Class of 2016....how ya doing?

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(seriously, though. electrolytes suck balls).

:laugh: Yeah, I have been meaning to buy that.

Also, what you would normally think to cause electrolyte imbalances are not going to be what is causing it in this particular case. So it was more like "what are really weird and bizarre things that cause mild hypokalemia?"
 
Mostly moved into my bf's house for this year. The room is a mess because I haven't put things away/found homes for everything in the room, but all the big stuff is over. Going to be so tired tomorrow since I decided to stay up organizing a bit/getting the guinea pigs all set up. Took a little extra time since I needed to make a lid in case the cats get in.
 
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This is pretty much what I did when I got home today. It is amazing how much more important sleep has become since starting clinics and how much less important food has been. Food? I can't even keep my eyes open, putting food in my mouth is out of the question.
 
The amount of paperwork we are required to do is ridiculous. I'm over it.
 
Totally thought I was posting in the rant thread. Never mind.
 
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Nurse practitioner: you should stay home today and rest
Me: haha, right
NP: no really, I think you need some rest
Me: no ****
NP: here, I'll write you a medical excuse for your absence today
Me: no..
NP: stay home
Me in tears at this point: I CAN'T..
NP: I'M TELLING YOU TO STAY THE EFF HOME.
Me bawling now: just give me the note

Didn't use the note, stayed at school all day. And I'm on call tonight. Hoping this vertigo stays under control with meclizine.

PSA: don't go to vet school.
 
:laugh: Yeah, I have been meaning to buy that.

Also, what you would normally think to cause electrolyte imbalances are not going to be what is causing it in this particular case. So it was more like "what are really weird and bizarre things that cause mild hypokalemia?"

Just as a helpful (maybe?) piece of advice to current 4th years.... For people that have a copy of Ettinger, the inside front cover has a very handy quick list of differentials for lab abnormalities. It's by no means 'complete', but it's a beautiful two pages for when you've already thought about your lab results and you want to doublecheck and make sure you didn't miss anything obvious. Or for when you're just drawing a blank or completely stumped.

I took a picture of it to keep on my phone.

Oh. And if you aren't best friends with eclinpath.com, you should be. Thank you Cornell.
 
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You know what comes even faster? The actual test date. 🙂

I just submitted the application. I am stuck in the food animal hospital doing hourly "make sure everyone is alive" checks until 8PM tonight. So I figured that I might as well get the application submitted while I am here twiddling my thumbs.
 
Hi 2016ers,

I'm curious as to how people are studying for the NAVLE in your states. I signed up for VetPrep, but I'm nervous it won't be enough. And obviously need to be efficient with my time!
 
Hi 2016ers,

I'm curious as to how people are studying for the NAVLE in your states. I signed up for VetPrep, but I'm nervous it won't be enough. And obviously need to be efficient with my time!

Not that you can ever say with 100% certainty, but..... seriously.... if you genuinely put in the effort through VetPrep - study the guides, watch the videos, do the questions and practice tests - and get 50% or more completion.... you will pass the test. Really. Yeah, there are exceptions, but it's a really, really, really small minority.
 
My personal opinion is that people who were going to pass would have passed regardless of whatever study method they used (Zuku plus the two actual NAVLE exam examples from the nbvme for me), and the people who failed would have failed regardless of whatever they tried.

I've known three people who have failed, and they are not people you would have expected to fail. They are people who know their shiz and also people who would make awesome clinicians.

The few people who I thought might struggle to pass all did fine... you know... the people that make the whole rotation group really uncomfortable during rounds because they just can't seem to say anything right? The ones where clinicians really lower the bar and try to ask the most basic questions in the hopes that they might be able to answer something, and the whole group gets so optimistic but then gets super awkward when they get it wrong...
 
Is there a big difference between the format of Zuku vs Vetprep? Or a difference in the amount of study materials available? Just curious.
 
Is there a big difference between the format of Zuku vs Vetprep? Or a difference in the amount of study materials available? Just curious.

Not really.

I was just doing some vetprep questions today at the same time a rotation mate was doing her zuku questions and a couple times we had nearly the exact same questions. I mean they were basically verbatim to each other.

There are additional "things" you can get in VetPrep and Zuku.

Zuku has the Veterinary Board game, which is nice if you want to study in a group or kind of quiz yourself and give yourself "points".

VetPrep has an option with lectures included. I don't know how many lectures there are, but I didn't pick this option. It is a bit more expensive.
 
Not really.

I was just doing some vetprep questions today at the same time a rotation mate was doing her zuku questions and a couple times we had nearly the exact same questions. I mean they were basically verbatim to each other.

There are additional "things" you can get in VetPrep and Zuku.

Zuku has the Veterinary Board game, which is nice if you want to study in a group or kind of quiz yourself and give yourself "points".

VetPrep has an option with lectures included. I don't know how many lectures there are, but I didn't pick this option. It is a bit more expensive.

Thank you for the info 🙂
 
There are also some very subtle things that may or may not make a difference to you. The only ones that I can think of are the ones that mattered to me, but i'm sure there might be some others.

Zuku let's you flag questions in your question bank to return to even if you get the answer right, rather than take it out of the deck once you get the right answer. I like that because I would flag questions if I felt like I needed the repetition, or I wasn't 100% sure about my answer. Unless my friend just didn't know the features of her Vet Prep, that was not an option. There are also some differences in how the question bank is divided.

Vet Prep has a lot of their own resources, whereas Zuku is very Merck-centric.

The vet board game is kind of nice, especially if you're on a slow rotation or something and you can play with your rotation mates, but there is usually someone who has Zuku so you don't necessarily need it yourself.
 
Zuku let's you flag questions in your question bank to return to even if you get the answer right, rather than take it out of the deck once you get the right answer. I like that because I would flag questions if I felt like I needed the repetition, or I wasn't 100% sure about my answer. Unless my friend just didn't know the features of her Vet Prep, that was not an option. There are also some differences in how the question bank is divided.

It sort of is possible in VetPrep, in a round-about way. It will take it out of your practice questions, but it will come again in the practice tests. So you'll encounter it again, and you can review all your previous practice tests so you could find that question again.
 
I am so completely unimpressed by how much money I spent between Zuku and NAVLE registration today, ugh.

On the bright side, less than 48 hours left in my internal medicine rotation! And I've already been graded, so I passed and that's pretty cool.
 
What is the one case I wanted on ER? A blocked cat. What is the one thing that never came in the hospital in the two weeks that I was on ER? A blocked cat. What happens when I'm on ICU? Three blocked cats come in in three days. So uber jealous and bummed.
 
What is the one case I wanted on ER? A blocked cat. What is the one thing that never came in the hospital in the two weeks that I was on ER? A blocked cat. What happens when I'm on ICU? Three blocked cats come in in three days. So uber jealous and bummed.

Do the ER students unblock/ stabilize and then transfer for monitoring in the ICU? Or how does that work at Ohio? (All we get is two weeks of "ECC" which is split between daytime and evening- no distinct between ECC/ICU)
 
Do the ER students unblock/ stabilize and then transfer for monitoring in the ICU? Or how does that work at Ohio? (All we get is two weeks of "ECC" which is split between daytime and evening- no distinct between ECC/ICU)
yup. we get to monitor afterwards. but i really wanted to unblock one 🙁
 
Not that you can ever say with 100% certainty, but..... seriously.... if you genuinely put in the effort through VetPrep - study the guides, watch the videos, do the questions and practice tests - and get 50% or more completion.... you will pass the test. Really. Yeah, there are exceptions, but it's a really, really, really small minority.

Ok, cool! Hopefully I'm not one of the minority!
 
Bit the bullet and bought vetprep. Trying to decide when I should take the test. Since it's offered during my 3 week vacation block, I think I'll take it the day before Thanksgiving. That will give me 10 days to do nothing but study, and then I'll still have a week of my vacation to do nothing.
 
Bit the bullet and bought vetprep. Trying to decide when I should take the test. Since it's offered during my 3 week vacation block, I think I'll take it the day before Thanksgiving. That will give me 10 days to do nothing but study, and then I'll still have a week of my vacation to do nothing.

I will probably take mine right after Thanksgiving or around that same time.

It will depend on when the test center is open really. But then that gives me a few days off before for nothing but study and a full week off after to just do nothing.
 
Behind on all this NAVLE stuff since I just got back from vacation. Need to decide which test prep I'm going to use, register for the NAVLE and figure out what time I need to be at the hospital for the start of Internal Medicine tomorrow. Still unpacking and getting my life sorted.
 
On Medicine right now, and so far things have been slow (and by saying this, I have just jinxed myself). It's kind of nice but also kind of sucks because I haven't really had to chance to work up a case yet (granted today was only day 2). However, since the hours are still long, I feel like I don't have enough hours left in the day to do other things at home.
 
On Medicine right now, and so far things have been slow (and by saying this, I have just jinxed myself). It's kind of nice but also kind of sucks because I haven't really had to chance to work up a case yet (granted today was only day 2). However, since the hours are still long, I feel like I don't have enough hours left in the day to do other things at home.

I will trade you. I need a day of slow, so I can read the 11 effing chapters from this book that are required of us... :lame:
 
Someone please convince me not to do an ECC residency. Cuz I kinda really want to do one. aefe;kajsf;ljasf;aljsf
 
Freaking amazing externship so far, really don't want to leave. Crazy amazing cases (2 intussuception surgeries, bilateral microphthalmia, inter-uterine insemination, transient vestibular syndrome... to name a few). I got to help do the enteroplication for the intussuception dog, as well as do an intestinal wall biopsy. I don't think I hate surgery anymore.
 
yup. we get to monitor afterwards. but i really wanted to unblock one 🙁

Come spend one shift with me and do as many as you like. ;-)

(Actually, I enjoy unblocking cats. It's strangely satisfying when you finally get patency.)

In a cruel twist, my insomnia reared its ugly head at 3am. 23 hours at least if not more of wakefulness and being on my A game. Shift in ER from 3pm-2am. Anyone want to be my phone a friend aka emergency contact??

Always welcome to hit me up on FB for questions. I may not be there, but if I am I'm happy to help.
 
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