Class of 2015... How ya doing?

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
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twelvetigers said:
I'm more in the WVC neighborhood.
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You should totes go to WVC! I've applied for the Food Animal Incentive Award but plan on going regardless.

As far as references, I really liked Cote when I was seeing small animals. This is random, but if anyone plans on seeing South American camelids, I really like Llama and Alpaca Care by Cebra.
 
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having a bit of a moment of panic about match stuff - it's due in less than a month!! i havent decided where or set up interviews or finished any part of the application. AHHH
 
that redhead said:
Have the day off, doing some neurology CE in bed. Now I just need to convince my practice to get some Keppra...
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if you can't, you can always Rx it. That's what I do. I don't have enough patients on phenobarb or keppra to justify keeping it around
 
After a weird week of miscommunication, I went out on my first client call alone. I didn't have that much work to do, but my goal was to make a good impression because the individual we were working with is well known in the clinic for being very particular and outspoken when he doesn't like how something is done. At the end of the day today, he pulled me aside and said the group did a good job. When I got back to the clinic, one of my mentors congratulated me. When I asked why, she said I shold check my email. I made my way to the front desk with a few more positive comments. When I got there, both receptionists came over to me with giant smiles. Apparently our client called the clinic to say what a great job I did and how impressed he was. I've never heard him say anything positive to someone about their work, let alone rave about someone to anyone else. What a wonderful day, and on a Friday the 13th too!
 
scb44f said:
After a weird week of miscommunication, I went out on my first client call alone. I didn't have that much work to do, but my goal was to make a good impression because the individual we were working with is well known in the clinic for being very particular and outspoken when he doesn't like how something is done. At the end of the day today, he pulled me aside and said the group did a good job. When I got back to the clinic, one of my mentors congratulated me. When I asked why, she said I shold check my email. I made my way to the front desk with a few more positive comments. When I got there, both receptionists came over to me with giant smiles. Apparently our client called the clinic to say what a great job I did and how impressed he was. I've never heard him say anything positive to someone about their work, let alone rave about someone to anyone else. What a wonderful day, and on a Friday the 13th too!
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Are you on ambo? I have a couple good friends on food animal right now - hopefully they are in your awesome group 😀
 
dyachei said:
if you can't, you can always Rx it. That's what I do. I don't have enough patients on phenobarb or keppra to justify keeping it around
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If you are using the regular levetiracetam just remember to remind people that it is literally every 8 hours for the rest of the pet's life. the extended release is good but can't be broken or crushed so only available at certain sizes. also it can be expensive. i usually script it to costco even though we carry it tbh.
 
Kpowell14 said:
Are you on ambo? I have a couple good friends on food animal right now - hopefully they are in your awesome group 😀
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I'm on regulatory, but I have worked (and am working) with the ambulatory group. This has been a really good rotation!

nyanko said:
If you are using the regular levetiracetam just remember to remind people that it is literally every 8 hours for the rest of the pet's life. the extended release is good but can't be broken or crushed so only available at certain sizes. also it can be expensive. i usually script it to costco even though we carry it tbh.
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For people on clinics: don't be dog sitting a dog who is on Keppra and then not tell us you need to run and give it the meds. I overheard a student coming off an overnight that the dog was supposed to get it at 6 am. And it was 10 am already. I kicked her out of the hospital.
 
I may have just legit had a panic attack at work.

*expletive deleted*

This is new.
 
My original question:
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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Some of the replies:
LetItSnow said:
I'm a new vet, so I don't know ....just about everything.
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that redhead said:
Exactly this. Although I work with six other vets so there's always someone around that I can ask for an opinion or just "help!"
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dyachei said:
I've been out for 4 years and I still feel that way
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Well, I'm rootin' for ya guys! Hope you all become fawsome vets that the newbies look up to! Probably inevitable if you keep trying hard ^_^

Now, more questions! 😀

When you come across something you don't know, is it mostly because it was not covered in school or because it was but it's impossible to remember everything?

Do you ever feel like vet school didn't teach you to be a vet as much as it taught you how to learn to be one? Is that the whole point of vet school? Is that why they call it "practicing" veterinary medicine?
 
Starry-chan said:
My original question:


Some of the replies:





Well, I'm rootin' for ya guys! Hope you all become fawsome vets that the newbies look up to! Probably inevitable if you keep trying hard ^_^

Now, more questions! 😀

When you come across something you don't know, is it mostly because it was not covered in school or because it was but it's impossible to remember everything?

Do you ever feel like vet school didn't teach you to be a vet as much as it taught you how to learn to be one? Is that the whole point of vet school? Is that why they call it "practicing" veterinary medicine?
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Impossible to know everything and part of vet school is learning to use your resources wisely and appropriately. Most things are covered in school at least briefly (but not some rare things or not relating to the main species).

You practice medicine because you can never know everything and each patient is an individual.
 
dyachei said:
Impossible to know everything and part of vet school is learning to use your resources wisely and appropriately.
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Makes sense.

Would you say that vet school also makes it so you can better understand your resources? Like if you're reading about what causes x y z disease, it helps to have a deep understanding of things like physiology, yes?
 
twelvetigers said:
That's p much it in a nutshell.
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Hmmmmmm. So, to wrap my head around this, I'm gonna think of vet school as a place where you build a knowledge foundation out of basic understandings 😀

So, once vet school is over, what then? What form does your continuing education take? I guess it'd be different for each person. But for you guys specifically, what is your approach to furthering your knowledge? Do you have long term goals or do you just learn things as they are needed, on a case-by-case basis?
 
Starry-chan said:
Hmmmmmm. So, to wrap my head around this, I'm gonna think of vet school as a place where you build a knowledge foundation out of basic understandings 😀

So, once vet school is over, what then? What form does your continuing education take? I guess it'd be different for each person. But for you guys specifically, what is your approach to furthering your knowledge? Do you have long term goals or do you just learn things as they are needed, on a case-by-case basis?
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Mostly case-by-case, though it does add up pretty fast. We do have official continuing education (CE) that is required in order to maintain our license. It comes in many forms - webinars, seminars, conferences, classes.

I also learn a lot by digging around on VIN and looking things up in my books - like the vomiting dog, well, let's look up all these different things that may be at play here. You end up learning about pancreatitis and atypical Addison's even if neither one is what's happening with the dog today.
 
twelvetigers said:
Mostly case-by-case, though it does add up pretty fast. We do have official continuing education (CE) that is required in order to maintain our license. It comes in many forms - webinars, seminars, conferences, classes.

I also learn a lot by digging around on VIN and looking things up in my books - like the vomiting dog, well, let's look up all these different things that may be at play here. You end up learning about pancreatitis and atypical Addison's even if neither one is what's happening with the dog today.
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some states don't really have much CE, which is scary.

But I agree, it's really case by case. I learned more after the first 6 months when I got a routine down for cases and didn't feel overwhelmed by cases, too. Once my basics were cemented, I was able to grow my knowledge base.
 
twelvetigers said:
It's just like normal Addison's, only with absolutely none of the bloodwork to back up your possible diagnosis. Also, older dogs too. Such fun.
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Years ago I read about what a bitch Addison's is, but I don't remember what made it hard to diagnose. Does it have vague signs that could be caused by 9999 other things?

Have you guys ever been able to diagnose it? Did you feel like a boss? 😀
 
Starry-chan said:
Years ago I read about what a bitch Addison's is, but I don't remember what made it hard to diagnose. Does it have vague signs that could be caused by 9999 other things?

Have you guys ever been able to diagnose it? Did you feel like a boss? 😀
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yes, I've diagnosed. and no, it doesnt make me feel like a boss. Animal is usually in crisis the first time.
 
dyachei said:
yes, I've diagnosed. and no, it doesnt make me feel like a boss. Animal is usually in crisis the first time.
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Aww. That sucks. Poor animal. 🙁 Were you able to cure/manage the condition?
 
dyachei said:
you don't cure addison's. It's manageable but requires long term steroid use (of 2 types) for life.
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I see. Do the benefits of treatment tend to outweigh the side effects of the steroids?
 
Starry-chan said:
I see. Do the benefits of treatment tend to outweigh the side effects of the steroids?
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As the owner of a dog that was diagnosed at 10 and lived until 14 (happy pup until his last month), I'd say that the benefits (and cost) of treatment can definitely outweigh the negatives.
 
epivetlove said:
As the owner of a dog that was diagnosed at 10 and lived until 14 (happy pup until his last month), I'd say that the benefits (and cost) of treatment can definitely outweigh the negatives.
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well since the negatives usually lead to death...
 
Starry-chan said:
Years ago I read about what a bitch Addison's is, but I don't remember what made it hard to diagnose. Does it have vague signs that could be caused by 9999 other things?

Have you guys ever been able to diagnose it? Did you feel like a boss? 😀
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It's not all that uncommon. Much rather Addison's than bad Cushing's or Diabetes.

It's kind of fun to diagnose, but I can't say I ever felt like a boss.
 
Minnerbelle said:
It's not all that uncommon. Much rather Addison's than bad Cushing's or Diabetes.

It's kind of fun to diagnose, but I can't say I ever felt like a boss.
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I haven't had many. More Cushings by far. And this month has been thyroid month. I've run through boxes of total t4s in the last 16 days. hyper and hypo. wtf world
 
DVMDream said:
I'm sure some owners think you are a "boss", especially if their dog comes in in a crisis and about to die and you send the dog home a couple days later as though nothing happened. 😉
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the one I diagnosed a few years ago thought I was the most awesome vet ever when I saved her from crisis
 
I have way more Cushing's suspects for sure, but very few that are truly diagnosed. The pot bellied, skin, PU/pd dogs with an ALP >1000 with occasional UTIs. Those aren't uncommon. It costs a good $1000+ diagnose, and the cost of tx and monitoring just goes up and up from there. So when it comes to discussing plans, a lot of people at least in my experience will decide to just deal with the PU/PD which is really the only thing that bothers most owners (generally true in my hospital for other doctors as well).

The addisonian crisis dogs get a diagnosis because of the nature of their presentation, and most will treat. It's satisfying for the owners to manage Addison's. Cushing's is more an annoyance. So i bet the number of addisonians is probably fewer, but I sure have more patients being treated for this than I do for Cushing's.
 
Emergency dead animal. Was asked to resuscitate it. Rectal temp 53 F, hair falling out, bloated, sunken/blue eyes... um. No.

Thank goodness the aura of the day sent her to me :boom:
 
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