Suggestions on items to prepare for first year?

[cdo96]

I’ve had my dakine for 8 years! How has yours already died?! An LL Bean is actually one of the backpacks that died on me in high school after about 5 months

I honestly don’t know. I’m super rough on my backpacks though.

to be honest I don’t remember if it fell apart or I just got tired of it and wanted the LL bean instead? It was first year and I don’t remember anything from first year beyond red hot flashbacks of pain

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[SkiOtter]

I honestly don’t know. I’m super rough on my backpacks though.

to be honest I don’t remember if it fell apart or I just got tired of it and wanted the LL bean instead? It was first year and I don’t remember anything from first year beyond red hot flashbacks of pain

So am I hence why I’ve always needed 1-2 every year in school until I got my dakine haha

 

[blueheeler]

ALL THE POCKETS
I’m pretty sure I also convinced @cdoconn to get one before

I LOVE POCKETS. There's a pocket for my stationary, a pocket for my chargers, a pocket for my snacks, and a padded laptop pocket. I suddenly feel like I have my life together. I wonder how long I'll stay this organized lmao.

 

[Stroganoff]

This video should start at 7:10 mark


Like Notability it just layers the highlighter like irl. GoodNotes does it in the background. That's the only minor complaint; otherwise it looks awesome.

SkiOtter or any current Notability users: Have they corrected the highlighting fxnality so that the highlighter tool doesn't layer and smudge the text but rather highlights the background appropriately?

 

[somebun]

SkiOtter or any current Notability users: Have they corrected the highlighting fxnality so that the highlighter tool doesn't layer and smudge the text but rather highlights the background appropriately?

Just tested it. I have it on my iPad and it doesn’t layer over my writing

 

[Stroganoff]

Just tested it. I have it on my iPad and it doesn’t layer over my writing

That's amazing that they fixed it!

*urge to buy the 2020 iPad Pro rising, please send help*

 

[somebun]

That's amazing that they fixed it!

*urge to buy the 2020 iPad Pro rising, please send help*

I bought the 7th gen - not quite as fancy as the pro but I’m very satisfied with it! Unless the pro has a specific feature you really really want I would recommend just going with the basic.
Best Buy will match promos through amazon so I got mine for $50 off

 

[Stroganoff]

I bought the 7th gen - not quite as fancy as the pro but I’m very satisfied with it! Unless the pro has a specific feature you really really want I would recommend just going with the basic.
Best Buy will match promos through amazon so I got mine for $50 off

I spent 12-16 hours on this post but haven't really received any engagement/feedback. (Just removed the spoiler tag encapsulation...maybe that's why?) but there should be enough color in that post to justify my reasoning.

 

[somebun]

I spent 12-16 hours on this post but haven't really received any engagement/feedback. (Just removed the spoiler tag encapsulation...maybe that's why?) but there should be enough color in that post to justify my reasoning.

I actually did read it (didn’t have feedback, sorry, as haven’t personally owned any*) but I didn’t make the connection! Oops

Edit: to clarify, since I think this statement is confusing; I have used OneNote and overall liked it but didn’t want to pay ongoing fees so stopped using it. Never used goodnotes or iPad Pro so don’t feel qualified to comment there and have used notability for like, 2 weeks but don’t need it to be very secure so can’t attest to business use

 

[cdo96]

Not mentioned items necessary for vet school:

• Snacks
• A good pillow (you’re not going to be able to sleep much so make the sleep you get as great as possible)
• Comfortable sweatpants (either for when you get out of school or days where you’re so exhausted you wear sweatpants to class)
• Snacks
• Multiple device chargers (at least two). I have an iPad charger for my backpack, for my living room, bedroom, and office... mostly because it’s the one day you forget your charger that your laptop dies on you.
• A comfortable baseball cap- daily washing of the hair is a great idea but unrealistic
• Kleenex- either because you’re going to get sick or you’re going to need to cry... or both
• Snacks
• Something that makes you smile. My friend wears corgi shirts/ sweaters/ shoes on exam days. I wear silly shirts (my favorite says “don’t be happy worry”)
• More snacks
• A Costco sized container of your favorite caffeine source (mine is Dr Pepper)

That’s what I have for now.

someone send me snacks pls

I would like to point out that 26 people liked this, and not a single person sent me snacks

 

[genny]

I would like to point out that 26 people liked this, and not a single person sent me snacks

You did not include your address.

 

[that redhead]

You did not include your address.

I would legit send snacks if I had it

 

[that redhead]

Also, I would totally endorse and participate in an annual Secret Snacker (like secret Santa but for snacks) if someone more organized than myself were so inclined to our together...

 

[SkiOtter]

I would like to point out that 26 people liked this, and not a single person sent me snacks

A lie. I sent you snacks.

 

[SkiOtter]

You did not include your address.

I would legit send snacks if I had it

I can get you that address

 

[cdo96]

You did not include your address.

I would legit send snacks if I had it

both of y’all check your PMs lol.

A lie. I sent you snacks.

that is true! You sent me and Apple snacks once!!!

 

[Stroganoff]

Forget snacks. Baby you're a whole meal.

 

[ziggyandjazzy]

I spent 12-16 hours on this post but haven't really received any engagement/feedback. (Just removed the spoiler tag encapsulation...maybe that's why?) but there should be enough color in that post to justify my reasoning.

Lol oooook cool guess people ignore me on here more than I originally even thought

 

[Stroganoff]

I've tested 10+ note taking or PDF annotating apps and none does exactly what I want it to. It's very disheartening. I think there's a lot better options being developed for the iOS (and other mobiles OSs for iPads) but they've left MacOS by the wayside. It sucks

Hey zigzag, I read this post and I appreciate your feedback! I'm sorry if I didn't acknowledge it. I agree with you: there's so many compromises and pros or cons, and I'm the type to get extremely detailed into something before making a major decision. Apologies if I gave you the cold liver. Err, if you feel like chopped turkey. Wait, howzat go again?

 

[Squeaksmom]

Also, I would totally endorse and participate in an annual Secret Snacker (like secret Santa but for snacks) if someone more organized than myself were so inclined to our together...

They're in the process of preparing to expand the class size so there are currently more lockers than students. Each class currently has their own communal snack locker. Comes in especially handy on super-long surgery days!

 

[ijustwanttobeavet]

Does anyone have planner suggestions? I'm someone who needs to use a paper planner or else I'll never look at what needs to get done.

 

[cdo96]

Does anyone have planner suggestions? I'm someone who needs to use a paper planner or else I'll never look at what needs to get done.

hehehehehehe

 

[iguessisaidthat]

Does anyone have planner suggestions? I'm someone who needs to use a paper planner or else I'll never look at what needs to get done.

I really like passion planner! They have the academic year one and it’s pretty great! My biggest thing was finding one that does hourly blocks from 6am-10pm so it works well for me, and there’s spaces around the pages for me to write random notes to myself to get done too. It also has self reflection pages after each month but I don’t really do them. They have print outs online for free you can use to cover the reflection pages with stuff that’s more relevant for you (I.e track fitness, meal prep, etc)

 

[cdo96]

Does anyone have planner suggestions? I'm someone who needs to use a paper planner or else I'll never look at what needs to get done.

I use my Plum Paper Planner, and I am ADDICTED to it. I just bought my fourth planner for my fourth year of vet school, and I would NOT get things done without it.

What I really like is that there are so many layouts for different things to get it to work with your life. My first two years, I got the 8 am- 10 pm hourly layout because my day to day schedule changed so much with classes, labs, wet labs, meetings. It was really hard to keep everything in order until I got it all written out.

This year, I got the one that's like "weekly priorities" and it's really helpful in keeping everything organized, as well as being able to mark off sections that I've made my study guides for, sections that I didn't go to class and need to rewatch, etc. I also have sections in it for fitness, extra notes paper, and cleaning sections!

Next year's is a different set up, and it's more basic with more room for notes, which will be really helpful.

 

[cdo96]

I use my Plum Paper Planner, and I am ADDICTED to it. I just bought my fourth planner for my fourth year of vet school, and I would NOT get things done without it.

What I really like is that there are so many layouts for different things to get it to work with your life. My first two years, I got the 8 am- 10 pm hourly layout because my day to day schedule changed so much with classes, labs, wet labs, meetings. It was really hard to keep everything in order until I got it all written out.

This year, I got the one that's like "weekly priorities" and it's really helpful in keeping everything organized, as well as being able to mark off sections that I've made my study guides for, sections that I didn't go to class and need to rewatch, etc. I also have sections in it for fitness, extra notes paper, and cleaning sections!

Next year's is a different set up, and it's more basic with more room for notes, which will be really helpful.

I don’t have photos of my first/ second year planners, it’s back home. But these are my third year planners.

And then here’s next year’s planner!

 

[ijustwanttobeavet]

I really like passion planner!

I use my Plum Paper Planner, and I am ADDICTED to it. I just bought my fourth planner for my fourth year of vet school, and I would NOT get things done without it.

Thank you guys so much! I have been looking into plum planner, but I will have to take a look at passion planner as well. I've tried Erin Condren for grad school but it's not quite what I need. I think I want an hourly planner with space to write my own notes about what needs to get done!

 

[ijustwanttobeavet]

I don’t have photos of my first/ second year planners, it’s back home. But these are my third year planners.

AMAZING!! Thank you so much!!!

 

[cdo96]

AMAZING!! Thank you so much!!!

You’re welcome! Let me know if you have any questions, I love to talk about planners!

 

[vetmedhead]

Meanwhile I save every event into my phone like a hobgoblin

An example
Poof

 

[SardonicWit]

I don’t have photos of my first/ second year planners, it’s back home. But these are my third year planners.

Wait. You have an amputation wet lab and a toga party at your house on the same day?

Forget the planner. I think I want your life.

 

[cdo96]

Wait. You have an amputation wet lab and a toga party at your house on the same day?

Forget the planner. I think I want your life.

 

[cdo96]

Wait. You have an amputation wet lab and a toga party at your house on the same day?

Forget the planner. I think I want your life.

Your post made me realize that I hadn’t actually checked through the photos of what I posted, so I’m glad it wasn’t like a weird week of the calendar

 

[SkiOtter]

Meanwhile I save every event into my phone like a hobgoblin

An example
Poof

I also just save everything into my phone’s calendar
I have no idea what your example was though because sadly I was asleep

 

[battie]

Does anyone have planner suggestions? I'm someone who needs to use a paper planner or else I'll never look at what needs to get done.

I use Ruskerville planners from Etsy. I like the time tables and to do lists!

 

[WildZoo]

I bullet journal and have for all of vet school, because I'm very inconsistent with planner usage and I end up feeling guilty about blank pages otherwise. Plus I like that I can change it up to be most useful for whatever is going on in life during a particular time period, and get creative with it if I'm feeling fancy. I don't have much use for the set schedule-type layouts because my days are sporadic (especially in clinics). So I mostly put appointments and events in my phone calendar these days and just use my bullet journal for to-dos and such.

A few examples of the weekly/daily layouts I've used in the past year:

I've been using this last layout recently because as you can see from the first one, I tend to put things off, and it was getting annoying writing the same thing over and over again. I use my bullet journal for other things too but the to do lists are the most functional bit.

 

[Animal Midwife]

w w r o l e s

 

[Coopah]

I bullet journal and have for all of vet school, because I'm very inconsistent with planner usage and I end up feeling guilty about blank pages otherwise. Plus I like that I can change it up to be most useful for whatever is going on in life during a particular time period, and get creative with it if I'm feeling fancy. I don't have much use for the set schedule-type layouts because my days are sporadic (especially in clinics). So I mostly put appointments and events in my phone calendar these days and just use my bullet journal for to-dos and such.

A few examples of the weekly/daily layouts I've used in the past year:
View attachment 295623View attachment 295624View attachment 295625
I've been using this last layout recently because as you can see from the first one, I tend to put things off, and it was getting annoying writing the same thing over and over again. I use my bullet journal for other things too but the to do lists are the most functional bit.

Lol WW awards, what a lie.

 

[WildZoo]

w w r o l e s

Heh, that was last year so I can't remember what game I was working on

Lol WW awards, what a lie.

That was just for my nominations

 

[PippyPony]

I bullet journal and have for all of vet school, because I'm very inconsistent with planner usage and I end up feeling guilty about blank pages otherwise. Plus I like that I can change it up to be most useful for whatever is going on in life during a particular time period, and get creative with it if I'm feeling fancy. I don't have much use for the set schedule-type layouts because my days are sporadic (especially in clinics). So I mostly put appointments and events in my phone calendar these days and just use my bullet journal for to-dos and such.

A few examples of the weekly/daily layouts I've used in the past year:
View attachment 295623View attachment 295624View attachment 295625
I've been using this last layout recently because as you can see from the first one, I tend to put things off, and it was getting annoying writing the same thing over and over again. I use my bullet journal for other things too but the to do lists are the most functional bit.

Lol @ "speeding ticket" written like 6 times

Procrastination nation

 

[twelvetigers]

I have tried a planner (more when I was teaching, and maybe early in vet school) but I am bad about keeping with it and I never managed to get into it. My husband bought a big planner and then... stopped using it after two months. Oh well.

 

[WildZoo]

Lol @ "speeding ticket" written like 6 times

Procrastination nation

Hey it was only 4!

 

[nyanko]

I actually did buy a Plum Planner too. Use the pre-made checklists as a caselog and got a bunch of note pages put in the back for patient stickers and a section for meeting notes (there are a lot of meetings involved in research it turns out?). I am still in the process of learning to remember to use it for things day to day but it's getting better.

definitely understand the "guilty about blank pages" feels though

 

[Squeaksmom]

Another vote for Plum Paper! I use kind of a hybrid system with an hourly Plum planner and google calendar because it keeps me from being a total disaster lol

 

[SkiOtter]

I have tried a planner (more when I was teaching, and maybe early in vet school) but I am bad about keeping with it and I never managed to get into it. My husband bought a big planner and then... stopped using it after two months. Oh well.

Same

 

[Stroganoff]

Kudos to responsible car maintenance, but 5 oil changes in one week is a bit overkill.

 

[Stroganoff]

I've used Google Keep for years and found it's a great tool for to do lists, shopping lists, and basic random notes. I like that it's organized like a bunch of sticky notes, and you can easily share individual notes/lists with other people; e.g. a grocery list with your significant other.

Free, but obviously don't use for super sensitive or confidential stuff like passwords, PINs, SSNs, credit card numbers, etc.

 

[thedogtorisin2020]

Kind of silly, but does anyone have recommendations for shoes during vet school? I mean for anything; lecture, labs, rotations, etc. Also, any scrub recommendations? The school I am most likely going to does not have a dress code or specific scrubs needed.

 

[iguessisaidthat]

Kind of silly, but does anyone have recommendations for shoes during vet school? I mean for anything; lecture, labs, rotations, etc. Also, any scrub recommendations? The school I am most likely going to does not have a dress code or specific scrubs needed.

Cheap Rubber boots for lab (especially for large animal anatomy). You can also have cheap tennis shoes/old shoes for small animal anatomy. Your oldest stained scrubs for anatomy lol - don’t plan on saving these scrubs or shoes after first year because the smell won’t come out.

Some schools have rules against wearing different logos in the teaching hospital so if you can just find scrubs that don’t have a different hospital name on it, it should be fine. You can get nice scrubs but they’ll probably get gross even in the hospital. I also have a pair of clogs that I used to wear at work all the time - I still wear them occasionally but I feel like I’m wearing more running shoes nowadays since sometimes I’m literally running in the hospital lol.

Lecture you can wear whatever you want that makes you comfortable!

 

[PetVet23]

Kind of silly, but does anyone have recommendations for shoes during vet school? I mean for anything; lecture, labs, rotations, etc. Also, any scrub recommendations? The school I am most likely going to does not have a dress code or specific scrubs needed.

Yes!!!

Okay shoes first. If I have a day that's mostly lectures, I'll just wear whatever since I know I won't be on my feet much. I'm not a big fan of wearing tennis shoes all the time but will do it every once in a while. I have a couple pairs of Bobs that I LOVE, I can even wear them for a 10 hour shift and feel fine at the end of the day, they have some magical memory foam in them When it comes to more nursing-style type shoes, my favorite brand is Allegria. I've had my first pair for about 5 years now and they're still holding up beautifully, they even sell replacement footbeds so you can just replace that when they start to wear down instead of having to get a whole new pair of shoes, you just have to go a little slow breaking them in or they can get uncomfortable (basically just don't try to wear them for a whole day the first time). I know a lot of people like Dansko, but they don't feel quite as stable to me (I have a bad ankle, yay dance injuries...).

Now for scrubs! My top two that are super comfy and pretty affordable are WonderWinks and the Purple Line by Healing Hands. I recently ordered a new set of Healing Hands from Amazon in my class color, and I think it only cost about $30 for the shirt and pants. If you like the more athletic-type fabric, MedCoture makes some that are pretty comfy too, but I can't remember what their price range is like.

 

[thedogtorisin2020]

Thank you @iguessisaidthat and @PetVet23 !