COVID-19 and impact on school

[Coopah]

I wish I were on the outside looking in, too, but I'm really worried as someone who lives in one of those states.

Why do you think you got such a huge increase today? Isn't the incubation period two weeks?

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[battie]

You ever notice that all of these people who are pushing for reopening by claiming “rights,” when confronted with the fact that their rights end where someone else’s begin, always default to “well agree to disagree?” They never actually care about the constitution and the government infringing on their actual rights (made evident by that fact that none of them ever stand up for anyone else actually losing their rights illegally). They just care about getting what they want simply because they want it.

My parents arent quite on that level (yet). We were talking about a 1905 smallpox supreme court case that may be used if a class action lawsuit were ever filed against a state.

That's what I've started to say to people. "If you feel that strongly, file a lawsuit against the state."

I wish I were on the outside looking in, too, but I'm really worried as someone who lives in one of those states.

Stay safe friend!!

 

[Coopah]

Virtual clinics with multiple days without internet. 0/10 would not recommend.

 

[that redhead]

Well guess whose whole family is covid positive? This sucks. I can’t imagine how cases will jump once states “reopen”.

 

[WildZoo]

Ugh I'm so sorry trh

 

[WildZoo]

I didn't realize the CDC had these neat guideline pages for specific groups. The vet one was updated a few days ago.

Healthcare Workers

COVID-19 guidance, tools, and resources for healthcare workers.

www.cdc.gov

 

[itsrocky]

New bill would forgive medical school debt for COVID-19 health workers

Many front-line health care workers battling COVID-19 still owe hundreds of thousands of dollars.

www.google.com

Am I a jerk for being a hair salty about this possibility? It defines eligibility as you had to have handled COVID patients. I’ll start testing creatures with even the slightest cough

but for real... vets are small business owners, essential workers, parents, many have multiple jobs and wear many hats... AND many have 6 figures of debt. And don’t make NEAR what most medical school graduates are making. It’s just maybe I’m tired of being looked over, or maybe I’m tired of the thought that debts should only be forgivable through death or martyrdom.

don’t get me wrong I support loan forgiveness for health professionals. But I support it for ALL health professionals, and in addition I support reforming of the student loan program that prevents schools from charging half a million for a degree.

while a step in the right direction, this ain’t it. A lot of people are missing from the table on this one.

 

[MixedAnimals77]

New bill would forgive medical school debt for COVID-19 health workers

Many front-line health care workers battling COVID-19 still owe hundreds of thousands of dollars.

www.google.com

Am I a jerk for being a hair salty about this possibility? It defines eligibility as you had to have handled COVID patients. I’ll start testing creatures with even the slightest cough

but for real... vets are small business owners, essential workers, parents, many have multiple jobs and wear many hats... AND many have 6 figures of debt. And don’t make NEAR what most medical school graduates are making. It’s just maybe I’m tired of being looked over, or maybe I’m tired of the thought that debts should only be forgivable through death or martyrdom.

don’t get me wrong I support loan forgiveness for health professionals. But I support it for ALL health professionals, and in addition I support reforming of the student loan program that prevents schools from charging half a million for a degree.

while a step in the right direction, this ain’t it. A lot of people are missing from the table on this one.

There's a discussion about this over in one of the med forms too. People who just paid off their loans be mad.

On a similar note: My SO and I were having a discussion about how magically interest accumulation was frozen for student loans overnight but yet 6.5-7.5% student loan interest is so necessary while in classes

IMO I don't think the govt could magically do student loan forgiveness without a ton of backlash from people who have already paid off their loans or a significant chunk, but I do think there's a happy medium to be had. Who knows maybe corona is the first step to that if anything good comes out of this craziness.

 

[CoffeeQuestionMark]

There's a discussion about this over in one of the med forms too. People who just paid off their loans be mad.

On a similar note: My SO and I were having a discussion about how magically interest accumulation was frozen for student loans overnight but yet 6.5-7.5% student loan interest is so necessary while in classes

IMO I don't think the govt could magically do student loan forgiveness without a ton of backlash from people who have already paid off their loans or a significant chunk, but I do think there's a happy medium to be had. Who knows maybe corona is the first step to that if anything good comes out of this craziness.

Of course, the government is taking out a record-breaking nearly $3 trillion loan, so all this money they're spending... they don't actually have

 

[itsrocky]

There's a discussion about this over in one of the med forms too. People who just paid off their loans be mad.

On a similar note: My SO and I were having a discussion about how magically interest accumulation was frozen for student loans overnight but yet 6.5-7.5% student loan interest is so necessary while in classes

IMO I don't think the govt could magically do student loan forgiveness without a ton of backlash from people who have already paid off their loans or a significant chunk, but I do think there's a happy medium to be had. Who knows maybe corona is the first step to that if anything good comes out of this craziness.

yes to that last part. I’m hopeful that this pandemic does teach the powers that be some powerful lessons about how our “normal” isn’t exactly sustainable, but we all know how Americans in particular are about learning from the past

Of course, the government is taking out a record-breaking nearly $3 trillion loan, so all this money they're spending... they don't actually have

Orrrr they had it and it was grossly misplaced and misspent... heheh

 

[MixedAnimals77]

Of course, the government is taking out a record-breaking nearly $3 trillion loan, so all this money they're spending... they don't actually have

yes to that last part. I’m hopeful that this pandemic does teach the powers that be some powerful lessons about how our “normal” isn’t exactly sustainable, but we all know how Americans in particular are about learning from the past




Orrrr they had it and it was grossly misplaced and misspent... heheh

I mean I have many thoughts about the stimulus that went out, but that could be a whole form itself.

 

[battie]

I'm salty about it to simply because it does forget about the large swaths of professionals that are managing the current crisis. What about the janitors working in the same hospitals? They may not have student debt, but they have rent/mortgages, credit card debt, etc. Are they going to be given six figures of debt relief in other ways, or some sort of check?

My SO and I were having a discussion about how magically interest accumulation was frozen for student loans overnight but yet 6.5-7.5% student loan interest is so necessary while

I feel like this interest rate is directly responsible for many student loans never being fully paid off in the veterinary field because of this:

I’m literally throwing money away every time I make a payment through PAYE because I can’t even cover the interest, so the amount grows every month.

How many of us will ever actually pay what we owe fully? It sounds like more and more of the profession is going the route if saving for the tax bomb at the end of our loans and paying the minimum. If I did that (with 282k), I wouldn't actually even pay what I owed without the interest to begin with. I save money. The government is straight up losing money by how high they set the interest rate.

Six figures of student loan debt is unheard of in other countries, even for health professionals with years upon years of schooling

From what I understand about foreign higher education (to a very limited extent), several countries dont have our level of student debt, but you as the student dont have the ability to go to school to do just *anything*. You take some sort of placement exam at the end of childhood education that tells you what you qualify to do (within reason)? That muddies the water for me to a certain extent. We have the freedom to spend money on whatever degree we want at whatever school we want for however long we want. They get to directly control the flow of money into specific degree areas from what i understand. How much waste do those countries save by doing that?

However, I spent ~10k out of pocket on a 4 year bio degree (at a school where the bio degree is 40k without the scholarships). My cousin starting med school in the fall spent 80k. Neither of our degrees is actually worth more than the other, and my school proves that bachelor's degrees dont need to cost as much as they do. Cost of living being a factor though, since the best paid person at my college was 90k. What does the average prof make at a state university? And would faculty and staff be willing to take a pay cut at a state university to make the education they offer cheaper?

I think advanced degrees absolutely shouldn't be how much they are; but I also am totally okay with our dean making 200k to run our college. I dont know. I dont feel I really know enough about the student debt to feel I have an educated stance on how to improve the situation.

(Sorry for the rambling. If my impression about the interest rate or higher ed in other countries is off, please let me know!)

 

[mmmdreamerz]

Idk maybe I'll feel saltier when I actually start paying it off next year, but I know what I signed up for, right? And I had a plan long before I started vet school. Does it suck that in order to get an education I have to have this much debt? yeah. maybe there are better systems...but I also think it's not as simple as looking at another country or whatever and making direct comparisons...grass is always greener effect? idk.

 

[mmmdreamerz]

I started to write out a super long post with quotes and citations but lost it, and I have to go into work in a few minutes and just... can’t be bothered right now. Not enough spoons. Maybe later. You do bring up good points.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still bitter about the whole vet school thing in general, which is probably influencing my opinion. It just sucks to pay what feels to me like a significant amount of money, even under PAYE, for an education that I didn’t finish. Yes, I knew what I was getting myself into. Yes, I went to a cheap IS school knowing full well what taking one of my OOS acceptances would have meant for me financially. But I didn’t go in expecting to fail out halfway through and end up working in a completely different field making not even half of an average veterinarian’s salary with which to service the six figures of debt, either; no one does. No one expects to be in the 1-2% of matriculating vet students who won’t finish. We all had the reasonable expectation that we would finish vet school and graduate as veterinarians when we started because, well, statistically, that’s a fair assumption to make. Yeah, I also took out loans for undergrad, but they’re pretty small compared to the vet school loans and I probably could have paid a fair chunk of them already had it just been them I had to worry about.

And having this level of student loan debt hanging over your head all of the time and repaying it does have a psychological effect just as much as it does a financial one, especially when it’s fraught with the awful experiences and memories that mine is. Technically, yes, I am saving money with PAYE versus paying what would be required of me on a standard repayment plan, but at least it wouldn’t feel like my money isn’t making ****all difference on the amount owed with the standard repayment. This could well be something people just won’t quite fully grasp until they’re actually in the midst of paying it back, I don’t know. I didn’t expect it to hurt this much.

I might be feeling especially sensitive about this at the moment because my class has their virtual graduation this weekend. Meh. It’s also been kind of a ****ty week at work in general.

May come back with another post later, I don’t know. I’ve got something like 100 tests from a possible nursing home outbreak to run.

Definitely don't take my comment as response to yours! It was a very general statement and situations differ. I have nothing but empathy for yours in particular and think that I would be equally upset in your shoes (if not more).

 

[Minnerbelle]

Idk maybe I'll feel saltier when I actually start paying it off next year, but I know what I signed up for, right? And I had a plan long before I started vet school. Does it suck that in order to get an education I have to have this much debt? yeah. maybe there are better systems...but I also think it's not as simple as looking at another country or whatever and making direct comparisons...grass is always greener effect? idk.

yup. Y’all need to remember that most of us went into this with the “I don’t care how much it costs me! It’s my dream and I’m going to make a career out of playing with animals no matter how poor it makes me +\- I’m even going to a super expensive school because I deserve it +/- at this point who cares I’m going to splurge on my own apt because I don’t want roommates” mindset. You can’t go in with that mindset and then afterwards ask taxpayers to pay for your mistake.

very few if no vets took this on because this was their only choice or because they were forced into it. We went to vet school because we *wanted* to. I mean scratch that, we were so desperate to that we pushed through even when a lot of people told us it was a bad idea. We took on the luxury of following our dreams. We can absolutely bitch and moan about the aftermath because it sucks. It truly does. But I don’t think it’s right for us to demand that taxpayers shoulder our burden. At least not for those of us in companion animal medicine. I mean yes, the human animal bond is important for society and mental health. But unless we as a society decide that all people deserve companion animals and the subsidized vet care associated with that, it’s not for us to demand that tax dollars are best spent discharging loans for our dreams. The debt is crushing, and it puts us in chains for a long time, but with the current repayment plans most vets are financially getting by ok. They’re not rich, but they’re not having trouble affording basics. Actually, compared to rest of the population, non of my vet friends are doing poorly... we all live rather privileged lives regardless of our debt load). We just can’t stop working, and many of us realize that our jobs really suck and it is soul crushing when you have no way out. But that’s a problem with our profession... not really a taxpayer problem.

Those who really need loan forgiveness are those with student debt who literally make so little that their salary is barely enough to cover the basics IMO. Especially if they are providing services for the public good. Those people will forever be poor because they simply do not have the salaries to work with. We are *poor* not because of our salaries for the most part, but only because of the income to debt ratio, and our current federal repayment plans already address that.

And life isn’t fair. Just because doctors are having their student loans forgiven due to the pandemic, doesn’t mean we should too. We can argue that maybe they do or don’t deserve it. But whatever human healthcare workers deserve have nothing to do with us either.

And as someone who’s worked my ass off to pay off my $150k of student loans (like hell, I’d have considerable savings now and a retirement account if I had taken advantage of PAYE knowing my loans would be forgiven today rather than 15 years from now), I would be a little sad for me, but I wouldn’t be salty. I mean the fact that I got debt free in 4-5 years means I was already super lucky and privileged. I would be happy others were pulled out of more unfortunate situations. But I would be super concerned if a carte Blanche Loan forgiveness became a thing. Because then what’s to stop vet schools from increasing tuition, and ****ty for profit and predatory schools from popping open, and where the **** is accountability for our decisions?, and the burden we put on taxpayers (majority of whom are less fortunate than we are).

 

[Minnerbelle]

There's a discussion about this over in one of the med forms too. People who just paid off their loans be mad.

On a similar note: My SO and I were having a discussion about how magically interest accumulation was frozen for student loans overnight but yet 6.5-7.5% student loan interest is so necessary while in classes

IMO I don't think the govt could magically do student loan forgiveness without a ton of backlash from people who have already paid off their loans or a significant chunk, but I do think there's a happy medium to be had. Who knows maybe corona is the first step to that if anything good comes out of this craziness.

you know what I think would be a reasonable medium? Interest doesn’t accrue while you are a full time student, and we can choose to pay fed student loans pre-tax from our paychecks.

I feel like student loans should be an investment in the people by the government, and for that reason, I don’t see why we have to pay income taxes on money we pay back to the government with 6-7% interest for money we borrowed from them to become more productive members of society. It would be a huge incentive for people to pay off their student loans to have a pretax advantage.

 

[mmmdreamerz]

you know what I think would be a reasonable medium? Interest doesn’t accrue while you are a full time student, and we can choose to pay fed student loans pre-tax from our paychecks.

I feel like student loans should be an investment in the people by the government, and for that reason, I don’t see why we have to pay income taxes on money we pay back to the government with 6-7% interest for money we borrowed from them to become more productive members of society. It would be a huge incentive for people to pay off their student loans to have a pretax advantage.

totally agree

 

[battie]

But I would be super concerned if a carte Blanche Loan forgiveness became a thing. Because then what’s to stop vet schools from increasing tuition, and ****ty for profit and predatory schools from popping open, and where the **** is accountability for our decisions?

And I feel like this could apply to all degree levels and programs. Student debt blame doesn't just stop with the government. Schools charging so much for education (maybe cause they simply can? I mean, they're basically guaranteed the money by the government) get just as much blame. I feel like asking for loan forgiveness, without changing how the finances for education are handled, will make the forgiveness a one time deal for current people. What about future students?

 

[mmmdreamerz]

And I feel like this could apply to all degree levels and programs. Student debt blame doesn't just stop with the government. Schools charging so much for education (maybe cause they simply can? I mean, they're basically guaranteed the money by the government) get just as much blame. I feel like asking for loan forgiveness, without changing how the finances for education are handled, will make the forgiveness a one time deal for current people. What about future students?

i agree. i think a lot of power has been given to the schools get basically get whatever money they want...i think that should change

 

[CoffeeQuestionMark]

you know what I think would be a reasonable medium? Interest doesn’t accrue while you are a full time student, and we can choose to pay fed student loans pre-tax from our paychecks.

I feel like student loans should be an investment in the people by the government, and for that reason, I don’t see why we have to pay income taxes on money we pay back to the government with 6-7% interest for money we borrowed from them to become more productive members of society. It would be a huge incentive for people to pay off their student loans to have a pretax advantage.

Minnerbelle for congress

 

[Minnerbelle]

Minnerbelle for congress

I don’t even vote

 

[battie]

Minnerbelle for congress

Too bad I don't think I could vote for her since we probs don't live in the same state.

I don’t even vote

Isn't there some wise phrasing where those who don't want the job are those best suited for it?

 

[PippyPony]

Isn't there some wise phrasing where those who don't want the job are those best suited for it?

Yes, the whole premise of the Fellowship of the Ring

 

[battie]

Yes, the whole premise of the Fellowship of the Ring

There it is! Also probably the Belgariad by David Eddings to a certain extent.

 

[Cephal0pod]

Yes, the whole premise of the Fellowship of the Ring

There it is! Also probably the Belgariad by David Eddings to a certain extent.

See also: final episode of GoT

 

[battie]

See also: final episode of GoT

I feel like I'm one of the few who don't mind the final season as a whole. Lol

 

[mmmdreamerz]

I feel like I'm one of the few who don't mind the final season as a whole. Lol

I didn't either...but I'm easily satisfied with most things lol. my favorite scene in the whole show might be when Tyrion rips off his badge and throws it down the steps lol

 

[PippyPony]

See also: final episode of GoT

Look, there's already a lot of depressing stuff in this here thread. Let's not talk about the major tragedy of 2019.

 

[mmmdreamerz]

We finally got our online rotation order for the next eight weeks. We'll see how this goes lol

 

[Cephal0pod]

I feel like I'm one of the few who don't mind the final season as a whole. Lol

I didn't either...but I'm easily satisfied with most things lol. my favorite scene in the whole show might be when Tyrion rips off his badge and throws it down the steps lol

Honestly, I didn't mind the last season and thought all of the hate it got was not entirely warranted... until I saw the last episode.

 

[finnickthedog]

On student loans, I just always thought it would be nice if a set percentage of each payment had to be applied to the principal instead of it always covering interest first. That way as long as you were paying something on your loans, you would at least be making them better by a little bit instead of flushing money every month because you don't even cover interest.

I mean, I recognize this was my decision and I didn't take it lightly and I'm prepared to pay the stupid things off (albeit with the forgiveness plans I was promised) but I think there have got to be better ways to handle loans that shouldn't hurt taxpayers. Not holding my breath to see anything happen though.

 

[finnickthedog]

We finally got our online rotation order for the next eight weeks. We'll see how this goes lol

I've been hearing from my classmates who have started online rotations (I got shoved into unwanted vacation for the first--and third--block so I don't know how things roll yet) and it sounds like for the most part things are going well except... idk, I'm really not thrilled about the prospect of taking proctored quizzes I'm pretty sure I would never have had to take if I was just doing the rotation as normal but it sounds like that's what I get to do on one of the rotations.

 

[battie]

I just always thought it would be nice if a set percentage of each payment had to be applied to the principal instead of it always covering interest first.

I really like this, actually!

 

[Minnerbelle]

This is awful.

3 USDA meat inspectors dead, about 145 diagnosed with COVID-19

Hundreds of federal meat inspectors have been exposed to COVID-19, as coronavirus outbreaks spread to thousands of workers at processing plants across the country.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[DVM2024]

Got an email today that NCSU’s new student orientation is going to be virtual. I’m starting to become genuinely terrified there won’t be in-person anatomy labs, teaching animal sessions, etc.

 

[battie]

Got an email today that NCSU’s new student orientation is going to be virtual. I’m starting to become genuinely terrified there won’t be in-person anatomy labs, teaching animal sessions, etc.

At this point, every school is planning multiple contingencies for everything (or at least should be). Theres 4-4.5 months until most schools start. Things can go either way. Some schools are working on getting 4th years into the hospital in two months, while I probably wont start until August.

Even though this is easier said than done, theres no sense in worrying about it for now when it isnt a problem yet and you cant control it one way or the other. Finish out your semester and then take this time to do whatever you want (within reason).

 

[PippyPony]

Got an email today that NCSU’s new student orientation is going to be virtual. I’m starting to become genuinely terrified there won’t be in-person anatomy labs, teaching animal sessions, etc.

I wouldn't worry too much. They have to provide these activities in some format during the vet school curriculum. Even if they push them to later in the curriculum, there's plenty to learn that doesn't require in-person labs (trust me lol), and I bet they'll still happen -- maybe just not on the same schedule.

 

[ajs513]

At this point, every school is planning multiple contingencies for everything (or at least should be). Theres 4-4.5 months until most schools start. Things can go either way. Some schools are working on getting 4th years into the hospital in two months, while I probably wont start until August.

Even though this is easier said than done, theres no sense in worrying about it for now when it isnt a problem yet and you cant control it one way or the other. Finish out your semester and then take this time to do whatever you want (within reason).

To hopefully reassure things a bit further, Penn is planning on getting at least some fourth years into clinics starting May 18th, but maybe a few weeks after that depending on what the reopening task force determines.

 

[PippyPony]

To hopefully reassure things a bit further, Penn is planning on getting at least some fourth years into clinics

As someone who falls into this bucket... this is my latest concern: "some."

Yikesssss. I'm glad I'm not the decider.

 

[battie]

To hopefully reassure things a bit further, Penn is planning on getting at least some fourth years into clinics starting May 18th, but maybe a few weeks after that depending on what the reopening task force determines.

It actually surprises the heck out of me that schools are even considering letting fourth years in earlier than mid- July.

 

[WildZoo]

It actually surprises the heck out of me that schools are even considering letting fourth years in earlier than mid- July.

Risk assessment for different areas/schools varies pretty widely I think. Like here, very little community spread throughout this whole thing, decent testing availability, flattening epidemiologic curve. No confirmed cases at the vet school and they're staying strict with social distancing and everyone wearing masks, no clients in the hospital, etc. To start out they're planning to have half or a quarter of the rotation students in the hospital at a time and we have a class size on the lower end to begin with so that's 2 students for most rotations. And having everyone track temperatures and all that. I do wish the state hadn't relaxed the stay at home order so much though.

 

[Minnerbelle]

As someone who falls into this bucket... this is my latest concern: "some."

Yikesssss. I'm glad I'm not the decider.

I feel bad for whoever is coordinating 4th year student schedules for each school. It’s a headache to do it once. I can’t imagine how stressful it must be for them to keep rearranging everything with both administrators and students breathing down their backs

 

[that redhead]

Risk assessment for different areas/schools varies pretty widely I think. Like here, very little community spread throughout this whole thing, decent testing availability, flattening epidemiologic curve. No confirmed cases at the vet school and they're staying strict with social distancing and everyone wearing masks, no clients in the hospital, etc. To start out they're planning to have half or a quarter of the rotation students in the hospital at a time and we have a class size on the lower end to begin with so that's 2 students for most rotations. And having everyone track temperatures and all that. I do wish the state hadn't relaxed the stay at home order so much though.

Plus some rotations lend themselves to distance learning moreso than others, so you could keep students on those rotations off-campus and have some of the other more hands-on rotations start back in-person again.

 

[battie]

Risk assessment for different areas/schools varies pretty widely I think. Like here, very little community spread throughout this whole thing, decent testing availability, flattening epidemiologic curve. No confirmed cases at the vet school and they're staying strict with social distancing and everyone wearing masks, no clients in the hospital, etc. To start out they're planning to have half or a quarter of the rotation students in the hospital at a time and we have a class size on the lower end to begin with so that's 2 students for most rotations. And having everyone track temperatures and all that. I do wish the state hadn't relaxed the stay at home order so much though.

I get that, but I personally think if it's too soon for the general public to be out and about, it's too early for us to be in the hospital for the vast majority of us, particularly schools in high density areas. If cases start to rise and students start getting sick, they're missing clinics anyways.

Plus some rotations lend themselves to distance learning moreso than others, so you could keep students on those rotations off-campus and have some of the other more hands-on rotations start back in-person again.

That's what we're doing until August 3rd. The next two weeks will be imaging; then clin path; then common species in GP. The following 6 weeks will be the "professional development" rotations that are normally done at the end of the year. 2020 is finishing those tomorrow, so they've been tried out and adjusted to be as good as they can be online.

 

[AuburnVet]

Throw back to when the government guaranteed a loan to cover the cost of school without any consideration as to whether the person taking the loan would be able to pay it back. Vet schools saw this and said nice! Time to build new hospitals, increase class sizes, and raise tuition 6% annually. Other universities opened new veterinary schools.

These loans never should of happened.

 

[battie]

Throw back to when the government guaranteed a loan to cover the cost of school without any consideration as to whether the person taking the loan would be able to pay it back. Vet schools saw this and said nice! Time to build new hospitals, increase class sizes, and raise tuition 6% annually. Other universities opened new veterinary schools.

These loans never should of happened.

To be fair, *all* schools saw this. Why did my undergrad need to install TVs in every lobby of our largest dorm hall? Why did my vet school install TVs to basically advertise their alumni?

Neither *needed* to.

It's a systemic problem through out higher education as a whole. From podunk undergrads in BFN nebraska to Big10 universities. Everyone took advantage.

And now, if amenities arent up to snuff, the bachelor's/master's/doctorate degree at one school is not as "good" at the school that does have the fancier stuff. That's literally why my undergrad installed TVs in the dorms. Their surveys said people picked other institutions because the other institutions were fancier. Same applies to the higher degrees too. How many schools are moving to "hands on" with animals sooner, even if it doesn't really affect your education long term? Because that's the trend in what applicants are looking for.

 

[AuburnVet]

Agreed. Imagine if you had to sit down with your local bank in person and ask for 250k for a degree with a starting salary of 65k. They’d laugh you out of the room.

If the loans weren’t guaranteed, the market would set the price for education. It’s a bubble that will burst one day.

 

[WildZoo]

Plus some rotations lend themselves to distance learning moreso than others, so you could keep students on those rotations off-campus and have some of the other more hands-on rotations start back in-person again.

Yeah radiology and diagnostic skills are staying online longer

 

[WildZoo]

I get that, but I personally think if it's too soon for the general public to be out and about, it's too early for us to be in the hospital for the vast majority of us, particularly schools in high density areas. If cases start to rise and students start getting sick, they're missing clinics anyways.

I disagree with the premise here actually...working in the hospital is not the same as the public being out and about going to restaurants and disregarding recommendations to keep social distancing and wearing masks. I trust that our public health/epidemiology peeps are doing the best they can given the situation. All decisions for protocols for the CVM have gone through them.

What you guys are doing is nice but I don't see how it would work here given that after everyone is on the same rotation for several months the remaining rotations would be severely overloaded, making it even more difficult to gradually reopen. And then it would be even worse during the 4 month overlap with the next class that starts in January. We don't have that professional development bit built in so it's not as easy as moving something like that up.

 

[Cobyology]

There are rumors that we are going to start the Fall semester online. Our Fall selectives, which are a week before classes start, have been cancelled. Also, we just received an email recommending appropriate computer and internet specifications for "summer 2020 and into the 2020-2021 academic year".