Who Uses VIN?

[LittleBit]

Just wondering, as I tend to spend an insane amount of time reading all manner of threads on VIN. If you're a US Vet student, chances are, you have a free membership to VIN & I highly recommend it.

VIN (Veterinary Information Network) is a compilation of forums, journal abstracts, conference proceedings, and an insane amount of other things. Definitely helpful for PBL, and just general knowledge of what's going on in various practices.

I'm probably not doing it justice, so if you're on VIN, feel free to contribute

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[laurafinn]

I love VIN. It helps me see the light at the end of the tunnel, and puts the basic sciences into perspective!

 

[Boxsterluv]

I use VIN a lot because it has easy access to Plumb's online.. It's definitely a great resource.

 

[AuburnPreVet]

Addicted.

 

[jfitzpatri8]

I want to know what you spend time on there doing? Other than reading the entire thread on the Banfield 7, I haven't found myself hanging out there. Any suggestions on what would be a good search term? I do use the links to journals, and read the newsletter (as well as the ones from IVIS, AVMA, Michigan VMA, AAEP, and ARV).

J

I think maybe its because I think VIN is more SA related than LA... am I wrong?

 

[PAThbrd]

love vin! i spend most of my time on the message boards. i really like the 'from the trenches', 'professional stresses', and 'humor' boards, and the radiology board is fun to look at pictures. some of the rounds are really interesting, especially the ones geared towards students.

vin definately rocks. the class of 2011, you guys should sign up as soon as you have your vet school email!

 

[LittleBit]

I started out using VIN just for PBL cases or specific questions. I gradually started perusing various boards. It's nice to hit the "find new" on the message boards and flip through to see if any subject interests you.
I, personally, spend quite a bit of time on anesthesia, orthopedics, from the trenches, emergency, professional stresses and a few others.

There are a couple of folders for large animal: equine, some from the trenches, ruminants large & small, & swine are the big ones. Also, some of the more specialty specific folders have topics about large animals.

I'm mostly a lurker, but one of these days, I swear I'll actually post on VIN

 

[laurafinn]

I like From the Trenches - some of the stories there are hysterical in a sort of "I can't believe people sometimes" way - like the hamster and the burning building. Some posts are a good heads up as to what practicing is really like. Anesthesia/Analgesia is interesting - helped motivate me to memorize my receptors. Ethics, Dermatology, Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, New Grads, Avian and Ruminants are also boards I hit regularly. I think Radiology would be good for me, but somehow don't get over there as often as I should. I do wish there was more LA stuff there. I don't post on VIN, just lurk. I learn better through anecdotes, just seem to retain random facts easier if there's context, so VIN really helps me.

 

[VeganSoprano]

I'm still in the pre-vet phase and working as a "tech" at a large small animal hospital...I am officially a VSPN addict.

 

[birdvet2006]

I use VIN nearly daily. I am addicted to the message boards, and also use it as a tool to look up information (through the search engine and using Associate). I also buy books on occasion from their bookstore. I have been a VIN member since 2002.

The message boards I read: avian (of course), from the trenches, humor, "life away from the office", "new and not so new grads", and "vet students and house staff".

I think I might have a mental breakdown if I read more than one main "real medicine" board (I have tried it)...it would take too long. It already takes long enough to read the above boards every day (probably more than once per day is the norm when I have time).

 

[stinyexoticvet]

I use VIN all the time. It has been soooo much help.

 

[KittenKiller]

Ditto everything everyone's said about VIN...except I wish they'd update their site design/layout to at least, oh say 1996 standards. I feel like an old lady trying to operate a TV remote when I look at their home page

 

[birdvet2006]

Ditto everything everyone's said about VIN...except I wish they'd update their site design/layout to at least, oh say 1996 standards. I feel like an old lady trying to operate a TV remote when I look at their home page

I'm sure Paul (Pion) would like to hear from you. He's forever trying to make VIN better. I had lunch with him one time - that's how badly/sadly I am addicted to and known on VIN! There must be a way to contact him - find it on VIN somehow.

 

[Azawakh]

As a student I have not found a need to use VIN. I have boarded specialists that are very available for questions and suggestions. I imagine when I am practicing that depending on the immediate availability of specialists, colleagues, etc that I may use VIN. It seems like it is more for people in general practice that do not have ready access to boarded specialists.

It is interesting to browse sometimes.

 

[birdvet2006]

As a student I have not found a need to use VIN. I have boarded specialists that are very available for questions and suggestions. I imagine when I am practicing that depending on the immediate availability of specialists, colleagues, etc that I may use VIN. It seems like it is more for people in general practice that do not have ready access to boarded specialists.

It is interesting to browse sometimes.

Azawakh, you make it sound like you come from the "high and mighty land of specialists". Well - I worked an entire year in close association with specialists last year (internship). I worked with specialists in vet school, less closely. No matter, throughout I have found VIN to be invaluable and I have grown tremendously from it.

VIN is not just for asking questions. I find it useful to read about cases that I do not get to experience. As a vet student, I did not have access to clinical cases in school until the last year. Even so, we had practically zero exposure to avian and exotic cases (an example of a specialty area; most vet schools are lacking in at least one specialty area, such as dentistry or exotics). VIN served as a wonderful place to read about other people's cases - from around the world. Even once you start working as a vet in real life, and are gaining experience with a certain area, every case is fairly unique. You can constantly learn from each case and from what other vets do to handle it. Not every specialist handles a case the same. Just ask an internist how they workup and treat an IMHA case, or an IBD. Then ask another internist from a different hospital or region of the world - usually, their answers are different. Vet medicine is not just a science, it's an art.

VIN has also been invaluable to me as a networking tool. I have met all sorts of vets from around the world on VIN, and especially I have met specialists whom have become true life mentors. I have met them in person and done externships with them (when I was a student). I have become known to people on VIN, even if I have not met them yet. For instance, when I went to interview for a residency it was easy to arrange and I felt almost at ease because I knew the head of the avian/exotics department through VIN (and they knew me/my level of knowledge). For a different residency, a VIN colleague (whom I had never met until he knew of me from VIN) put in a good word for me.

I cannot praise VIN highly enough. I think the important thing is to get on VIN and just use it. Read and read more. Don't just use it as a tool for research.

 

[Azawakh]

I appreciate your candor Birdvet. I apologize for coming across that way. I am new to VIN and even though that is my current perception of VIN I can see that perception changing as I grow as a clinician. Veterinary medicine is an art and I think we benefit greatly from the experiences of each other.

 

[eaglemeag]

Yuri, despite being in a similar position as you this summer, I've found myself on VIN at least weekly if not more! Yes, the specialists at our school are fantastic at their positions and at teaching... but I also find it useful to see how people at other hospitals/universities have treated similar cases.

(As a fun aside, it's also really interesting to see certain names dropped on VIN. I know of one clinician at our school -- for the sake of professionalism I won't name -- who gets a lot of eyerolls )

I doubt I'll have time to read through VIN once school starts up again... but I've found it a really nice way to keep my head in the game, so to speak, during the summertime.

 

[eaglemeag]

VIN has also been invaluable to me as a networking tool.

Birdvet, I'm curious as to how you went about networking on VIN. I don't know what the "code of conduct" is there, and I feel unentitled to post anything there, much less anything that appears to be for personal benefit. I'd love to start networking now, years before I'm looking for an internship, but... well, I suck at it in real life too.

 

[chris03333]

Birdvet, I'm curious as to how you went about networking on VIN. I don't know what the "code of conduct" is there, and I feel unentitled to post anything there, much less anything that appears to be for personal benefit. I'd love to start networking now, years before I'm looking for an internship, but... well, I suck at it in real life too.

You can post what ever you want to network. They are very receptive to students. There is also a coffee house chat on Tuesday evenings on the rounds boards. When I was a student, I got housing for my externships just by posting on VIN (I just asked if anyone had tips on finding student priced housing in the ... area.) I also have asked questions about medical/surgical cases as a student. It is nice to get a lot of opinions on things.

 

[spacecow512]

I am working on ideas of how to improve the relationship between VIN and the students, if you have ideas that will like to share with someone within the borg, AIM me!

AlejandroVetMed

that goes for you birdvet

 

[QTkitty]

OK so maybe I'm just the most ******ed person on the planet but I get so lost on VIN. I actually registered for it a few months ago and have tried looking for interesting things on the message boards but can't seem to figure out where people post. Every time I try to get on the boards the messages are SUPER old. I have found some of the articles to be interesting however. I think that if I ever figure out how to use VIN it will be very useful but until then, I'll stick to SDN.

 

[JIKJen124]

Ok... I'll take the cluelessness one step further... I can't seem to figure out how to actually READ the boards. Every time I select what I want to look at, I never find an "enter" or anything to actually TAKE me there. I've gotta agree with QTKitty - it seems like a great resource, if I could actually make it work.

 

[eaglemeag]

Ok... I'll take the cluelessness one step further... I can't seem to figure out how to actually READ the boards. Every time I select what I want to look at, I never find an "enter" or anything to actually TAKE me there. I've gotta agree with QTKitty - it seems like a great resource, if I could actually make it work.

OKay, so you are at the search screen, right? ("Select Board/Folder" on the left and "Find Since..." on the right.) Pick a topic you want to find something about, and type it in the search box on the right. Then use the buttons *above* the search box to pick your time frame. I usually click "Find all messages", and I don't bother specifying a board on the left. If you hit the search button, you get a list of folders on the left where the site found posts relevant to your search. Double click a folder, and it will give you a sub-list under that of posts within the folder. Click on a post, and the thread will appear on the right

You shouldn't need any "enter" buttons or such... if you're clicking on posts in the scroll menu and they're not coming up, maybe it's your browser?

 

[birdvet2006]

Here's a different approach (the way I do it every day, often multiple times per day):

I am in the "message boards" area. I have a list of favourite folders that I go through in order (i.e. avian first, then from the trenches, then humor etc.). I select "avian" for instance, as the folder I want to view messages in. I then go to the right column and click "Find New". This will bring me to the avian folder, showing *only messages that are new since the last time I clicked "Find New."* After I read all those messages, I go back to "message boards" and choose the next folder I want to read. Usually that will be "From the Trenches". I select that folder and then click on "Redo Find New". I then read the new messages in that folder. An easy mistake to make is to click "Find New" again (rather than "Redo Find New"). That will only show you new messages since the last exact minute you clicked "find new" (and usually there aren't any messages since it has been only a few minutes). Once I finish going down my list of favourite folders with "redo find new" - I am done. When I return to the message boards again (possibly later that day), I can click "Find New" and get a lot more messages.

You can also go through the folders and click "Find Since" 2 days or 4 days or 1 hour or whatever time period you want to read messages in. When I visit another folder (not one of my favourites), I usually click "Find since 2 days" because that usually yields a fair amount of messages for me to peruse.

All the folders that people tend to post in are located under the heading "Vet to Vet". Big popular folders: Anesthesia, Internal Medicine, Surgery, Dermatology, Dentistry, Mammals Small & Exotic, From the Trenches, etc. Once you find a folder you really like, you can click the button (from within the folder itself) "Add this folder to my favourites" and you will have it saved under your own special heading (Favourite folders or such) when you return to "Message Boards".

Hope this isn't too confusing!

 

[frozen_canadian]

How much is VIN per year once you are a vet? Its free for us students, but I was told the other day it costs hundreds of dollars a year if you are a graduated vet. Is this true?

 

[Bill59]

I think it's $680 a year. There are discounts for new graduates, group rates and I think it depends on if you pay monthly or yearly. Anyway, the details are on their website.

 

[spacecow512]

its 100% free for vet students and its like 14 bucks for new grads.

 

[LittleBit]

I'm definitely trying to take full advantage of free VIN now.
For the vets out there, is it easy to find an employer who has VIN membership as a benefit or do most pay for it on their own?

 

[spacecow512]

Did anybody mention that all the CE courses are for free when you are a student?

thats like U$ 2K in CE!

 

[LittleBit]

I was actually wondering about the CE courses recently. Unfortunately no one I asked at school knew anything about them. Thanks for answering my unvoiced (or I suppose written in this case) question

 

[spacecow512]

when you sign on a CE course, there will be an area where you can state that you are a student, also, when it ask for to pick a payment method, pick "other".

Also, every year there are some free CE courses for everyone.

If you want to take more advantage of VIN as a student, contact me, my AIM is AlejandroVetMed

 

[Orthonut]

VCA allows you to use your CE money for VIN, which incedentally isn't just free for students, it is free for anyone in academia-interns, residents, profs, what have you-so long as they're using a .edu email account.

Many smaller clinics that are independantly owned also allow DVMs/VMDs to use CE dollars for VIN membership.

I am in love with the VIN bookstore, I spend oodles of money there.

 

[LittleBit]

Good to know, Orthonut.

(By the way, I love your username. I was able to dabble in a small bit of orthopedics this summer, which was fabulous.)

I also recently discovered the coffee house chat that occurs on Tuesday nights (if I'm remembering correctly). It was fun to be a "fly on the wall" while the Drs discussed a case and then briefly chat afterwards.