Vet School Rants

Veterinary Science Graduate Certificate from UofI
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I agree with LIS - if it isn't directly interfering with my learning, go for it. I sat next to a friend for one lecture last year and he doodled all class. At the end of it all, he had retained way more than I had diligently taking notes :laugh: Unfortunately I need to be paying full attention to get anything. If I spend even a few minutes on Sportscenter or checking my fantasy leagues, the lecture is a crapshoot.
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Rwwilliams said:
There's one person in my class who is always on Reddit. Every second of every class, no matter what we're doing or what it pertains to. It's his funeral, but I couldn't imagine wasting the money I'd spent that way.
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Man.... 1/2 our class is off surfing the internet... and that is a school with (mostly) non-mandatory lectures. I don't get why most of them bother to show up. I always figured because they wouldn;t "feel" right skipping.

I have watched so many animal you tubes, shoe shopping, FB-ing, (only me ever SDNing), watching sports events (I remember the Aussie Open I believe in class..... got to watch a good part of a match), etc etc.
 
I usually start out with the intention of paying attention. I've been a lot better this year than last year, but sometimes I just can't do it. Or I tune in and back out for random periods during the lecture. It's really dependent on a ton of things. I skipped class a lot last semester, but I generally like going so I try to go and pay attention.

Our class FB page is actually blowing up right now over an incident in class that was noticed today (although it's been occurring since last year). Causing quite a bit of drama which I plan on staying away from.
 
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Soooo exhausted after our behaviour midterm today.....and then we had behaviour lecture after that. I for one, was not paying attention....and since I was almost late this morning, had to sit in the front.

I hope the prof didn't notice me nodding off. That definitely happened. :oops:

I'm so tired of being tired and exams just started.
 
So I got a bee up my bonnet and decided that for one of my "vacation rotations" I wanted to go to CSU for a few weeks because I am in love with Colorado and Wyoming and how amazing would it be to get to go out there and hike and explore and do lab animal stuff?

Anyway, sent an interest email this morning. Requirements: letter of expectation, three letters of rec, transcripts and CV. Essentially a full out application. Another place I want to go has this too (and some of the "back up places" I had looked into.)

Honestly, I get it. They want people who are amazing. And I'm sure I could put together a passable application. But just this once I wanted it to be about just wanting to be somewhere that I love and learn about the field that I love. I wanted him to say, "Sure, when do you want to start?"

I'm so tired of living my life for the next selection committee, and I know it's hardly done (residency applications, board exams, etc). It doesn't help that I compare myself to everyone around me and worry about not being good enough. They feed us so much about not being competitive but guess what? I am competitive because I want to be a board certified lab animal vet and I want to be it in an area where my SO, family and future family don't have to make sacrifices on my behalf anymore.

I need to find the balls to put together these applications and be confident in myself and sell myself to these people. But it's so disheartening to feel like that's all I'll have done for so many years of my life - build myself up so that I can sell myself. I'm so ready to feel like I'm doing things for myself and not a panel of people who've looked through a hundred other applications already and are only able to look at the lines on a CV.
 
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that redhead said:
I'm so tired of living my life for the next selection committee, and I know it's hardly done (residency applications, board exams, etc). It doesn't help that I compare myself to everyone around me and worry about not being good enough. They feed us so much about not being competitive but guess what? I am competitive because I want to be a board certified lab animal vet and I want to be it in an area where my SO, family and future family don't have to make sacrifices on my behalf anymore.

I need to find the balls to put together these applications and be confident in myself and sell myself to these people. But it's so disheartening to feel like that's all I'll have done for so many years of my life - build myself up so that I can sell myself. I'm so ready to feel like I'm doing things for myself and not a panel of people who've looked through a hundred other applications already and are only able to look at the lines on a CV.
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I know the feeling completely. Vet school, all my summer externships, residency fellowship....I'm tired of it. I want my Big Girl Job, and I want it yesterday. It sucks, but life kind of IS about "selling" yourself. However, the problem isn't the selling, it is more about maintaining a positive attitude and liking yourself - it feels less like a drag that way. That's the way to keep from feeling like you're constantly fighting to get ahead.

Don't let imposter syndrome get to you too much. It never goes away completely, so you just have to remind yourself that you ARE awesome. Hell, I still worry sometimes that eventually someone is gonna find out that I'm not as smart as they think I am and they'll toss me out :laugh: I mean, I'm a fracking slacker who sat in the back and would surf the internet during class, how the **** am I here? I still can't believe I passed boards, I keep thinking it was a grading mistake somewhere and they will take it back. I still worry about being able to perform in this lab - what if I'm not as smart as they think I am? What if I let everyone down? Etc. You'e not alone :)
 
WhtsThFrequency said:
I know the feeling completely. Vet school, all my summer externships, residency fellowship....I'm tired of it. I want my Big Girl Job, and I want it yesterday. It sucks, but life kind of IS about "selling" yourself. However, the problem isn't the selling, it is more about maintaining a positive attitude and liking yourself - it feels less like a drag that way. That's the way to keep from feeling like you're constantly fighting to get ahead.

Don't let imposter syndrome get to you too much. It never goes away completely, so you just have to remind yourself that you ARE awesome. Hell, I still worry sometimes that eventually someone is gonna find out that I'm not as smart as they think I am and they'll toss me out :laugh: I mean, I'm a fracking slacker who sat in the back and would surf the internet during class, how the **** am I here? I still can't believe I passed boards, I keep thinking it was a grading mistake somewhere and they will take it back. I still worry about being able to perform in this lab - what if I'm not as smart as they think I am? What if I let everyone down? Etc. You'e not alone :)
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Thanks for the perspective, WTF. Means a lot :)
 
To fellow classmate: don't ask me for help if you are going to bitch about the way I'm explaining something or bitch at me that you think I'm wrong.


To other fellow classmate: I understand your desire to be comfortable in class, however please keep your shoes on and please don't walk around the classroom without your shoes off. No one wants to smell your stinky feet.
 
WhtsThFrequency said:
I know the feeling completely. Vet school, all my summer externships, residency fellowship....I'm tired of it. I want my Big Girl Job, and I want it yesterday. It sucks, but life kind of IS about "selling" yourself. However, the problem isn't the selling, it is more about maintaining a positive attitude and liking yourself - it feels less like a drag that way. That's the way to keep from feeling like you're constantly fighting to get ahead.

Don't let imposter syndrome get to you too much. It never goes away completely, so you just have to remind yourself that you ARE awesome. Hell, I still worry sometimes that eventually someone is gonna find out that I'm not as smart as they think I am and they'll toss me out :laugh: I mean, I'm a fracking slacker who sat in the back and would surf the internet during class, how the **** am I here? I still can't believe I passed boards, I keep thinking it was a grading mistake somewhere and they will take it back. I still worry about being able to perform in this lab - what if I'm not as smart as they think I am? What if I let everyone down? Etc. You'e not alone :)
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I'm constantly worried that I'm going to get kicked out of my residency program when they realize that I have no idea what the hell I'm doing half the time. Yesterday was especially a good day for that.

Glad to know I'm not alone in that feeling persisting even after graduating vet school.
 
Dear ***hole class of 2017...

Whoever took my anatomy notebook that was filled with my ORIGINAL notes, drawings, and completed objectives that was intended for my 2 little sibs, rest assured I will find you and make you pay. I'm highly upset, and it makes me really question whether you belong here if you are going to steal something that was clearly labeled for someone else. Not only have you pissed me off, but you have put my two friends, and two of your classmates, at a disadvantage for your own personal gain.

Watch out, I'm coming for you.
 
Our class is absolutely up in arms. I feel we may not recover from it either.

We have 2 finals and a midterm thats three exams in 4 days. These classes are Embryology, Immunology and Endocrinology. Arguably the three hardest classes of first semester. We had the option to move one of these exams to the following week. The lady in charge of scheduling met with us and told us we were absolutely stupid, her words exactly if we didnt vote to move one of the exams. Anyway in order to admin the test schedule it has to be a 100% vote. Someone voted against moving it. Rumor has is that they have a huge party scheduled that weekend and they want to enjoy themselves. People are absolutely fuming and I am feeling overwhelmed. If you fail one class you have to repeat the ENTIRE year. My entire class except for the few people are walking around like this:scared:.
 
WelshCob said:
Our class is absolutely up in arms. I feel we may not recover from it either.

We have 2 finals and a midterm thats three exams in 4 days. These classes are Embryology, Immunology and Endocrinology. Arguably the three hardest classes of first semester. We had the option to move one of these exams to the following week. The lady in charge of scheduling met with us and told us we were absolutely stupid, her words exactly if we didnt vote to move one of the exams. Anyway in order to admin the test schedule it has to be a 100% vote. Someone voted against moving it. Rumor has is that they have a huge party scheduled that weekend and they want to enjoy themselves. People are absolutely fuming and I am feeling overwhelmed. If you fail one class you have to repeat the ENTIRE year. My entire class except for the few people are walking around like this:scared:.
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they will recover from it. Believe me, they will. And this isn't even the worst thing that will happen to the class. But good luck!
 
Something similar happened in our class last year. The people responsible ended up changing their votes (through some public strong-arming on the class FB page) but man was that an explosion waiting to detonate.

Like dyachei said, you can do it. But good luck :( :luck:
 
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WelshCob said:
Our class is absolutely up in arms. I feel we may not recover from it either.

We have 2 finals and a midterm thats three exams in 4 days. These classes are Embryology, Immunology and Endocrinology. Arguably the three hardest classes of first semester. We had the option to move one of these exams to the following week. The lady in charge of scheduling met with us and told us we were absolutely stupid, her words exactly if we didnt vote to move one of the exams. Anyway in order to admin the test schedule it has to be a 100% vote. Someone voted against moving it. Rumor has is that they have a huge party scheduled that weekend and they want to enjoy themselves. People are absolutely fuming and I am feeling overwhelmed. If you fail one class you have to repeat the ENTIRE year. My entire class except for the few people are walking around like this:scared:.
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This happened to us first year too. We recovered from that as well as a facebook showdown similar to what Penn V16 is now experiencing.

(People, if you have problems with your classmates, talk to them! In person! Not on the class facebook page!)
 
WelshCob said:
Our class is absolutely up in arms. I feel we may not recover from it either.

We have 2 finals and a midterm thats three exams in 4 days. These classes are Embryology, Immunology and Endocrinology. Arguably the three hardest classes of first semester. We had the option to move one of these exams to the following week. The lady in charge of scheduling met with us and told us we were absolutely stupid, her words exactly if we didnt vote to move one of the exams. Anyway in order to admin the test schedule it has to be a 100% vote. Someone voted against moving it. Rumor has is that they have a huge party scheduled that weekend and they want to enjoy themselves. People are absolutely fuming and I am feeling overwhelmed. If you fail one class you have to repeat the ENTIRE year. My entire class except for the few people are walking around like this:scared:.
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happened to us 1st year too. the professor ended up getting mad, saying we're being stupid and executively moving the date.
 
bunnity said:
This happened to us first year too. We recovered from that as well as a facebook showdown similar to what Penn V16 is now experiencing.

(People, if you have problems with your classmates, talk to them! In person! Not on the class facebook page!)
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That was jus embarrassing...although entertaining to watch at the same time.
 
WelshCob said:
Our class is absolutely up in arms. I feel we may not recover from it either.

We have 2 finals and a midterm thats three exams in 4 days. These classes are Embryology, Immunology and Endocrinology. Arguably the three hardest classes of first semester. We had the option to move one of these exams to the following week. The lady in charge of scheduling met with us and told us we were absolutely stupid, her words exactly if we didnt vote to move one of the exams. Anyway in order to admin the test schedule it has to be a 100% vote. Someone voted against moving it. Rumor has is that they have a huge party scheduled that weekend and they want to enjoy themselves. People are absolutely fuming and I am feeling overwhelmed. If you fail one class you have to repeat the ENTIRE year. My entire class except for the few people are walking around like this:scared:.
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I don't get it. I mean, the vote was asking if they wanted to move the exam. The person who said no is perfectly within their rights to feel that way, regardless of whatever their reasoning is. Yes, if it were me and I realized that I was the only one in the class who felt that way I would probably change my answer, assuming that was an option. But if the rest of the class is out for blood because of it, I certainly would not be inclined to speak up and identify myself as the much-hated outlier. :shrug:
 
BlackDog17 said:
I don't get it. I mean, the vote was asking if they wanted to move the exam. The person who said no is perfectly within their rights to feel that way, regardless of whatever their reasoning is. Yes, if it were me and I realized that I was the only one in the class who felt that way I would probably change my answer, assuming that was an option. But if the rest of the class is out for blood because of it, I certainly would not be inclined to speak up and identify myself as the much-hated outlier. :shrug:
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Turns out it is FL-GA football weekend and people don't want to have an exam after what is deemed the worlds largest cocktail party. Most people are upset due to the fact that it only takes one no. Its as stupid as approving something with only one yes. The only way one no should count is the American legal system, because someone's actual life is on the line. .
 
WelshCob said:
Turns out it is FL-GA football weekend and people don't want to have an exam after what is deemed the worlds largest cocktail party. Most people are upset due to the fact that it only takes one no. Its as stupid as approving something with only one yes. The only way one no should count is the American legal system, because someone's actual life is on the line. .
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Our voting to move exams is done the same way. Generally though, if there is one no, there are more than just that one. People tried to move an exam that is scheduled for after Thanksgiving to right before Thanksgiving. I didn't see the point in moving that one. We have the entire week before the exam for you to study/go spend time with your family. And it's a two exam class (written and practical) and we'd only be moving the one before Thanksgiving break, which I thought was stupid. A bunch of people actually agreed on that one. To date, I think it's the only test we have voted to move that didn't work out.

Personally, I think my class tries to move exams too much, but if it's not huge deal, I'm not going to make a fuss over it.
 
A new rule was instituted this year that all requests for changes to the schedule must be made in the first two weeks of class. Probably because there was a lot of wishy-washying last year (part of which was the aforementioned stand-off).
 
About to end my 7th week of being at school every. single. day. Woo! I really do enjoy what I'm doing, but one day to sleep past sunrise would be nice.

Also, I feel like I'm the only person who ISN'T planning on doing an internship. I just hope someone will hire me. One of my biggest fears is that I will graduate and can't find a job and the past 8 years of my life have been for nothing. :scared:
 
orca2011 said:
Our voting to move exams is done the same way.
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Except we have that little grace period at the beginning of the term (unless they've changed it). My first year, we had a week that would have been absolute h-e-double-hockey-sticks but we managed to avert it and move an exam by calling a vote in the first two weeks when we only needed a 2/3rds majority instead of 100%. That was all kinds of fun, given that we didn't even have class officers yet. :)

I think that was the only one we've moved, though.
 
I think it's just majority for moving exams for us. We have the two week window to make any changes and as long as we get a majority (maybe it's 2/3rds, but I don't think it's 100%) and the change can be accomodated, we can move things.

We did have the 100% thing for one exam change last year like TR mentioned, but that was sort of a unique situation.
 
I know every first year has to go through it, but I am VERY tired of smelling formaldehyde seeping from my pores and when I lick my poor dried out lips, tasting pure nastiness. It makes my head hurt and I am cranky about it. Just glad I suppose it is the last lab of the day and I can come straight home for a shower. :hungover:
 
Coquette22 said:
I think it's just majority for moving exams for us. We have the two week window to make any changes and as long as we get a majority (maybe it's 2/3rds, but I don't think it's 100%) and the change can be accomodated, we can move things.

We did have the 100% thing for one exam change last year like TR mentioned, but that was sort of a unique situation.
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I might be wrong, but it seems like we have some weirdness where we need 100% for midterms and finals (or maybe just finals), but not other exams? If that's right - and I'm not positive, it just sticks in my memory - I imagine it's a holdover from the more traditional days of fewer exams with the vast majority of points coming from your midterm and final. Still true for a lot of classes, but it seems like most of them have at least some other source of points.

Our class reps and curriculum reps and whatnot do a really stellar job every year BEFORE the semester gets rolling of sitting down with faculty/staff and hammering out the exam schedule. We really rarely have any adjustments. Maybe once or twice in our first three years so far? They really do an awesome job.
 
skittles12 said:
About to end my 7th week of being at school every. single. day. Woo! I really do enjoy what I'm doing, but one day to sleep past sunrise would be nice.

Also, I feel like I'm the only person who ISN'T planning on doing an internship. I just hope someone will hire me. One of my biggest fears is that I will graduate and can't find a job and the past 8 years of my life have been for nothing. :scared:
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You and me both, lady. You and me both.

Lupin21 said:
I know every first year has to go through it, but I am VERY tired of smelling formaldehyde seeping from my pores and when I lick my poor dried out lips, tasting pure nastiness. It makes my head hurt and I am cranky about it. Just glad I suppose it is the last lab of the day and I can come straight home for a shower. :hungover:
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Nitrile gloves do a better job of keeping your hands from smelling like formalin all the time. Yanno. Other than that, you just deal with it...

LetItSnow said:
Hey, that's no reason not to bitch about it. It sucks. :) Hang in there! If you're like me and a lot of my classmates, you'll be surprised at how much you miss the anatomy lab.
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You aren't gonna miss ****. Lol. LIS, what are you smoking?
 
LetItSnow said:
If you're like me and a lot of my classmates, you'll be surprised at how much you miss the anatomy lab.
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I think we start missing it right around the time when we begin to forget what it smells like. ;)
 
LetItSnow said:
If you're like me and a lot of my classmates, you'll be surprised at how much you miss the anatomy lab.
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twelvetigers said:
You aren't gonna miss ****. Lol. LIS, what are you smoking?
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Sorry LIS, I am with TT on this one. Start marketing those magic pills you're taking, cause they are DAMN powerful to make you miss it.

If there were a pill to make those months disappear from my memory, I would be first in line (sadly all the knowledge has already disappeared, only the horror remains:eek:)
 
I didn't hate anatomy. That said, you couldn't pay me to go back in there for any amount of time. I could have signed up as an anatomy tutor and all I could think was "No, not going back to formaldehyde soaked cadavers, the tutor pay isn't that good."

I had almost forgotten how strong the smell can be until about the first week of classes this year when I happened to walk past two first years who were heading home without changing out of their anatomy scrubs. Hit me like a brick wall.
 
The formaldehyde smell doesn't seem to bother me much; I still find the smell of a pig farm or the smell of purulent or necrotic tissue worse (such as the post mortem from the cow with "hardware" disease a few weeks back) :shrug:.

Also, any lab with large animal G.I organs... :barf:
I could never be a gastrointerologist, I would die from the horrendous smells.

I still don't really care to be in dissection lab or the post mortem lab though, but I can't seem to get away from it; every other Friday is pathology Friday.
 
I hate this Physiology midterm so much right now. I feel like I have a decent understanding of the material, which under normal circumstances would earn me a fairly good grade. But since this professor insists on trick questions and screwy things like "multiple multiple choice" and "choose the most correct answer" in which the most minute details determine the answer, my decent understanding is probably going to get me a failing grade.

Doesn't help that this is the last exam in a full month of midterms in which each exam is typically worth 50% of our grade. My brain is fried and my motivation to study evaporated more than a week ago now.
 
Dear course organizer: if your elective course absolutely *must* include an hour of a brand new assistant professor standing up and talking about DNA methylation, you might consider *not* forcing the poor kid to go right after the Big Deal Hotshot Clinician gives his lecture on glow-in-the-dark tumors. I felt so bad for the fresh-faced PhD, and I really hope our frequent yawns haven't killed her spirit. But also . . .

Dear brand new assistant professor: if you think DNA methylation can someday cure Down Syndrome, you might want to lead with that instead of squeezing it into the last ten minutes.
 
Rabies vaccine clinic today......which I think is fairly poor planning on the administration's part. First clinical skills OSCE is on Thursday and there are a number of physical skills. How effed up is my arm going to be? I'd rather not being worrying about sheep tipping with a really sore arm or feeling nauseated, but here we are.
 
We have two therio profs. One is probably the most animated human you will ever meet. Naturally theatrical and knows how to keep an audience. The other one is about the antithesis of that. Guess who is lecturing right this second? Oi. Lady, if you sound like you're falling asleep while you're lecturing, how in the hell am I supposed to stay awake? She's perfectly nice and I'm sure she's a skilled veterinarian, but this is torture.
 
Coquette22 said:
We have two therio profs. One is probably the most animated human you will ever meet. Naturally theatrical and knows how to keep an audience. The other one is about the antithesis of that. Guess who is lecturing right this second? Oi. Lady, if you sound like you're falling asleep while you're lecturing, how in the hell am I supposed to stay awake? She's perfectly nice and I'm sure she's a skilled veterinarian, but this is torture.
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I just listened to a therio lecture - a recording from a couple of weeks ago - for the beginnings of my exam preparations.

If it's possible for me to be more confused than I was after sitting though it the first time, well... I think I am.
 
Dear Classmates,

Stealing our anatomy cadaver today was NOT COOL. Especially when you stuck us with your nasty rotting cadaver that you somehow managed to spill stomach contents all over. We took the higher ground and let is go this time, but do NOT expect to get away with it again. :mad:
 
Seriously? Someone took your dog? Could it have in anyway been an accident? That really sucks. The last thing I would want is one of those gross rotting dogs with mushy organs. Not to mention have yours taken and then get stuck with said dog.
 
Lab Rat83 said:
Seriously? Someone took your dog? Could it have in anyway been an accident? That really sucks. The last thing I would want is one of those gross rotting dogs with mushy organs. Not to mention have yours taken and then get stuck with said dog.
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I thought it was an honest mistake at first since the two had similar color patterns, but ours was a female and the one we got stuck with was a male. No mistaking that.

It wouldn't have been such a big deal if we hadn't had a hundred different things going wrong for us before we even the started the lab. It was just the last straw, and I was really disappointed that any of our classmates would do something so stupid and shallow.
 
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