RAVS test?

[PAThbrd]

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Hi all,

I figure there's probably at least 1 other vet student who has gone/is going to go on a RAVS trip. I've been studying the training materials and am getting ready to take the pre-trip test. Just wondering how difficult people found it to be and how long it took to complete. The 80% one shot deal makes me a little nervous! 🙂

Thanks!

 

[Truth74]

I'm a pre-vet, but I was still required to take the test. I took it last year, just before the deadline and it was not that bad. I don't remember what I got, but It was enough to go on the trip (over the 80%).

I can't quantify the time I took to study, because I am a guerrilla studier. I took some printouts everywhere and just went over them. It wasn't a whole lot of time, because I had, 18hrs of classes, three kids, and 2 jobs at the time. You have to have read all of the information for content, though.

 

[lailanni]

Sorry I can't be more helpful -- please tell us how it is! I've been wanting to go on a RAVS trip and am curious about the exam too 🙂

Which trip are you going on?

 

[Angie09]

How do you actually sign up for one of these trips? Every single time I check the RAVS website (and I've been checking periodically for 2 years!) the trip schedule lists every single trip as either waitlisted or full! Is there a really narrow window of opportunity to apply, or am I missing something?

 

[Truth74]

Yeah, I missed the day this year. That's why I'm not going.

The actual day is some day in October. When Late September hits, I check the site a few times a day. It opened in mid October last year, and the spots were gone within hours of when the schedule was made available. Usually, student volunteers have to get in there asap. Wait lists, mean that there are a few spaces left, but not a lot of them. The waitlist spaces are available as a standby person. That means you have to submit your travel plans and everything without knowing if you'll actually go. Sometimes, you don't know you're going until a week before. The full, means that vet students can not apply to go on those trips anymore.
Hope this helps some.

 

[borofish]

Keep in mind that nowhere in the training materials does it mention that the test is closed book. I think the point of the test is to ensure that you have looked through the training materials. Just get it done and spend your time perfecting your suturing skills, as that is a much more stressful test!

 

[quakk]

i took the exam last year. as borofish said, the point seemed to be to make sure you've looked over the material.

i had read through the material a few times before i took the exam. i had also read the materials a few times in 2005 before my first two clinics (as a volunteer tech). by no means had i memorised all the information, but was familiar enough that i passed the exam, and likely would have done so even if it hadn't been open notes.

i stressed big-time about it, but in the end it really wasn't that big of a stressor for me.

enjoy your trip.

oh, yeah... once i figured out the knots from the goofy notes, i didn't find the practical test terribly stressful. some people were really nervous, though. i got myself some instruments, the johnson and johnson knot board, some fishing line, etc. and practiced away. they don't test you on it, but in surgery we actually used the subcuticular suture pattern with buried knots - i would practice that a lot more if i were to go again.

 

[PAThbrd]

So I finally got to taking it, while on vacation 🙂 Yea for procrastination.

I read through everything once. It had 75 questions and took me about 2 hours, mostly because I was paranoid about not passing and checked just about every single answer even if I knew it hands down. I wasn't having my trip canceled due to stupid mistakes! It was actually pretty easy and I'm pretty sure I would have passed without checking all my answers. And I passed 🙂 So Ill be in Tennessee in August.

 

[dyachei]

So I finally got to taking it, while on vacation 🙂 Yea for procrastination.

I read through everything once. It had 75 questions and took me about 2 hours, mostly because I was paranoid about not passing and checked just about every single answer even if I knew it hands down. I wasn't having my trip canceled due to stupid mistakes! It was actually pretty easy and I'm pretty sure I would have passed without checking all my answers. And I passed 🙂 So Ill be in Tennessee in August.

Congrats! Where in TN?

 

[pressmom]

Did anyone see the 60 Minutes story on RAM (Rural Area Medical)? It was really interesting. Made me really want to go out on a veterinary trip! I think the two are related and I know the man who started RAM actually lives here in Knoxville, which is why there are quite a few in this area. Just an interesting side note...

 

[BrumleyVet]

I did the trip outside of Knoxville in December of '07 and learned sooo much! It's really intense, and much like an assembly line, but the amount of experience is more than you will ever get in a clinic. Be sure to rotate through each position, including intake. Interacting with the owners, most of whom are extremely low income, really puts things into perspective.

I cannot stress enough - bring an air mattresss! After being on your feet all day, it's just not that fun to sleep on the floor! Don't hope to take a shower either (depending on your location).

 

[Truth74]

I've been to Tennessee and Ohio. Both places, I wished I had an air mattress. The foam one did not cut it. There was a Wal-mart in town, so I got one on the last trip. It is an assembly line, but it also has to do with team work. If you're lousy with a team, this is your boot camp. Those without people skills are gonna be in a world of hurt. Everybody is usually packed in like sardines, and feelings get hurt pretty easily.

I absolutely loved the experience, and there is nothing like it. The days are long, but the food is good. Did I mention, they stuff you like ticks? Speaking of ticks... the stories I could tell about ticks falling off of sedated dogs on the prep table. Hopefully, I'll get to go again next year.

 

[chordy4]

correct me if i'm wrong, but if you're just a pre-vet (assisting experience only), you'll really just be checking people in, right?

 

[Truth74]

correct me if I'm wrong, but if you're just a pre-vet (assisting experience only), you'll really just be checking people in, right?

That may be the case on some of the trips, but not when I went. I did not do surgery, (and on one trip, no anesthesia either, because I was the odd person) but I did the other aspects of the clinic. That included check in, pre op exam ( I restrained for my partner), pre op anesthetic, induction, surgery prep, organization of recovery, management of animals in recovery, requests for further evaluation of an animal during recovery, etc. Hmm. I did a bunch of stuff. Idle hands and that such... I made myself useful, wherever I was needed. Believe me, there were a lot of things that needed to be done. I think I spent a lot more time in recovery than anywhere else, but that is because I had previous experience there. I also know how to take apart a shaver, clean it and put it back together without loosing parts, so while I was doing TPRs, I had my oil brush and screwdriver ready.

I think it depends on your attitude and how the staff and students want to use you.

But then again, I'm one of those pesky nontrads that try to get experience where they can. 😉

 

[quakk]

truth74 is right - i went on two trips in 2005, one in covelo, ca, the other in the middle of tn. on both trips, i helped out everywhere but surgery. i did very little on the admission and discharge side, outside of helping with physical exams. i had very little prior experience at the time i went.

i, too, spent a lot of time in recovery. i think it's 'cause that's where they needed the most help.

if you go with a willing attitude and learn quickly, they'll put you to work. the whole point is to teach, while providing the free care, of course.

correct me if i'm wrong, but if you're just a pre-vet (assisting experience only), you'll really just be checking people in, right?

 

[BrumleyVet]

I started off at intake, then moved to prep after about an hour the first day. I ended up spending most of the weekend monitoring anesthesia during surgery, prepping the surgery tables between surgeries and such. If you are willing to do anything, you will move fast. I ended up assisting (limited) on a couple of surgeries when there was a vet there to monitor. I never thought I'd do that! It was an andrelean rush to say the least. True you are outnumbered by the vet students, but if you don't act like you are lost and just do a really good job of doing what you know how to do, and are nice to the vet students, you might end up being asked "do you know how to ...?" and if you don't, you may get a quick lesson. It all depends on the patient load. Like quakk said, attitude will get you farther.