Class of 2022...how you doin'?

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
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Trilt said:
I do my subq backwards (so cranial > caudal) and just leave a fairly long tail on that first knot starting the continuous. Then when I come back to the cranial end in my subcuticular I just tie the final knot (that I'm trying to bury) down to that left behind tail. It helps it bury soooo nicely.

Colorado sounds right. I was def taught it by a shelter vet from somewhere.
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This seems like how I was taught in class at my school too. Didn't know it had a fancy name though.
 
that redhead said:
It actually does haha! Will try next time!
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Depending on how your suture is (really pokey stuff like PDS seems to like to get in the way of suturing) I sometimes click a spare pair of hemostats onto that first long tail and just throw it to the side to hold the thread out of the way, too.
 
Feel like I'm drowning a little bit this semester; I signed up for WAY too much stuff.... :help:

On a happier note, 2nd year material is way more interesting than first year material and I love it. I also love how beyond chill my class is; I really lucked out with my classmates.

First set of midterms is past, we now have about 1.5 weeks before the next (more terrifying) set hits us. Which would be fine if I didn't have about a million things to do that aren't studying also in that timeframe.
 
I keep hearing first-years talk about their exams. I remember how much and hard it seemed at the time, but here we all are somehow managing second year... now first year seems like a vacation :laugh: 😕

We started surgery this week, so having no exams this week was super nice!
 
mmmdreamerz said:
I also really like to Aberdeen because the knot is smaller.
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I think Aberdeen knots are the bomb!

I knit/crochet a little bit, so they instantly made sense to me in a way that some other finishing knots did not. Also, there's evidence that they use less suture (aka leave less bulk in the tissue) and are less prone to coming untied vs. a surgeon's knot.
 
For whoever was asking about suture boards...if you do suturing labs at school that uses the fancy boards, try asking around to see if you can borrow one (maybe an old one?) in between labs. I got all my suture from the anatomy lab assistants (they save all the expired stuff and will give it to students for free practice) and got some fancy fake tissue squares + a suture board from our S/N clinic. Head tech heard us talking about practicing on towels, and she turned around, rummaged around in a cabinet, handed the stuff to me & my friend, and simply asked that we bring it back before the spring labs.
 
Apparently they’re changing our curriculum next semester so we have block exams every single week. Say goodbye to my mental wellbeing!
 
I’ve been meaning to tell you guys how the transition has been.

First of all, all hail block scheduling! My god, I’m not chronically stressed from tests every week and am actually staying on top of studying. It’s incredibly freeing and I didn’t realize how much the constant testing was hurting my mental health. I’m halfway through the semester and don’t feel burnt out. Like what???

Similarly, I really like problem based learning. It’s way easier for me to learn that way and diagramming things out on the whiteboards is super helpful.

Grades are a bit lower than I’d like currently, but we haven’t had our midterm yet, so that could change. But I’ll happily take better mental health and stamina. Found a group of friends that essentially “adopted” me (thanks to @Miranda Senft ). Been getting involved in a few clubs and am even an officer now for one.

Overall, my transfer experience has been great. I’m really happy that it worked out so well!
 
One of my absolute favourite faculty members agreed to be a reference for me for summer employment, which I am stupidly happy about. 🙂

My interests have also shifted a bit since starting school and spending time in the teaching hospital. I'm increasingly leaning towards specializing, however I'm now seriously considering a specialty that I had written off prior to vet school.

On a different note, I've discovered that I can linearly relate how stressed I am to the number of people that I think hate me/are angry at me in a given week. 🙄
 
TheGirlWithTheFernTattoo said:
One of my absolute favourite faculty members agreed to be a reference for me for summer employment, which I am stupidly happy about. 🙂

My interests have also shifted a bit since starting school and spending time in the teaching hospital. I'm increasingly leaning towards specializing, however I'm now seriously considering a specialty that I had written off prior to vet school.

On a different note, I've discovered that I can linearly relate how stressed I am to the number of people that I think hate me/are angry at me in a given week. 🙄
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Which specialty????
 
TheGirlWithTheFernTattoo said:
Emerg/Critical Care.
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SkiOtter said:
Exciting!!! I think @cdoconn is considering emergency too!!
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that is correct!! Although I’m most likely not going to do an E/CC residency, because I would never get to cut as a criticalist, and cutting brings me joy.

Am still heavily considering doing a rotating/ ECC focused internship though because a lot of the hospitals I want to work at require their docs to have done internships.
 
cdoconn said:
that is correct!! Although I’m most likely not going to do an E/CC residency, because I would never get to cut as a criticalist, and cutting brings me joy.

Am still heavily considering doing a rotating/ ECC focused internship though because a lot of the hospitals I want to work at require their docs to have done internships.
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Hello there fellow lover-of-surgery :hello:
 
Coopah said:
People keep saying, wait until after your dog spay to see if you still love it. Well I've done a cat spay, still love it!
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I found the dog spay in school immensely more stressful... probably because I had an 8/9 BCS Lab so everything was greasy and slippery and you couldn't visualize anything :bag:
 
kcoughli said:
Hello there fellow lover-of-surgery :hello:
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Coopah said:
People keep saying, wait until after your dog spay to see if you still love it. Well I've done a cat spay, still love it!
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I love soft tissue surgery very much. But I don’t like orthopedics, thus I do not want to be a boarded surgeon. But I love surgery!
 
cdoconn said:
I love soft tissue surgery very much. But I don’t like orthopedics, thus I do not want to be a boarded surgeon. But I love surgery!
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I haven't had the most exposure to orthopedics, but I think I like it. I mean there's no way to really know until you do it for a while and see if you get bored (assuming you don't hate it outright). But yes I agree, soft tissue is the BEST!
 
Coopah said:
I haven't had the most exposure to orthopedics, but I think I like it. I mean there's no way to really know until you do it for a while and see if you get bored (assuming you don't hate it outright). But yes I agree, soft tissue is the BEST!
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The smell of burning bone is really what turned me off orthopedics.
 
kcoughli said:
The smell of burning bone is really what turned me off orthopedics.
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Lol it's not the most pleasant, but also not the worst. I'm sure it'll be much more interesting when I actually know what's happening. Right now it's just hold this here and DON'T MOVE. But hey, when you're scrubbed in to a super advanced surgery for fun you're not exactly supposed to know everything.
 
kcoughli said:
Me too! That plus I did not want to do 2+ years of internship before starting a residency...
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Coopah said:
These are the reasons I wonder if pursuing a residency is worth it or I should also just go into ECC
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We had a panel last of the surgeons and the residents talking about the whole process and everyone's path etc. Everyone did a rotating and then started their surgery residency. Why do you guys automatically think you'll have to be the ones who do a rotating and then a specialty and holyballs a second specialty possibly before getting into a surgery residency? I guess mostly asking Coop, since K is already in lab animal. Wow almost done!! Exciting 🙂
 
staff_wielder said:
We had a panel last of the surgeons and the residents talking about the whole process and everyone's path etc. Everyone did a rotating and then started their surgery residency. Why do you guys automatically think you'll have to be the ones who do a rotating and then a specialty and holyballs a second specialty possibly before getting into a surgery residency? I guess mostly asking Coop, since K is already in lab animal. Wow almost done!! Exciting 🙂
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From my understanding nowadays you basically need to do a rotating and then a speciality internship.

When those surgeons were graduating vet school, it was likely more common to only need to do the rotating.
 
staff_wielder said:
We had a panel last of the surgeons and the residents talking about the whole process and everyone's path etc. Everyone did a rotating and then started their surgery residency. Why do you guys automatically think you'll have to be the ones who do a rotating and then a specialty and holyballs a second specialty possibly before getting into a surgery residency? I guess mostly asking Coop, since K is already in lab animal. Wow almost done!! Exciting 🙂
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It is becoming more and more common to do a speciality internship after a rotating if your interested in surgery. That’s not to say it’s impossible to match to a surgery residency straight out of a rotating, but my plan is to plan in my head for a specialty internship and if I luck out and can match straight to residency, well then great! I love surgery so much that having to spend an extra year in a internship is absolutely worth it if that’s what it takes...but I’m also trying to do everything I can to maybe put the odds in my favor.
 
Ugh. I certainly respect those who go through the extra training, but I like my paycheck. I love surgery as well, and am sad I only get one day a week. Some small procedures here and there with lac/abcess/hematoma etc, but still. I value my surgery mornings for sure. haha
 
TheGirlWithTheFernTattoo said:
From my understanding nowadays you basically need to do a rotating and then a speciality internship.

When those surgeons were graduating vet school, it was likely more common to only need to do the rotating.
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I was at the surgery talk as well. He’s talking about the current surgical residents. I believe out of four, one did a specialty internship after a rotating. The rest (as well as the attendings) just did a rotating.
 
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