UPenn Curriculum

[SoundofMusic]

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Hello everyone,

I have been looking on UPenn's website for a detailed description of their veterinary curriculum, but the only documents I have found are lists of the core and elective classes. Does anyone know how the curriculum actually works? How does one take so many classes (8?) at once in such a short period of time? Perhaps the frequency or duration of each class is different than undergrad classes? Any explanation from someone with access to the Vet UPenn student handbook would be great. Non-affiliated people aren't allowed access to the student handbook.

Thanks!
SoundofMusic

 

[bunnity]

First year you learn about the normal animal:

First Semester:
Anatomy
Histology
Developmental Biology
Biochemistry
Intro to Clinical Med I
Some research class they introduced this year

Second Semester:
More anatomy
Physiology
Neuroscience
Immunology
Intro to Clinical Med II and III
Radiology
Nutrition

First year electives: Wildlife I, Wildlife II, Human Animal Bond, Global Health

Second year you learn about the diseased animal and start learning about treatments:

First Semester:
Pathology
Parasitology
Microbiology
Surgical Principles
Introduction to Clinical Med IV (shifts in the hospitals)

Second Semester:
Medicine & Surgery I (Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Eye, Mouth, Esophagus)
Clinical Pathology
Anesthesia
Pharmacology/Toxicology
Epidemiology
Public Health
Infectious & Metabolic Diseases
Poultry, Swine, & Dairy Med
Orthopedics
Introduction to Clinical Med IV continued (shifts in the hospitals)

Second year electives: Swine Neonatology, Equine Neonatology, Global Health, Human Animal Bond

Third year: Third year finishes up with the diseased animal and treatments. Third year gets a little more complicated with the schedule. --The first semester is normal classroom work.
--The second semester is split into two blocks: large animal block and small animal block. They are what they sound like... a series of classes (all elective) all about those particular animals.
--You can choose to take both blocks, one block, or neither block.
--If you take both blocks, you enter clinics right after spring semester third year is over. If you skip a block, you enter clinics during that block.

Fall Semester:
Medicine & Surgery II and II (rest of the body)
Reproduction
Clinical Exercises aka learning to spay
Genetics
Dermatology
Behavior
Ethics
Emerging & Exotic Diseases
Intro to Clinical Med V (SOAPs, hospital paperwork)
Lab Animal Med

Third year has tons and tons of electives both semesters.

Fourth year officially starts the summer after third year but if you skip a block or blocks you enter clinics as early as spring semester third year. The core rotations are:

Large Animal Med
Large Animal Surgery
Large Animal Emergency
Small Animal Med
Small Animal Surgery
Small Animal Emergency

Everything else is elective. You pick a track of small, large, food, or mixed, and those have additional requirements, but your schedule is super flexible. I get 8 weeks of vacation and 14 weeks of outside rotations (this will vary from person to person).


Hope that helps!

 

[bunnity]

To answer your other questions: With the fall classes, yes you are taking them all at once. With the spring classes, the semester is loosely split into quarters, so some classes only last half of the spring semester (like immuno) but some run the whole semester (like physio). So you're probably taking about 2/3 of the classes in the spring semester at any given time.

Each class has a given amount of credits so a class that has 11 credits like Anatomy means you'll be spending more time on it versus a class that has 4 credits like Clin Path. Each credit equals 8 hour long lectures so a 4 credit class has about 32 hours of lecture. But bear in mind that time in the lab also factors in so it's more complicated than that. For each hour of lecture I spend anywhere from 1-3 hours studying outside of class... I think I average around 2 but everyone's different. The first two years come out at about 160 credits total. So you can figure out the time commitment... yeah, it's insane. It's going to be insane anywhere though.

More practically, first year you usually have class 9-5 and second year you usually have class 9-3 (sometimes later) plus hospital shifts. Stay tuned for third year... haven't done it yet.

 

[SoundofMusic]

Thank you so much for the answers! But how are people able to take any electives during the first and second years if the schedule is so heavy? Also, if I "skip" a block, does that mean I will have less credits than everyone else?

Also, are you allowed to go abroad for some of your clinical rotations?

Thanks!
Aria

 

[bunnity]

Thank you so much for the answers! But how are people able to take any electives during the first and second years if the schedule is so heavy?

The electives are not as intensive as the regular classes, and you would just take 1-2 electives a semester.

Also, if I "skip" a block, does that mean I will have less credits than everyone else?

No because you will be in clinical rotations during that time and you get credit for that too.

Also, are you allowed to go abroad for some of your clinical rotations?

Thanks!
Aria

Not positive but I think so.

 

[StartingoverVet]

Thank you so much for the answers! But how are people able to take any electives during the first and second years if the schedule is so heavy? Also, if I "skip" a block, does that mean I will have less credits than everyone else?

Also, are you allowed to go abroad for some of your clinical rotations?

Thanks!
Aria

So if you enter rotations early, you have to compete with 4th years for spots, so a lot of people to external rotations, they can be (pretty much) anywhere. You don't get grades for them though. I believe you can only do them if you have enough extra credits from electives or summer credits etc. So long answer to your question is you can, but they aren't like normal rotations.

 

[bunnity]

So if you enter rotations early, you have to compete with 4th years for spots, so a lot of people to external rotations, they can be (pretty much) anywhere. You don't get grades for them though. I believe you can only do them if you have enough extra credits from electives or summer credits etc. So long answer to your question is you can, but they aren't like normal rotations.

You can get credit for up to 3 private practice rotations, and for rotations at other vet schools, and for rotations at zoos/shelters/etc.

 

[StartingoverVet]

You can get credit for up to 3 private practice rotations, and for rotations at other vet schools, and for rotations at zoos/shelters/etc.

credit...not graded though... i believe.

 

[bunnity]

credit...not graded though... i believe.

Gotcha.

 

[Ben and Me]

You can get credit for up to 3 private practice rotations, and for rotations at other vet schools, and for rotations at zoos/shelters/etc.

Credited private practice rotations are Pass/Fail.

Rotations at other veterinary schools are graded just like Penn rotations - A/B/C/Fail - and the grades do appear on your transcript. 🙂

No idea about zoos/shelters.

 

[GellaBella]

I don't have much to add except to say that everyone else is doing it and it is all very possible. It seems like a lot on paper and it is a lot in reality but I don't imagine it's any worse than any other veterinary school in the country.

I get 8 weeks of vacation and 14 weeks of outside rotations (this will vary from person to person).

Whoa!! Are you planning on skipping both blocks?!

 

[bunnity]

I don't have much to add except to say that everyone else is doing it and it is all very possible. It seems like a lot on paper and it is a lot in reality but I don't imagine it's any worse than any other veterinary school in the country.



Whoa!! Are you planning on skipping both blocks?!

Yep 🙂 That's the (hopeful) plan!

 

[StartingoverVet]

I get 8 weeks of vacation and 14 weeks of outside rotations (this will vary from person to person).

How many extra credits net you a week of vacation?

 

[GellaBella]

Yep 🙂 That's the (hopeful) plan!

Sweet! I'm playing with the idea of doing that as well! If I skip one block I have 8 weeks of vacation, and 3 private practice externships or something, I can't really remember, but I want more so I'm thinking of skipping second block as well.

SOV - I can't remember. I think it says in the student handbook. I took just about every elective i could...actually I think I DID take every elective I could and when I sat down with Sarah W. (she'll tal kto you guys at the end of 2nd year about all this) she basically said I have tons of extra credits for tons of vacation if i want.

You can also look into the 3rd & 4th year planning of learn.vet to get a better idea too