunteer again there's just a wait list for orientation so there's that. So, until something happens, I just feel like I am simply existing - collecting dust.

I really just want to get my hands dirty in this field. I want my life to start already but I just don't know if it will once I am out of VT school.

Just frustrated and thinking I should take a break from studying and applying. Has anyone else been in this position? Just wondering. I feel like I am alone in this. lol

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[LetItSnow]

Hello all.

Well, allow me to vent.....

So far 2016 has been quite sucky for me. Failed two of the most difficult classes of my VT program (something had to give, had 8 classes in total), Animal Medicine and Animal Surgery. Tuition is 5000$ and I must retake the classes in Spring 2017.
Ever since I've been out of school in April, I have been studying my notes, packet by packet, making an essential magnum opus of studying material for the next go round. I have also been vigorously applying to clinics and hospitals in hopes of finally getting a formal position in a facility as a veterinary assistant or OTJ trained VT so I can garner experience and confidence in the environment and most importantly in surgery as that is partly why I failed the class.

I've been on multiple interviews and no one wants me. I smile, I say great things, I do my homework on these hospitals before I interview with them and no luck. I've just gone on a working interview to a facility that trains VTs on the job - this would be a perfect chance for me but something tells me, I do not have the position as the hiring manager is giving me the run around (or he could be very busy).

I plan to volunteer again there's just a wait list for orientation so there's that. So, until something happens, I just feel like I am simply existing - collecting dust.

I really just want to get my hands dirty in this field. I want my life to start already but I just don't know if it will once I am out of VT school.

Just frustrated and thinking I should take a break from studying and applying. Has anyone else been in this position? Just wondering. I feel like I am alone in this. lol

Well. A few comments.

1) Why are you not getting hired? You need an objective way to find out - like asking the people who didn't hire you. You need to be open to hearing something you might not want to hear, but to the degree you are open to objective feedback, you will be able to correct whatever they are seeing that they don't like.

2) "Studying my notes, packet by packet, making an essential magnum opus of studying material" doesn't mean <learning> the material. You need to distinguish between studying and learning. Are you actually learning the material? Or just studying it? If you've really been studying as hard as you make it sound, you should have all that material down cold. Test yourself - hand a packet to someone and ask them to quiz you. If you struggle with knowing the answers, then for all that studying you aren't actually learning, and you need to revamp your approach. In my pre-vet days, I saw a lot of students who talked about alllllllll the long hours they put in painstakingly studying - but they never seemed to learn the material. I studied with a few of them and realized their idea of studying was just sitting with the material in front of them for hours sorta .... staring at it. Or writing "notes" but not engaging their brain while they wrote it. Or spending 75% of their time chatting with study partners about anything OTHER than what they were supposedly studying. If that's you (not saying it is - just saying I saw a lot of ineffective studying), then you need to objectively realize it and fix it.

8 classes isn't that big of a deal. We certainly had many more than that in single semesters of vet school. With good organization and studying, that shouldn't overwhelm you.

Don't let setbacks bother you. Turn them into strengths by examining them, looking at the 'why' behind the setback, and putting together a plan to manage it the next go-around. EVERYBODY has setbacks. I failed out of college. Twice. Big deal. If my dumb self can recover from that and make it through, anyone can.

The single biggest obstacles I see people repeatedly fall prey to are 1) giving up because of setbacks, and 2) not being objective about why they are struggling.

You can do it.

 

[The Cat]

1) I have inquired to most of the places that rejected me. They said my "interview skills" are fine, they just want more hands on experience. Volunteering would change that, but at the same time, people in my program with no veterinary experience got positions within a year. So, it's a bit frustrating and at times, make me wonder if that is truly the issue.

2) I learned with trial and error that mind maps help me better understand and retain information, so I've been making A LOT of maps out of my packets. Very time consuming...it was a lot of material so I'm still not done for the most part, but I think it is quite effective. I've been the student you are talking about and I know the struggle.

Regarding the 8 classes, I beg to differ but you are correct, I was not the most organized person in the world and I could have used more time to study effectively. I thank you for your advice!

 

[The Cat]

And just curious, how did/do you study?

 

[LetItSnow]

And just curious, how did/do you study?

Doesn't matter how I studied. I'm not you. You need to find ways that you can prove work for you. I really would suggest you hand one of your packets to someone and ask them to quiz you. If you don't know the material cold ........... then that study technique isn't working for you or you're not actually applying it like you think you are. That's objective. That's not "Well, I <feel> like this technique works well for me"...... it's human nature to want to feel like whatever choices we're making are the right ones, so we're biased. You need to actually test yourself. All you have <right now> is a history of not doing well in classes in 2016, which objectively says your study techniques or prioritization weren't on track.

I'm not being mean - I'm sure you can do just great. Believe me, I know what it's like to fail. It is the hardest thing in the world to face it and say "ok, let's objectively figure out what I did wrong". You're obviously on the right track since you're looking for ideas here.

But as far as how I studied ... I did two things. I made typical study guides, but I did it as slowly as time allowed. I didn't just scribble stuff; I'd write it, re-read it, read it 'aloud' in my head, think about what the info meant and how it connected to other info, etc. If I was trying to learn how the autonomic nervous system worked, I'd sit there and think about which receptor types went where, and what triggered them, and what blocked them, and what it would look like to have different receptors blocked... etc. I didn't just look at my note that says the final receptor in the PNS is muscarinic: I'd remind myself that that means it is stimulated with acetylcholine, and I'd think about what happens clinically if you agonize it versus antagonize it. You get the drift.

The other thing I did is lectured out loud to myself. I mostly did it on my car rides back/forth from places, but I did it at home some, too. If you can give yourself a lecture on the material without consulting your notes, then you obviously know the material. Saying it out loud is a great way to help reinforce the memorization.