Can any of you current students talk a bit more about the curriculum? Like I know Wisconsin tries to integrate its classes so that you're talking about, say, the lungs in biochem, histology, anatomy and physiology at the same time. Or Minnesota tries to give you lots of hands-on animal time your first year by teaching you physical exams and assigning you to clerk duty in the large animal hospital. Does Iowa State have anything like that?
The classes that can coordinate tend to do so--well, with the exception of the fall radiology class. That wasn't coordinated at all. In any case, histology (actually histology+physiology) and anatomy were fairly well-coordinated in the fall and have been not nearly as coordinated this semester. This is mostly because histology continues from where we ended last semester and we move on to large animals in anatomy. Radiology this semester is incorporated into anatomy, so it coordinates much, much better.
We also have a class called case studies where we work through different issues to help synthesize all of the information thrown at us--fall was small animal stuff, this semester is large animal. Both semesters (at least so far for spring) have tended to coordinate more closely with anatomy, at least in terms of the issue at hand.
There's another class that we take in fall called clinical foundations; we learn how to do physical exams on the junior surgery dogs. IIRC it's pretty much the only hands-on experience we get with live animals until junior surgery (in the core curriculum). There's also a similar class for large animals that's held just before classes start in the fall (be prepared to fight for a spot, though; the course was filled within 2 minutes of us being able to register for classes).
But there are a lot of non-core opportunities to work with animals, especially through clubs. Many of the wetlabs deal with cadavers (i.e. emergency procedures wetlab, dog necropsy wetlab) but some do deal with live animals (equine castration wetlab). Most wetlabs are only open to club members, though. There are a few electives that you do handle animals in, but I believe most of them aren't available until third year. You can also get involved with the Feral Cat Alliance (they hold a clinic about every month), the Wildlife Care Clinic, Foal ICU team, Mare/Cow watch, and so on. We're also encouraged to wander about the clinics (with our name tags, so they know we're students).
Also, do any of you do the joint DVM/MPH program? I'd love to hear more about how you like it.
I'm not in the program but I have been seriously considering it. I know a VM3 who is in the program and loves it; I'm sure if you contacted Dr. Howard she could put you in contact with someone.
But that pales in light of your dedication! (And your 180!)
