Class of 2022...how you doin'?

[DrAlex2022]

So we have a class called Professional Foundations, and I kind of love it bc it's a total mental break from the rest of our classes. We basically talk about issues in the field, social skills we will need in practice (wish some vets I know took this class!), and other things like wellness.

One thing we talked about last week was understanding that the grading scale is very different and handling getting lower grades than we're used to. Our professor explained it to us like this:

Think of academics like you would sports. When you were in high school, you can think of it like being in the junior leagues of a sport. Undergrad is like being in a professional league. There's a wide range of skill there and we were all likely near the top of this range. Now that we're in vet school, it's like we are in the Olympics! Can you imagine being in the Olympics and placing 5th or 6th? It doesn't sound good if you just say you placed 5th or 6th, but when you consider the fact that it's the freaking Olympics, it's pretty damn impressive! We're all in the academic Olympics! Try your absolute hardest, but there is no shame in having lower grades than you have gotten previously!

Cheers guys! Don't forget to breathe!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[vetmedhead]

I think exam schedules pretty much suck no matter what everywhere. Like, there isn't really a good way to do it when you have this much information to learn. I know people who prefer just having a couple giant exams. For someone who is a chronic procrastinator like me, it would probably kill me to not have spaced out evaluation throughout the semester to motivate me to stay on top of things. Also would suck to have your grade tank because you had a bad day.

I used to do really well during finals so I thought the midterm week thing would work well for me (they implemented this for the classes below us). But last semester I bombed all my finals so that idea went out the window.

Now I'm just like...whatever, it's gonna suck no matter what, just gotta try your best with whatever you're given. We typically have one exam per week this semester, Monday or Friday. Sometimes a Monday and a Friday. One week we have a Tuesday and a Friday, that'll be fun.

Naps are a vet student's best friend. That and alcohol.

We're averaging two exams, two quizzes, +/- homeworks a week for this semester and I just don't even care about it anymore lol

 

[WildZoo]

We're averaging two exams, two quizzes, +/- homeworks a week for this semester and I just don't even care about it anymore lol

Everything is better once you learn to care a little less

 

[Caiter92]

Naps are a vet student's best friend. That and kittens.

FTFY

 

[WildZoo]

FTFY

Fine, naps, kittens, AND alcohol

 

[Caiter92]

Fine, naps, kittens, AND alcohol

this is acceptable. Cats make everything better and needed to be included on this list obvi.

 

[jaboo]

First exam of vet school on Monday! It’s a Phys test with a focus on Neuro (which was my concentration in undergrad) so I’m hoping it goes smoothly.

 

[MixedAnimals77]

First exam of vet school on Monday! It’s a Phys test with a focus on Neuro (which was my concentration in undergrad) so I’m hoping it goes smoothly.

Phys for me also but on everything from DNA development and editing in a nutshell to TCA and gluconeogenesis. Anatomy over all the muscles and bones from neck to tail Friday.

 

[WildZoo]

First exam of vet school on Monday! It’s a Phys test with a focus on Neuro (which was my concentration in undergrad) so I’m hoping it goes smoothly.

That was what my first ever exam in vet school was on! Probably the best I did on any exam...all downhill from there

 

[JustPaws]

Second class and second final done! Now on to the body systems! Musculoskeletal, here I come

 

[BigRedEquine]

It's so interesting hearing about all of the different curriculums. We also do a "megacourse" system (called blocks). We have our midterm for block 1 (which is called "the animal body") tomorrow! It's going to be on the thorax, head, and neck and includes basically everything within these body regions (anatomy, radiology, histo, neuro, etc for each of these regions). Praying it goes ok!

 

[ziggyandjazzy]

Orientation starts tomorrow. I actually had a conversation with my partner about what we think our strategy would be if we theoretically **** our pants in public. Jokingly of course lol

 

[MOOSEygoosey]

Hey guys! Got my midterm tomorrow!!! Wish me luck (I really feel like I need it!!)

 

[JustPaws]

Hey guys! Got my midterm tomorrow!!! Wish me luck (I really feel like I need it!!)

Moooossseee

 

[JustPaws]

You'll do great

 

[WildZoo]

You got this moose!!

 

[jaboo]

Survived my first exam! It wasn’t too bad thankfully.

 

[MixedAnimals77]

Survived my first exam! It wasn’t too bad thankfully.

Also finished my first exam. Will probably be the easiest exam in vet school I'll ever take

 

[Vombatidae]

Despite the great news from others thus far, is anyone else not getting the grades that they expected? I just took my second test after hours of studying, meeting with groups, and truly learning the material. Took the 25 question exam today (WTHeck) and had trouble deciphering what the questions even asked. I struggle more in that I know the material, but on the tests I either make stupid mistakes or didn't understand the question but there aren't enough points for me to recover with what I know. Obviously I can still pull through and get my stuff together - just curious if those of you who have already done this have been in similar situations so it doesn't seem so rainbows and sunshine all of the time. Thanks

 

[MOOSEygoosey]

@Vombatidae I do the same thing. This midterm was difficult! It's not because the material is explicitly hard because it's not. With the right amount of time, anything can be mastered! But, in vet school, you have such a limited time to learn so much! This midterm included the thorax and the head and neck! For those who haven't learned them cranial nerves yet, oh boy, get ready! I miss you guys so much! I honestly thought in school I would have time to check in more often than not but, unfortunately, that hasn't been the case. Block 1 (a.k.a. The Animal Body) is 12 weeks and they are INSANELY jam packed!!! Like, today was our midterm and this week we have 3 gross dissections of the GI and UG and 2 hands-on classes where we practice pieces of physical exams and they are about 2 hrs a piece in addition to our normal lectures and imaging lab...AND we have our PBL tutor group 3 times this week (2 hours each morning!!). At least the exam is over because, unfortunately, once it's done, it's done and there's nothing you can do to change anything about it. Trying to stay positive and keep my fingers crossed!!! Thanks for all the love and support everyone

 

[calvin89]

Despite the great news from others thus far, is anyone else not getting the grades that they expected? I just took my second test after hours of studying, meeting with groups, and truly learning the material. Took the 25 question exam today (WTHeck) and had trouble deciphering what the questions even asked. I struggle more in that I know the material, but on the tests I either make stupid mistakes or didn't understand the question but there aren't enough points for me to recover with what I know. Obviously I can still pull through and get my stuff together - just curious if those of you who have already done this have been in similar situations so it doesn't seem so rainbows and sunshine all of the time. Thanks

I can only speak to my experience here, but the answer for me is: yes. But from what I’ve seen, every person has different classes they struggle with, either with the matierial itself, or with understanding what the questions are asking, or with identifying what are truly important points to focus on when studying. The tricky thing for me was realizing that which classes are the tough ones vary depending on the person. A class you sail through may be one that seems incredibly hard for someone else, and vice versa. So truly, try not to beat yourself up, even if others don’t seem nearly as stressed. That being said, understand that when you encounter a class that will be that way for you, commit to putting in the extra work, accepting that your score may not be stellar but that you just need to do what it takes to pass and get the most from it you can. I had one of those “oh ****” classes in my last semester before 4th year, and feeling like I might not succeed when the end was finally in sight (especially watching classmates not struggle at all) was really, really tough. But I set up meetings with the prof, STUDIED harder than I ever had, and here I am in 4th year. You can do it. You WILL have those classes, it’s part of vet school. And you will adjust and do what you can to face them. You’ve got this.

 

[WildZoo]

Despite the great news from others thus far, is anyone else not getting the grades that they expected? I just took my second test after hours of studying, meeting with groups, and truly learning the material. Took the 25 question exam today (WTHeck) and had trouble deciphering what the questions even asked. I struggle more in that I know the material, but on the tests I either make stupid mistakes or didn't understand the question but there aren't enough points for me to recover with what I know. Obviously I can still pull through and get my stuff together - just curious if those of you who have already done this have been in similar situations so it doesn't seem so rainbows and sunshine all of the time. Thanks

Almost a universal experience in vet school. You may need to reevaluate your study methods as a whole, or just for this professor/class. Sometimes there is incongruity between the way you were studying the material and the way the professor was asking about it. Are you able to look over the exam to see what you got wrong? Maybe meet with the professor to talk about it? And if you don't understand what a question Is asking during the exam, there's no harm in asking for clarification.

Even so, keep your head up. We've all had classes where we felt like our grade did not reflect our knowledge and understanding of the material. That's one of the big things - accepting that you're probably not going to get the grades you expect sometimes, or the grades you were getting prior to vet school.

 

[FrostySparrow]

Despite the great news from others thus far, is anyone else not getting the grades that they expected? I just took my second test after hours of studying, meeting with groups, and truly learning the material. Took the 25 question exam today (WTHeck) and had trouble deciphering what the questions even asked. I struggle more in that I know the material, but on the tests I either make stupid mistakes or didn't understand the question but there aren't enough points for me to recover with what I know. Obviously I can still pull through and get my stuff together - just curious if those of you who have already done this have been in similar situations so it doesn't seem so rainbows and sunshine all of the time. Thanks

I failed my first physiology test. It happens...
I've already arranged to meet with the professor one-on-one to discuss study techniques and talk about what he would deem helpful to do for his course. Also will be attending the exam review tomorrow to see what exactly I missed and hear his thought process for the answers.
My school also offers tutoring for the subjects, I have already tried that but honestly didn't find it too helpful.
I also think I focused too much in one course and not enough in another, so just some time management could be worked on! It's a learning experience for us all I think!

 

[MixedAnimals77]

First anatomy exam tomorrow. Here's to passing...

 

[bryndiana.jones]

I failed my first physiology test. It happens...
I've already arranged to meet with the professor one-on-one to discuss study techniques and talk about what he would deem helpful to do for his course. Also will be attending the exam review tomorrow to see what exactly I missed and hear his thought process for the answers.
My school also offers tutoring for the subjects, I have already tried that but honestly didn't find it too helpful.
I also think I focused too much in one course and not enough in another, so just some time management could be worked on! It's a learning experience for us all I think!

I tried sending you a PM, I'm one of your classmates and if you would be interested in studying with my group send me a PM We meet up pretty consistently and it has been helpful in getting an in-depth understanding of the material.

 

[Camahi123]

I failed my first physiology test. It happens...
I've already arranged to meet with the professor one-on-one to discuss study techniques and talk about what he would deem helpful to do for his course. Also will be attending the exam review tomorrow to see what exactly I missed and hear his thought process for the answers.
My school also offers tutoring for the subjects, I have already tried that but honestly didn't find it too helpful.
I also think I focused too much in one course and not enough in another, so just some time management could be worked on! It's a learning experience for us all I think!

I tried sending you a PM, I'm one of your classmates and if you would be interested in studying with my group send me a PM We meet up pretty consistently and it has been helpful in getting an in-depth understanding of the material.

Yeah, like bryndiana.jones said, I'm also part of that study group and we'd be more than happy to add an extra person to the group if you feel like group sessions might help you! Also, I don't know what your study techniques were but for physiology I honestly just watched the lecture videos over and over again and found that that's the easiest way for me to really understand everything. When the information got a little dense I would pause the video and stare at the slide on the video to try and make sense of what was going on, and then once I got a feel for what the slide was I would press play and listen to him explain it. Just a thought if you were looking to try new techniques if you haven't already tried this!

 

[Nalra095]

histology will be the death of me..

 

[MixedAnimals77]

Physiology done. Anatomy done. Rinse and repeat in approximately 5 weeks.

I have a dairy lab/tour tomorrow examining nutrition! I'm very happy. I have missed my cow time.

 

[rosewhip2000]

I failed my first physiology test. It happens...
I've already arranged to meet with the professor one-on-one to discuss study techniques and talk about what he would deem helpful to do for his course. Also will be attending the exam review tomorrow to see what exactly I missed and hear his thought process for the answers.
My school also offers tutoring for the subjects, I have already tried that but honestly didn't find it too helpful.
I also think I focused too much in one course and not enough in another, so just some time management could be worked on! It's a learning experience for us all I think!

I feel you, I failed physiology and anatomy for the first round of exams but its okay we got this! The tutors are usually different than the group tutors they assign for the class in general at MWU. I looked into getting one I'd be happy to let you know how it goes if you're curious if it is any different!

 

[jaboo]

I've been worried sick about anatomy. It's very hard to know how to best study for it. I've tried making charts and writing down all the attachments, but that doesn't seem to stick. I've tried taping things to a skeleton. Doesn't stick. I keep trying to change my studying technique for my exam on Wednesday and it's freaking me out even more. Tonight I'm going to try just going through all of the muscles, ligaments, etc. and guessing the attachments and then looking at the right answers.

My anxiety is also not enjoying this time. Ugh.

 

[MixedAnimals77]

I've been worried sick about anatomy. It's very hard to know how to best study for it. I've tried making charts and writing down all the attachments, but that doesn't seem to stick. I've tried taping things to a skeleton. Doesn't stick. I keep trying to change my studying technique for my exam on Wednesday and it's freaking me out even more. Tonight I'm going to try just going through all of the muscles, ligaments, etc. and guessing the attachments and then looking at the right answers.

My anxiety is also not enjoying this time. Ugh.

My group would play 2 games. The first one we would play is the action game. You name the muscle or were given a muscle by the quizzer and then we had to list what it does. This seemed most effective for actually learning the muscles and what they do. Then we played action, attachment but we only played it twice because it takes so long to go through each person. Use your flexion and extension surfaces! IDK about your school, but there were very few questions that were actually like name the attachement. Most were: What does it do? What is its name? Symptoms given to us and we had to name the muscle affected. Understanding the general attachement area can be useful for figuring out what the muscle does and which surface it is attached to (unless it's the pelvis, I hate the pelvis.). I think it being the first exam we overstress and overprep and feel like we don't know enough, but walking out of that exam I felt confident I had at least passed and it wasn't overtly hard. Like yes study the best you can, but our profs didn't expect us to know everysingle attachment of all 80+ muscles and I felt our questions were mostly like this is why you need to know anatomy. Hopefully this helped some. My inbox is always open to help work though things and maybe get you feeling directed in the right direction.

 

[SkiOtter]

IDK about your school, but there were very few questions that were actually like name the attachement.

Lol here we had like 5/34 that were name the attachment

 

[WildZoo]

I've been worried sick about anatomy. It's very hard to know how to best study for it. I've tried making charts and writing down all the attachments, but that doesn't seem to stick. I've tried taping things to a skeleton. Doesn't stick. I keep trying to change my studying technique for my exam on Wednesday and it's freaking me out even more. Tonight I'm going to try just going through all of the muscles, ligaments, etc. and guessing the attachments and then looking at the right answers.

My anxiety is also not enjoying this time. Ugh.

Have you asked people in the classes above you what kind of questions are usually asked on the exams?

Our practical portion was always more simple identification-type. Pin in a muscle - name that muscle or it's action or where it attaches. Colored part of a bone - name what muscle attaches there. Multiple colored pins, identify which of these has actions on these particular joints. That kind of thing for the most part. More complex stuff was on the written part. But all of that is going to be very school dependent.

What worked best for me was spending time in the lab with my friends, going through and identifying muscles on different dog specimens, naming the attachments and actions. Grouping the muscles based on their actions also really helped me. For the written part, we were given specific learning objectives so I tried to answer those on my own and then verify my answers.

 

[WildZoo]

And I immediately drew out the limb with flexor and extensor surfaces of the limb when starting an exam (this was true for thoracic and pelvic limb for both small and large animal anatomy). Those diagrams were like a security blanket for me lol

Basically a simplified version of this, with a triangle for the scapula and lines for everything else.

 

[SkiOtter]

And I immediately drew out the limb with flexor and extensor surfaces of the limb when starting and exam. Those diagrams were like a security blanket for me lol

Basically a simplified version of this, with a triangle for the scapula and lines for everything else.
View attachment 240032

Lol that’s cute you think I can draw

 

[MixedAnimals77]

Lol that’s cute you think I can draw

Circle, bold line, two skinny lines, many lines for carpal bones duh

 

[WildZoo]

Lol that’s cute you think I can draw

SIMPLIFIED
triangle and lines!
Hold on let me find one of my drawings...

 

[WildZoo]

I have one for the pelvic limb too but honestly can't remember how to draw it lol

 

[SkiOtter]

View attachment 240033
I have one for the pelvic limb too but honestly can't remember how to draw it lol

Better

 

[WildZoo]

Better

Yeah I would take the two seconds to draw that out just to make myself feel better lol
Like if my professor saw that on the paper he would know I wasn't totally dumb even if I got everything wrong, idk

 

[MOOSEygoosey]

View attachment 240033
I have one for the pelvic limb too but honestly can't remember how to draw it lol

I sense a vet school anatomy-based telephone pictionary in our futures

 

[jaboo]

My group would play 2 games. The first one we would play is the action game. You name the muscle or were given a muscle by the quizzer and then we had to list what it does. This seemed most effective for actually learning the muscles and what they do. Then we played action, attachment but we only played it twice because it takes so long to go through each person. Use your flexion and extension surfaces! IDK about your school, but there were very few questions that were actually like name the attachement. Most were: What does it do? What is its name? Symptoms given to us and we had to name the muscle affected. Understanding the general attachement area can be useful for figuring out what the muscle does and which surface it is attached to (unless it's the pelvis, I hate the pelvis.). I think it being the first exam we overstress and overprep and feel like we don't know enough, but walking out of that exam I felt confident I had at least passed and it wasn't overtly hard. Like yes study the best you can, but our profs didn't expect us to know everysingle attachment of all 80+ muscles and I felt our questions were mostly like this is why you need to know anatomy. Hopefully this helped some. My inbox is always open to help work though things and maybe get you feeling directed in the right direction.

The game thing was helpful! Here they really do emphasize knowing attachments, so it’s a lot of coming up with goofy ways to remember attachments.

Have you asked people in the classes above you what kind of questions are usually asked on the exams?

Our practical portion was always more simple identification-type. Pin in a muscle - name that muscle or it's action or where it attaches. Colored part of a bone - name what muscle attaches there. Multiple colored pins, identify which of these has actions on these particular joints. That kind of thing for the most part. More complex stuff was on the written part. But all of that is going to be very school dependent.

What worked best for me was spending time in the lab with my friends, going through and identifying muscles on different dog specimens, naming the attachments and actions. Grouping the muscles based on their actions also really helped me. For the written part, we were given specific learning objectives so I tried to answer those on my own and then verify my answers.

Ours is a bit different, they will be asking about attachments and actions on the practical part. I’m planning on going through and grouping muscles tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks you guys for the advice! The way I started studying was very frustrating because it wasn’t working. Know I know what works!

 

[WildZoo]

The game thing was helpful! Here they really do emphasize knowing attachments, so it’s a lot of coming up with goofy ways to remember attachments.


Ours is a bit different, they will be asking about attachments and actions on the practical part. I’m planning on going through and grouping muscles tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks you guys for the advice! The way I started studying was very frustrating because it wasn’t working. Know I know what works!

Oh I worded things funny, the examples I gave were all on the practical part for us too. We didn't have to distinguish between origin/insertion but did have to know attachments.

 

[SkiOtter]

Oh I worded things funny, the examples I gave were all on the practical part for us too. We didn't have to distinguish between origin/insertion but did have to know attachments.

We had to distinguish between insertion and origin for the intrinsic muscles of the thoracic limb but not for extrinsic. But the origin is whichever one is more dorsal for the intrinsic so having someone tell me that made it make more sense hahaha

 

[twelvetigers]

Human med is slowly shifting to using proximal and distal attachment (or cranial and caudal, or superior and inferior since them's the people terms) rather than origin and insertion...

 

[jaboo]

Human med is slowly shifting to using proximal and distal attachment (or cranial and caudal, or superior and inferior since them's the people terms) rather than origin and insertion...

That’s what I was taught to use here.

 

[PetVet7]

Got an A on my first Physio exam! It’s all downhill from here!

 

[jaboo]

Got an A on my first Physio exam! It’s all downhill from here!

Me too! Small victories!

 

[SkiOtter]

I DONT KNOW HOW THE **** IT HAPPENED BUT I DID AMAZINGLY ON MY MIDTERM AND ITS JUST GONNA GO STRAIGHT DOWNHILL FROM HERE.
Still waiting on the anatomy practical grade but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

 

[MixedAnimals77]

Found out palpation team is a thing. I have time for one more extracurricular right?
ETA: I may have a cow problem and my friends at school only facilitate this behavior...