Preparing for undergrad... Tough questions.

[Kara31191]

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I've always wanted to ask about people having ADD/ADHD in vet school and undergrad. I got of this 504 plan in my HS after middle school, but I got extra time on tests and things in Middle school.

My nerves are off because I have trichotillomania. It's hair pulling instead of nail biting, and with ADD, I'm a very distracted person on tests/quizzes and long assignments that are tough. I found myself nail biting and getting all nervous during my chem final, and I only ended up with a 70 percent. Still okay, but not great. I wasted a third of my time getting nervous... and then I just rushed to finish.

How do some of you people deal with ADD/ADHD? How do you stay focused?

At the clinic, I tend to get nervous and freeze up a bit, especially if I'm trying to find something and people are frustrated with a lot. I just don't know. ((This is only in surgery)). I don't know if it's an age thing, or if it's a me thing.

Anyone deal with anything similar? 😕

 

[Sweetcaroline14]

Hey there. I don't have ADD/ADHD, but I think you should use all the resources available to you to be a successful student. Its challenging enough with tough classes along with another personal challenge to tackle. Use disabled student services, mental health professionals, and every assistance program available to make it work! I say, by all means, get as much assistance for testing, anxiety assessments, etc. to be academically and mentally well. Kudos to you for going towards your dream while facing these obstacles. I commend you! Just make sure you have some support from professional services, family and friends, so you can transition from high school to academics in undergrad and vet school. There is no reason why you can't be a great vet while overcoming this. A good game plan on how to deal with these issues as they arise will help you streamline your approach to handling situations in the future that aren't planned out! Good Luck and I'm sure I'll see you in the veterinary community in the future! Don't let this stop you!

I've always wanted to ask about people having ADD/ADHD in vet school and undergrad. I got of this 504 plan in my HS after middle school, but I got extra time on tests and things in Middle school.

My nerves are off because I have trichotillomania. It's hair pulling instead of nail biting, and with ADD, I'm a very distracted person on tests/quizzes and long assignments that are tough. I found myself nail biting and getting all nervous during my chem final, and I only ended up with a 70 percent. Still okay, but not great. I wasted a third of my time getting nervous... and then I just rushed to finish.

How do some of you people deal with ADD/ADHD? How do you stay focused?

At the clinic, I tend to get nervous and freeze up a bit, especially if I'm trying to find something and people are frustrated with a lot. I just don't know. ((This is only in surgery)). I don't know if it's an age thing, or if it's a me thing.

Anyone deal with anything similar? 😕

 

[LVT2DVM]

Hey Kara, not exactly the same topic and not to gossip but we were kinda talking about the learning difficulties thing..
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=528768 perhaps you could befriend someone by PM that may give you some tips. I seem to recall a thread on the vet side too but I cant find it. Sorry.

 

[nyanko]

Thanks for linking her to that, LVT2DVM, I was going to do so as well. Kara, if you want to PM me, I will talk to you about what helped me my last semester of undergrad while unmedicated. I think for graduate school that I am going to start on medications and am starting to get all of it ironed out now. There are a few others of us here too. 🙂

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

That was a great thread

There are a few others of us here too.

*raises hand* Join the Dark Side. We have cookies. 😛😉 Oh wait cookies. No wait, I need to be working on my paper. Squirrel! Hmm wonder when those DVDs have to be returned. Where the f*** are my keys? ZOMG cute puppy outside! Wait a second, did I leave the oven on? Oooh thunderstorm! ok, back to paper...??..

I'm always available for PM as well.

 

[Kara31191]

I'm glad there were a few responses to this subject, and that link was a good one. I have a few nerve issues to get through, but I'll make it there. It's what I want and I'll achieve it, but it'd be nice to make it easier. 🙂

Thank you,
Kara.

 

[Kara31191]

That was a great thread

There are a few others of us here too.

*raises hand* Join the Dark Side. We have cookies. 😛😉 Oh wait cookies. No wait, I need to be working on my paper. Squirrel! Hmm wonder when those DVDs have to be returned. Where the f*** are my keys? ZOMG cute puppy outside! Wait a second, did I leave the oven on? Oooh thunderstorm! ok, back to paper...??..

I'm always available for PM as well. Managing my ADD has been especially challenging because I'm also bipolar - any ADD/ADHD drugs send me off into insane manic states. I didn't sleep for almost 72 hours once when I reached the "therapeutic dose" of my ADD drug, although by itself I am sure it is wonderful for ADD and I highly recommend it....it just screwed me up cause I'm crazy^2! So the ADD's pretty much somethingI have to deal with unmedicated, since my bipolar meds don't really affect it.

It's comforting to know that there are people who've made it that far and can do it while overcoming things. I feel like it can be too tough on me sometimes. I push myself to handle more sometimes and my nervousness gets the best of me.

 

[bern]

ADD too here! And there are two others that I know of in my class who take exams separately. People with ADD have a legal right to take exams separately in vet school and every other school, to my knowledge.

The two things that help me the most are medication and motivation. I'd really be up the creek without my meds (I stopped taking them my first semester as an undergrad and ended up flunking out and losing the big fat scholarship I'd been given--it's a huge help to me). It IS difficult, but I really want to succeed in vet school and so that makes it more manageable, somehow.

I take very frequent breaks from studying at home and never study at school where there are a lot of distractions. The most difficult thing for me is sitting through class all day. Every time we get our 10 minute break I have to run around the school to keep from tearing my hair out.

 

[zpinkpanther]

I honestly don't know whether I have ADD or not- the people at my school when I was in second grade wanted to put me on Ritalin, but my mom refused, and I was fine. I do have a lot of trouble focusing, sometimes, though. I am very easily distracted, especially if it's a subject I'm not particularly interested in (Physics was HELL for me; I ended up nicknaming it "physucks"). Anyway, all I could do was start things early and make sure I take plenty of breaks so I didn't drive myself insane. For example, if I had a paper due, I would start it at least a week early to give myself ample time to goof off while still getting it done. I also would give myself time limits on how long I could study before taking a break (e.g. 1 hour of studying, 15 minute break- or whatever works for you). Hopefully that will help you! Also, I know that my school had special considerations for disabilities and whatnot, and I'm sure yours will, too. I don't know about vet schools, because I haven't been there yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if they did.

Anyway, I hope I've said something remotely helpful. Just keep going- tenacity can really get you what you want!