Class of 2017.... how you doin?

Veterinary Science Graduate Certificate from UofI
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Life pro tip needed on how not to freeze up and forget everything I know about vet med when a clinician asks me a question. And when I do remember something, how to actually say it instead of being too nervous that it's wrong because it's actually usually right. :help:
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Filly Bay said:
Life pro tip needed on how not to freeze up and forget everything I know about vet med when a clinician asks me a question. And when I do remember something, how to actually say it instead of being too nervous that it's wrong because it's actually usually right. :help:
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I go around thinking what I could be asked with almost everything I do. It helps me already have an answer ready for a question asked format. As far as not freezing up, breathe and try to remember time is going much faster in your mind than reality. Take a moment to rethink the question in your head then answer best you can. The silence in between can be terrifying, but don't let it get to you. Plus, I imagine it takes time to just get used to being put on the spot. Like anything, the more it happens, the more comfortable you hopefully get with it. Confidence is hard, but don't let the fear of being wrong prevent you from speaking up. This too I think is something that gets easier the more you get used to being singled out for a question. You got this fo sho! :highfive:
 
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Filly Bay said:
Life pro tip needed on how not to freeze up and forget everything I know about vet med when a clinician asks me a question. And when I do remember something, how to actually say it instead of being too nervous that it's wrong because it's actually usually right. :help:
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It took me 3-4 rotations before I started sucking it up and just answering questions with my thoughts. Couple weeks of constantly realizing that I really did know many answers, and even if I didn't... nobody's going to shoot me for getting things wrong, lol.

Can't help you more with the first half more than Lupes did. Sometimes brains just don't work right.
 
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Filly Bay said:
Life pro tip needed on how not to freeze up and forget everything I know about vet med when a clinician asks me a question. And when I do remember something, how to actually say it instead of being too nervous that it's wrong because it's actually usually right. :help:
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I agree with the above. I try to be over prepared and try to think what they may ask me so that I already have my answers together.
 
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Filly Bay said:
Life pro tip needed on how not to freeze up and forget everything I know about vet med when a clinician asks me a question. And when I do remember something, how to actually say it instead of being too nervous that it's wrong because it's actually usually right. :help:
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Just say what you are thinking. Often times even if I was wrong, I was given some good hints/guidance toward the proper answer. I don't think clinicians are as concerned with you being right every time, more that you put in an effort to learn and answer questions. It is intimidating at first (especially at 6:30 in the morning when the clinician quizzes you on ALL the causes of megaesophagus and you're still mostly asleep), for sure, but just buckle down and go for it. You also realize just how much you do know by jumping in and answering, even if you are wrong.
 
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Filly Bay said:
Life pro tip needed on how not to freeze up and forget everything I know about vet med when a clinician asks me a question. And when I do remember something, how to actually say it instead of being too nervous that it's wrong because it's actually usually right. :help:
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I always just say what I'm thinking... within reason. I think most clinicians just want to see that you're trying to reason your way through a problem, even if you don't know the right answer. That's been my experience anyway.
 
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I bit the bullet and bought VetPrep last night... Now I need to register for the NAVLE... how is it already time to start thinking about this?!?
 
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Off to a good start for this rotation... It's an offsite at a local (45 min drive) ambulatory equine practice. Was told to be here by 9:30. Left early to account for traffic and got here at 9. Turns out someone was supposed to call me Friday and let me know they were all leavening early. All the vets were gone so the secretary sent me home for the day. Hopefully they don't hold this against me.
 
This rotation is the worst. There's one resident who just has it out for me. I'm not at all sure why. Everything that I do is wrong. It's officially at the point where other students and technicians are talking to the people in charge (without my knowledge before they do it) about how I am being treated. We has a baby draft horse in who was quite rambunctious. I knew she wasn't safe to handle alone so I asked a friend to come help me. She never came in so I went and found the doctor to ask for help after I'd already been kicked twice. Doctor says she doesn't have time. My friend comes up to apologize to me later in the day. Apparently the doctor told her not to help me. My friend then asked the other resident to help me. Doctor tells that resident not to help me. It's fine if you don't like me but that's a safety issue. I was in with a frustrated baby draft horse and her giant mama was getting grumpy. In rounds she only asks me questions about my case. No one else. Today I was asked what the survival rate for Potomac horse fever is. I couldn't remember an exact number but remembered reading that it was quite high. Her response: "that's not always the case". Looked it up afterwards because I was frustrated and the average mortality is 5-30% without treatment. In regular rounds I'm actively ignored when I have the right answer. Yesterday doctor sent be outside to pick grass for my patient. I collected a giant trash bag full of grass. She threw it away that night because apparently the grass she collected was better. Today I was told to go into the trailer park near our school and collect grass from the doctor's lawn (aka mow her lawn). I instead went to my home and mowed my yard along with both my neighbor's yards and raked the grass up for the horse. I'm waiting for her to throw it out later since it's not good enough. My goal for everyday has been to not cry at school. Today I failed miserably.
 
hedgiehog said:
This rotation is the worst. There's one resident who just has it out for me. I'm not at all sure why. Everything that I do is wrong. It's officially at the point where other students and technicians are talking to the people in charge (without my knowledge before they do it) about how I am being treated. We has a baby draft horse in who was quite rambunctious. I knew she wasn't safe to handle alone so I asked a friend to come help me. She never came in so I went and found the doctor to ask for help after I'd already been kicked twice. Doctor says she doesn't have time. My friend comes up to apologize to me later in the day. Apparently the doctor told her not to help me. My friend then asked the other resident to help me. Doctor tells that resident not to help me. It's fine if you don't like me but that's a safety issue. I was in with a frustrated baby draft horse and her giant mama was getting grumpy. In rounds she only asks me questions about my case. No one else. Today I was asked what the survival rate for Potomac horse fever is. I couldn't remember an exact number but remembered reading that it was quite high. Her response: "that's not always the case". Looked it up afterwards because I was frustrated and the average mortality is 5-30% without treatment. In regular rounds I'm actively ignored when I have the right answer. Yesterday doctor sent be outside to pick grass for my patient. I collected a giant trash bag full of grass. She threw it away that night because apparently the grass she collected was better. Today I was told to go into the trailer park near our school and collect grass from the doctor's lawn (aka mow her lawn). I instead went to my home and mowed my yard along with both my neighbor's yards and raked the grass up for the horse. I'm waiting for her to throw it out later since it's not good enough. My goal for everyday has been to not cry at school. Today I failed miserably.
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That sounds like a giant pile of draft horse **** to me.

Good on the other people for approaching administration on your behalf. I would consider approaching them yourself as well.

How long is this rotation? Focus on how many days you have left and getting through it one day at a time. I promise other rotations won't be as crappy.
 
hedgiehog said:
This rotation is the worst. There's one resident who just has it out for me. I'm not at all sure why. Everything that I do is wrong. It's officially at the point where other students and technicians are talking to the people in charge (without my knowledge before they do it) about how I am being treated. We has a baby draft horse in who was quite rambunctious. I knew she wasn't safe to handle alone so I asked a friend to come help me. She never came in so I went and found the doctor to ask for help after I'd already been kicked twice. Doctor says she doesn't have time. My friend comes up to apologize to me later in the day. Apparently the doctor told her not to help me. My friend then asked the other resident to help me. Doctor tells that resident not to help me. It's fine if you don't like me but that's a safety issue. I was in with a frustrated baby draft horse and her giant mama was getting grumpy. In rounds she only asks me questions about my case. No one else. Today I was asked what the survival rate for Potomac horse fever is. I couldn't remember an exact number but remembered reading that it was quite high. Her response: "that's not always the case". Looked it up afterwards because I was frustrated and the average mortality is 5-30% without treatment. In regular rounds I'm actively ignored when I have the right answer. Yesterday doctor sent be outside to pick grass for my patient. I collected a giant trash bag full of grass. She threw it away that night because apparently the grass she collected was better. Today I was told to go into the trailer park near our school and collect grass from the doctor's lawn (aka mow her lawn). I instead went to my home and mowed my yard along with both my neighbor's yards and raked the grass up for the horse. I'm waiting for her to throw it out later since it's not good enough. My goal for everyday has been to not cry at school. Today I failed miserably.
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Wow... I'm so sorry you're dealing with this! Hopefully you don't have too much longer and are graded fairly.
 
Filly Bay said:
Life pro tip needed on how not to freeze up and forget everything I know about vet med when a clinician asks me a question. And when I do remember something, how to actually say it instead of being too nervous that it's wrong because it's actually usually right. :help:
Click to expand...

Just say it. I'm usually not one to speak up but I found that I would often just say crap on rotations. I was wrong probably most of the time, but I learned that way. I even once blurted out that the brain wasn't sterile because I had jumped ahead to what the clinician was going to ask (i forget exactly what it was at this point). Uber embarrassing, but I wasn't judged for it.

I'm in the same boat though in that I'm trying to be the same way during my internship but I find it way more terrifying.
 
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hedgiehog said:
This rotation is the worst. There's one resident who just has it out for me. I'm not at all sure why. Everything that I do is wrong. It's officially at the point where other students and technicians are talking to the people in charge (without my knowledge before they do it) about how I am being treated. We has a baby draft horse in who was quite rambunctious. I knew she wasn't safe to handle alone so I asked a friend to come help me. She never came in so I went and found the doctor to ask for help after I'd already been kicked twice. Doctor says she doesn't have time. My friend comes up to apologize to me later in the day. Apparently the doctor told her not to help me. My friend then asked the other resident to help me. Doctor tells that resident not to help me. It's fine if you don't like me but that's a safety issue. I was in with a frustrated baby draft horse and her giant mama was getting grumpy. In rounds she only asks me questions about my case. No one else. Today I was asked what the survival rate for Potomac horse fever is. I couldn't remember an exact number but remembered reading that it was quite high. Her response: "that's not always the case". Looked it up afterwards because I was frustrated and the average mortality is 5-30% without treatment. In regular rounds I'm actively ignored when I have the right answer. Yesterday doctor sent be outside to pick grass for my patient. I collected a giant trash bag full of grass. She threw it away that night because apparently the grass she collected was better. Today I was told to go into the trailer park near our school and collect grass from the doctor's lawn (aka mow her lawn). I instead went to my home and mowed my yard along with both my neighbor's yards and raked the grass up for the horse. I'm waiting for her to throw it out later since it's not good enough. My goal for everyday has been to not cry at school. Today I failed miserably.
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I was in a similar situation last year, and I am so so sorry that you're going through this. It sucks and even when you try to suck it up and just push through, it makes for an awful learning environment. There's only so much you can put up with. If you ever need to talk, my inbox is open.
 
Filly Bay said:
Life pro tip needed on how not to freeze up and forget everything I know about vet med when a clinician asks me a question. And when I do remember something, how to actually say it instead of being too nervous that it's wrong because it's actually usually right. :help:
Click to expand...

You don't need a tip on how not to freeze up.

You just need to not worry about it.

If you're asked a question .... just take a few seconds to formulate the best answer you can, and then deliver it. "I don't know" is an acceptable answer, though "I don't know, but I can check <specific resource> to find out" is somewhat better.

People have been freezing up under questioning from clinicians for as long as there have been doctors training students. You aren't the first, you won't be the last, and you'll graduate just fine. The sooner you quit caring about "performing well" the sooner your performance will improve and the more you'll learn.
 
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Abney said:
How is everyone doing?! We're in the home stretch you know!
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Today was my last day on equine - YIPEEEE! I never thought I would say this, but equine was pretty fun! I am officially 8 months away from the end of clinics - i'm lucky to be off the last 8 weeks before graduation. Time is Flying by!!!.. and the match open date is inching closer... I cant believe i'm gonna take the plunge!
 
Kpowell14 said:
Today was my last day on equine - YIPEEEE! I never thought I would say this, but equine was pretty fun! I am officially 8 months away from the end of clinics - i'm lucky to be off the last 8 weeks before graduation. Time is Flying by!!!.. and the match open date is inching closer... I cant believe i'm gonna take the plunge!
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I'm done in 9 months! And have the last 2 weeks off! Not as cool as 8 but I'll take it! Lol

I haven't spoken to you in a coon's age! Last I saw you, you had hobbled yourself playing volleyball!!
 
So much excite to be in the countdown of 'months' until done with vet school! Just finished food animal yesterday, and it was great! Off to SDCC today and then a vacay at home for about a week before returning to ECC. I'm so excited to have some time off. Haven't been off clinics since Christmas.

Hope you are well, Abney and KPow!
 
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I passed equine medicine!!!!! The rotations after it have been great so far. I also scheduled two more shelter externships. Animal shelters are my happy place.
 
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So pumped to be counting down the months until we're doctors :) Also glad that my abdominal pain has (kind of) a diagnosis, since the last doctor didn't do much for it... Apparently I have some kind of liver disease, and need to see a specialist! Perfect timing, since I can't take any time off clinics until the middle of November.
 
Rwwilliams said:
So pumped to be counting down the months until we're doctors :) Also glad that my abdominal pain has (kind of) a diagnosis, since the last doctor didn't do much for it... Apparently I have some kind of liver disease, and need to see a specialist! Perfect timing, since I can't take any time off clinics until the middle of November.
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Yay! And... boo? :confused:
 
Abney said:
I haven't spoken to you in a coon's age! Last I saw you, you had hobbled yourself playing volleyball!!
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Ugh, stupid volleyball.. Two surgeries later and I'm ok...ill probably never be able to run on pavement again because of the meniscus injury :(
 
Rainheart said:
So much excite to be in the countdown of 'months' until done with vet school! Just finished food animal yesterday, and it was great! Off to SDCC today and then a vacay at home for about a week before returning to ECC. I'm so excited to have some time off. Haven't been off clinics since Christmas.

Hope you are well, Abney and KPow!
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Wasn't food animal fun? I really enjoyed it! Today I started path... And while I am going to enjoy the low stress atmosphere and the nice hours, I'm also not excited to smell like death for 4 weeks. Yuck!
 
On Wednesday I have to retake my clinical proficiency exam. It has historically had a lower pass rate first time through, and I have 50ish other students taking it with me too, but I feel like a ****ing idiot.

I THINK it's my dfdx. I get tunnel vision so I've been working really hard on fixing that and making sure to flesh out the list
 
Abney said:
I'm just glad my home state was only 55 buckys
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Same here. Are some states a lot more?

Abney said:
On Wednesday I have to retake my clinical proficiency exam. It has historically had a lower pass rate first time through, and I have 50ish other students taking it with me too, but I feel like a ****ing idiot.

I THINK it's my dfdx. I get tunnel vision so I've been working really hard on fixing that and making sure to flesh out the list
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Good luck!
 
Trilt said:
Yeah, when I signed up for NAVLE and Zuku it was almost a grand out of my bank account. Then state boards later...
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I haven't signed up to take state boards yet but everyone at my school is signing up for California boards... Am I missing some huge deadline I don't know about?
 
Rwwilliams said:
I haven't signed up to take state boards yet but everyone at my school is signing up for California boards... Am I missing some huge deadline I don't know about?
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Not sure about any other state than NC, but ours are offered monthly and we needed to sign up ~2 months in advance. Check with the states you're interested in.

Rwwilliams said:
I'm buying both... and the NBVME practice exams. I keep telling myself the money is worth it...
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Oh good lordie don't get both. I mean, you can, but it's overkill. Vast vast majority of people are fine just using one. A lot of my classmates were happy to do the practice exams to know they were on the right track... I crammed so much of my studying that it wouldn't have made any difference to me, so I saved that money.
 
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Rwwilliams said:
I haven't signed up to take state boards yet but everyone at my school is signing up for California boards... Am I missing some huge deadline I don't know about?
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Not trying to scare you, but our dean sent out something saying that there aren't any state test registration deadlines after Aug 1 and the state has to approve you to take the NAVLE .. So it made it seem like we had to register for our state and NAVLE exams before August 1.. I just believed the email and the Missouri deadline was Aug 1 so I didn't think anything of it. You might check with the state you are planning on having your scores sent to for their deadline'
 
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Kpowell14 said:
Not trying to scare you, but our dean sent out something saying that there aren't any state test registration deadlines after Aug 1 and the state has to approve you to take the NAVLE .. So it made it seem like we had to register for our state and NAVLE exams before August 1.. I just believed the email and the Missouri deadline was Aug 1 so I didn't think anything of it. I might check with the state you are planning on having your scores sent to for their deadline'
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No you stop it right now
 
Abney said:
No you stop it right now
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I know :( I dont want to cause a panic.. But I also dont want anyone to not be able to take it this fall if it is true :(... How can I share the pdf they sent us? I cant figure out how to post it for you guys..
 
Ok, this is copy'd from the NAVLE Webpage.... @Abney @Rwwilliams

"To apply for the NAVLE you must submit two applications; the NBVME national NAVLE application (application #1), and a state/territorial NAVLE application for approval to take the examination (application #2).

The application below is the NBVME national NAVLE application (application #1). The deadline for receipt of application #1 in the NBVME office is August 1 for the November-December testing window, and February 1 for the April testing window. Instructions will be provided later in this process regarding submission of your state NAVLE application (application #2). "

For Real Guys, You gotta do it ASAP!
 
Kpowell14 said:
Ok, this is copy'd from the NAVLE Webpage.... @Abney @Rwwilliams

"To apply for the NAVLE you must submit two applications; the NBVME national NAVLE application (application #1), and a state/territorial NAVLE application for approval to take the examination (application #2).

The application below is the NBVME national NAVLE application (application #1). The deadline for receipt of application #1 in the NBVME office is August 1 for the November-December testing window, and February 1 for the April testing window. Instructions will be provided later in this process regarding submission of your state NAVLE application (application #2). "

For Real Guys, You gotta do it ASAP!
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My dear friend those are just the 2 apps for the NAVLE. The direct application and the one for your state to approve you. Almost like "yeah this state will sponsor Abney for the NAVLE"
 
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