Class of 2020... how you doin?

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
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Ok, so I don't want to go into zoo med, but I just got to pet and hand-feed and get licked by a giraffe, and I'm geeking out so much. :heckyeah: And I was allowed to get a picture of these activities.

Immuno studying is going to be a challenge today.
 
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Definitely do not feel prepared for my histo test today....this should be interesting :laugh:
 
SARdoghandler said:
I've been lurking this thread for a long time but finally had the need to comment... Ya'll are awesome for being able to quote the Magic School Bus. And, on a totally related note - I was Ms. Frizzle for our vet school party this Halloween 😉
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One of the second years here was as well!
 
When you're ONE question on the final away from getting the grade you want overall in a clsss :arghh:
 
PrincessButterCup said:
That was me and undergrad micro. I'm sorry. 🙁
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m
It's okay, I should be glad that I passed because I know some people didn't. But I was literally .6% away and would have made it if it weren't for one stupid question 🤣 SUCH IS LIFE
 
hazelmoo said:
m
It's okay, I should be glad that I passed because I know some people didn't. But I was literally .6% away and would have made it if it weren't for one stupid question 🤣 SUCH IS LIFE
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I still get sad about this because I loved the subject so much. I ended my class with an 89.56 percent, and the prof's policy was to not round grades at all. If I had missed one less question on any exam . . . I'd almost rather not know how close I was. 🙄

Passing is always a good thing! Congrats 🙂
 
School and grades and stupid mistakes make me feel like I am so much dumber than my classmates. 🙁
 
Posey said:
I had one of those today, too - an immense about of information included in one exam, never could have felt fully prepared.
Hope yours was alright.
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I think it went okay! There are definitely a few things I think I missed, but overall I felt pretty good about it.

Hope yours went okay, too!
 
Caiter92 said:
I think it went okay! There are definitely a few things I think I missed, but overall I felt pretty good about it.

Hope yours went okay, too!
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Glad yours went alright!
I knew mine would be tough, and it was. But, I prepared as best I could; so, I'm okay with it.
 
SandstormDVM said:
School and grades and stupid mistakes make me feel like I am so much dumber than my classmates. 🙁
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Sorry sandy 🙁

I promise you other people are feeling this way too, even if they aren't talking about it.

I know you mentioned you were thinking about it, but have you talked with any of the counselors at school or your teachers? If nothing else, you could talk about your study methods and habits and they could help you come up with new ways to approach the material to see if it helps.

Feel free to message me if you ever need to talk 🙂
 
Post-anatomy exam feels.

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I was totally fine Sunday night, woke up yesterday with a 102F and was throwing up all day. Feel a lot better today, fever's down for the most part, but still in bed.

For the last 2 years of undergrad I didn't get sick once. This is now the third time I've been sick in less than 3 months. Stress?
 
Calling all RVC students, or those that interview with RVC!! Any tips for the interview? I have been reading MMI books, and animal ethics books, but I still feel totally unprepared, and confused about what the group exercise is?? My interview is on Sunday of this week... eek!
 
From the best night last night to the worst morning today, vet school really freaking sucks sometimes.
 
Tried to do a lateral saphenous blood draw on a rat terrier mix during clinical Foundations today. Actually managed to hit the vein and obtain a very small amount of blood, but then proceeded to blow it and, next thing I know, my group is trying to restrain a small, wriggling, bleeding dog. And I still didn't even pull enough to run bloodwork. Ugh.

I haven't had any success with the jugular vein, either; I've hit the cephalic a couple of times before, but they really discourage using that vein here in case a catheter is needed.

I know it takes practice and that everyone comes in with varying levels of technical experience, but it is a little frustrating to not be able to do something properly when it seems like everyone else can without much effort.
 
It's weird, but I actually like medial saphenous on little dogs more than lateral... kind of like a cat. I feel like they're often nicer veins and less likely to wriggle away from you. I get strange looks every damn time I use it, though.

Don't stress. Draw blood every chance you can (the only one who can improve your clinical skills is you, and practice is really the only way!), but honestly... I'm still not even close to the best phlebotomist in the house. The techs draw blood way more often than I do. It's no big deal.
 
Holy guacamole - those anatomy videos on UMN's website are legend- wait for it - dary!
I'm not a fan of videos as a study tool, but they are short, easy to follow, and beautifully dissected.
About to take a practical and was told to watch them as a review since we are no longer allowed in the lab today.
 
Posey said:
Holy guacamole - those anatomy videos on UMN's website are legend- wait for it - dary!
I'm not a fan of videos as a study tool, but they are short, easy to follow, and beautifully dissected.
About to take a practical and was told to watch them as a review since we are no longer allowed in the lab today.
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They save my life every time I go to lab.
 
Trilt said:
It's weird, but I actually like medial saphenous on little dogs more than lateral... kind of like a cat. I feel like they're often nicer veins and less likely to wriggle away from you. I get strange looks every damn time I use it, though.

Don't stress. Draw blood every chance you can (the only one who can improve your clinical skills is you, and practice is really the only way!), but honestly... I'm still not even close to the best phlebotomist in the house. The techs draw blood way more often than I do. It's no big deal.
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It's weird, but hey, if it works...
 
SandstormDVM said:
I haven't had any success with the jugular vein, either; I've hit the cephalic a couple of times before, but they really discourage using that vein here in case a catheter is needed.
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My personal opinion is that it should be discouraged <anywhere> (using a cephalic v.) in a sick-animal appointment, because I see wayyyyyyy too many transfers on ER that show up with blown front limbs.

Well-animal visits where survey blood is being done? Sure. No worries. Whatever vein you prefer makes sense to me. And even with sick animals there will always be cases of unexpected problems where you end up having to use a cephalic. Nothing is perfect.

But as a general rule of thumb, I think even GPs should be using saphenous or jugular veins preferentially (unless there is a reason to suspect a coagulopathy) on their sick animals, in case those animals end up in a hospitalization setting. Just my bias from being downstream on those cases.

I once had a Dane GDV transfer where the RDVM blew out both front limbs trying to get blood before they got around to rads and realized it was a bloat. (Not blaming them for the blood first approach - it was a bit of an unusual presentation and other than signalment didn't scream bloat.) I generally put two catheters in my Dane GDVs. Kinda sucks when you've already lost the cephalic veins in a case where caudal circulation is compromised..........

I mean, it isn't the end of the world. We've got saphenous veins and jugular veins and hell, you can use an ear - whatever that vein is called. And you can do cut-downs. And all sorts of stuff - there are veins all over. But in general, it's nice to preserve the cephalic veins on a sick animal in case they're needed.
 
LetItSnow said:
My personal opinion is that it should be discouraged <anywhere> (using a cephalic v.) in a sick-animal appointment, because I see wayyyyyyy too many transfers on ER that show up with blown front limbs.

Well-animal visits where survey blood is being done? Sure. No worries. Whatever vein you prefer makes sense to me. And even with sick animals there will always be cases of unexpected problems where you end up having to use a cephalic. Nothing is perfect.

But as a general rule of thumb, I think even GPs should be using saphenous or jugular veins preferentially (unless there is a reason to suspect a coagulopathy) on their sick animals, in case those animals end up in a hospitalization setting. Just my bias from being downstream on those cases.

I once had a Dane GDV transfer where the RDVM blew out both front limbs trying to get blood before they got around to rads and realized it was a bloat. (Not blaming them for the blood first approach - it was a bit of an unusual presentation and other than signalment didn't scream bloat.) I generally put two catheters in my Dane GDVs. Kinda sucks when you've already lost the cephalic veins in a case where caudal circulation is compromised..........

I mean, it isn't the end of the world. We've got saphenous veins and jugular veins and hell, you can use an ear - whatever that vein is called. And you can do cut-downs. And all sorts of stuff - there are veins all over. But in general, it's nice to preserve the cephalic veins on a sick animal in case they're needed.
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Yup, I rarely ever use a cephalic vein for anything other than a catheter. And I'm the weirdo that will still use a jug even if possible coagulopathy....if we place jugular catheters in dogs with coagulopathies....a simple poke isn't going to be catastrophic.
 
Trilt said:
It's weird, but I actually like medial saphenous on little dogs more than lateral... kind of like a cat. I feel like they're often nicer veins and less likely to wriggle away from you. I get strange looks every damn time I use it, though.

Don't stress. Draw blood every chance you can (the only one who can improve your clinical skills is you, and practice is really the only way!), but honestly... I'm still not even close to the best phlebotomist in the house. The techs draw blood way more often than I do. It's no big deal.
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I prefer medial saphenous as well, being on the beginner side of it....it just is an easier vein to hit for me. In my experience, the restraint technique for that is just safer for everyone involved compared to a jug stick, too. That, and on my own dog, medial saphenous is the only one I can confidently find. She's weird.
SandstormDVM said:
Tried to do a lateral saphenous blood draw on a rat terrier mix during clinical Foundations today. Actually managed to hit the vein and obtain a very small amount of blood, but then proceeded to blow it and, next thing I know, my group is trying to restrain a small, wriggling, bleeding dog. And I still didn't even pull enough to run bloodwork. Ugh.

I haven't had any success with the jugular vein, either; I've hit the cephalic a couple of times before, but they really discourage using that vein here in case a catheter is needed.

I know it takes practice and that everyone comes in with varying levels of technical experience, but it is a little frustrating to not be able to do something properly when it seems like everyone else can without much effort.
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I don't think I've ever seen a lateral saphenous stick before, tbh. Now I want to try one.

I understand the frustration, but it is just some weird skill that you suddenly develop the ability to do, more or less. There's so many micro-movements involved with blood draws, and it's difficult to coordinate all of the motions as a beginner. I try to tell my wildlife team to practice on old IV tubing before trying to stick a patient. It's a bit inaccurate, but you can actually visualize where your needle is going and how each movement by your hand affects direction and angle. You also get to see how easy it is to go in and out of the vessel without intending to. Ask if it'd be alright if you took home the next IV line about to be thrown away as well as a syringe and some needles. Fill the line with water (use paper clips to seal the ends if necessary and start practicing. When you're ready, get a washcloth and pin it down over the IV tube, and start sticking through that.

Even just practicing how to use a syringe without a needle...that's really valuable. Get comfortable drawing back with your ring finger, pinky, whatever. My old boss used to tell me that she practiced drawing back with an empty syringe while she watched TV. I can tell you that building those muscles up now will be helpful for when you're trying to get like 0.3ml out of a tiny animal with crap for perfusion....
 
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LetItSnow said:
My personal opinion is that it should be discouraged <anywhere> (using a cephalic v.) in a sick-animal appointment, because I see wayyyyyyy too many transfers on ER that show up with blown front limbs.

Well-animal visits where survey blood is being done? Sure. No worries. Whatever vein you prefer makes sense to me. And even with sick animals there will always be cases of unexpected problems where you end up having to use a cephalic. Nothing is perfect.

But as a general rule of thumb, I think even GPs should be using saphenous or jugular veins preferentially (unless there is a reason to suspect a coagulopathy) on their sick animals, in case those animals end up in a hospitalization setting. Just my bias from being downstream on those cases.

I once had a Dane GDV transfer where the RDVM blew out both front limbs trying to get blood before they got around to rads and realized it was a bloat. (Not blaming them for the blood first approach - it was a bit of an unusual presentation and other than signalment didn't scream bloat.) I generally put two catheters in my Dane GDVs. Kinda sucks when you've already lost the cephalic veins in a case where caudal circulation is compromised..........

I mean, it isn't the end of the world. We've got saphenous veins and jugular veins and hell, you can use an ear - whatever that vein is called. And you can do cut-downs. And all sorts of stuff - there are veins all over. But in general, it's nice to preserve the cephalic veins on a sick animal in case they're needed.
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Yeah, definitely understandable. The clinic I spent the longest time at as a pre-vet never saw emergencies and rarely did any surgeries, so the doctor there defaulted to the cephalic for drawing blood on well patient dogs (she did do jugular for cats), so that's why I am more familiar with using that vein. But talking to multiple DVMs both here and other vet students, I've been made aware that it is a definite no-no for the exact reason that it is important to have both cephalics available on sick patients, which is why I'm trying so hard to get the saphenous and jugular draws down. Not having the best luck, clearly, but I'm working on it.
 
SandstormDVM said:
Yeah, definitely understandable. The clinic I spent the longest time at as a pre-vet never saw emergencies and rarely did any surgeries, so the doctor there defaulted to the cephalic for drawing blood on well patient dogs (she did do jugular for cats), so that's why I am more familiar with using that vein. But talking to multiple DVMs both here and other vet students, I've been made aware that it is a definite no-no for the exact reason that it is important to have both cephalics available on sick patients, which is why I'm trying so hard to get the saphenous and jugular draws down. Not having the best luck, clearly, but I'm working on it.
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I've found with jugular hold off as low as possible and hold off both jugulars at the same time. I have much better success doing it that way
 
dyachei said:
I love lateral saphenous sticks. Mostly because dogs don't freak out for it like they do for cephalic veins. And I can do it with them standing.
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And those dogs that are minimal touch/minimal restraint, will often let you draw from there all by yourself if someone just talks to them.

For some dogs, they are magic!
 
Last final was yesterday, finished the quarter with a decent GPA, TNR program all day tomorrow, leaving to see my fiancé on Monday, and shadowing at an exotics clinic over thanksgiving break... things are looking up.

This break will be productive, but I'm not doing **** over Christmas :laugh:
 
hazelmoo said:
Last final was yesterday, finished the quarter with a decent GPA, TNR program all day tomorrow, leaving to see my fiancé on Monday, and shadowing at an exotics clinic over thanksgiving break... things are looking up.

This break will be productive, but I'm not doing **** over Christmas :laugh:
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Whoa, you still have half a semester left?
 
pinkpuppy9 said:
Oh wow, we're on quarters as well, they're only 8 weeks though
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Ours are ten, but we get a considerable amount of breaks. 2 weeks for thanksgiving, ten days for Christmas, a week in spring, and almost theee months for summer. I really like the schedule here, even though it is fast paced! We have about a test a week (plus projects, quizzes, presentations and whatnot), but I really like not having more than a test a week and being able to focus. Finals week was hell, can't imagine doing that every test week!
 
We are also on quarters, but our winter quarter is Jan-March, then spring break, then April-June is spring quarter. Fall quarter is Sept-beginning of December. Oh dang, seems like you guys have a lot of points in your classes. We either have 1 or 2 midterms then the final. We did have one presentation and a couple quizzes, but that was it.
 
katashark said:
We are also on quarters, but our winter quarter is Jan-March, then spring break, then April-June is spring quarter. Fall quarter is Sept-beginning of December. Oh dang, seems like you guys have a lot of points in your classes. We either have 1 or 2 midterms then the final. We did have one presentation and a couple quizzes, but that was it.
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Illinois is similar...we have a midterm and a final each quarter (all of our subjects are on one exam, or split into two depending on what year you are) and a few clicker quizzes and whatever.

We go from about the last week of August-mid October, mid Oct-mid December, Jan-March, then March-May. We get 30 days for Christmas, a week for Thanksgiving/Spring break, and that's it.
 
katashark said:
We are also on quarters, but our winter quarter is Jan-March, then spring break, then April-June is spring quarter. Fall quarter is Sept-beginning of December.
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This is how my undergrad was too, and is more in line with all the universities around here still in a quarter system vs semesters

I always find it funny when semester schools make "quarters" by splitting the term in half :laugh:
 
I miss my quarters 🙁

Only had 3-4 classes and had 10 weeks of class then finals and a break. This whole 7-8 classes and 15 weeks then finals thing is annoying :laugh:

Though I do get a week for Thanksgiving here, which is nice. We only had 2 days.
 
pinkpuppy9 said:
Illinois is similar...we have a midterm and a final each quarter (all of our subjects are on one exam, or split into two depending on what year you are) and a few clicker quizzes and whatever.

We go from about the last week of August-mid October, mid Oct-mid December, Jan-March, then March-May. We get 30 days for Christmas, a week for Thanksgiving/Spring break, and that's it.
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Yeah we get just the extended weekend for Thanksgiving, a month for Christmas, week for Spring break, and a few months for summer. Ohh, yeah that's similar, but our classes are pretty separate. I miss semesters and I wish we had more points in classes to offer a bit of a cushion, but such is life.
 
katashark said:
We are also on quarters, but our winter quarter is Jan-March, then spring break, then April-June is spring quarter. Fall quarter is Sept-beginning of December. Oh dang, seems like you guys have a lot of points in your classes. We either have 1 or 2 midterms then the final. We did have one presentation and a couple quizzes, but that was it.
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We have 2 midterms per class, plus a final. We have quizzes and weekly student presented case studies each week for phys, and pop quizzes for anatomy (these all make up a very small percentage of the class total, like maybe 5%). For PVM we have projects and extra labs each week (SIMs, physical exams, papers, etc) which make up the majority of the points for that class!
 
Caiter92 said:
I miss my quarters 🙁

Only had 3-4 classes and had 10 weeks of class then finals and a break. This whole 7-8 classes and 15 weeks then finals thing is annoying :laugh:

Though I do get a week for Thanksgiving here, which is nice. We only had 2 days.
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I should add that we're broken up into quarters so we have an 8 week period in the teaching hospital, which changes things. The other 3 quarters in the year are a bit accelerated so we cover the material needed within the year. I really hate being tested on 4 weeks work of material in however many classes we're taking (I don't even know anymore, haha), but I also like not having tests every week. Pros and cons. We don't get time between quarters, other than the weekend after the finals and Christmas break. I don't think there's one single way that makes vet school easier on everyone, lol.

I don't miss my undergrad scheduling, that's for sure. I don't care about the quarter vs. semester thing as much, but I hated having class the day before Thanksgiving.
 
pinkpuppy9 said:
I don't miss my undergrad scheduling, that's for sure. I don't care about the quarter vs. semester thing as much, but I hated having class the day before Thanksgiving.
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Ugh, there was an ochem professor at my undergrad that gave the third midterm Fall quarter the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Every. Single. Year. And every year was a jerk about letting students take it earlier that day or the day before (oh, his class was also always in the 3:30-4:30 slot too) that may have already booked flights home for break thinking there was no way there would be a test that day.

Every other prof (there was always three sections of ochem fall quarter), would have theirs the Wednesday or Friday before. But he liked to be annoying 😛
 
Beginning to wonder if I should just stay here for Thanksgiving break. I planned on going home and staying with family (we get 10 days off here, if you include the weekend), but my grades are still lower than I'd like them to be. I don't think I'm in danger of outright failing a class anymore so unless I just completely bomb the final exams, I should be able to continue on to next semester, but I might be close to hitting academic probation line depending on what happens in anatomy. I know deep down that staying at my apartment studying my entire break away will probably only make me feel worse, but I can't help but think that that's just what I need to do right now for the sake of my academics. But I also haven't seen my family at all since August. Ugh, decisions.
 
SandstormDVM said:
Beginning to wonder if I should just stay here for Thanksgiving break. I planned on going home and staying with family (we get 10 days off here, if you include the weekend), but my grades are still lower than I'd like them to be. I don't think I'm in danger of outright failing a class anymore so unless I just completely bomb the final exams, I should be able to continue on to next semester, but I might be close to hitting academic probation line depending on what happens in anatomy. I know deep down that staying at my apartment studying my entire break away will probably only make me feel worse, but I can't help but think that that's just what I need to do right now for the sake of my academics. But I also haven't seen my family at all since August. Ugh, decisions.
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My vote would be to take a break and go see your family. Really.

Time spent not studying is an investment in time spent studying. And your mental health.

You'll be able to study more effectively when your spirits have been boosted.🙂

Also - you get 10 days for Thanksgiving break?? Holy cow!
 
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