Class of 2015... How ya doing?

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
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hedgiehog said:
Question for all the current vets out there: when did you and your classmates start interviewing for jobs? I just got my schedule and I'm trying to figure out which selectives I should drop for vacation time. I'm not overly attached to any of them. I'm primarily interested in shelter medicine but I don't know if that changes anything. I'm not positive yet if I'm applying for an internship yet either. Yay for indecision!
@dyachei @Minnerbelle @twelvetigers @cowgirla @LetItSnow @Coquette22 @that redhead and anyone I may have missed because I can't remember all the usernames and I know several people went into internships. Thanks!
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I started in December making a list of clinics in areas I liked- I think there were 15 or so, writings cover letters, etc. Sent out resumes as soon as NAVLE results were in. had interviews starting late February, set two up as preceptorships in March. watched the job boards closely so was sending out a few inquiry letters or resumes every week or so. Kept interviewing until June- had a few offers but turned them down for not being the right fit. it was terrifying, turning down jobs without having a better offer, and graduating without anything lined up, but I'm so glad I did.

The job I did accept, I started talking to in May. did two phone interviews before they flew me out in June. Started work three weeks later, haven't regretted it yet!
 
LetItSnow said:
The first GDV I cut (like a week or two after graduation) just came back in last night vomiting. My colleague texted me to let me know she has a massive (and it looks HUGE on rads) splenic mass. Maybe liver.

Sigh. Dammit. Both organs were grossly normal when I was in there. Grrr.
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Too bad a splenectomy wasn't required at the time 🙁
 
I started around jan/feb and started some interviews around then, but got way more traction in March-April from practices who were considering new grads. The people looking for an associate in jan generally wanted someone to start ASAP, not in June...
 
Minnerbelle said:
Too bad a splenectomy wasn't required at the time 🙁
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I know, right? I do know I did a good explore because .... well, you know what it's like when you do the first <anything>. You're super in-depth and cautious because you know you've never done it before. I spent way more time pawing through that abdomen than I probably should have. I wouldn't have hesitated to take that spleen if I thought it needed it. Stupid universe.

I'd like to post the rads, but confidentiality and all that. But I did the GDV in late May or thereabouts. Was a GermShep. And the mass looks like a big huge GDV (in terms of size) on rads right now. Stunning (to me, anyway) growth rate.
 
Minnerbelle said:
I started around jan/feb and started some interviews around then, but got way more traction in March-April from practices who were considering new grads. The people looking for an associate in jan generally wanted someone to start ASAP, not in June...
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Hey Minnerbelle, you graduated in 2015? (I'm assuming from this thread.) Did you know anybody at CSU that graduated in 2013? My vet was in that class. 😀
 
Every time roommate or I deals with a blocked cat at work, I come home, look at my Boy Cat and tell him, "If you ever think about blocking, I will cut off your penis so fast it will make your head spin. Now go drink more water."

I ****ing hate blocked cats.
 
Coquette22 said:
Every time roommate or I deals with a blocked cat at work, I come home, look at my Boy Cat and tell him, "If you ever think about blocking, I will cut off your penis so fast it will make your head spin. Now go drink more water."

I ****ing hate blocked cats.
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Really? I like blocked cats. I find them to be kinda satisfying to work with.

I mean, I feel really sorry for them and their owners. And I kinda do the same thing with my two young boy cats (growl at them to not even think about blocking - there are days I consider giving them a small amount of sq fluids EOD as prophylaxis). But as a vet I kinda like treating those cases. Except when the owners don't want to.
 
LetItSnow said:
Really? I like blocked cats. I find them to be kinda satisfying to work with.
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I generally find them to be the antithesis of satisfying. Sure, there's the initial relief when you get them unblocked. But then there's the "Oh crap, are you going to block again when the catheter is pulled?" And the "Oh **** you pulled out your catheter..." And the "Oh look, you're straining again...."
 
Coquette22 said:
I generally find them to be the antithesis of satisfying. Sure, there's the initial relief when you get them unblocked. But then there's the "Oh crap, are you going to block again when the catheter is pulled?" And the "Oh **** you pulled out your catheter..." And the "Oh look, you're straining again...."
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Shhhhhhhhh. They all urinate after the cath is pulled, we pretend that isn't straining when we see it, and pulling their catheter out means it wasn't sutured in right. ;-)

Lalalalalalalala*LIS BURIES HIS HEAD IN THE SAND*lalalalalalalala
 
I once had to deal with 9 blocked cats in a single week - amazing how you get runs of certain conditions every so often...
 
Starry-chan said:
What type of residency is it?
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Clinical pathology.

Thanks guys! After getting rejected last year, I am really happy to finally get a spot. I don't regret this internship I'm doing at all, but I'm excited to focus on path (and not have to talk to clients, or do SOAPs, or work 18 hours a day, etc).
 
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To a client today: You're scum. I hope to never cross paths with you again.

To another client today: No one has ever been that happy to find out their dog has fleas. It was fabulous. 😀 (She thought it was going to be something big and expensive.)
 
that redhead said:
Been a rough few days. I have a vacation coming up right before Thanksgiving and I need an emotional break.
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In my fantasy world, there would be an SDN 2015 grads meet-up in .... well, somewhere warm with the bestest pub on the planet .... sometime around January/February to decompress from the first half year of practice.
 
LetItSnow said:
In my fantasy world, there would be an SDN 2015 grads meet-up in .... well, somewhere warm with the bestest pub on the planet .... sometime around January/February to decompress from the first half year of practice.
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so you are all welcome to join me for NAVC 😉
 
Coquette22 said:
Which brings me to.... Anyone going to NAVC?
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I'm a possible, but haven't registered yet.

Sigh. I have a dog coming whose owner just called ... they had a prescription bottle that they filled up with other meds once they used up the prescription. They have forgotten what meds they put in there. And then left the bottle out where the dog could get it.

Yay for random unknown toxicity.
 
Any of you guys have a practical, quick reference that you like for endocrine diseases? And/or any other books you can't live without. My family is asking me for things to buy for xmas and I'd like to start a baby reference library. Plan on doing SA/exotic private practice.
 
Trilt said:
Any of you guys have a practical, quick reference that you like for endocrine diseases? And/or any other books you can't live without. My family is asking me for things to buy for xmas and I'd like to start a baby reference library. Plan on doing SA/exotic private practice.
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This gets well used in our clinic: Amazon product ASIN 1437722644
 
Trilt said:
Any of you guys have a practical, quick reference that you like for endocrine diseases? And/or any other books you can't live without. My family is asking me for things to buy for xmas and I'd like to start a baby reference library. Plan on doing SA/exotic private practice.
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Idk how much youd use it in gp (depends on what you like to do), but I love the silverstein critical care book as a great reference for that sort of thing (i use it for non cc things too)
 
Trilt said:
Any of you guys have a practical, quick reference that you like for endocrine diseases? And/or any other books you can't live without. My family is asking me for things to buy for xmas and I'd like to start a baby reference library. Plan on doing SA/exotic private practice.
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Clinical veterinary advisor by cote for most things.

For diabetes I specifically keep the aaha guide.
 
Coquette22 said:
This gets well used in our clinic: Amazon product ASIN 1437722644
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Your link is being weird but I think it's the formulary - hoping that whatever clinic hires me does enough exotics that they'll have it around already, but that's a definite buy if I'll be the first.

jmo1012 said:
Idk how much youd use it in gp (depends on what you like to do), but I love the silverstein critical care book as a great reference for that sort of thing (i use it for non cc things too)
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Awesome suggestion - library has it as an ebook, so now I own it! 🙂

Minnerbelle said:
Clinical veterinary advisor by cote for most things.

For diabetes I specifically keep the aaha guide.
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I've seen a bit of divide between people who like the 5 min consult series vs. the Cote books. Do you have a reason for preferring the advisor more? (I should probably just take a look at both of them in the library...)
 
Trilt said:
Your link is being weird but I think it's the formulary - hoping that whatever clinic hires me does enough exotics that they'll have it around already, but that's a definite buy if I'll be the first.



Awesome suggestion - library has it as an ebook, so now I own it! 🙂



I've seen a bit of divide between people who like the 5 min consult series vs. the Cote books. Do you have a reason for preferring the advisor more? (I should probably just take a look at both of them in the library...)
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It's a bit more comprehensive than the 5 min consult, but short enough for it to be a short reference. I think it's really personal preference.

Honestly, I would take a gift certificate over a physical book as a gift now because I'm sure the practice you'll be at will have most of these resources. My clinic right now has 4 copies of cote... That way you could even save up for a super cool CE beyond what your employer will cover (extra wet labs/etc...). You can always buy books later that you wish you had that is not a part of the ref library at work.
 
Minnerbelle said:
It's a bit more comprehensive than the 5 min consult, but short enough for it to be a short reference. I think it's really personal preference.

Honestly, I would take a gift certificate over a physical book as a gift now because I'm sure the practice you'll be at will have most of these resources. My clinic right now has 4 copies of cote... That way you could even save up for a super cool CE beyond what your employer will cover (extra wet labs/etc...). You can always buy books later that you wish you had that is not a part of the ref library at work.
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Believe me, if I could just get a gift card/cash I would, but I have a family that generally refuses to do cash (or cash equivalent) as gifts. Asking for work-related books is honestly pushing it, too, but hopefully they'll oblige. 😛
 
Trilt said:
Believe me, if I could just get a gift card/cash I would, but I have a family that generally refuses to do cash (or cash equivalent) as gifts. Asking for work-related books is honestly pushing it, too, but hopefully they'll oblige. 😛
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If you're going into SA, then the best money I've ever spent was on Brett Beckman's dental extraction webinar. You can watch all the videos forever, so essentially a book...
 
My career got off to a rocky start. One of my former classmates (and at the time, a co-worker) slammed her motorcycle into a tree in September, killing her. So far, I've been on clinic duty about 12 days, surgery 7 days, and done a variety of inspections ranging from national companies making cheesecakes to local companies with 1 full time employee and 3 part timers. I enjoy the large facility inspections - it's cool seeing how they do things. In a couple of weeks, I get to inspect an ice plant. Our program is full of busy work though. Journal club, presentations on pointless stuff (I gave one on how to give a presentation), etc. It's kind of depressing to have to go through all the basic military crap when I have more time in service than either of my bosses, and went through a real commissioning program. I hope to find out my next job in Dec. Most people seem to think that I'll be taking over the clinic, which comes with a whole new set of headaches.
 
Minnerbelle said:
It's a bit more comprehensive than the 5 min consult, but short enough for it to be a short reference. I think it's really personal preference.

Honestly, I would take a gift certificate over a physical book as a gift now because I'm sure the practice you'll be at will have most of these resources. My clinic right now has 4 copies of cote... That way you could even save up for a super cool CE beyond what your employer will cover (extra wet labs/etc...). You can always buy books later that you wish you had that is not a part of the ref library at work.
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I bought Côte for myself a few moths back. I brought it, the newest Fossum, and the newest Nelson to work with me. I have caught the senior vet looking at all three. Hah.

Blackwell is just a tiny bit too basic. I like the other info in Cote besides the main content - it also has information on specific tests/samples, procedures, and some nice flow charts to help you work through a diagnosis. Nelson is there when I want more details, and Ettinger is there when I want to fall asleep.

And then there's VIN, of course.
 
Books I use most: Cote, Fossum, and Plumbs (even though it's on VIN, I find myself grabbing the book). I doublecheck myself with Plunkett (Emergency Procedures for the SA Vet) frequently, but it's not necessary for a new GP. Also for critical care, SA Crit Care Medicine by Silverstein is awesome. For exotics, the pink book "Ferrets, Rabbits, and Rodents" by ... uh ... Quesenberry and Carpenter?

There is probably another 10-15 books I reference once/month or so, but all our hospitals have a fairly reasonable library so I don't purchase any of them.
 
LetItSnow said:
Books I use most: Cote, Fossum, and Plumbs (even though it's on VIN, I find myself grabbing the book). I doublecheck myself with Plunkett (Emergency Procedures for the SA Vet) frequently, but it's not necessary for a new GP. Also for critical care, SA Crit Care Medicine by Silverstein is awesome. For exotics, the pink book "Ferrets, Rabbits, and Rodents" by ... uh ... Quesenberry and Carpenter?

There is probably another 10-15 books I reference once/month or so, but all our hospitals have a fairly reasonable library so I don't purchase any of them.
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So, I'm curious what vets use their reference libraries for. Is it to just remind themselves of stuff they learned in school? To learn something new that will help them with a current case? Both?
 
Starry-chan said:
So, I'm curious what vets use their reference libraries for. Is it to just remind themselves of stuff they learned in school? To learn something new that will help them with a current case? Both?
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Here's an example, though I used class notes instead in this case.

I saw a cat, bilateral blindness. Hypertension secondary to CKD the likely cause. I got as good of a look at the back of those peepers as I could (missing my indirect, may need to buy a lens...) and then I ran off to my computer because while I have some idea what a fundic exam for a cat like that should look like... I wanted to double check. And some vague memory of some really long r word vs. non-r word. (It was rhegmatogenous or something, basically torn vs. not torn.) Basically, you remember bits and pieces of stuff and then go fill in the blanks. Probably more bits are there as you practice because cases you see will make things stick in your head way better than cramming info for an exam ever did.

Also, books help you out by suggesting useful tests, drugs, things to watch for, possible differentials, etc.
 
Starry-chan said:
So, I'm curious what vets use their reference libraries for. Is it to just remind themselves of stuff they learned in school? To learn something new that will help them with a current case? Both?
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I'm a new vet, so I don't know ....just about everything. I use Plumb's to remind myself of dosing. Most of my drugs I have in my head now, but I still check a lot of them, especially if it's an unusual use for me. I don't see exotics much, so when I sent a rabbit home on meloxicam tonight I had to check that dosing - all I could remember is that rabbits get a much higher dose than cats/dogs. I use the emergency procedures book to review how I'm handling a case and make sure I'm not forgetting some important diagnostics or therapy or whatever. If I'm doing a procedure I haven't done much I'll quick read through it in the procedures book just to get it fresh in my mind and make sure I'm conscious of any 'gotchas' to be careful for. Cote can be used similarly, but is more broader in scope. The exotics book I use all the time because it has drug dosing in it as well as common conditions. Since I'm not an exotics vet - and we warn people of that when they come in - we're limited in what we can offer.

Starry-chan said:
Hehe I chuckled when I read that. I have a couple books I use for that xD
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Ettinger is a very nicely written book with plenty of awesome in-depth info ... that I have nowhere near enough time to actually peruse for active cases. One of the nicest things about Ettinger when you're a student is the inside cover - a handy list of differentials for all your lab abnormalities. Great for quickly generating or doublechecking a differentials list. I used it a lot on Internal Medicine and GP as a student.

I don't think I've used notes from school a single time in practice with the exception of our derm books, which are frickin' awesome except for lacking pictures.
 
I go to ophtho lectures a lot. I have looked up this or that in tox or neuro, but our ophtho folks were good about including lots of pictures, and the ppts make sense years later without having any other notes to go along.

(Seriously, so many ppts make almost no sense without the crap I would have written while in class. Which means I would have to bust out onenote...)
 
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