U of A (3yrs) vs a 4 year school

[beepboopbop1]

Hi all,

So far this cycle, I've been accepted into my IS UofA and waitlisted (OOS) at WSU and Iowa. I just got an interview invite from Michigan today.
My (current) plan as for my career is to specialize in small animal surgery. From what I understand, to be a competitive applicant for internships and residencies I would need to maintain a high GPA in vet school, take part in summer externships, and do some strong networking (pls correct me if I'm wrong). Would attending a 3 year school that prevents me from doing summer externships negatively impact my chances in the future of getting an internship/residency? Honestly I have other reasons for not going to UofA as well (lack of breaks=bad for my mental health, I've heard not so great things about the school from people who go there, etc) but this is the big one. I'm pretty high up on the waitlist for Iowa so I'm hoping I get an acceptance from them. The cost difference is about 28K. What do you y'all think?

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[coolprius]

Hi! I have not been a vet student yet so probably take this with a grain of salt. I also don’t want to generalize across an entire student body—I’m sure there are excellent students at all of the schools you are considering! This is just my experience. I work at a large specialty hospital that gets a lot of students on rotations from UofA. One of the doctors I work with feels the UofA students have in general been underprepared and she has been disappointed with the level the clinical year students are at, to the point that she does not want to work with students from their program. This actually led me to withdraw my application. Seeing what the students end up doing on their rotations (mainly writing up records) pushed me in the direction of going to a school that has a teaching hospital. Again I don’t want to speak poorly of an entire student body but the problem is that when students from a specific program get a certain reputation, they aren’t as trusted to take on more hands-on stuff. I hope this might be helpful in your decision.

 

[beepboopbop1]

Hi! I have not been a vet student yet so probably take this with a grain of salt. I also don’t want to generalize across an entire student body—I’m sure there are excellent students at all of the schools you are considering! This is just my experience. I work at a large specialty hospital that gets a lot of students on rotations from UofA. One of the doctors I work with feels the UofA students have in general been underprepared and she has been disappointed with the level the clinical year students are at, to the point that she does not want to work with students from their program. This actually led me to withdraw my application. Seeing what the students end up doing on their rotations (mainly writing up records) pushed me in the direction of going to a school that has a teaching hospital. Again I don’t want to speak poorly of an entire student body but the problem is that when students from a specific program get a certain reputation, they aren’t as trusted to take on more hands-on stuff. I hope this might be helpful in your decision.

Thank you for your reply and your input!!

I've generally heard the same things from the people I know who go to UofA, which has also put me off. Really the only thing keeping UofA in consideration is the In-state tuition and proximity to my family. I don't particularly care about graduating a year early, especially if that gives me less chances at internship/residency in the future.

We repeat the "go to the cheapest school" mantra but in my case I think I'm willing to spend the extra to potentially go to a better established school.

I wish I knew more about the internship/residency process because I don't know if 3 yr vs 4 yr matters in that regard.

 

[Blkthornberry26]

Hey there! I would say the only downside to UofA which I am hearing from current students is that it’s challenging getting into internships/residencies immediately after graduation due to the fact that UofA graduates their classes in late August and the internship year usually begins in June. I heard you may can do the raffling system within VIRMP (Veterinary Internship and Residency Match Program) or wait a year after graduation and do GP, research, or anything those programs would consider to offer you a position.

 

[supershorty]

Surgery is extremely competitive. Personally, I don't think the risk of going to an unproven program - one with a shortened timeframe, to boot - is worth it if the difference over 4 years is 28k. I have several concerns about a truncated program like that (and I've been pretty vocal over the years about my issues with schools that don't have a teaching hospital), but the fact that you graduate at a time of year where you basically have to wait for a full year to be able to match is pretty troubling.

@SocialStigma is a boarded surgeon who would have the best insight on the path to internship and residency.

For me, personally, I wouldn't go to a brand new program (especially not a 3 year one) if I was going after a specialty that competitive. That's just me. Others may feel differently.

 

[sunobo]

I'm not a student at U of A but keep in mind that the current students in their clinical year are the first class to go through the program and their first year was during covid. All new schools have growing pains so it's possible future classes will be better prepared.

The lack of longer breaks is a downside to their program. Vet school is tough enough so taking care of your mental health is very important. As others have said, graduation is in August so you would have to delay trying to match if it's important to you.

As someone said on another thread (and I'm paraphrasing), if hearing go to U of A makes you kinda sad and you have another choice that won't be financially rough, then you may already have your own answer.

 

[SocialStigma]

Disclaimer: I don't know anything about the U of A program aside from what I've just read in this thread.

Personally I would not attend a school that does not have a teaching hospital if I knew I wanted to specialize, if I had another option that does. It puts you at a disadvantage when it comes to networking and getting to know clinicians prior to your clinical year. Many schools have volunteer opportunities for 1st-3rd years to work in the ICU, be on call to set up ORs/clean instruments for emergency surgeries, etc which are great ways to build connections to specialists. I also agree that it puts students at a huge disadvantage if it's true that graduation is in August. Since all rotating internships start in mid-late June, it means trying to awkwardly fill a <1 year gap..not really worth the hassle of getting a state license, interviewing and starting a GP job etc just to leave in a few months. In the end, the year you saved by attending a 3 year instead of a 4 year program will be negated by the fact that you have to wait a year before starting an internship.

 

[beepboopbop1]

Surgery is extremely competitive. Personally, I don't think the risk of going to an unproven program - one with a shortened timeframe, to boot - is worth it if the difference over 4 years is 28k. I have several concerns about a truncated program like that (and I've been pretty vocal over the years about my issues with schools that don't have a teaching hospital), but the fact that you graduate at a time of year where you basically have to wait for a full year to be able to match is pretty troubling.

@SocialStigma is a boarded surgeon who would have the best insight on the path to internship and residency.

For me, personally, I wouldn't go to a brand new program (especially not a 3 year one) if I was going after a specialty that competitive. That's just me. Others may feel differently.

Thanks for your input! I agree that there's no point in going to a 3 year school if I have to wait a whole other year anyways just to match. I think that if UofA is the only school I get into, then I will go there. Otherwise I'll go to an OOS school with a marginally more pricy program if it gives me better opportunities.

 

[beepboopbop1]

As someone said on another thread (and I'm paraphrasing), if hearing go to U of A makes you kinda sad

That is exactly how I feel lol!

Thanks for help!

 

[beepboopbop1]

Disclaimer: I don't know anything about the U of A program aside from what I've just read in this thread.

Personally I would not attend a school that does not have a teaching hospital if I knew I wanted to specialize, if I had another option that does. It puts you at a disadvantage when it comes to networking and getting to know clinicians prior to your clinical year. Many schools have volunteer opportunities for 1st-3rd years to work in the ICU, be on call to set up ORs/clean instruments for emergency surgeries, etc which are great ways to build connections to specialists. I also agree that it puts students at a huge disadvantage if it's true that graduation is in August. Since all rotating internships start in mid-late June, it means trying to awkwardly fill a <1 year gap..not really worth the hassle of getting a state license, interviewing and starting a GP job etc just to leave in a few months. In the end, the year you saved by attending a 3 year instead of a 4 year program will be negated by the fact that you have to wait a year before starting an internship.

I'm really excited to be able to volunteer/work in hospitals while I'm a student and because UofA doesn't have a teaching hospital then I guess I wouldn't be able to do that And the 3 year part of the program doesn't hold appeal for me particularly as well.

Do you have any advice of things that I can do during vet school that would give me better opportunities for getting an internship after I graduate?