Suggestions on items to prepare for first year?

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How do you you do externships at academic places? Or where are those opportunities listed?also, what are you interested in specializing in? 🙂

By work as a tech do you mean unpaid summer intern? 😳 I'm not sure I have really seen summer jobs listed at places like this but of course I don't know where I should be looking lol
I usually just google the school plus externships, we also have an externship database but it usually just links us to the school website, sometimes there's an email for who you need to contact. You send that person an email or sometimes it's just an online application. I'm interested in surgery so I'm looking at places I want a surgery internship or residency.
 
I was just looking at these shoes yesterday also! As well as the Birkenstock ones. I tend to prefer a shoe with not a lot of heel drop. What style of these shoes do you go for usually?
I have three different styles- Belle (Mary Jane style), Keli, and Taylor (those two are more clog style). I probably wear Belle and Keli the most, but that might just be because the colors I have them in go with my scrubs better
 
Speaking of externships, anyone who is gonna be doing an externship at UTK over the next 3-4 years is free to crash at my place.

Also how soon you need to be worried about externships really depends on what you want to do. I wouldn't stress about it as someone just finishing their first year, but I also have trouble looking that far in the future in general. Talk to your school about how scheduling clinics works for you. You don't want to end up scheduling something, thinking you're all set, and then not being able to do it because of how your clinics schedule ends up being set up. I got two zoo externships that I applied for about a year prior to the dates I wanted, but would definitely recommend earlier for that or any of the big spay/neuter externships that a ton of people do. The academic ones you likely won't be able to apply to until they've scheduled their clinical students anyway.
 
That's the info I've been told. I guess I'm not sure how I know whether a place would be somewhere I would want to intern at. Just look on VIRMP and see their match rates, etc?What about academic facilities? My school doesn't have a neurologist and that's something I am very interested in. My parent's dog sees an IM vet and I was thinking of emailing them to see if I can shadow. I'm also going to be part of IM club board next year so that should be good. This summer I am spending part of it doing One Health research in Costa Rica so not super applicable but it has been very fun thus far 🙂

I'm lucky in that everyone at my school does a rotation at OHS where we do a minimum of 30 surgeries or something like that. Our school allows a lot more surgery experience than others. There's also a busy ER clinic in Portland I was thinking of trying to do a rotation at. Philly also has a rotation at the national greyhound adoption agency (mostly doing dentals and surgery) which I would love to do!

How do people pay for all of these things?! More loans? A job? I'm currently applying to a job in SA rehab
In terms of choosing where you want to visit/extern, consider all the factors. Cost of living with the salary (which may change by the time you get around to applying), how much time you spend on ER, how many specialists are available, caseload, etc. Check to see if there are any intern surveys for these places posted on VIRMP as well. Don't forget that you can always email extern coordinators and ask if they can provide more information pertinent to whatever specialty you're interested in. If a program sounds like something you'd be willing to dedicate your life to for a year, apply for an externship and talk to the current interns while you're there. It's also worth considering that at least for Bluepearls, they have a tendency to keep on their interns for either jobs or specialty internships/residencies. That can be an advantage, although that's not something they necessarily advertise. It's a lot of work, but start a spreadsheet now. If you want to match, you have to heavily research everything and apply smart. Pretty similar to choosing which vet schools to apply to.

You can also ask for a list of current interns and their contact info, and send out emails asking about the programs. If a program is unwilling to share contact info, that's generally considered a red flag.

In terms of match rates...if you have spare time, you can see which programs are still unmatched and for how many positions (compare the original posting to the unmatched positions posting to see how many total spots vs. how many are still open). If an internship has all spots still available, or most of them, I'd consider avoiding it. While some places just aren't popular and therefore don't have multiple apps per seat and never fill, many have bad reps and having multiple seats unfilled can be a red flag, especially year after year. Sometimes open seats are just an artifact of the match and the way ranking works, but there are plenty of unmatched applicants every year and having a lot of open seats past the scramble in general isn't a super great sign. There are also more seats than applicants every year, so consider that. You'll get to know which programs have good reps (especially as you talk to clinicians come 4th year), and these programs rarely, if ever, have an empty seat after the match. For the current match info, it's a little late and idk if the unmatched listings are still accurate. I don't know that VIRMP actively updates that list this far out. Just keep in mind this isn't totally reliable as there are so many factors that go into matching, but if there's a year after year trend it's worth considering.

Also, just because one hospital has a good rep does not mean another hospital under the same corporation is equally as good. I chose to move across the country to one Bluepearl over the one driving distance from my husband's house, because the latter had such a crappy program and reputation (coincidentally, they have not had a full intern class in the last 3 years).
 
That's the info I've been told. I guess I'm not sure how I know whether a place would be somewhere I would want to intern at. Just look on VIRMP and see their match rates, etc?What about academic facilities? My school doesn't have a neurologist and that's something I am very interested in. My parent's dog sees an IM vet and I was thinking of emailing them to see if I can shadow. I'm also going to be part of IM club board next year so that should be good. This summer I am spending part of it doing One Health research in Costa Rica so not super applicable but it has been very fun thus far 🙂

I'm lucky in that everyone at my school does a rotation at OHS where we do a minimum of 30 surgeries or something like that. Our school allows a lot more surgery experience than others. There's also a busy ER clinic in Portland I was thinking of trying to do a rotation at. Philly also has a rotation at the national greyhound adoption agency (mostly doing dentals and surgery) which I would love to do!

How do people pay for all of these things?! More loans? A job? I'm currently applying to a job in SA rehab

If you think you might be interested in neuro, I'd actually legit look into going somewhere with a neurologist for at least an externship or two. JMO.

They only allow a max of 8 weeks of externships and it makes me sad. I want to do GP rotations and I want to do the specialty/potential internship rotations and everything in between.

In the previous curriculum at UCD as a small animal track person, I had exactly 6 weeks total of elective rotations including vacation. I wanted to do 2 weeks of food animal so that left either skipping vacation or only doing one externship.
 
If you think you might be interested in neuro, I'd actually legit look into going somewhere with a neurologist for at least an externship or two. JMO.



In the previous curriculum at UCD as a small animal track person, I had exactly 6 weeks total of elective rotations including vacation. I wanted to do 2 weeks of food animal so that left either skipping vacation or only doing one externship.
Yes I definitely plan to do that! Do you have any recommendations?
 
Yes I definitely plan to do that! Do you have any recommendations?

Illinois has 2 neurologists that do both medicine and surgery with a decent case load! We have a newish MRI they use multiple times of week for imaging and we'll have new surgery suites by the time you would be there, as far as toys go.
 
Yes I definitely plan to do that! Do you have any recommendations?
UTK also has a neurology service and we do have a residency here so if you're interested in picking the brains of people who pick residents every year, not a bad place to be!
 
I would have to talk to someone further along in our curriculum (@katashark ?). but it looks like we have a fair amount of time scheduled in our curriculum for externships. especially if you plan ahead and take more electives 3rd year.
 
I would have to talk to someone further along in our curriculum (@katashark ?). but it looks like we have a fair amount of time scheduled in our curriculum for externships. especially if you plan ahead and take more electives 3rd year.
I'd say so based on the number of externships it looks like kata has!
 
I would have to talk to someone further along in our curriculum (@katashark ?). but it looks like we have a fair amount of time scheduled in our curriculum for externships. especially if you plan ahead and take more electives 3rd year.
She talked about it some previously too
I've somehow figured it out after working with admin that I only have to be at the vet school for 6 mos of my 4th year. We track in the 4th year. I'm doing a non-traditional track. I need to fulfill a 4 week externship requirement (which I've already scheduled, but other than that, the time is mine. So 20 weeks or so to fill. Usually people have to fill that with electives in order to graduate on this track, but I am done with my electives except for 1 in the spring of 3rd year. So, hoping those weeks lead to many externships and some sort of job. Someone I know at Wisconsin has 30 weeks available though for 4th year, which is insane!
 
She talked about it some previously too
She is doing the alternative pathway, which does have more time unscheduled. I've considered that pathway as well as SA. unless I can find a good reason not to, I will likely do SA

it does make me sad she said that's the only thing she likes about OSU 🙁
 
Yes I definitely plan to do that! Do you have any recommendations?
If you don't wanna travel too far WSU has neuro-medicine and surgery along with a great integrative department for after surgery rehab and care. I believe we have 2 neurology faculty then of course all the residency and internship people. We also have a brand new MRI as of ~3 weeks ago.
 
She is doing the alternative pathway, which does have more time unscheduled. I've considered that pathway as well as SA. unless I can find a good reason not to, I will likely do SA

it does make me sad she said that's the only thing she likes about OSU 🙁

Lol. It's not really the only thing. I'm just ready to not be in school honestly. So, basically if you track SA, you don't have to complete as many electives overall (I think ~9 credits maybe?). You could easily get a bunch of those done in 3rd year, then finish up the rest during 4th year. You'll have time for externships in your 4th year regardless if you got most electives done 3rd year or not. You could also take it easy on yourself 3rd year, complete your 9 electives during 4th year and still have time for an externship. You must do a minimum of 4 weeks extern during your 4th year, split up however you would like (4 weeks at 1 place, 4 places for 1 week, etc). It's super easy. The only requirement is under a DVM. The main pros about the non-trad track is tons of time for externships (or vacation if you wanted that) and less time on the really extra crappy rotations. The main con is getting ~17 elective credits completed, but the upcoming classes have really taken the ball and ran with it as far as getting things approved, and I love it. It's no longer just a list of how many times I've annoyed the curriculum committee to approve stuff.
 
Heard back from my parent's IM vet in Portland. He said I can shadow him when I get back from CR. Super excited for that!! Thanks everyone here, I feel like you gave me the little push I needed to go outside my comfort zone a little and email him
 
Just looking for more note taking app possibilities--Most of you seem to use OneNote or Notability, does anyone have any reviews on GoodNotes they can share? I just want to weigh all the options regarding which app I should get.
 
Just looking for more note taking app possibilities--Most of you seem to use OneNote or Notability, does anyone have any reviews on GoodNotes they can share? I just want to weigh all the options regarding which app I should get.

I love good notes! It’s very similar to notability, from what I hear. I’ve been using it for about a year and really like it. I’m able to make hand written notes on lectures, pdf files, screenshots. I can then print my notes directly from GoodNotes.
 
So glad you said this. I was torn between an iPad Pro and a 13.5” surface book. I absolutely want someone I can keep on my lap and you can’t comfortably do that with a surface pro. I’ve tried for the last 3 years with surface pros I’ve used for work and it’s just not possible with the kickstand and keyboard. And the iPad Pro is only a mobile OS so you can’t use a mouse. That wasn’t enough to be a dealbreaker but knowing I literally can’t use it to take exams is.

Just realized autocorrect made it “someone I can keep on my lap.” I’m not changing it.

so i was actually looking into buying a new gaming laptop that was also good for vet school stuff like lockdown, and i was looking into an MSI...would that be ok
 
so i was actually looking into buying a new gaming laptop that was also good for vet school stuff like lockdown, and i was looking into an MSI...would that be ok
Check with your schools you’re applying to and make sure they don’t require a specific laptop first before spending money on one!!
 
so i was actually looking into buying a new gaming laptop that was also good for vet school stuff like lockdown, and i was looking into an MSI...would that be ok
Yea any windows computer (or OS X for that matter) works with lockdown. MSI is a good brand in my opinion and they overall make good laptops.
 
so i was actually looking into buying a new gaming laptop that was also good for vet school stuff like lockdown, and i was looking into an MSI...would that be ok
As somebody with an MSI, I purchased a dedicated school computer for vet school. I used my MSI during my masters... While it got the job done, it was annoying. I was dependent on a charger and it was heavy as hell. If you can get over both of those, then go for it!
 
As somebody with an MSI, I purchased a dedicated school computer for vet school. I used my MSI during my masters... While it got the job done, it was annoying. I was dependent on a charger and it was heavy as hell. If you can get over both of those, then go for it!
That depends entirely on which model you get. There are dozens of models, and it’s not like getting a MacBook where there’s little variation in battery life and weight. MSI focuses on making gaming laptops. The specs vary widely. There are laptops that are several pounds, and ones that are only a few pounds and weigh around that same as a MacBook Pro. The battery life also depends on what you do with it and the model you have.
 
Get the one that's negative pounds. #thinandlight #saveyourbackneckshoulders Small but powerful beast to/from class and rotations or whatever coupled with separate keyboard, mouse, laptop stand (at eye level) + a nice 24", 27" or larger monitor at home for studying, and you're golden. (Or if lazy, hook up laptop to living room TV via long HDMI cable or WiDi/Miracast for the poor but awesome way to study from the couch. PowerPoint and lecture on a big TV? Yes please. But to reduce eye strain and see text clearly, make sure TV is in "PC" or "gaming" mode with pure input from computer and preferably a TV with 4:4:4 Chroma Subsampling.)

Young 20s me didn't care about laptop weight. Take a beast to class every day, or work, or airport/conference for that matter, and that extra couple/few pounds becomes stoopid. I commiserate if you wanna get your game on, but, I dunno, maybe get a lighter gaming laptop or find some other compromise. Or get a light laptop with Thunderbolt 3 + external GPU enclosure. Or laptop for school + console. Or laptop for school + gaming desktop for home.

Bottom line, save yo' spine. JMHO.
 
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Young 20s me didn't care about laptop weight. Take a beast to class every day, or work, or airport/conference for that matter, and that extra couple/few pounds becomes stoopid.
Reasons why I have an iPad for class and only use my laptop for exams (and Netflix)
It’s only like 5# but that 5# is HEAVY.
 
a nice 24", 27" or larger monitor at home for studying...

I have a 43" monitor at my new job and it is marvelous. I can see ALL the things, all at once! I highly recommend if you need more than 2-3 windows open at once...I really need at least 8 windows visible all at once for best workflow at work and it is really nice.
 
I love good notes! It’s very similar to notability, from what I hear. I’ve been using it for about a year and really like it. I’m able to make hand written notes on lectures, pdf files, screenshots. I can then print my notes directly from GoodNotes.
Have you used goodnotes for Mac at all?
 
Hoping to revive this thread and ask about shoe recommendations.

Also any random recommendations; I saw someone mentioned a slow cooker is super helpful and another person recommended a book stand/lumbar support.
 
Someone say shoes??


We were required to buy tingleys for anatomy lab as well as for when working with the cows. Otherwise I wear sneakers in the summer and boots in the winter when it's rainy/snowy. For small animal hospital, I use sneakers as they're approaching their last leg as they're going to get dirty, and I don't like to traipse around my apartment in them as I have a fur child at home.

Might be time to invest in some pumps and throw them into the rotation, though...
 
I gave up and bought some danskos in October and they've been amazing, I wear them all the time now and they've really helped with foot and back pain from standing all day
Any particular style?
 
Shoes for clinics or lecture?

For lecture, if you don't have a dress code at school I'd just wear whatever you normally wear. I basically live in my Blundstones, unless I'm throwing on rubber boots for large animal labs or anatomy. I've seen 4th years in clinics also wearing Blundstones, but I feel like that's basically at the line for what the faculty would find acceptable for professional dress.
 
Shoes for clinics or lecture?

For lecture, if you don't have a dress code at school I'd just wear whatever you normally wear. I basically live in my Blundstones, unless I'm throwing on rubber boots for large animal labs or anatomy. I've seen 4th years in clinics also wearing Blundstones, but I feel like that's basically at the line for what the faculty would find acceptable for professional dress.
Just in general - I know first few years, it’s mainly down to preference, but I know there’s also a lot of standing and lifting and my current shoes aren’t even great for work or a volunteer shift. Something water resistant or proof is a huge plus
 
I wore an old pair of rain boots for anatomy lab because they could be rinsed off if I got anything on them. A good idea to wear them for LA anatomy stuff for sure because they can get juicier, but I wore them for SA stuff too. If you don’t want to wear rain boots, definitely have an old pair of shoes dedicated to anatomy lab that you can toss at the end of the year.
 
@somebun broseph. or brosephine probs since we 99% ladiessss up in hurr. Where are you going to school, yo? Lifting a lot of things??? If your shoes aren't comfy for a long shift, get those danskos meats was talking about (most likely the clogs, and if you need more specifics, get those jungle metallic ones or multi-leopard, cuz you know, #vetlife and all that. New balances or orthotics, maybe? If you need waterproof, wear rain boots like skibag suggested. Or... $35 tingleys. Tingleys. Ting leys.

It's saturday and in true zooster fashion, I just cracked my first hydration bottle. This means I'm gonna be pushin' those 'tings hard.
 
@somebun broseph. or brosephine probs since we 99% ladiessss up in hurr. Where are you going to school, yo? Lifting a lot of things??? If your shoes aren't comfy for a long shift, get those danskos meats was talking about (most likely the clogs, and if you need more specifics, get those jungle metallic ones or multi-leopard, cuz you know, #vetlife and all that. New balances or orthotics, maybe? If you need waterproof, wear rain boots like skibag suggested. Or... $35 tingleys. Tingleys. Ting leys.

It's saturday and in true zooster fashion, I just cracked my first hydration bottle. This means I'm gonna be pushin' those 'tings hard.
I have great rain boots so I’ll focus on looking into danskos and such. Thanks!
 
I wore an old pair of rain boots for anatomy lab because they could be rinsed off if I got anything on them. A good idea to wear them for LA anatomy stuff for sure because they can get juicier, but I wore them for SA stuff too. If you don’t want to wear rain boots, definitely have an old pair of shoes dedicated to anatomy lab that you can toss at the end of the year.
I also wore an old pair of rain boots for anatomy lab for large animal anatomy because those cadavers had so much fluid all the time. It’s slimy and gross and I needed to not have that smell with me in my life hahaha
 
Any particular style?
I got these ones because I am a child

50662.jpg


I also recommend trying some on in a store even if you intend to eventually order online because the intended fit is different from most shoes and they also use EU sizing, so it's good to try them on before you buy them so you don't have to waste time to return and re-ship a different size if you get them online.

They're pricier than I normally spend on shoes but so worth it.

Also, is recommend getting some of those socks that you use for low flats or toms or whatever, because other socks stick out pretty far from them and if you're like me your socks will be ridiculous and won't go with the clogs at all. You can wear them without socks I guess, but my feet are gross and sweaty and I don't like doing that.
 
I got these ones because I am a child

50662.jpg


I also recommend trying some on in a store even if you intend to eventually order online because the intended fit is different from most shoes and they also use EU sizing, so it's good to try them on before you buy them so you don't have to waste time to return and re-ship a different size if you get them online.

They're pricier than I normally spend on shoes but so worth it.

Also, is recommend getting some of those socks that you use for low flats or toms or whatever, because other socks stick out pretty far from them and if you're like me your socks will be ridiculous and won't go with the clogs at all. You can wear them without socks I guess, but my feet are gross and sweaty and I don't like doing that.
Thank you! Those are lovely and I want 12. I actually saw some that are prismatic/holographic looking - they don’t seem to be sold anymore but I want them so bad

What I saw online agrees with your comment on the sizing - I'm definitely going to try to get out to a shoe store that has them and try a few.

I swear by compression socks which typically go to your knee or thigh so if you see a weirdo with no skin showing it’s just me.
 
@somebun broseph. or brosephine probs since we 99% ladiessss up in hurr. Where are you going to school, yo? Lifting a lot of things??? If your shoes aren't comfy for a long shift, get those danskos meats was talking about (most likely the clogs, and if you need more specifics, get those jungle metallic ones or multi-leopard, cuz you know, #vetlife and all that. New balances or orthotics, maybe? If you need waterproof, wear rain boots like skibag suggested. Or... $35 tingleys. Tingleys. Ting leys.

It's saturday and in true zooster fashion, I just cracked my first hydration bottle. This means I'm gonna be pushin' those 'tings hard.
@WildZoo
 
I got these ones because I am a child

50662.jpg


I also recommend trying some on in a store even if you intend to eventually order online because the intended fit is different from most shoes and they also use EU sizing, so it's good to try them on before you buy them so you don't have to waste time to return and re-ship a different size if you get them online.

They're pricier than I normally spend on shoes but so worth it.

Also, is recommend getting some of those socks that you use for low flats or toms or whatever, because other socks stick out pretty far from them and if you're like me your socks will be ridiculous and won't go with the clogs at all. You can wear them without socks I guess, but my feet are gross and sweaty and I don't like doing that.
Oh man I tired them on and they were so comfortable! I'm just sad because even when they felt alright my heel would just completely come out and no amount of sizing made any difference 🙁 I wish they worked for me but yeah if they fit for anyone they feel amazing
 
I'm just gonna throw this out.... I'm a weirdo and hate runners. Hate them! But I needed a new pair because there are some situations where they're necessary. I'm not wearing leather boots with a 2" heel in the OR. I found myself at Sport Chek and wound up getting a Merrill trail running shoe. And they're the first ones in... well, ever really... that I don't despise. In case there are any others like me kicking around on here.
 
I got these ones because I am a child

50662.jpg


I also recommend trying some on in a store even if you intend to eventually order online because the intended fit is different from most shoes and they also use EU sizing, so it's good to try them on before you buy them so you don't have to waste time to return and re-ship a different size if you get them online.

They're pricier than I normally spend on shoes but so worth it.

Also, is recommend getting some of those socks that you use for low flats or toms or whatever, because other socks stick out pretty far from them and if you're like me your socks will be ridiculous and won't go with the clogs at all. You can wear them without socks I guess, but my feet are gross and sweaty and I don't like doing that.
Those are amazing and I need them
 
Thank you! Those are lovely and I want 12. I actually saw some that are prismatic/holographic looking - they don’t seem to be sold anymore but I want them so bad

What I saw online agrees with your comment on the sizing - I'm definitely going to try to get out to a shoe store that has them and try a few.

I swear by compression socks which typically go to your knee or thigh so if you see a weirdo with no skin showing it’s just me.
You actually just reminded me that compression socks are on my list of things to eventually pick up for clinics. Simple ones would go just fine with these, it's really that I own too many bright rainbow socks and it's too much going on down there lol
Oh man I tired them on and they were so comfortable! I'm just sad because even when they felt alright my heel would just completely come out and no amount of sizing made any difference 🙁 I wish they worked for me but yeah if they fit for anyone they feel amazing
As your foot came completely out of the shoe, or just your heel came up? From my understanding your heel is supposed to come out of the shoe when you walk, it's some weird thing related to the ergonomics
 
Thank you! Those are lovely and I want 12. I actually saw some that are prismatic/holographic looking - they don’t seem to be sold anymore but I want them so bad

What I saw online agrees with your comment on the sizing - I'm definitely going to try to get out to a shoe store that has them and try a few.

I swear by compression socks which typically go to your knee or thigh so if you see a weirdo with no skin showing it’s just me.
Were they these?

 
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