CLASS OF 2014...how ya doing?

[LivestockDoc]

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Is that a secret code? 😕

 

[GellaBella]

Happy Birthday to BlacKat! 😀

She's probably being good and studying Dev Biol. I'm procrastinating. What else is new?!

 

[BlacKAT33]

Happy Birthday to BlacKat! 😀

She's probably being good and studying Dev Biol. I'm procrastinating. What else is new?!

AHHH i didnt study at all i ate dinner and fell asleep at like 10pm 🙁 and now i am reallly realllyyyyyyy scared!! why did i do that?!?!? im so stupid

edit: and thanks for the happy bday! lol

 

[StartingoverVet]

AHHH i didnt study at all i ate dinner and fell asleep at like 10pm 🙁 and now i am reallly realllyyyyyyy scared!! why did i do that?!?!? im so stupid

edit: and thanks for the happy bday! lol

I have a serious case of Motivational Defect Syndrome. It must be a developmental defect. Maybe my Hox genes were out to lunch with Sonic Hedge Hog during that stage of my development.

Or maybe all the leaves on the ground indicate a teratogenic cause (don't worry, I had to look that word up in the notes just now).

Either way, I think it is terminal.

 

[racccjlm]

I have a serious case of Motivational Defect Syndrome. It must be a developmental defect. Maybe my Hox genes were out to lunch with Sonic Hedge Hog during that stage of my development.

Bahaha! Well you've still got your sense of humor, therefore it can't be terminal 😉 Hey, the end of the semester is almost here!! YOU CAN DO IT! Just keep taking one step after another. This field seems like it has an infinitely steep learning curve, but just realize that it will get better! Hang in there - if you ever need a pep talk, feel free to PM me. 🙂

 

[rileyroo]

Hang in there - if you ever need a pep talk, feel free to PM me. 🙂

can we have a pep talk thread? i could use a pep talk right about now. 🙂

 

[BlacKAT33]

So we decided to boost morale in our class and one idea is to make cut out turkeys with construction paper like we did as a kid haha. So now we have over a hundred turkeys all decorated different ways. And we're going to hang them up around our lecture hall. 😀 AWESOME!!

Mine has a top hat and bow tie.

Bunnity's is very artistic too!!!

Gellabella--too bad you're not in bchm, u missed out!!

 

[NittanyKitty]

Home in my pajamas with a cup of tea after finishing our last day of academic classes of the first semester! Holy cow!!! Finals start on Thursday, so it's time for some major hardcore studying...

 

[GellaBella]

So we decided to boost morale in our class and one idea is to make cut out turkeys with construction paper like we did as a kid haha. So now we have over a hundred turkeys all decorated different ways. And we're going to hang them up around our lecture hall. 😀 AWESOME!!

Mine has a top hat and bow tie.

Bunnity's is very artistic too!!!

Gellabella--too bad you're not in bchm, u missed out!!

Haha cause I see that you're really paying attention to lecture 😛

Maybe someone will lend me a pair of scissors after wildlife. The decorations won't be complete without a Gella Turkey hanging on the walls.

 

[StartingoverVet]

So we decided to boost morale in our class and one idea is to make cut out turkeys with construction paper like we did as a kid haha. So now we have over a hundred turkeys all decorated different ways. And we're going to hang them up around our lecture hall. 😀 AWESOME!!

Mine has a top hat and bow tie.

Bunnity's is very artistic too!!!

Gellabella--too bad you're not in bchm, u missed out!!

Luckily I missed out as well. Maybe the only I do worse than anatomy is cut out things from construction paper.

 

[chii chan]

So we decided to boost morale in our class and one idea is to make cut out turkeys with construction paper like we did as a kid haha. So now we have over a hundred turkeys all decorated different ways. And we're going to hang them up around our lecture hall. 😀 AWESOME!!

That sounds like fun! 🙂

Luckily the GEPs have the entire Thanksgiving week off, but that's only because module 2 exams start the week after. 🙁 Immunology, Inflammation, Bacteriology, Virology, Parasitology, and Intro to Pathology. Ugh. It's going to be a long week.

 

[BlacKAT33]

Mine is the top right and Bunnity's bottom left!!

http://imgur.com/puY1t

 

[katryn]

I love the turkeys! That's awesome. Our solution to moral boosting is a giant bowl of chocolate that gets frequently refilled. ><

It's really really hard to believe that there are only two weeks until finals start. I would say I'm not panicking yet, but the obsessive cleaning behavior says otherwise.

 

[IHeartGoldens]

Hey Ya'll

At the suggestion of a certain someone *coughtigerscough*, I decided to procrastinate and not study for gross, phys or histo like I should..and instead, post a bit about Alabama life and Tuskegee U.

Sooo...the application process to TU is annoying, yes we know that. Does the personal statement need to be handwritten this year? I know last year when I applied I need to do that and it was a pain in the arse!
The website is disorganized as well but information can be had if you call the vet school's admission office.

So moving from a large metro city to Alabama wasn't a HUGE change for me for the following reasons
a) i'm always in school, no chance to complain about boredom
b) all the needed shopping is super close ie walmart (We have 2!), target, grocery ---at least 10 HUGE stores--kinda overkill actually..basically, all the conveniences of home so there is no stress about that
c) plenty of things to do when I do have a free moment (football is a religion in Auburn!)
d) my support system (ie significant other) moved with me so that's been a huge stress relief

All in all, its not bad at all and cost of living is relatively inexpensive plus the perks of living in a college town (bars etc) 👍

Tuskegee
So the school is relatively small which depending on your personality, can work for or against you. The classes have 60-70 people so basically you get to know not only your classmates but upperclassmen as well.
Our class is lucky because we have awesome bigs (We have a big-little program with the class of 2013) and they look out for us, help us integrate into the school, hold study sessions and answer our questions/concerns. Shout out to GACowgrl!😀
Our professors really do care about our performance and learning, but make no mistake that the coursework is intense and keeps us busy. Couple that with school events, clubs etc..its makes for a busy semester that flies by--I can't believe finals are around the corner!

Gross anatomy lab occupies a big chunk of time as the school has a "teach yourself" theory--our professors are always around to answer questions (in class and after class) but independent thinking is encouraged.

A nice perk is every Friday we attend grand rounds, which means we get to see the 4th years do case presentations. It helps break up our schedule and we get to see "real medicine" in action.

As far as the curriculum, we have a 16 credit semester in the fall of 1st year and something similar to that second semester/1st year.
Second year is a ton of classes (22 credits I think?) with exams almost on a weekly basis--sometimes multiple exams.

We have "block" scheduling at Tuskegee which basically means we have all our exams in one week. Now, I know that sounds reallllllllllly scary but I actually like it. It helps me focus instead of being in panic mode all semester long.
That works out well for 1st years but for second years it gets a hectic balancing so many classes--I can't really comment much more but I'll let you know next year (g-d willing!)

Additionally, there is no "tracking" here which means each student is required to take both small animal and large animal rotations. 3rd year is when student take their jr surgery courses, classes and in addition to that start rotations in the clinics.

So far, I'm happy with my choice to attend TU and don't have many complaints. I think vet school, like undergrad--its what you make of it. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved in and outside of the classroom but eventually, its is *your* choice on how to take
advantage (or not?) of those opportunities.

If anyone have any questions, please feel free to ask.. I promise I will get back to you as soon as I have a free moment.

To all the applicants for 2015, keep your chin up and good luck! I'm rooting for ya!!!!

 

[twelvetigers]

Thank you. 🙂

 

[BlacKAT33]

As far as the curriculum, we have a 16 credit semester in the fall of 1st year and something similar to that second semester/1st year.
Second year is a ton of classes (22 credits I think?) with exams almost on a weekly basis--sometimes multiple exams.

16 credits?? do they do the credits not by "hours" or something? we have over 30 credits for our fall semester. how do you get to the __ credits you need to graduate?? is it a diff number of credits to graduate for diff schools? do you have class on a year round schedule?

 

[NittanyKitty]

I think it definitely varies by school. We have 21 in our first semester but looks like we cover just about the same things everyone else does - anatomy, physiology, histology, bacteriology, careers, and production medicine.

 

[IHeartGoldens]

I think it definitely varies by school. We have 21 in our first semester but looks like we cover just about the same things everyone else does - anatomy, physiology, histology, bacteriology, careers, and production medicine.

Our schedule is anatomy,physiology,histology,molecular and an "intro to vet med" course which covers introductory radiology,behavior, PBL case learning and whatever else they want to throw at us. I think the credit hours is just how the school wants to assign it.
For example, physio is our largest credit course (5) because we spend so much time in the classroom. It seems to be a combined course because we do a lot of biochem this semester as well. Gross is only 4 credits but we spend a lot of time in and outside the classroom learning.

We have classes from 8-4 everyday, with one hour for lunch (12-1)

 

[rileyroo]

This semester we have:

Physiology
Anatomy
Histology
Parasitology
Cell Physiology
Ethology
Problem Solving
Veterinary Ethics

 

[MSUspartan]

At Michigan State we have 20 credits first and second semester.

This semester we have:
Anatomy
Histology
Bacteriology/Virology/Immunology all combined into one 👎
Ethics
Vet Clinical Exam/Techniques (how to do a basic physical exam for various species...we've done cows, sheep, swine, horses and dogs so far)
Animal Science (basically: large animal medicine & practice)
Neurology

We have class from 9-3 three days a week, with 9-4:30 thursdays and 9-5 on tuesdays. lunch is from 12-1 or 1:30 depending on the day. it's hectic and i am SO glad thanksgiving is soon.

...and now i'm going back to study for my anatomy exam tomorrow and my immuno exam on monday 🙁

 

[HopefulAg]

Hmm...A&M's really depends on what group you're in but for the most part:

M: 9 - 5
T: 8 - 5
W: 8 - 5
R: 8 - 5
F: 10 - 12

But on Tuesday or Thursday you get a two hour break (dependent on your group), and on Wednesday everyone gets a three hour break. And of course breaks for lunch.

The actual classes are Physiology I, Anatomy I, Clinical Correlates, Professional Development, Histology I, and Immunology.

 

[nyanko]

UCDavis's curriculum is changing, but here is what we've currently got this quarter:

Physiological Chemistry (biochem basically)
Canine Locomotor Anatomy (had some equine comparative stuff too)
Cardiovascular Anatomy (just started this week)
Principles of Behavior (about 2-3 weeks at the beginning)
Epidemiology (finished last week, started after Behavior)
Histology and Cell Biology
Veterinary Ethics and Law
Radiology (goes all year)
Freshman Doctoring (professional skills, practice management, etc)
Freshman Clinical Skills (introduction to the VMTH and labs with handling/restraint/some procedures on small animal, exotics, equine and food animal species, with individual or 2 person nursing sessions in each area for everyone at night at the VMTH as well)

Our schedule varies week to week, but generally lectures are in the morning/early afternoon and labs are late afternoon.

 

[rileydog]

Yay an excuse to take a break from studying for physiology test tomorrow! Fall semester schedule for LSU:

Introduction to Veterinary Medicine I
Principles of Problem Solving
Principles of Diagnostic Imaging
Biochemistry & Membrane/Muscle Physiology
Veterinary Physiology I
Basic and Applied Veterinary Gross Anatomy 1
Basic and Applied Veterinary Gross Anatomy 2
Cell Biology and Histology
Histology and Developmental Anatomy

Which adds up to 22 credits. Some classes are all semester and some are only for a few weeks. We are pretty much in class from 8 until 3 or 4 with an hour lunch break. Back to studying....

 

[sumstorm]

I think it definitely varies by school. We have 21 in our first semester but looks like we cover just about the same things everyone else does - anatomy, physiology, histology, bacteriology, careers, and production medicine.

I kept looking at that and thinking 'did we cut a class out or something?'....I guess since Evid. based. med final is over, its out of mind? 😉 and don't forget the elective(s)!

If you happen to be 'procrastinating' on here....good luck on anatomy tomorrow.

 

[Braki]

The courses we're taking this semester:

Veterinary Biochemistry: doesn't end until March, but after we wrote the midterm late October we don't have it again until January
Biomedical Rounds: 5 throughout the year I believe, pretty much case studies that you work through with a group and a mentor, usually related to something we're learning)
Veterinary Anatomy: full year, have so far done limbs, thoracic cavity
Veterinary Embryology: ends in March
Veterinary Physiology: full year, have done basic nerve/muscle, hematology, endocrinology, respiratory, working through cardiovascular and gastrointestinal
Veterinary Microscopic Anatomy: ends in March
Animal Management and Production: three different modules, with behaviour first (ended early October), now in genetics, then nutrition
Basic Surgical Skills: how to tie knots, identify instruments, perform different suture patterns, ended a week and a half ago

Generally our schedule is 8:30-4:30, and 8:30-12:30 on Wednesdays. Sometimes it's nice and we get off a bit earlier. Also, usually, if one section has a lab that afternoon, the other section gets that afternoon off and does the lab the next day. This week both sections are stuck in a long physiology lab (respiratory or cardiovascular depending on section) from 10:30-4:30 though.

 

[NittanyKitty]

I kept looking at that and thinking 'did we cut a class out or something?'....I guess since Evid. based. med final is over, its out of mind? 😉 and don't forget the elective(s)!

If you happen to be 'procrastinating' on here....good luck on anatomy tomorrow.

That's what I forgot! EBM!!! Grr. That class kind of turned into a pain in the butt - was the same true for the second-years?.

And procrastination, darling? This is nothing - Harry Potter midnight showing the night before anatomy and I'm already up and functional! 😀 But thanks for the luck! Hope you rock your exams as well!

 

[sumstorm]

That's what I forgot! EBM!!! Grr. That class kind of turned into a pain in the butt - was the same true for the second-years?.

And procrastination, darling? This is nothing - Harry Potter midnight showing the night before anatomy and I'm already up and functional! 😀 But thanks for the luck! Hope you rock your exams as well!

Well, our class was the first class they did testing in EBM, so yeah, it was a royal PITA, and there was a hot debate on some of the questions. And the midterm was distributed and due on a really tough week of exams... hopefully they fixed that part of it.

Some of my classmates did Harry Potter last night, but I have a function to attend Saturday, so I needed the time to study for all the cumulative exams we have next week. 🙁 We'll get to it after finals (we have a running list of movies to enjoy after finals.) You are certainly braver than I to do a midnight showing the evening before Anatomy...but anatomy was a horrible subject for me (and I have yet to meet a vet, including orthopedic Sx's and radiologists, that can name every knob and divet on every bone.)

 

[racccjlm]

M: 8-4ish
T: 11-5ish
W: 8-4ish
Th: 8-12, 2-4ish
F: 8-5ish

Classes:
Physiology
Histology
Anatomy
Vet Foundations
Nutrition
Vet terminology

 

[NittanyKitty]

Well, our class was the first class they did testing in EBM, so yeah, it was a royal PITA, and there was a hot debate on whether or not we could presume a cat was male or not (it was a feral that couldn't be PE'd by hand) but referred to it as a male...so many of us assumed it was an obvious male (since they kept calling it a male.) And the midterm was distributed and due on a really tough week of exams... hopefully they fixed that part of it.

Haha! You mean Burger the cat? Yup, he was still there and still super ambiguous. The exam was distributed during midterms week for us as well but he gave us four days to do it instead of the two listed on the syllabus. It was definitely a major help!

Some of my classmates did Harry Potter last night, but I have a function to attend Saturday, so I needed the time to study for all the cumulative exams we have next week. 🙁 We'll get to it after finals (we have a running list of movies to enjoy after finals.) You are certainly braver than I to do a midnight showing the evening before Anatomy...but anatomy was a horrible subject for me (and I have yet to meet a vet, including orthopedic Sx's and radiologists, that can name every knob and divet on every bone.)

Aw, good luck with your studying! 🙂 You will love the movie when you get to see it, I promise! And anatomy is what it is. A lot of it is totally tedious and useless and will be forgotten within the next few months. Which makes me feel better when I can't remember every single one of those teeny knobs and divets! It's reassuring when the vets I work with at home tell me, "Oh, yeah, those cranial nerves? I don't remember what they do at all. If the dog's neurological, it's just neurological."

 

[TrocarKarin]

Our schedule is all over the place. We have a short day on Mondays (8-11), then for the rest of the week, it's pretty much 8-5 if we have rotations or labs, but there's plenty of times where we don't have to be in until 1 on Tuesdays and Thursdays or 10 on Wednesdays and Fridays. And the majority of Wednesdays we get out at 3.

Our classes:

Clinical skills
IPE (a class where we have to PBL cases with all the human medical/dental/pharm students)
Molecular and cellular biology
Vet issues (ethics and law)
Vet basic sciences (our giant class that includes anatomy, physiology, histo, embrylogy, parasitology, behavior, micro, immuno, and all the other sciences)

 

[cheeto]

At the University of Calgary our schedule is M-T 8:30- 4:45 (usually later b/c we have anatomy lab last in the afternoons) and Fri 8:30-1 pm. Most days we get between 45- 1hr for lunch which are usually used up by various seminars.
This semester we have:
Physiology 3 hours/wk ( both semesters)
Anatomy 6 hr/wk which includes histology, gross anatomy, and embryology ( both semesters)
Clinical skills 6 hr/wk (both semesters)
Professional skills 4.5 hr/wk ( 3 hours are communication labs) (both semesters)
Animals, health and society- 3hrs/wk
Clinical Presentations 3 hr/wk ( pbl) (both semesters)
Behaviour 3 hr/wk
Genetics 1.5 hour/week

Next semester we get immunology, nutrition, pathology


So far I like it except I feel we could use some more time for anatomy

 

[katryn]

Wow, I'm not sure if I'd kill for a more steady schedule, or if I like having as much variety as we do? UT's schedule reliably has class from 8-12, but the afternoon varies between nothing, anatomy lab(1-5 or until you run out of the lab screaming), or continued lectures(from 1 until 3 or 4 depending on how many lectures they throw at us). Then there are days when we have histo lab or physical diagnosis lab; we usually have two lectures from 8 to 10am, then depending on your group assignment you have lab from 10-12, 1-3, or 3-5. No two days and no day of the week is the same from week to week.

Classes we have:
ABLEs-one week case study in small groups with no other lectures(was awesome!)
Anatomy I-the dog
Physiology I
Micro-anatomy I (aka. histo)
Bacteriology/Mycology
Immunology
Physical Diagnosis(aka how to do a physical, basic proceedures and age animals of various species, also awesome!)
Clinical Correlations and Ethics

 

[Braki]

At the University of Calgary our schedule is M-T 8:30- 4:45 (usually later b/c we have anatomy lab last in the afternoons) and Fri 8:30-1 pm. Most days we get between 45- 1hr for lunch which are usually used up by various seminars.
This semester we have:
Physiology 3 hours/wk ( both semesters)
Anatomy 6 hr/wk which includes histology, gross anatomy, and embryology ( both semesters)
Clinical skills 6 hr/wk (both semesters)
Professional skills 4.5 hr/wk ( 3 hours are communication labs) (both semesters)
Animals, health and society- 3hrs/wk
Clinical Presentations 3 hr/wk ( pbl) (both semesters)
Behaviour 3 hr/wk
Genetics 1.5 hour/week

Next semester we get immunology, nutrition, pathology


So far I like it except I feel we could use some more time for anatomy

That does seem a bit low. Right now, we have 6 hours/week of gross anatomy alone. Add in histo and embryology and it's up to 9 hours/week (which is lower than usual because we didn't have a histo lab this week). It sounds you guys get more fun stuff though like professional skills, clinical skills, and clinical presentations!

I heard Symposium registration starts on Monday, but I'm still not 100% on whether or not I want to go. I'd have to miss... two lectures, two anatomy labs, and a histo lab. I do miss Calgary though, and it does seem like it'd be fun.

 

[GellaBella]

Here at penn the mornings are basically set while the afternoons vary:

9-12pm anatomy lab
12-1pm lunch
1-5pm (sometimes 6pm) lectures

The afternoon can consist of lectures in
Anatomy (11cr) - we've done the entire dog, almost done with horse and goat (minus heads)
Biochemistry (10cr)
Developmental biol (3cr)
Histology (5cr)
Intro to clinical vet med (2cr)
Or wildlife elective (1cr)

We also often have histology lab or dev biol lab mixed into the afternoon as well. I like it. There's good variety. I like that we get anatomy lab over with first thing, although by about 11am I'm getting hungry and my focus is waning. Sitting in lectures all afternoon makes me a bit sleepy but overall I'm really enjoying it!

 

[parietal]

Our schedule is basically just the opposite of Penn's: Lectures (and Histo lab) in the morning, Anatomy class and lab most afternoons. We're 8-5 almost every day, although as some of our classes finish up, our December schedule is a bit lighter. We also do all of our anatomy (embryology, large and small) in the fall semester, although ours only counts for 5 credits. 🙂

Fall semester classes:
Anatomy (small, large and embryology) (5 cr)
Physiological Chemistry (3 cr)
Histology (3 cr)
Orientation to Veterinary Medicine (3 cr)
Nutrition (2 cr)
Professional Development (1.5 cr)
Radiology (1 cr)
Clinical Skills (1 cr)
Animal Populations (1 cr)
Foundations of Interprofessional Communication and Collaboration (with students from the medical, dental and pharmacy schools) (1 cr)

Fall electives:
Neonatology (1 cr)
Intro to Non-Domestic Vet Med (1 cr)
Zoo & Wildlife Rounds (0.5 cr)
International/Cultural Immersion (0.5 cr)
(You can take a few, all or none of these.)

Spring semester classes:
Physiology (6 cr)
Organology (3 cr)
Virology (3 cr)
Neurobiology (2 cr)
General Pharmacology (2 cr)
Host Defenses (2 cr)
Basic Pathology (2 cr)
Behavior (2 cr)
Critical Scientific Reading (2 cr)
Applied Veterinary Genetics (1 cr)
Clinical Skills II (1 cr)
Professional Development II (1 cr)

Spring electives:
Selected Topics in Zoo Animal Medicine (5 cr, year-long, hands-on class)
Clinical Anatomy of the Equine Limb (1 cr)
Public Health Issues & Opportunities (1 cr)
Intro to Swine Production Medicine (1 cr)
Zoo & Wildlife Rounds (0.5 cr)
International/Cultural Immersion (0.5 credits)

Summer electives:
Clinical Skills Elective (1 cr)
Wildlife Rehabilitation Center Internship (2 cr)

I love the variety of elective and hands-on opportunities we get. Next semester's schedule is a bit terrifying, though!

 

[Allthingsequine]

Very interesting to see how everyone's schedules are set up. Ours looks like this:
Anatomy Lab in the morning Tues-Thurs. We are split into two lab sections, so it rotates between 8-10:30 (this group does most of the actual dissection) and 10:30-12:00. Our mornings are free when not in anatomy, except for every other Tuesday morning when we had our Principles of Surgery lab (learned suture patterns, knot tying, instrument ID, how to scrub/gown/glove/drape, etc).
Monday mornings we have lectures from 8-12, and every afternoon we have lecture and/or histology lab. Usually we're done at 5, but we get done at 3:30 on Mondays. Now that our animal handling lab is done, we also get out at 2 on Fridays which is really nice. Our first semester classes are :
Principles of Surgery
Cell Physiology
Small Animal Anatomy (Includes embryology for large and small animals)
Histology
Animals, Society, and the Veterinarian (our professional issues class)
Ag Animal Orientation and Handling
Electives include Colic Team, Research Issues, and International Vet Med

Currently I am on SDN because I am supposed to be writing a letter to the editor for the professional issues class, which I am not too thrilled about doing on the first day of Thanksgiving break! I can't wait until Christmas and three weeks of no studying!!

 

[cheeto]

That does seem a bit low. Right now, we have 6 hours/week of gross anatomy alone. Add in histo and embryology and it's up to 9 hours/week (which is lower than usual because we didn't have a histo lab this week). It sounds you guys get more fun stuff though like professional skills, clinical skills, and clinical presentations!

I heard Symposium registration starts on Monday, but I'm still not 100% on whether or not I want to go. I'd have to miss... two lectures, two anatomy labs, and a histo lab. I do miss Calgary though, and it does seem like it'd be fun.

Ya it is a little low. But I think they try to make up for it by having all our classes working on the same system at the same time. So Clinical presentations will always present new information regarding the system we are working on at the time. All of the cirriculum is very interconnected. But I still wouldn't mind a few extra hours devoted to anatomy. We voiced concern to our profs about it and they pointed out that we are very lucky to have our CP, Pskills, and Cskills courses and we would have to reduce our hours in them to accomadate more time in the lab.

I think you should come to symposium. Everyones been working really hard here to make sure it is an amazing time. We have some great lectures and labs plus skiing and our banquet at the zoo! We are lucky that because we are hosting the Dean gave the entire UCVM the days of symposium off from school. I am excited for it. I think it will be alot of fun. I know the dates have been a bit of a conflict for the U of S b/c theres a bovine conference going on at USask on the same weekend.

 

[IHeartGoldens]

Our schedule is anatomy,physiology,histology,molecular and an "intro to vet med" course which covers introductory radiology,behavior, PBL case learning and whatever else they want to throw at us. I think the credit hours is just how the school wants to assign it.
For example, physio is our largest credit course (5) because we spend so much time in the classroom. It seems to be a combined course because we do a lot of biochem this semester as well. Gross is only 4 credits but we spend a lot of time in and outside the classroom learning.

We have classes from 8-4 everyday, with one hour for lunch (12-1)

I also forgot, we are required attend grand rounds every week..which is awesome!👍

Looking at everyone's schedule, I realized (for the most part) we all have the same core classes and it's just how the school wants to divvy it up. For example, our "histo" class covers mircoanatomy and embryology but they are not separate courses for us.
Next semester, we have histo as well but it's mostly an organ systems course (some school calls this organology).
We don't have half semester or courses that last a few weeks. I think they just wrap everything under the heading of the of several semester long courses. (Example, we don't have a separate cardiology course as first years. We are taught the material in our "Gross Anatomy" lecture course)

I think it's really interesting to see how each school handles their curriculum.

 

[Minnerbelle]

I really envy the people who have short Fridays! Tues, Thurs, and Fridays are the long days for me... and by 4 pm Fridays I want to shoot myself! We do have our short Wed (8 - 12) which is nice though. This semester, we have:

Anatomy (includes embryology +hodgepodge of other stuff) 8 credits
Physiology (includes histology/organology) 7 credits
Radiology 2 credits
Immunology 3 credits
Research OR Perspectives in vet med 1 credit

It's nice only having 4 real courses to worry about... but with our pass/fail grading system, pass is above 70%, and if you dip below that (65-70%) you get something called a U on your transcript. If you get a U, you have to remediate in one form or another I think and that can be turned back into a pass. Even if you do though, they keep track of how many U's you've gotten and you're kicked out on your 10th U. You get as many U's as the credit number for the course... so if you get a U in anatomy or physiology, you're pretty toast cause you have 7-8 U's from just one of those classes. Get another U in another class, and you're done! ouch...

 

[Minnerbelle]

I think it's really interesting to see how each school handles their curriculum.

👍👍👍

I wonder if we can stick these posts in a question/answer thing for something like "how does each school handle their first year curriculum?"

'Cause you know how it's always advised on here for pre-vets to do the background research on each school's curriculum and see if that works for you? It's kind of hard to figure out what to expect, even from looking at individual school websites... and I feel like these 1st hand accounts give so much more info. I mean, I felt like I researched what each curriculum was like... but the info I got was more along the lines of when you start clinics, whether you track or not, animal use, surgery curriculum, etc...

 

[StartingoverVet]

👍👍👍

I wonder if we can stick these posts in a question/answer thing for something like "how does each school handle their first year curriculum?"

'Cause you know how it's always advised on here for pre-vets to do the background research on each school's curriculum and see if that works for you? It's kind of hard to figure out what to expect, even from looking at individual school websites... and I feel like these 1st hand accounts give so much more info. I mean, I felt like I researched what each curriculum was like... but the info I got was more along the lines of when you start clinics, whether you track or not, animal use, surgery curriculum, etc...

I completely agree. Maybe this info was available last year and I didn't see it, but I would have loved to get this kind of insight.. Maybe Dyachei can "cut off" this section of the thread and put it into a new one?

 

[twelvetigers]

She might be a bit bit busy, but maybe after she takes the NAVLE tomorrow?

Lol. 😉

 

[Minnerbelle]

Jeez, she really needs to get her priorities in order. We should always come first :-D It's not like the NAVLE is important or anything...

yeah seriously, which looks better on a resume:

awesome mod for SDN with power over freaking-out pre-vets

or

passed the national boards to go along with degree


(I mean, the former totally makes you stand out to an employer from the rest don't you think? almost EVERY new grad has the latter... but only YOU will have the former 😛)

GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[LivestockDoc]

👍👍👍

I wonder if we can stick these posts in a question/answer thing for something like "how does each school handle their first year curriculum?"

Totally agree with Minnerbelle on this! And hoping someone from each school will post their schedule...Ohio, anyone?

 

[twelvetigers]

Lalazi perhaps? Ninetheinny (or something like that )?

 

[EllieGirl89]

Totally agree with Minnerbelle on this! And hoping someone from each school will post their schedule...Ohio, anyone?

👍

Yessss!

 

[chii chan]

Sorry for the long post, but our curriculum is not all that simple.

Here at the Dick Vet (University of Edinburgh) the GEP Animal Body course is worth 100 credits for the full year, and the AHWAFS (Animal Husbandry, Welfare, and Food Safety... abbreviated for the obvious reason that the name is ridiculously long) class is worth 30 credits for the full year.

The Animal Body course is broken up into 4 modules.
The first is anatomy, embryology, and cell bio (but you're really expected to know the cell bio so it's not taught and not tested heavily on), which is worth 20% of your total grade.
The second module is intro to pathology and infectious diseases (immunology, inflammation, parasitology, bacteriology, and virology), and worth 30% of your total grade. (Currently taking a break from studying for these exams right now.)
The third module is the systems and is worth 40% of your total grade. I don't know exactly what it covers since we don't start those lectures until 3 weeks from now and have our test in March sometime, but I know it would cover acid/base, endocrinology, cardio, repro, metabolism, neuro, etc.
Then the last module is PBL where it applies the knowledge of the previous three modules into case studies and is worth 10%.

You must pass all modules in order to pass the course.
This next thing freaked me out and I didn't find out until the course had started!: There's also only one set of tests.
You get a free week before tests to revise on your own. So far they've been great about setting up lab stuff for us to look at during revision week. Test styles vary.
The first module comprised of an oral exam (10%), spot exam (20%), essay portion (35%), and short answer portion (35%).
This second one will comprise of a paper we've already written as our in course assessment essay (10%), plus next week's activities of essays (35%), short answers (35%), and a spot exam (20%).
I think AB3 has a small multiple choice section in it!
There are no other assessments at all during the modules except for these tests at the end of them. Their grading scale is also crazily skewed and takes some readjusting to get used to.
The professors are really helpful if you talk to them and if you ask they will hold review sessions for the entire class. For AB1 they were scheduled and the professor made in class quizzes (sometimes with the clickers that were provided). In AB2 we requested it and it was basically a Q&A session to review certain things.
It's a crazy assessment style, but I kind of like it because I don't stress out the entire time about what test or quiz is coming up next. It's nerve wracking to put all your eggs in one basket though.

And the AHWAFS course comprises of husbandry classes, handling classes, a paper, a test in April, and all of the EMS work. The paper is a consultants report based on EMS work done and is worth 10% of your final grade I think. Oh and you have to attend 75% of all practical classes in order to sit your exams in AHWAFS or in Animal Body.

If you fail any module you must resit in August. Passing the GEP year sends you into 3rd year.

As for time spent in class..
Here in the UK, lunch time is 1300-1400.
Classes never start before 9am.
It's rare that we have 4 hours of class from 900-1300, though it has happened a few times. This could be more frequent once everyone is at Easter Bush and it doesn't take 15 minutes to walk from an AHWAFS lecture near Teviot and George Square back to Summerhall. Some of our AHWAFS lectures are with the second years so they put us into a lecture theatre that can accommodate that many students.
Not all days go to 1700, though sometimes they do depending on whether you have a lab (practical handling lab may put you on a bus at 1710 for arrival back at Summerhall at 1730, but would bring you back to Easter Bush within 5 minutes since that will be the new main vet school campus will be next year).
Wednesdays are always short days and let you out before 1300 since most University clubs meet Wednesday afternoons. Work hard, play hard. 🙂

If someone would like to chime in for the 5 year programme, that would be great. From my understanding they do modules 1 and 2 the first year (and modules 3 and 4 the second year) and cover a lot more cell bio so their tests are weighted more on it. I have no clue how long they are in class for. I do know that they had the weekend plus Monday and Tuesday right before Dick Day free from class and still only had a half day on Dick Day. So they definitely have less class than we do. However the same testing schedule still applies where they do all the lectures and labs of module 1 before they get tested. They started school in September and have no formal assessment until February!!! 😱

 

[nitheninny]

Lalazi perhaps? Ninetheinny (or something like that )?

Haha, close enough.

I didn't post earlier because our schedule is kind of jumbled up. This quarter, we typically have:

Epidemiology MTWF at 8AM
Anatomy lecture MWF at 9AM
Anatomy lab MWF at ~10-10:30AM til 12PM, when we have lunch for an hour

Honestly, I'm giving up on trying to give you guys set times on the other courses, 'cause if there's a set schedule, I haven't figured it out yet! But our courses for first year are:

Fall quarter - 22 credits
Canine Topographic Anatomy - 5 credits
Principles of Epidemiology - 4 credits
Introduction to Radiology I - 1 credit
Cell Biology - 5 credits
Histology I - 5 credits
Introduction to Animal Behavior - 1 credit
Professional Development (aka please please please don't kill yourself in vet school) - 1 credit

Winter quarter - 20 credits
Equine Topographic Anatomy - 4 credits
Histology II - 4 credits
Biology of Disease I - 5 credits
Biology of Disease II - 5 credits
Ethics and Jurisprudence - 2 credits

Spring Quarter - 20 credits + electives
Food Animal Topographic Anatomy - 4 credits
Pharmacology I - 4 credits
Neurobiology - 6 credits
Endocrine System - 5 credits
Introduction to Radiology II - 1 credit

 

[EllieGirl89]

Eeee! =D It all sounds so wonderful.

 

[StartingoverVet]

Sorry for the long post, but our curriculum is not all that simple.

The sound you just heard is my head exploding.

Hope the classes are not nearly as demanding as understanding the curriculum. Sounds kind of neat though.

Nice to hear about something completely different!