Advice on Possible Clinical Year Schools

[bisquebadger]

Hello!!
I'm a current T4 veterinary student at SGU and I'm starting to look into possible school options for my clinical rotations. I would love some insight for the following schools if anyone is willing to share. My current list includes UPenn, LSU, Illinois, Wisconsin, Florida, Minnesota, Tennessee, Georgia, and Iowa State. I'm interested in knowing more about safety, student preparedness (NAVLE), treatment of students (this is a big one for me), cost of living as well as specific ER rotations (my current interest). Thank you so much in advance!!

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[battie]

@futuredogtor614 I believe is a current Illinois student

I'm Illinois class of 2021, so my info is a little dated at this point. But in order of your questions:
1. Safety: depends on the rotation. Overall didn't feel super unsafe with the exception of equine. The presence of overnight tech is iffy at best during my time and you didn't necessarily have a partner with you. I had my equine med rotation during baby season, so did two 100 hour weeks with one day that went 26 hours. But otherwise no issues.

If you mean safety in regards to the area, it's fine. I'm from Denver and walked around campus at 2 am without concern.

2. NAVLE: that's all on you, babe. And I don't think that's a bad thing. Even for the schools that supply you with specific stuff, you still have to take the initiative to do it. Leading a horse to water and all that.

3. Honestly, I didn't have a problem overall, though I know I have selective opinions on how people thought they were treated. Some folks absolutely had valid complaints in regards to treatment, particularly on clinics. While others dug their own holes and didn't like they had to dig their way out.

4. COL: I was able to live off around 17-20k/year.

5. I loved my ER rotation and am a full time ER doctor now. We also had a critical rotation during my time.

 

[supershorty]

I'm Minnesota c/o 2024.

1.) Safety: I'm not sure if by this you mean safety on rotations themselves or if you mean safety living in the area. The vet school is pretty isolated on the St Paul campus. There are some issues on the Minneapolis campus, but I always felt very safe on the St Paul campus walking around at night.

In terms of safety on rotations, I think students overall are treated pretty well at UMN. I rarely had rotations where I was there for ridiculous amounts of time - but it will happen, you will get called in at all hours of the night depending on what rotation you're on, and sometimes you'll be tired. Rotations where you're on call include anesthesia (I got called in the most on this rotation) and surgery - keeping in mind that I didn't take any large animal rotations, so I'm assuming you have on call for some of those.

2.) NAVLE: As bats said, that's on you. UMN is not one of the programs that provides Vetprep or Zuku, so expect to pay for that yourself if you go there. I think they were offering some practice NAVLE stuff when I was on clinics, but I did not do it.

3.) I kind of already answered this in 1, but I overall had a very positive experience in my clinical year. It is a bit rotation-dependent.

4.) Cost of living in the Twin Cities is comparable with other mid-sized cities, so it won't be as expensive as NYC/San Francisco/Chicago, but it's not cheap. I haven't rented in a long time there (I own my place), but right now, a 3 bed/2 bath house rents for around $2200-2500 a month. (I'm sorry that I don't actually know apartment rents off the top of my head, I just know house because I had to look into that for my place ).

5.) When I went through, UMN required 1 ER rotation and you could take additional ones - if you did more than 1, you'd be on Critical Care for the second rotation. My ER rotation was fine and my QOL on it was quite good. I don't particularly enjoy ER and did not take it more than once, so I can't speak to the CC side of it. The ER rotation has some GREAT didactic rounds.

 

[futuredogtor614]

Yes, as battie mentioned I am a current student at Illinois. I'm c/o 2026, so I can't speak to too much as far as rotations go, but I'll do my best.

Safety - I've never felt unsafe in the area. I've only experienced clinics in more of a shadowing position as a first and second year, so I can't comment on how safe or unsafe students feel on rotations since the hours/expectations for first and second years are different from that of fourth years.

COL I would say is also around what bats said. I initially rented a 1 bedroom apartment, and to get one with in unit laundry that allowed pets (which was what I had wanted) was I believe minimum $800/month a couple years ago, and that apartment was going to cost me just over $1000 a month if I had renewed the lease a second time. I live with roomies now, which has significantly decreased what I pay in rent.

For everything else, I would defer to what bats has said about those topics.

 

[SkiOtter]

Overall didn't feel super unsafe with the exception of equine. The presence of overnight tech is iffy at best during my time and you didn't necessarily have a partner with you. I had my equine med rotation during baby season, so did two 100 hour weeks with one day that went 26 hours. But otherwise no issues.

I’m pretty positive when I had equine for c/o 2022 there were always 2 students on overnight/weekend shifts so you did have a partner. Overnight tech was also iffy on whether we had someone or not. I think that if there was an overnight tech we didn’t have to come in but they called out a lot. Can’t get rid of them when they’re the only one who wants the overnight tech job though 😂 no idea if the overnight tech has changed at all since I graduated though.

Not sure if it’s changed at all, but we were required to do 2 rotations through ER (2 weeks each) and I’m pretty sure you could do more if you wanted. There was also the critical care rotation bats mentioned and that’s optional and iirc hours were weekdays and no nights, but again may have changed some. I don’t recall if they had to come in on weekends or not for patient care.

 

[katiemcat]

I’m a 3rd year at UF who just came off of my first bout of clinics.
1. Safety - Gainesville, FL is relatively safe. I have never personally felt threatened and I spend a lot of time downtown.
2. Student preparedness (NAVLE) - I mean most schools leave NAVLE prep mostly up to the student. Most rotations having teaching rounds that are focused on important concepts.
3. Treatment of students (this is a big one for me) - Like any teaching hospital, UF uses students to cut down on labor costs. How much doctoring you do and how long you’re there is HEAVILY dependent on the rotation and faculty on. I will say they have just decided to implement new rules to protects students including having one mandatory day off on rotation and not being allowed to be at the hospital 24 hours without a break for sleep (no I’m not bitter they’re putting this in place after my class just got off clinics 😐). Compared to my friends at other vet schools though I will say we have been treated pretty well, but I’m happy for the school to continue to make improvements.
4. Cost of living - Gainesvilles cost of living is apparently 5% lower than the national average (so take that as you will). It’s definitely not the cheapest place I’ve lived in FL but we live in a nice, modern place that fits within our budget. There are a lot of decent places to live right next to the vet school, so many students choose to live there.
5. Specific ER rotations - We have emergency and critical care (Gainesville and Ocala). The Ocala rotation has known to let students be a lot more hands on, especially with procedures (eg. Unblocked cats, lac repairs). We also have an ICU rotation. Apparently they are also adding a rotation available to students who have taken both ECC and ICU that is basically “advanced” ECC that allows you to take on the responsibilities of a rotating intern in the ER. UFs ECC service is one of the busiest in the country so the caseload is high and has a lot of variety.

 

[Ebd256]

@katiemcat
We are looking for a rental house near the vet hospital but I have no idea how to find out if an area is safe or not. Where do most live during their clinicals? We need a house because if our dogs. Any suggestions of where to go look or to avoid would be helpful. I am too far to go to Gainesville myself.
Thanks.

 

[katiemcat]

@katiemcat
We are looking for a rental house near the vet hospital but I have no idea how to find out if an area is safe or not. Where do most live during their clinicals? We need a house because if our dogs. Any suggestions of where to go look or to avoid would be helpful. I am too far to go to Gainesville myself.
Thanks.

Theres houses on SW 38th-40Pl/Ave right near the vet school that many students live in.