Class of 2020... how you doin?

Veterinary Science Graduate Certificate from UofI
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So many parasites! But I just ordered this which makes me happy :)

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wheelin2vetmed said:
Had to drop out 2 weeks ago. Good luck everyone.
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I'm so sorry to hear that, w2vm. :( I hope you're able to come back once your health is under control, but regardless we're always here for you!
 
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@Elkhart I'm sorry you're not happy. :( That's frustrating that your class is so judgmental of people skipping lectures, here nobody really seems to care as long as enough of the class is there that professors don't comment on it. I'm one of those people that has to go to class regularly to keep up with what's going on, but not everyone learns the same way! Hopefully next semester your professors make more of an effort to make things interesting and clinically relevant. We don't get ANY clinical or surgical skills in the curriculum until third year, so I understand your frustration there. (This has been changed and c/o 2021 has a clinical skills class each semester, my class just got the short end of the stick) Your micro class definitely sounds more intense than most, for bacT we have to come in occasionally outside of class time, but I'm talking maybe 10 minutes to read the results of a test and set up the next one. Hang in there, it's perfectly fine to not be in love with vet school!
 
@Elkhart, what you are feeling is a common issue with schools all over. I honestly felt in several classes that I was getting the interesting/relevant stuff until third year when we started all the medicine courses, and even then there were a few topics I was excited about that I got the "Oh you'll learn about this is clinics so I'll skip over this" :rolleyes:...

Honestly, if you don't have required attendance, and you feel like it would be best to learn at home (I know I did), you should try it. Will there be a chance that your classmates will whine and be turds about it? Sure, but if you hit a wall and you need a break from school, take it. Everyone learns differently regardless of what the "superior" people of the class think, and honestly, it can seriously help you get through this bump in the road if you discover you can learn more efficiently at home.
 
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Lol @ people complaining about anyone else not going to class. I've never heard that complaint from the regular attenders at my school. Study in the way that works best for you and ignore anyone looking for an excuse to complain.
As for the clinical vs. hard sciences debate, I think your feelings echo something students at all schools have felt for a long time. Of course we love doing the clinical stuff more but ultimately they have to stuff all that information into our heads as well. I don't envy professors and admins that have to balance out the curriculum. Just kind of something we have to suck it up on and power through.
 
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MDB74 said:
Lol @ people complaining about anyone else not going to class. I've never heard that complaint from the regular attenders at my school. Study in the way that works best for you and ignore anyone looking for an excuse to complain.
As for the clinical vs. hard sciences debate, I think your feelings echo something students at all schools have felt for a long time. Of course we love doing the clinical stuff more but ultimately they have to stuff all that information into our heads as well. I don't envy professors and admins that have to balance out the curriculum. Just kind of something we have to suck it up on and power through.
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The point is that learning the underlying science .. the pathophys .. the biochem ... all that stuff ... is what enables you to learn clinical stuff later on your own after you're out of school. It's what allows you to take new data and new problems and new solutions and make sense of it all. If you're just taught nothing but clinical medicine from day 1 - you'll be limited to that for the rest of your career; you'll essentially be a doctor-by-recipe only.

Here's just a simplistic example: Galliprant is relatively newish NSAID for dogs. If you didn't take the time in vet school to learn about prostaglandins, the biochemical pathways and receptors ... you'd have no way to really make an intelligent decision about when Galliprant is appropriate, how it differs from COX-inhibiting NSAIDs, etc. You'd either view it as "just another carprofen/meloxicam/deracoxib/etc" or you'd just have to trust all the manufacturer's promises and information (never a great idea). Understanding the biochemistry <behind> it all helps you understand what makes it different and how that might impact your patient.

Yeah, everybody (including me and everyone else who ever went through vet school) gets a little frustrated with that and, after so long doing pre-reqs and stuff, you just want to move into "real medicine"... but there's a point to all the groundwork they're stuffing into you. The better you do with the underlying knowledge, the quicker you're going to expand your clinical abilities.

With regard to classmates complaining about someone ELSE not going to class? Screw 'em. Don't go to class and you never need to hear them complain. :)

Once I realized I could watch lecture capture live from the nearby bar, a classmate and I did a lot of beer + lecture days.

Hang in there. Second year is rough. Keep plowing!
 
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LetItSnow said:
Here's just a simplistic example: Galliprant is relatively newish NSAID for dogs. If you didn't take the time in vet school to learn about prostaglandins, the biochemical pathways and receptors ... you'd have no way to really make an intelligent decision about when Galliprant is appropriate, how it differs from COX-inhibiting NSAIDs, etc. You'd either view it as "just another carprofen/meloxicam/deracoxib/etc" or you'd just have to trust all the manufacturer's promises and information (never a great idea). Understanding the biochemistry <behind> it all helps you understand what makes it different and how that might impact your patient.
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I can probably look this up, but have you heard of anything with galliprant in cats or even possible studies for its use in cats? Such a pain the arse to find anything good for cats since research in cats is just really not funded well.
 
DVMDream said:
I can probably look this up, but have you heard of anything with galliprant in cats or even possible studies for its use in cats? Such a pain the arse to find anything good for cats since research in cats is just really not funded well.
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I've actually looked this up recently; a couple people who've used it on VIN successfully, and there's a pharmacokinetic study from ACVIM 2015. Rumours of a cat labeled one in development.

I'm sure someone else will do it for me, but I'll ask for ya at the NSAID talk at AAFP if they don't. ;)
 
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Trilt said:
I've actually looked this up recently; a couple people who've used it on VIN successfully, and there's a pharmacokinetic study from ACVIM 2015. Rumours of a cat labeled one in development.

I'm sure someone else will do it for me, but I'll ask for ya at the NSAID talk at AAFP if they don't. ;)
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Thanks! :)
 
Life can be pretty crappy when school somehow becomes the highlight of your day. Is it winter break yet so I can just go home?
 
DVMDream said:
I can probably look this up, but have you heard of anything with galliprant in cats or even possible studies for its use in cats? Such a pain the arse to find anything good for cats since research in cats is just really not funded well.
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I haven't, but what Trilt said seems reasonable.
 
supershorty said:
My parents (and horses) are between 2 of the fires in Northern California. Haven't been able to focus very well in the last few days. :(
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Sorry to hear that, I'm sure I wouldn't be able to focus very well either :( How are they doing?
 
Elkhart said:
You and me both. Between work, school, 9 exams over the next 2-3 weeks, and extracurricular responsibilities, I feel like I am about to go insane.
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I don't have quite that many exams :eek: The three within 10 days plus a super long anesthesia assignment and our plant books being due (and work and extracurriculars) was enough for me.
 
Elkhart said:
You and me both. Between work, school, 9 exams over the next 2-3 weeks, and extracurricular responsibilities, I feel like I am about to go insane.
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And I thought our six exams in the next three weeks was bad...
 
Elkhart said:
You and me both. Between work, school, 9 exams over the next 2-3 weeks, and extracurricular responsibilities, I feel like I am about to go insane.
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hey we're test twins! and 2 of them are finals for me yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
 
Why do professors feel the need to assign group projects and homework in every class when we already have a crazy amount of exams? We keep being told that we have to take care of ourselves, but no one has time right now because we keep getting work added to our load.

:shrug:

Riding the mental health strugglebus this morning.
 
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Elkhart said:
To be fair, that estimate may be slightly off, and I know that we've taken in some transfers that replaced vacancies. And we've got one of the bigger class sizes (~130 to start with, excluding UNL). But I do know there's been a good number of people who've dropped for various reasons.
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Yeah, but still. My old class was 161 and they lost 7 over the course of the entire year. I don't count replacements, though.
 
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Elkhart said:
Apparently we may have lost 11 students from our class now? It sounds like our last one dropped out a few days ago for mental health reasons. :( I can't say that I haven't considered doing the same... things are really, really rough right now.

It also doesn't help the confidence much when you're basically told by an older vet that we're "babied" in comparison to their generation of vet students and that they were so much stronger in terms of mental fortitude than us. Yeah, thanks for that. Like we aren't struggling enough and have no time as it is. And just because it was the status quo for vet students back then to bottle up their feelings and not seek out help when needed doesn't mean that that is how it has to be for us. More access to resources like that, and the overall recognition and acceptance of mental illness and suicide being an issue in our profession, can only be a good thing. His comments just rubbed me the wrong way.
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Ugh. Dude can take a hike with that attitude. Just because the issues weren't talked about doesn't mean they weren't there.
 
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WildZoo said:
Ugh. Dude can take a hike with that attitude. Just because the issues weren't talked about doesn't mean they weren't there.
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Well and those in vet school 10, 20, 30 years ago didn't have as much to learn. I mean, new things develop all the time so the vet students now are learning more and more in the same number of years. And still learning about old things... like Rinderpest
 
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DVMDream said:
Well and those in vet school 10, 20, 30 years ago didn't have as much to learn. I mean, new things develop all the time so the vet students now are learning more and more in the same number of years. And still learning about old things... like Rinderpest
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That too. Plus the whole debt thing has an impact as well.
 
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5 exams in the next 15 days.

One of my classmates gave me a Starbucks gift card because she studies from my Quizlet sets all the time and felt like I deserved it, and I almost started crying.

One day at a time. :help:
 
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DVMDream said:
Well and those in vet school 10, 20, 30 years ago didn't have as much to learn. I mean, new things develop all the time so the vet students now are learning more and more in the same number of years. And still learning about old things... like Rinderpest
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Yup. 30 years ago did they do a specific ultrasound class? Nope. An ultrasound rotation? Nope. Have to study all the pharmacology of the multitude of drugs that are on the market since 30 years ago? Nope. Take as much nutrition as we do now? (I don't actually know, but I kinda doubt it.)

Etc. Lot more to learn, same frickin' 4 years. Oh, and a worse debt:income ratio to boot.
 
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That moment (last night) when you realize that you have a "quiz" worth 25% on Monday morning, on material that you haven't looked at. You know, in addition to all the other things that are next week. Ack!
 
Elkhart said:
Apparently we may have lost 11 students from our class now? It sounds like our last one dropped out a few days ago for mental health reasons. :( I can't say that I haven't considered doing the same... things are really, really rough right now.

It also doesn't help the confidence much when you're basically told by an older vet that we're "babied" in comparison to their generation of vet students and that they were so much stronger in terms of mental fortitude than us. Yeah, thanks for that. Like we aren't struggling enough and have no time as it is. And just because it was the status quo for vet students back then to bottle up their feelings and not seek out help when needed doesn't mean that that is how it has to be for us. More access to resources like that, and the overall recognition and acceptance of mental illness and suicide being an issue in our profession, can only be a good thing. His comments just rubbed me the wrong way.
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Ugh, I can't stand that culture of putting people through the wringer mentally and physically and treating it like it's a point of pride. "That's the way we've always done things, so you have to go through it too!" It is not normal or healthy to get 4 hours of sleep every night, or regularly skip meals, or have mental breakdowns every week, or feel the need to drink to get through the week. But unfortunately that's the way of life for a ton of people both in vet med and human med, and it doesn't have to be that way! Yes, vet school and practicing vet med will always be difficult, but there's no need to intentionally make the training process harder than it has to be with ridiculous hours, treating other people like crap, not being able to take a day off without feeling guilty or judged for it, etc.

Also does that 11 include people that are now in the c/o 2021? If you include those people, we've lost 7 since starting with 116. We've also gained 2 transfers and 8 people that were in the c/o 2019 (some due to grades or other issues, some dual degree students).

ETA: Now I see I basically repeated some stuff said in the rant thread, I swear I hadn't read that yet. :laugh:
 
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@Elkhart I was just trying to quote a post that you must have just deleted :laugh: I will say that there is the chance for decent QOL once you get out of school. I've been working full time GP since I graduated and I work like 40hrs per week, have some holidays off, get every other Saturday, etc. I make good money and have a relatively flexible schedule. Yes, vet school is brutal and the culture there needs to change BUT please don't think that the rest of your life will be like school. There is hope :)
 
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supershorty said:
I mean, I've been functioning all year on about 4 hours a night, but this is REALLY pushing it. Gonna be a rough week.
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I'm getting close to that 4 hours a night now. And I had been doing so well at about 6.5-7 earlier in the semester...
What is your job? Do you have downtime where you can do homework and things?
 
WildZoo said:
I'm getting close to that 4 hours a night now. And I had been doing so well at about 6.5-7 earlier in the semester...
What is your job? Do you have downtime where you can do homework and things?
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I work as a tech in our large animal hospital. Downtime depends on the caseload. I can usually get at least some studying in if it's quiet enough.
 
supershorty said:
I work as a tech in our large animal hospital. Downtime depends on the caseload. I can usually get at least some studying in if it's quiet enough.
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Oh hey, same! Only for ECC though and once a week. Just started recently and both shifts have been mostly getting paid to study.
 
One of my PhD advisors/also my total idol gave me 3 books yesterday that she thought I'd find interesting (SA diagnostics, surgery, and oncology) and I may or may not have squealed like a little kid on Christmas and then cried a little bit because I'm overtired and overstressed and that completely made my week.

Run-on sentences are SO fetch.
 
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We just finished our 3 weeks of hell here... Finished it up with our clinical skills OSCE yesterday. Get out of class early today, pretty chill day tomorrow AND we get both Friday and Monday off. Feel like an entire elephant's weight worth of stress has been lifted off me! 4 weeks until finals though :eek:
 
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Elkhart said:
Only a parasit exam left to trudge through before break, and it's the last one before finals, too, thankfully. Things are really hard right now, but we're finally nearing the end! Just gotta keep pushing.
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You can do it! One day at a time :D

We're currently in our case study week and the case is a bird so I'm all excited, except I still don't want to do the research, even though I'm interested in it :p
 
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