Hardest year in vet school? And summarize each year in 25 words or less.

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Doktor Timo said:
Surgery is awesome, no doubt. We have some really cool surgeons here at Tennessee (one in particular stands out). But the residency is insane. I respect anybody who survives it.
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Most residencies are insane.

To think we choose to be subjected to torture......
 
The surgery residents I knew while I was in school were miserable. of course, they were residents during the recession. But 1 resident had a reputation for being awful. But when she was finally done, she became a completely different person.
 
dyachei said:
The surgery residents I knew while I was in school were miserable. of course, they were residents during the recession. But 1 resident had a reputation for being awful. But when she was finally done, she became a completely different person.
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I've had pretty decent experiences with ours...even ones that people aren't huge fans of. But I would never want to go what they're going through. One our surgical clinicians on a rotation flat out said to not do a surgical residency. However, she's one who while she loves vet med, would also have chosen a different career in hind sight.

But I'm of a similar mind set. I feel like you can do a lot of surgical procedures without the residency if you find a hospital willing to teach you/ do the CE for it. I imagine equipment would be one of the biggest hurdles, but I personally don't care if I can't do a TPLO. I'd be okay with a lateral suture though.
 
orca2011 said:
I've had pretty decent experiences with ours...even ones that people aren't huge fans of. But I would never want to go what they're going through. One our surgical clinicians on a rotation flat out said to not do a surgical residency. However, she's one who while she loves vet med, would also have chosen a different career in hind sight.

But I'm of a similar mind set. I feel like you can do a lot of surgical procedures without the residency if you find a hospital willing to teach you/ do the CE for it. I imagine equipment would be one of the biggest hurdles, but I personally don't care if I can't do a TPLO. I'd be okay with a lateral suture though.
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Oh for sure. I had a good relationship with the resident I mentioned above, but I was one of few. It was the multiple internships that really frustrated her, though. And she was having issues finding a job.
 
wheelin2vetmed said:
It's what I think I want, but let's see if that changes over the next few years.

I should specialize in surgical procedures of the legs, that would be fitting and slightly upsetting for all the patients' owners.
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I'm imagining a marketing strategy for you highlighting your amazing amputation skills...
 
SocialStigma said:
Not that I know of (I had been on the lookout pre-match deadline this year). I'll be starting a SA surgery residency this July though, so maybe I'll be the first one!
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I think so! We haven't historically had a lot of vets on here, so we haven't had many residents of any sort. We are working on our vettie crowd with new grads each year that stick around, so...
 
kcoughli said:
I'm imagining a marketing strategy for you highlighting your amazing amputation skills...
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I'm just waiting for the day when all my friends start asking me for my opinion. "Joey keeps scratching and gnawing at his skin." "Missy has this weird discharge from her eyes." "Dodger's breath stinks like hell."


"I think we should amputate the legs."
 
Doktor Timo said:
It takes a special kind of crazy to do a surgery specialty.
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Y'know, I'm really surprised by the lack of surgery kids in my class and that's the sentiment that comes up. I only know of four of us, and one of them is me.
 
I've seriously thought about going back for one, but it would be many years from now when my kids aren't so small. And by then, I'm not sure I'll want to deal with the BS of an internship and residency.


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Rwwilliams said:
Y'know, I'm really surprised by the lack of surgery kids in my class and that's the sentiment that comes up. I only know of four of us, and one of them is me.
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That actually seems like a lot to me - I think I only know of two people in my class of 100 who are serious about pursuing a surgery residency.
 
orca2011 said:
I've had pretty decent experiences with ours...even ones that people aren't huge fans of. But I would never want to go what they're going through. One our surgical clinicians on a rotation flat out said to not do a surgical residency. However, she's one who while she loves vet med, would also have chosen a different career in hind sight.

But I'm of a similar mind set. I feel like you can do a lot of surgical procedures without the residency if you find a hospital willing to teach you/ do the CE for it. I imagine equipment would be one of the biggest hurdles, but I personally don't care if I can't do a TPLO. I'd be okay with a lateral suture though.
Click to expand...

Same. Surgery is interesting, but woof. Surgeons have told me it's becoming more common to have to do two internships (SA rotating, and then a surgical internship) before you get a residency too.

And I agree with the second part. I've met some doctors at larger practices that aren't boarded but do orthopedic work like bone plates, TPLO, TTA, etc.
 
Frozenshades said:
Same. Surgery is interesting, but woof. Surgeons have told me it's becoming more common to have to do two internships (SA rotating, and then a surgical internship) before you get a residency too.

And I agree with the second part. I've met some doctors at larger practices that aren't boarded but do orthopedic work like bone plates, TPLO, TTA, etc.
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Yeah, it definitely is... I'm still going to try to avoid the second internship thing but it's not the end of the world otherwise. I just hope the college doesn't split soft tissue and ortho before I take boards (if I get there).
 
Frozenshades said:
I've met some doctors at larger practices that aren't boarded but do orthopedic work like bone plates, TPLO, TTA, etc.
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Or at smaller practices that aren't anywhere near referral centers or anywhere with a boarded surgeon. I know one who has invested a lot of time in CE and a lot in equipment, and has built a good reputation for referrals in the area because of his skills and their distance from certified specialists.
 
CalliopeDVM said:
Or at smaller practices that aren't anywhere near referral centers or anywhere with a boarded surgeon. I know one who has invested a lot of time in CE and a lot in equipment, and has built a good reputation for referrals in the area because of his skills and their distance from certified specialists.
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Yeah that's a good point too. Proximity can help. It may not be a deal breaker though, there's a non-boarded guy that does ortho surgery at a clinic like 45 minutes from the CVM here and he seemed to have a pretty full schedule.
 
shortnsweet said:
Most residencies are insane.

To think we choose to be subjected to torture......
Click to expand...

Truth. In hindsight, though I loved it and it was SO worth it. I really miss all my residency peeps.

Surgery is a whole nother beast because of the physical demands, though. Path may be extremely mentally demanding because we don't get the luxury of focusing on just certain species or systems or disease types (probably the one of the most out of all the specialties, but I'm obviously biased) but I didn't have to be on my feet for 12-16 hours a day, dealing with emergencies left and right, run ragged from lack of sleep, etc. I had a relatively normal life hours-wise, all things considered. Mad respect to the surgeons. Except the orthos. They crazy.
 
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WhtsThFrequency said:
Truth. In hindsight, though I loved it and it was SO worth it. I really miss all my residency peeps.

Surgery is a whole nother beast because of the physical demands, though. Path may be extremely mentally demanding (probably the one of the most out of all the specialties, but I'm obviously biased) but I didn't have to be on my feet for 12+ hours a day, dealing with emergencies, etc). Respect to the surgerons. Except the orthos. Total bros. 😉
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Yeah--Medicine is more about the mental draining.
 
Rwwilliams said:
Yeah, it definitely is... I'm still going to try to avoid the second internship thing but it's not the end of the world otherwise. I just hope the college doesn't split soft tissue and ortho before I take boards (if I get there).
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Can we stay in contact through PM? I'd like to follow you through the process if you don't mind.
 
Rwwilliams said:
Yeah, it definitely is... I'm still going to try to avoid the second internship thing but it's not the end of the world otherwise. I just hope the college doesn't split soft tissue and ortho before I take boards (if I get there).
Click to expand...

It's becoming less common but definitely not impossible to only do a rotating internship before matching to a surgical residency. My soon-to-be resident-mate and I both only did SA rotating internships, and I know of a few other people within the last 2-3 match cycles who also matched directly to a residency.
 
wheelin2vetmed said:
Can we stay in contact through PM? I'd like to follow you through the process if you don't mind.
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Of course 🙂

SocialStigma said:
It's becoming less common but definitely not impossible to only do a rotating internship before matching to a surgical residency. My soon-to-be resident-mate and I both only did SA rotating internships, and I know of a few other people within the last 2-3 match cycles who also matched directly to a residency.
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Any way I can bother you about some details on that via PM? Would actually love to get some advice from you, if you don't mind.
 
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