Spring semester courses?

[LadyHitokiri]

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I sign up for my spring semester courses soon. I've gotten some advice about the classes I want to/need to take, but need further advice from fellow students or those already in vet school. (I forgot to schedule a meeting with my academic advisor and I sign up for classes in 1.5 days!) I don't want to overload myself, but then again I want to take the opportunity to further prepare myself for a professional curriculum (hopefully!). These are the classes I'm thinking of taking, but let me know if it sounds like too much/just right/too little to take:

1.) Function Human Anatomy (5 credit hours) (I've heard it REALLY helps to have at least some background otherwise you'll be overwhelmed in vet school)
2.) Comparative Immunobiology (4 cr. hr.) (I heard it's hard but you learn a lot in it) (This is a choice among several that I need to take)
3.) Companion Animal Nutrition (3 cr. hr.) (doesn't seem hard, this is a choice among several that I need to take)
4.) Sheep Production (3 cr. hr.) (I don't have to take this, but feel I need more experience with sheep so it might be a good class to take. Otherwise, I've been thinking of taking an easy Creative Writing course so my brain can take a break from studying and just let the creative juices flow)
5.) Integrative Biology Lab (1 cr. hr.) (I need to take this to fulfill a bio lab requirement)

Total credit hours: 16 (seems just the right amount to me!)
Thanks for any and all advice!

 

[LucyLoo]

I sign up for my spring semester courses soon. I've gotten some advice about the classes I want to/need to take, but need further advice from fellow students or those already in vet school. (I forgot to schedule a meeting with my academic advisor and I sign up for classes in 1.5 days!) I don't want to overload myself, but then again I want to take the opportunity to further prepare myself for a professional curriculum (hopefully!). These are the classes I'm thinking of taking, but let me know if it sounds like too much/just right/too little to take:

1.) Function Human Anatomy (5 credit hours) (I've heard it REALLY helps to have at least some background otherwise you'll be overwhelmed in vet school)
2.) Comparative Immunobiology (4 cr. hr.) (I heard it's hard but you learn a lot in it) (This is a choice among several that I need to take)
3.) Companion Animal Nutrition (3 cr. hr.) (doesn't seem hard, this is a choice among several that I need to take)
4.) Sheep Production (3 cr. hr.) (I don't have to take this, but feel I need more experience with sheep so it might be a good class to take. Otherwise, I've been thinking of taking an easy Creative Writing course so my brain can take a break from studying and just let the creative juices flow)
5.) Integrative Biology Lab (1 cr. hr.) (I need to take this to fulfill a bio lab requirement)

Total credit hours: 16 (seems just the right amount to me!)
Thanks for any and all advice!

Do they have domestic animal gross anatomy where your at? I took that instead of human gross and found it very informative (they covered about 4 species).

 

[LadyHitokiri]

They don't have any animal anatomy courses for undergraduates at my University, unfortunately. I think they used to, but they stopped providing the course quite a few years ago. I don't really know why.

 

[rexosaurus]

For what it's worth, I never (not once!) took an anatomy course in undergrad and I'm doing pretty well in anatomy now. There are people that took Human Anatomy and found it very helpful. There are changes, obviously, but most things are generally similar. I wouldn't say that you will be necessarily overwhelmed if you've never taken it, but you definitely have to know how you study best in order to make the most of your time.

 

[tastrophe]

For what it's worth, I never (not once!) took an anatomy course in undergrad and I'm doing pretty well in anatomy now. There are people that took Human Anatomy and found it very helpful. There are changes, obviously, but most things are generally similar. I wouldn't say that you will be necessarily overwhelmed if you've never taken it, but you definitely have to know how you study best in order to make the most of your time.

That's reassuring, because I'm in the same boat and keep hearing about what a bear anatomy is! I did get some books and a coloring atlas though, with the intent of doing a little pre-vet-school studying.

 

[BayleeVet2B]

That's reassuring, because I'm in the same boat and keep hearing about what a bear anatomy is! I did get some books and a coloring atlas though, with the intent of doing a little pre-vet-school studying.

Which coloring atlas did you buy? Do you like it?

 

[HopefulAg]

Well I don't know about vet school anatomy but the undergrad anatomy wasn't too bad. I've heard the vet school anatomy is about on par with the undergrad, just goes into more detail.

Comparative Immunobiology

What's that like? Microbiology with immunology tossed in? That sounds really interesting.

 

[LadyHitokiri]

Well I don't know about vet school anatomy but the undergrad anatomy wasn't too bad. I've heard the vet school anatomy is about on par with the undergrad, just goes into more detail.



What's that like? Microbiology with immunology tossed in? That sounds really interesting.

Sounds like a little less microbio and more molecular and cellular bio. Here's the course description (long!):
Comparative Immunobiology: Advanced concepts of immunophysiology and immunogenetics. Immunophysiology with an emphasis on immune-neuroendocrine interactions. The molecular and cellular basis of self-nonself recognition with an emphasis on the major histocompatibility complex in vertebrates and innate immunity in both vertebrates and invertebrates. The mucosal immune system, which requires a complex interplay between innate and acquired immunity to protect mucosal surfaces exposed to the environment. A working knowledge of genetics and cellular and molecular biology is recommended.

 

[rexosaurus]

The general concsensus on vet school anatomy, at least here at CSU, is that there is a ton of info, but it's organized really well. And I think your best bet at prepping yourself for it (besides taking the course in undergrad) would be to learn what the words mean. I know it sounds silly, but once you understand the nomenclature things make SO much more sense! In fact, if you don't know what something is named you can often "fudge" it if you understand how things are named. Just thought I'd chime in again.

 

[LadyHitokiri]

Thanks rexosaurus! I'll take that advice to really try to understand it, and not just memorize it (both are important). 🙂