RANT HERE thread

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
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PrincessButterCup said:
Part of this is a rave, because I have two interviews on Monday! One is a holiday temp job at Bath and Body Works and the other is a veterinary receptionist job. They're both an hour drive away and not ideal, but I'm the definition of "beggars can't be choosers" right now and I would literally get on my hands and knees and beg if it would get me a job. I'm really hoping for Bath and Body Works because it's temporary anyway and if I get a research job in the meantime, I wouldn't have to quit and feel ****ty about wasting anyone's time. I'm really really hoping a research job or something career track is just around the corner. I've been doing so many applications, I have to get something soon, right? The receptionist job is a different story and I already have a lot of anxiety about it. I haven't worked in reception since getting my hearing aid so it might be a little better now, but it was so hard when I did it before and I never imagined I'd have to do it again. I would also want to leave as soon as I get any other offer, which feels a little dishonest, especially if I'm only there for a few months. But I desperately need some kind of income and there are very few options here, and if the receptionist job turns into an offer I will absolutely take it. I wouldn't have applied but there's just so few jobs anywhere right now, and I felt like I couldn't risk not applying.

I'm trying not to dwell in a bad mindset but this week has been really hard and the stress and rejections have been getting to me more than usual. I have my December bills covered and then I'm officially and completely broke. Just, ugh. It's all hard and I'm ready for something positive to happen. It also just feels like, everyone who has graduated from this lab is doing great and immediately got into their dream career and I'm the only one who is failing so badly. They didn't have to job hunt this year and their circumstances and everything are different, but part of me is wondering if I just interview that badly, or am I just that much less qualified than everyone else who's job hunting right now? A good friend also left her post doc this summer and has already been in a new job for a few months, so some people are finding things. I'm living with my parents but my mom has also been talking about being stressed for money and it all feels so precarious and scary. Anyway. I just wanted to put all that somewhere to get it off my chest.
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I'm sorry friend. I'm sure I'm not the first to tell you that struggling to get a research job in general, let alone in this climate, is hardly a personal failing. To say the market is tough right now would be the understatement of the century, and even years ago when I finished my masters in bio in a bit of an economy bubble it was tough. Myself and about half my cohort ended up in industry.

As for the reception job, I don't think it's a problem at all if you only plan to work short term; the turnover for any vet support staff is pretty high by standard.

Hope you enjoy whatever you find! Even if you don't stay there long!
 
apoptosis09 said:
As for the reception job, I don't think it's a problem at all if you only plan to work short term; the turnover for any vet support staff is pretty high by standard.
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This actually makes me feel a lot better, thanks! I know it's ridiculous to worry about quitting a job I don't even have yet so I'll try to not overthink myself into an anxiety spiral and just see how the interview turns out. With the way things have been going, I might be there a year or longer anyway :laugh:
 
I'm on a lot of long term meds and this time of year is always when all my refills and prior authorizations run out. I'm a terrible patient so I always forget until the last minute and then go "**** **** **** I need those". This is my own fault but I am still crabby about it.
 
Trupanion just denied over 10k of bills for my dog on shaky grounds, and now I’ve gotta prepare to fight a mostly-losing battle. It’s all wrong on their part but I think I can only win about 30% of it back, maybe, even though they truly should be covering 100%.

PLUS, they just upped our bill to 345 a month because we moved from NJ to MN. Nice joke, I’m just cancelling. I can’t afford pet insurance anymore, I have to pay the bills they denied! Plus, if they denied these procedures, they can basically justify anything that I’d want them for…..

Can’t insurance companies just not be evil for once?
 
indysadventures said:
Trupanion just denied over 10k of bills for my dog on shaky grounds, and now I’ve gotta prepare to fight a mostly-losing battle. It’s all wrong on their part but I think I can only win about 30% of it back, maybe, even though they truly should be covering 100%.

PLUS, they just upped our bill to 345 a month because we moved from NJ to MN. Nice joke, I’m just cancelling. I can’t afford pet insurance anymore, I have to pay the bills they denied! Plus, if they denied these procedures, they can basically justify anything that I’d want them for…..

Can’t insurance companies just not be evil for once?
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I’ve been there, it absolutely stinks. My issues were with Nationwide though, not Trupanion. It’s annoying but my recommendation is to just keep calling and escalating it higher and higher. I had much more success getting things appropriately covered when I could get it escalated far enough to actually get reviewed by and discussed with a veterinarian. I admit I was already a vet so perhaps there was a component of professional courtesy there and ymmv as a vet student, but in almost every indecent the insurance company vet did agree that things should be covered and I got my reimbursements. Every claim I ever made to Nationwide was initially denied but eventually paid out every time…even if it was over 60 days later because of how long I fought them.
 
indysadventures said:
Can’t insurance companies just not be evil for once?
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I'm always for fighting insurance companies. I learned with both pregnancies to always fight the bills because, inevitably, it is found that whatever I was being charged for should have been covered. Just gotta be willing to look through it all and keep calling.
 
indysadventures said:
Trupanion just denied over 10k of bills for my dog on shaky grounds, and now I’ve gotta prepare to fight a mostly-losing battle. It’s all wrong on their part but I think I can only win about 30% of it back, maybe, even though they truly should be covering 100%.

PLUS, they just upped our bill to 345 a month because we moved from NJ to MN. Nice joke, I’m just cancelling. I can’t afford pet insurance anymore, I have to pay the bills they denied! Plus, if they denied these procedures, they can basically justify anything that I’d want them for…..

Can’t insurance companies just not be evil for once?
Click to expand...

I've been successful appealing them a couple of times - definitely worth trying. So frustrating though... fingers crossed that you get more back!
 
indysadventures said:
Trupanion just denied over 10k of bills for my dog on shaky grounds, and now I’ve gotta prepare to fight a mostly-losing battle. It’s all wrong on their part but I think I can only win about 30% of it back, maybe, even though they truly should be covering 100%.

PLUS, they just upped our bill to 345 a month because we moved from NJ to MN. Nice joke, I’m just cancelling. I can’t afford pet insurance anymore, I have to pay the bills they denied! Plus, if they denied these procedures, they can basically justify anything that I’d want them for…..

Can’t insurance companies just not be evil for once?
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I forgot to text you lol. My boss had a cat who came to her with a deform hind leg, essentially making him 3 legged. He broke the leg and needed it amputated and Trupanion tried to argue the condition was a congenital malformation and therefore pre-existing. She successfully appealed that it was an injury leading to the amputation, not the deformity, and they did cover it but it took a lot of calling back and forth.
 
The stupidest denial I had with Nationwide was that after 12-18 months of covering it, they decided to stop covering my dog’s prednisone that he was on to raise his blood sugar because he had an insulinoma. They denied it because prednisone is “for treating allergies” and he had atopy as a preexisting condition. Because atopy is the only thing you treat with pred (eye roll). I wrote a letter describing how they’d covered this for months, how the 0.05mg/kg he was receiving was clearly not prescribed for allergies and was 1/10th of the dose you’d actually need to treat allergies which any vet would know, physical exam records from his internist showed no active skin disease, and cited literature showing how pred raises glucose and is standard treatment for insulinomas. So stupid I even had to fight that one.
 
JaynaAli said:
I’ve been there, it absolutely stinks. My issues were with Nationwide though, not Trupanion. It’s annoying but my recommendation is to just keep calling and escalating it higher and higher. I had much more success getting things appropriately covered when I could get it escalated far enough to actually get reviewed by and discussed with a veterinarian. I admit I was already a vet so perhaps there was a component of professional courtesy there and ymmv as a vet student, but in almost every indecent the insurance company vet did agree that things should be covered and I got my reimbursements. Every claim I ever made to Nationwide was initially denied but eventually paid out every time…even if it was over 60 days later because of how long I fought them.
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battie said:
I'm always for fighting insurance companies. I learned with both pregnancies to always fight the bills because, inevitably, it is found that whatever I was being charged for should have been covered. Just gotta be willing to look through it all and keep calling.
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BlackCatsRuleTheWorld said:
I've been successful appealing them a couple of times - definitely worth trying. So frustrating though... fingers crossed that you get more back!
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_rae_ said:
I forgot to text you lol. My boss had a cat who came to her with a deform hind leg, essentially making him 3 legged. He broke the leg and needed it amputated and Trupanion tried to argue the condition was a congenital malformation and therefore pre-existing. She successfully appealed that it was an injury leading to the amputation, not the deformity, and they did cover it but it took a lot of calling back and forth.
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Thanks all for the support, it means a lot and has been helpful! I’ve spent some time today gathering evidence and I do think I’ve got a solid chance to get them to reverse their refusal of his MRI/bilateral myringotomy - he had left-sided facial paralysis and a middle ear infection.

Get this, they literally have “skin” listed as a preexisting condition cited for him. Just “skin.” He had a previous “history” of allergies when we adopted him that’s been really proven to not be allergies, and he’s had no records of allergy problems or a single ear infection in the nearly 3 years we’ve had him. He’s like the only Frenchie without them. I think the paw licking was anxiety.

His otitis media did not come with otitis externa, everything was clear and beautiful from the outside, that’s all noted on the records. Just his facial paralysis and head tilt.

Trying to get them to cover his asp pneumonia as well, because he might’ve developed it no matter if we just did the MRI (which we needed) versus adding on his BOAS. (They’re saying that since he’s a Frenchie with BOAS they won’t cover his pneumonia.) I don’t think I can fight the BOAS surgery, even though BOAS wasn’t noted on any of his charts that we submitted, I guess they just add that to every Frenchie or snuck it in sometime since our insurance started (don’t remember that originally being on his preexisting conditions list). I am going to try to see if they’ll meet me halfway with pneumonia going forward ……

Thank you everyone, I have a bit more hope that maybe I can get something back. Either way, thanks for the commiserations. Insurance companies suck.

ETA: My guy had a lot- MRI with bilateral myringotomy for left-sided facial paralysis and head tilt, not otitis externa but otitis media found. Also did a BOAS surgery while he was under. He had anesthetic complications (aspiration pneumonia) and was in the ICU ~ 3d. Trupanion is denying everything because of “skin” and BOAS.
 
_rae_ said:
I'm on a lot of long term meds and this time of year is always when all my refills and prior authorizations run out. I'm a terrible patient so I always forget until the last minute and then go "**** **** **** I need those". This is my own fault but I am still crabby about it.
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Update to this: I am NOT terrible, they're just sending prescriptions under my maiden name and the pharmacy doesn't think I exist so now I have TWO accounts

Don't change your name when you get married. It's been more hassle than it was worth tbh.
 
With Trupanion I've had my cat's gastroenteritis has been covered under his "seizure(s)" condition and even had the ER exam fee paid for. I think their automating bill reviews and the algo is very wonky.

Even so the whole way that Trupanion does things by condition is so stressful. My cat had gastroenteritis last year with vomiting and diarrhea and the condition was labeled as diarrhea. This year he got it again without diarrhea. When I submitted, I just crossed my fingers they would let it slide since it's their weird labeling but same issue. And then it somehow fell under seizure lmao.
 
BlackCatsRuleTheWorld said:
I've been successful appealing them a couple of times - definitely worth trying. So frustrating though... fingers crossed that you get more back!
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Same, I've appealed a few times and won.
indysadventures said:
Get this, they literally have “skin” listed as a preexisting condition cited for him. Just “skin.” He had a previous “history” of allergies when we adopted him that’s been really proven to not be allergies, and he’s had no records of allergy problems or a single ear infection in the nearly 3 years we’ve had him. He’s like the only Frenchie without them. I think the paw licking was anxiety.
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They did the same to me for my dog simply because his medical record from the shelter noted he had fleas/FAD on his surrender at the shelter. So anything derm related has been deemed uncoverable. His immunotherapy for allergies, his ringworm (foster kitten....), and his nonallergic/noninflammatory hair loss over the past few years. I took him to derm for the hair loss and it was going to be $3k OOP just for biopsies....so needless to say my dog has truncal alopecia and we'll never know why lol (I've done endocrine workups, it wasn't that)
 
The hospital system that owns the majority of healthcare in my immediate area says they're not taking my insurance next year. My insurance says they're still in negotiations but I'm not holding out much hope. So now I get to find new doctors for my whole darn family and drive at least twice as far every time we need to see one.
 
finnickthedog said:
The hospital system that owns the majority of healthcare in my immediate area says they're not taking my insurance next year. My insurance says they're still in negotiations but I'm not holding out much hope. So now I get to find new doctors for my whole darn family and drive at least twice as far every time we need to see one.
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This happened last year when HCA bought the entire city. It ended up working out. But I was definitely stressed cause it was right before I was supposed to give birth
 
battie said:
This happened last year when HCA bought the entire city. It ended up working out. But I was definitely stressed cause it was right before I was supposed to give birth
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I did say to myself when I got this news that at least I already gave birth.

Still not fun in the middle of child vaccines, but being about to give birth would be so much worse.
 
Not sure if any of you have dealt with family members/parents who are dismissive towards veterinary care, but damn it pisses me off when my parents complain about veterinary care for our pets. I got our cat’s senior bloodwork done today because she has stage 3 kidney disease, and I asked my mom to help with paying and she just gave me her credit card so I took it 😂 But then I got home and she’s like “$160?!?” (~30% discount for me on the wellness exam + senior wellness panel). My cat is 17 years old and she only started getting bloodwork done last year, so I wanted to continue it as I watch her kidney levels. It sucks cuz she’s our family cat and if I wasn’t here then she’d probably be suffering from UTIs and whatnot.. she had two before CKD was diagnosed. And it’s annoying that I paid $500+ for this stuff in the past and they get mad at $160 for a whole ass panel and physical exam. Why does it have to be me, who’s getting paid VA wage, to be paying for a family pet! I’m glad they atleast contributed to this. Part of the reason I want to even be a vet is because of my family life, and how I was the sole caretaker of my dog that suffered seizures and died young because my parents left it untreated when I went to college. When I was 17/18 I would drive to the vet alone and have to text my parents about what was going on. Now that I am back, I do not want my cat to suffer under my care. I don’t think my parents should ever own pets again and they probably won’t, because they hardly believe in veterinarians. I know I’ve seen situations where people can’t pay at the vet and put their pets in bad situations, but the worst part is knowing my parents can pay to an extent yet they will never bring a pet to the vet
 
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I genuinely cannot imagine being in a three year program. I already feel so burnt from just one semester and I think if i didn’t have a break soon i’d explode. @ the people in three year programs who get very few breaks, yall are so brave
 
sooo tired of chronic nausea. whenever it’s triggered I cannot do anything other than sit in the bathroom because it’s the only place that feels safe. I actually tried to get some anti-nausea meds and after answering all their questions they then tell me I need a visit to get a prescription. I wish they told me that sooner so I could have made the appointment sooner!
 
Here to remind everyone it's okay to call out sick no matter what you do. I've had a migraine where I can't eat or drive all day. Briefly awake to try some food, but was supposed to be at work at 1pm.

Sick time is part of your pay package. Use it. Or at least that's what my husband tells me.
 
cried during my first spay yesterday. Partly because I was just frustrated that the actual vet kept pushing me out of the way, and that the broad ligament was so fried it was shredding vessels.

I hate crying in class but I was just so frustrated. Put me back in large animal, where I don’t have to do surgery
 
honeypot999 said:
cried during my first spay yesterday. Partly because I was just frustrated that the actual vet kept pushing me out of the way, and that the broad ligament was so fried it was shredding vessels.

I hate crying in class but I was just so frustrated. Put me back in large animal, where I don’t have to do surgery
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Hey.

Surgery is f*cking hard. I also cried in my first spay. After that experience I was like “yep this is why I’m not meant for surgery”. But things get better with time and practice. My experience learning in my surgery class vs my TNR rotation were night and day. The TNR docs were so patient and ready to meet us where we were. I even volunteer with our local TNR organization when they need help now, and I plan to keep doing that even though I’m pursuing a non-surgical speciality. I bet you did an amazing job. Give yourself grace. Absolutely no one is perfect at surgery the first time.
 
JaynaAli said:
Ten years post graduation also be like that, I hate to inform y’all. Though different.
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Oh good! I assumed third and fourth year would also, but glad to know it never stops.

In all realness, I feel like there’s always something, but I do feel I’m feeling better as I’m progressing through stuff. I hated first year. If you told me the only way I’d be a vet is to repeat first year I might actually pause and consider other options.
 
Yeah, there’s a few things I miss from the vet school period of life, but those are things like the camaraderie and extended breaks. But overall I wouldn’t go back. Life changes and there’s always going to be challenges, but you get through it.

Y’all can do it!
 
indysadventures said:
Anybody else just like white-knuckling life at this point…..I feel like I’m morphing into Ben Affleck with a cigarette and Dunkin.
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Also, I forgot

Ben Affleck Happy Dance GIF by Dunkin’
 
I made an autologous vaccine for a horse with rapidly growing melanomas, and thankfully, they’ve actually been shrinking (we set the bar low, said it might just slow or halt growth)! However, the owner doesn’t believe it’s the vaccines that’s did anything but the 5 minute cryo chamber sessions the horse randomly got while at a show that actually did the shrinking…. At this point I’m thinking I should stock cancer healing crystals on my truck.

Oh yeah and the horse just came back from Oklahoma…
 
mkg323 said:
I made an autologous vaccine for a horse with rapidly growing melanomas, and thankfully, they’ve actually been shrinking (we set the bar low, said it might just slow or halt growth)! However, the owner doesn’t believe it’s the vaccines that’s did anything but the 5 minute cryo chamber sessions the horse randomly got while at a show that actually did the shrinking…. At this point I’m thinking I should stock cancer healing crystals on my truck.

Oh yeah and the horse just came back from Oklahoma…
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If it makes you feel better, MSU’s livestock show pavilion is still hosting a horse show. The person putting on the show is bringing their horses from Texas/Oklahoma up here and refusing to cancel because “there’s no cases in Michigan.”
 
_rae_ said:
If you told me the only way I’d be a vet is to repeat first year I might actually pause and consider other options.
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I said the same thing as I neared the end of my first year.

I honestly wouldn't repeat vet school now even if I had to do it to keep my license and it was free. Like, even just looking at the difference in my face from my first year ID badge pic to my 4th year class composite pic...damn. It really drains the life force from you, not a lot compares to professional school imo. So it's okay and normal to feel all the things you're feeling because it really is a sucky four year period of your life. The good news is that it really does go by fast. And then life after vet school starts going by really fast
 
Tech_Penguin said:
my mother has officially lost her marbles. I've come to find out she's adopting a dog that looks exactly like our old dog and giving it the same name 🫣
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This is not all that unusual in this field, actually.... Could have implications for emotional/mental well being, sure.

In one of my pre-vet jobs, we had a client that owned only fawn pugs named 'Choo-Choo.' So we had tabs for Choo-Choo 1, Choo-Choo 2, and so on in her client folder (back in the good ol' days of paper charts). She was seriously on like, dog #20 or something like that while I was working there.

I do know one person who lost her first born, ended up having a later in life kid, and named that kid after the firstborn (or gave it the same name, depending on how you look at it). I kind of understood wanting to honor the first child, but it also gave My Sister's Keeper vibes.

And then there's me, trying to come up with name options for my unborn child, and realizing that most names I've always liked have already been given to my past pets (or I know a pet/person with the name) so have to be crossed off my list because they are 'used' lol.
 
pp9 said:
then there's me, trying to come up with name options for my unborn child, and realizing that most names I've always liked have already been given to my past pets (or I know a pet/person with the name) so have to be crossed off my list because they are 'used' lol.
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I found making rules for the names, so to speak, helped with the name game. Like I had: 1) no recently dead family cause there was a lot of recently dead family; 2) no flowers; 3) no places; 4) no one that we knew directly but weren't active friends. I feel like there was one more, but it's not coming to mind.

Made the list much shorter when looking at baby names! I didn't care about popularity so much even though I have a pretty popular 90s girl name. But both Toddler Bats and Neice-Daughter have unique names. Have only met, like, 3 people with toddler's name and most are 10-15 years older than him. The ND has a very old traditional name that has a completely different association these days; so it's either going to be super popular, or going to continue being uncommon 🤣
 
pp9 said:
And then there's me, trying to come up with name options for my unborn child, and realizing that most names I've always liked have already been given to my past pets (or I know a pet/person with the name) so have to be crossed off my list because they are 'used' lol.
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As a person with a dog name, thank you for not giving your baby the name of a pet 😂
 
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