Current 1st year at UTK!
Curriculum: modified systems approach. First year is mostly 'background' classes, and once you get into second year we start with systems of the body. Here are links to the
curriculum and
pre-clinical electives that are offered. Starting second semester of 3rd year, we transition from didactics to clinical rotations. Our didactics are mostly lecture based, but a lot of classes have labs associated such as anatomy, physiology/histology, anesthesiology, pathology, bacteriology, parasitology, A&I, surgery, etc. A lot of the system classes have labs too. For example, the second years in derm did a MCT removal lab. We have some PBL, but only for like 1 week per semester. More info on that is in the curriculum document I linked. So far, I enjoy the curriculum.
Clinical experience: Starts first year. We have "clinical exposure" week each year where we spend a week in the teaching hospital shadowing different departments. There are other pre-clinical opportunities to get involved if you want, such as paid and volunteer positions in all areas of the hospital. Like stated, we have a year and a half of clinics (non tracking). While non tracking, there is plenty of room to tailor your experience with the electives.
Overall culture: The professors truly care about you and your success. There is also a veterinary social work program (one of the few programs in the country) housed right at the vet school so they are very active in our well being. I have personally met with a social worker a few times when I was dealing with some mental health issues. UT also has a small class size so you get super close with the professors! Our anatomy prof even bought us all Christmas presents lol. Literally every prof I've had so far are super understanding and very very flexible if you need anything. That's another thing I like- UT is very VERY receptive to student input. There's even a chair on our class E-board that works with the scheduling people and professors so that if we feel there is something that we want changed, we can voice that. for example we thought we had too many exams in one week last semester so we were able to request study days in between exams, which ended up being approved which made finals so much more bearable. Also, UT for the most part only has midterms and finals for each class. Some classes like anatomy and physio have 3 exams though. But I like that better compared to having an exam every week like some other schools. It really allows you to sit with the information and learn it rather than being concerned about that week's exam. My cohort is super nice and supportive of each other. We all share study materials, host parties, etc. Of course there is some minor drama and cliques here and there but you'll find that at any school.
Knoxville: It's a cute city. Plenty of stuff to do. Gatlinburg/smokies are like an hour away. Lots of good hiking. UTK is very much a college city so there's a lot of bars, sporting events, etc. The city gets congested during major games which can be annoying. Not sure what your political views are but being in TN, even in a city, there's def a more conservative feel.
