Class of 2015... How ya doing?

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
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pooter said:
Tomorrow will be the day of my surgery final and may be the day I get a dog. Both of these things are equally terrifying at the moment. 😳
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The first month or two of owning the dog you will have moments of WHAT IS THIS THING IN MY HOUSE WHY DID I DO THIS TAKE IT BACK OH GOD I'M RESPONSIBLE FOR A THING AND IT IS CRAZY. but they'll start to go away and then one day you find yourself wondering how you even lived without the dog. 🙂
 
Your dog is exceptionally crazy perhaps. In a nice way. A nice, crazy, goofy way. If I'm ever back in Davis, I want to meet Pippa and Yeti both.

Today made it even more clear that yes, I *can* answer questions about stuff from cases in the teaching hospital. I don't know if my classmates were especially quiet because they didn't know or didn't want to answer, but every answer that popped into my head and turned out right surprised me a bit more.

I hope this translates into a good thing for clinics come fourth year, and that I start having this happen with written exams so I can be sure to make it to fourth year in the first place. I'm really hating class work. It's not worse than last year - its probably better - I'm just so tired of it. I don't like sitting in class. I don't like written exams. I don't like PowerPoint after PowerPoint. I just need to make it through.
 
twelvetigers said:
Your dog is exceptionally crazy perhaps. In a nice way. A nice, crazy, goofy way. If I'm ever back in Davis, I want to meet Pippa and Yeti both.

Today made it even more clear that yes, I *can* answer questions about stuff from cases in the teaching hospital. I don't know if my classmates were especially quiet because they didn't know or didn't want to answer, but every answer that popped into my head and turned out right surprised me a bit more.

I hope this translates into a good thing for clinics come fourth year, and that I start having this happen with written exams so I can be sure to make it to fourth year in the first place. I'm really hating class work. It's not worse than last year - its probably better - I'm just so tired of it. I don't like sitting in class. I don't like written exams. I don't like PowerPoint after PowerPoint. I just need to make it through.
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This x1000. I've never put in so much work for so little return and thus, I've never spent SO MUCH TIME feeling bad about myself. Passing is passing. I know. But still. I'm glad you had this positive experience, and I cross my fingers that I get one too 🙂
 
nyanko said:
The first month or two of owning the dog you will have moments of WHAT IS THIS THING IN MY HOUSE WHY DID I DO THIS TAKE IT BACK OH GOD I'M RESPONSIBLE FOR A THING AND IT IS CRAZY. but they'll start to go away and then one day you find yourself wondering how you even lived without the dog. 🙂
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YES... Every new foster I have this moment of regret/panic and it always works out 🙂

Pooter - is it one of the spay dogs?!
 
I have been so good at putting off studying this weekend. Not a good thing considering the pharm and path tests we have this week.
 
We got bacteriology midterm mark back, and I'm really pleased with it. We're just waiting on our marks for systemic pathology now. So far, I'm thrilled with how I've done.

As a bonus - I got picked to do a fine need aspirate/biopsy lab tomorrow. So excited!
 
Hey 2015''ers - almost to thanksgiving "break" - how is everyone doing??

As for UCD - our second year has defeinitely picked up the pace compared to first. I wasn't sure how it would be since we were doing normal and abnormal last year as well but these topics are much more difficult. Yay, Cardio, Renal, Endocrine, Repro....

As for me - I somehow managed to grow myself an autoimmune disease and ended up losing most of my visual acuity for 2 weeks. Nothing better than your own body trying to eat your cornea....The school worked with me on it and with the help of magical prednisone, I'm back on track and trying to catch up. Still have limited vision but I can finally read a computer screen AND normal size font. Yay!!

Losing your vision and finding out that you might have to defer or leave school makes coming back and studying quite a bit easier!!!!! I'm appreciating vet school EVEN more! Hopefully, I just pass this block of exams and get to keep going!
 
heylodeb said:
Hey 2015''ers - almost to thanksgiving "break" - how is everyone doing??
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If I wasn't uncertain about where the boundaries are for SDN's TOS, all you'd see in response to that question is a stream of expletives.

Either that or a big yawn of "don't give a rat's ass". It's such a weird feeling to love vet med but really, really dislike school.

That said, I just got the schedule for next semester and I have to say it looks wayyyyy cooler than this semester. I'm told it's harder, but at least it looks *interesting*. This semester is just horrible.

Anyway. Sorry for the negativity. Especially given that it sounds like you had an actual serious issue to deal with - glad you're on the rebound!
 
This actually IS an easy semester for UF. Exams have mostly been spread out pretty well, material is a lot easier to understand than first year, plus we get to touch live animals. Next semester looks like a charlie foxtrot. It's going to be interesting, but we get to do surgery! Can't wait for vacation so I can see my family and to be one semester away from clinics!
 
heylodeb said:
Hey 2015''ers - almost to thanksgiving "break" - how is everyone doing??
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We don't get an American Thanksgiving break which makes me feel like I'm missing Christmas- I feel seriously depressed about it. We got a Canadian TG break but it was basically just turkey dinner on Columbus Day 🙁

Everything was sunshine and unicorn sht until today. The pharm/tox midterm kicked my ass big time and I was literally inside studying Saturday, Sunday, Monday and this morning. It's like I got to the exam and everything just fell apart in my head. It doesn't help my mood that my house looks like a tazmanian devil went through it. I know I need to clean but I wish I had some nice wine to do it with. I think I may crawl in bed and read Game of Thrones for a few hours and try to forget the exam ever happened. On the plus side, my first pharm midterm was amazing so I shouldn't fail the class or anything, and my other grades have been good. It was just disheartening to study so hard and flounder.

HLD, I've been on pred for something before and just remember having to eat a crap load with it because it would make me so naseous. Hopefully your body stops trying to eat your eye!
 
Bearby said:
This actually IS an easy semester for UF. Exams have mostly been spread out pretty well, material is a lot easier to understand than first year, plus we get to touch live animals. Next semester looks like a charlie foxtrot. It's going to be interesting, but we get to do surgery! Can't wait for vacation so I can see my family and to be one semester away from clinics!
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My experience so far has been that I can find people ahead of me in the program who will say that every semester is the hardest, including right there at semester number one.

I think next semester will be harder, just because it's a few weeks longer, but it also sounds FAR more interesting. I can deal with difficulty if it's interesting, but this semester has been a major motivation-challenge. I just keep finding myself saying "meh - don't care".....
 
that redhead said:
I think I may crawl in bed and read Game of Thrones for a few hours and try to forget the exam ever happened. On the plus side, my first pharm midterm was amazing so I shouldn't fail the class or anything, and my other grades have been good.
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I just keep reminding myself that it was only worth 20%. It sucked, big time.

Did a wetlab today on blocked cats and it was awesome. It made me forget the totally rotten pharm/tox midterm.
 
LetItSnow said:
My experience so far has been that I can find people ahead of me in the program who will say that every semester is the hardest, including right there at semester number one.

I think next semester will be harder, just because it's a few weeks longer, but it also sounds FAR more interesting. I can deal with difficulty if it's interesting, but this semester has been a major motivation-challenge. I just keep finding myself saying "meh - don't care".....
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Seems like LIS has dropped off the planet, snowed under by vet school I presume.

Hang in there LIS!
 
One more assignment due, a bunch of quizzes (three? I think...) and then finals. I'm starting to study for the bacteriology lab final next Thursday the 29th (not freaked out about that yet) and then virology next Saturday the 1st (not as freaked out as I should be).
 
I was going to get so much work done this week & I just cant seem to get myself to study. I just want to be done already. 1 week of class & 4 exams.
 
I'm going to have some caffeine and try to study tonight- boo. Made up the majority of my bacT lab final study guide- a bit to add but not much and it's pretty small as it is. After that I'm going to crank out the rest of a paper and then maybe start on viro study guide. It's the moooost wonderful tiiiime of the yearrrrr.

Only three weeks until I head home 😀
 
StartingoverVet said:
Seems like LIS has dropped off the planet, snowed under by vet school I presume.

Hang in there LIS!
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I'm here, I'm here! Nothing major, tragic, or anything weird like that - just life got pretty overwhelmingly busy all at once. Anyone in vet school knows how that happens from time to time.

Sorry to vanish (especially sorry to DVMD/SOV, who were looking for my input on a WW game) - just got so far behind I had to ditch things like SDN for a bit.

But I'm catching back up! And may or may not be convinced to post pictures of a fantastic (that's sarcasm, btw) dog bite on my nose from a week or two ago. Went clear through the skin over the septum and took a notch out. Kinda like what it might look like if you ripped out a nose ring. I hear women dig scars, though.
 
Three days of classes left (and Friday isn't much of a day, just a 2 hour lab in the afternoon for me). Eight exams between now and Dec 14. So ready to be done with the semester. So close, yet so horribly far away.
 
Coquette22 said:
Three days of classes left (and Friday isn't much of a day, just a 2 hour lab in the afternoon for me). Eight exams between now and Dec 14. So ready to be done with the semester. So close, yet so horribly far away.
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Maaaaan, we have class all next week, even with the three finals. then five the week after that. Plus I have a lab final tomorrow and an exam Friday...
 
twelvetigers said:
Maaaaan, we have class all next week, even with the three finals. then five the week after that. Plus I have a lab final tomorrow and an exam Friday...
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I've never understood why they bother to call it dead week. Half the time dead week is worse than the actual finals week. Unless dead weeks means you will want to be dead.
 
i will be home 2 weeks from tomorrow night and i am so stinking excited! tomorrow is our last official day of class (although we haven't had full days this week anyway) and then exams mon/wed/fri/mon before we're done. we are the 1st term to get done with classes and will be the first to be done with exams (everyone except 2nd term goes till the 14th)
 
We have 2 and a half weeks left. Can't wait. I only have obligations for 7 days out of the 3+ weeks we have off, so that is amazing. Sleeping so much.
 
Technically we have class tomorrow and Friday, but only 2 classes tomorrow and one class on Friday, so not super worried about it. First final tomorrow (bacT lab) to kick things off. Already feeling soo ready to be done, even though once I get home I'm going to have to launch into wedding planning mode. Better than studying, though 😀
 
jmo1012 said:
for those of you who have already taken sx skills type classes, how did you practice, and what did you practice on/with?
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We are lent a knot tying board to practice hand ties of square knots/surgeons knots.

We are given a Dasie, which is really good for practicing suturing. The pharmacy sells a ****ty set of instruments that is good enough for practicing for like $20 (disposable scalpel, thumb forceps, needle holders x2, scissors x2 ), and we are given expired suture, some needles and floss to use.

The Dasie is the key, as it has multiple layers and internal viscera.
 
jmo1012 said:
for those of you who have already taken sx skills type classes, how did you practice, and what did you practice on/with?
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I got expired suture from a wonderful vet on VIN, and bought a cheap pair of instruments.
For simple patterns, I like foam pipe insulation, of all things :laugh: Its a thick foam, split down one side for putting over the pipe, and the outer layer is coated with some kind of "skin". You can make your own incisions after you sutured up the pre-cut one. Doesn't work for any kind of inverting or everting pattern though.

Cloth on embroidery hoops also seems to be well-liked, and that does work for a lot of different types of patterns.

If you can get comfortable being able to tie a good knot, you'll be in good shape though. Surgeons, square, and Millers are all commonly used here, and I've had to do hand ties a few times but I keep forgetting how to do those. If you need Millers, there are some good videos on the net - that's how I learned because the way it was explained to me just made no sense, so I found a way that did.

The best though, if you can find a wetlab or whatever, was a lab our class did using bovine tongues. I have yet to hear of a cheap substitute that has that real tissue feel. I'm not familiar with the stuff SOV talks about, but our school didn't offer anything like that, and its probably out of my personal price range!
 
cowgirla said:
I got expired suture from a wonderful vet on VIN, and bought a cheap pair of instruments.
For simple patterns, I like foam pipe insulation, of all things :laugh: Its a thick foam, split down one side for putting over the pipe, and the outer layer is coated with some kind of "skin". You can make your own incisions after you sutured up the pre-cut one. Doesn't work for any kind of inverting or everting pattern though.

Cloth on embroidery hoops also seems to be well-liked, and that does work for a lot of different types of patterns.

If you can get comfortable being able to tie a good knot, you'll be in good shape though. Surgeons, square, and Millers are all commonly used here, and I've had to do hand ties a few times but I keep forgetting how to do those. If you need Millers, there are some good videos on the net - that's how I learned because the way it was explained to me just made no sense, so I found a way that did.

The best though, if you can find a wetlab or whatever, was a lab our class did using bovine tongues. I have yet to hear of a cheap substitute that has that real tissue feel. I'm not familiar with the stuff SOV talks about, but our school didn't offer anything like that, and its probably out of my personal price range!
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Also, you can go to a local butcher and see if they have pig's feet. Awesome for practicing on.
 
jmo1012 said:
for those of you who have already taken sx skills type classes, how did you practice, and what did you practice on/with?
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I've done some practice suturing because I'll suture things at the wildlife clinic. I tend to take fleece and wrap it around a book so you have the seam in the middle of the front. Just have to cut it to the right size or pick the right size book so that you have a little tension when you're suturing the edges together. The fleece works nicely because it's thick so you can kind of fudge your way through some subcuticular suturing which is nice. It's obviously not a great replica, but it's been a great help for skin suturing at least. You can add another layer (or two) if you want to practice with abdominal wall and what not.
 
We had a class meeting last night about clinics. We get to choose 1 free block, and they will assign us the other (12-16 weeks total depending on the length of the blocks you get). We also have to do two 2-week preceptorships outside the school, and we are required to have 10 weeks of electives which can be here or at some other approved location. So that's potentially 26-30 weeks that we can get experience outside the vet school. So excited!

We have to declare our free block at the beginning of January. Toward the end of January, we will rank the electives we want. We'll find out our clinics schedule by the time spring break hits us.
 
cowgirla said:
The best though, if you can find a wetlab or whatever, was a lab our class did using bovine tongues. I have yet to hear of a cheap substitute that has that real tissue feel. I'm not familiar with the stuff SOV talks about, but our school didn't offer anything like that, and its probably out of my personal price range!
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http://www.dasiesurgery.ca/DASIE/DASIE.html

$29.95, if you are too lazy for home-made products.
 
People in my class had some luck with contacting Banfield and asking if they had any suture sets for poor vet students 🙂
 
scb44f said:
We had a class meeting last night about clinics. We get to choose 1 free block, and they will assign us the other (12-16 weeks total depending on the length of the blocks you get). We also have to do two 2-week preceptorships outside the school, and we are required to have 10 weeks of electives which can be here or at some other approved location. So that's potentially 26-30 weeks that we can get experience outside the vet school. So excited!

We have to declare our free block at the beginning of January. Toward the end of January, we will rank the electives we want. We'll find out our clinics schedule by the time spring break hits us.
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Sounds awesome!! I fall more in 😍 with Mizzou everyday :laugh:
 
jmo1012 said:
I. HATE. PATHOLOGY. hmph 😡
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I am with you there..

Last exam for the class in one week...
covers bone, marrow, lymphoid, cardiovascular, endocrine, and all the common lesions in small animal, and all the common lesions in large animal. 😡

Last 2 days we went through 100s of examples of lesions. I was ready to :barf:
 
StartingoverVet said:
I am with you there..

Last exam for the class in one week...
covers bone, marrow, lymphoid, cardiovascular, endocrine, and all the common lesions in small animal, and all the common lesions in large animal. 😡

Last 2 days we went through 100s of examples of lesions. I was ready to :barf:
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we have 4 broad categories spanning nearly 200 pages of outlined notes on eye/ear, liver/biliary system/exocrine pancrease/peritoneum, bone (we "lucked" out and he tossed joints since he was so far behind and never got to cover it), and skeletal muscles. our professor is so incredibly dull (nice guy though), is super slow, OCD (he just can't not cover every detail on every slide despite knowing he's days and days behind), and i just basically feel at a total loss as to where to even begin when it comes to studying for our final on monday. he posted "review" outlines online of the "important" stuff. i'm a little over halfway through going back and filling in the details (my normal study way is to outline my notes and since they were already an outline that made it kind of tough!) and I've already accumulated 30 pages of typed info.

between this and our cumulative pharm final next friday, i think i am going to die. :scared:
 
Our viro final was today. Our teacher sucked but the test was relatively easy. We were advised by upperclassmen to answer E if we didn't know the answer, it was sound advice.
 
👎Our viro midterm was at least 30 pages long with multiple-multiple choice, TF, short answer and long answer- please send your viro brainwaves our way, Bearby 😀

As though finals time couldn't be bad enough, Canada has decided now is a wonderful time to make it cold as balls outside(15F when I left this morning), our class has a confirmed case of assholitis lurking somewhere and I feel a sore throat thing coming on. Boo👎
 
coldasballs.png
 
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