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[justdoingmybesttogetin]

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[Drjc1977]

Hi everyone! I’ve been debating about wanting to post this because I already made a somewhat similar post in the RANT thread, and I got some really encouraging words which I really appreciated and meant a lot to me. But lately I’ve been working myself up a lot with anxiety about my program. I know I’ve made a post about this before but now I’m thinking of other options. At the time I was very cost concerned, because my only options were either go IS at U of A or go OOS, where my cheapest options were 80k-100k more. I got into 6 schools this application cycle. Now I have been freaking out about the program and have worked myself up about it because I’m worried about no summer breaks for opportunities and the distributive model, as well as accreditation, and a lack of wildlife/zoo opportunities which is a field I’ve always been interested in but am not sure if it’s what I want because I don’t have much exposure to it. I know, this is all stuff I knew about when I was making my decision and I didn’t like it but I also wanted to throw up at the idea of choosing the more expensive programs. Now I’m just so stressed to the point where I’ve been seriously wondering if I should consider just reapplying, or deferring, or I don’t even know what. Or if I should just take a chill pill and go to the program and that it’ll all work out. I don’t know that I would want to try to move somewhere and establish residency elsewhere, it really not financially feasible for me or my family and I don’t want to be far from them either. I also would feel embarrassed reapplying again and having to ask the same people for letters etc.. and just embarrassed about the whole thing, and I don’t want to take any more time to wait to start my career either. Anyone have any insight on the process of deferring/reapplying or if I have any other options? Or just some more words of encouragement, I’m really needing it (again). I’ve been trying to work on calming my anxiety and have reached out for additional help, but it’s hard when they aren’t in the vet world.

***also not sure if this is the best place to post this question

With respect, take a chill pill. You have the rare luxury of being accepted at 6 schools (congratulations by the way). Pick the school that will best satisfy your needs and wants and then do it.

 

[SkiOtter]

as well as accreditation,

Absolutely do NOT worry about this. They have gotten their letter of reasonable assurance for provisional accreditation. This means that even if they do not get full accreditation for some reason, you will still be treated as if you graduated from an AVMA accredited program because you went there under the assumption that they would gain full accreditation prior to you graduating. If they for some reason don’t get full accreditation with their first graduating class, you aren’t going to be hindered by that and will still be viewed as having graduated from an accredited school. LMU I believe didn’t get accreditation with their first graduating class but did get it after that. Their students still got treated as AVMA accredited graduates without extra hoops like PAVE/ECFVG and just have to do the NAVLE and any state exams.

 

[SkiOtter]

With declining all seats and reapplying, you have to be okay with the small possibility that you never get into vet school on any future cycle. Even though you had a lot of acceptances this round, it may not be the same other cycles. If you are okay with that risk and needing to change your life plans and never be a vet, then that is the only scenario I would even *consider* reapplying if there was a cheaper option, like moving for residency.

 

[Megrim]

A DVM degree is a DVM degree. I don't think the differences in programs will make anywhere near the impact you're fearing. They all meet minimum requirements that will make school very "samey" for a LOT of the time. The advantages and disadvantages are small considering the tiny amount you learn in school compared to how much you'll learn after you graduate; you'll be filling in on your deficiencies for years a new grad no matter what school you went to. The deficiencies will be a little different for every school, but it's not going to be career-changing.

When applying to residency I asked all my old faculty mentors about the "best" places to go and where to avoid and the response was utterly: as long as you pass boards it literally does not matter. Anywhere that meets the minimum requirements is going to be fine.

Also, we're in a time of rapidly developing research on education and curriculum, and many schools around the world are changing their curriculums. Especially since covid, there's been an explosion of publications about the lessons learned, and suggestions for all sorts of new models (classroom, clinical, curricular, assessment, you name it). 100% the school I went to would be a completely different experience to someone going there now, as I think every single aspect has been changed since I graduated. What people say about school X or Y now may not be the case when you start or even between when you start and finish. (Which is a good thing, I mean! Just unpredictable).

Side note about your latest post on things like research and externships... School is hard and busy as it is. NOBODY expects undergrads to be doing research. Nobody expects you to already have all this field experience in your targeted field. You're starting a DVM, not a post-doc. The point is to get the experience during the DVM to find out which field you want to pursue. Internships and residency are for the experience and the research part. The way to be competitive is to not burn yourself out trying to be competitive. Good grades, a positive impression on clinicians, and a few student activities are going to get you a lot farther than if you try to outdo yourself and end up with a mental health breakdown.

Also also, remember how many people change their career paths multiple times. If there was only one path to be successful at zoo medicine, what would all the people who switched into zoo medicine late in their careers do! Even if you went off to be a cattle vet for rural communities in China for 10y or something, you wouldn't then be banned from applying for zoo medicine training. TL;DR a few weeks' difference of hands-on experience in school won't decide your career.

 

[JaynaAli]

I am not belittling your anxiety (I do get it…I am an anxious person as well in regards to certain things), but I do think you should probably just keep moving forward, “take a chill pill” as you put it, and suck it up. And perhaps seem professional help to help you manage the anxiety if you think it’s needed. serious question…what would you gain by deferring a year? Do you truly think you won’t have these exact same anxieties this time next year? Or will you be just as nervous next year, except also next year you’d maybe also have repeated stress waiting to see if you got in anywhere all over again or wondering if you make a mistake reapplying. If you know you want to be a vet keep moving towards it. I think everyone is a little nervous to start vet school. Your anxiety may be on the more extreme end of the spectrum (again, no judgement, just stating my perception), but I’m sure many of your future classmates had similar thoughts. I don’t think the anxiety will ever go completely away but I suspect that once you’re actually at school doing the thing it won’t seem so scary.

Also I echo what ski says about the accreditation thing, I wouldn’t worry too much there. There may be smaller breaks but you still have rotations and other shorter breaks to network and build your theoretical app for the specialty trail. Students from Ross go into specialties and they don’t have summers either so it’s not like a lack of summers is unprecedented or a barrier that can’t be overcome. Your experiences might look different, but you’ll still have time to do stuff, I’m sure. It could also be hard to accept a lower paying exotics/wildlife job because you have an extra 80-100k loans to pay off because you didn’t go to the cheapest school. My point is, you never know what will happen but you just have to keep going and adjust and adapt and do the best with what you have. I think you’ll be fine no matter what.

 

[JaynaAli]

Thanks for mentioning this too. I’ve had some people who said that I made a cheap mistake and another said they would have rather taken out the extra money for the opportunities and I think that really got to me in my head because I literally have to pay for school completely on my own and can’t afford to just set aside cost completely

I’ve been graduated for 8 years now and I’ve truly never heard someone regret choosing the cheaper option. I have seen/heard many people complain about their debt and wish they could do anything to owe less.

 

[SkiOtter]

I’ve never really had to deal with anxiety this bad before and I feel a bit embarrassed about it but I think it’ll be better to nip it in the bud.

First time in 29 years I’ve been properly medicated for mine and it is life changing.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Thanks for mentioning this too. I’ve had some people who said that I made a cheap mistake and another said they would have rather taken out the extra money for the opportunities and I think that really got to me in my head because I literally have to pay for school completely on my own and can’t afford to just set aside cost completely

Lmfaoooo which absolute clowns said that? Other applicants who have absolutely zero financial knowledge and can't even fathom being under the weight of hundreds of thousands of debt in their lives? People who have zero experience with higher education costs and the veterinary field? What utter nonsense.

I was very thankful for my in-state tuition total when I went on to specialize after vet school, which it sounds like you want to do as well. The interest stacked up enough as it was while I was in post-DVM training and making crap money - I can't imagine doing it with an even bigger starting debt load.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Well I posted my choices on the debt free veterinarians page asking for advice, and so I don’t know for sure that this person was a vet but I had some veterinarians say they would actually choose the more expensive option in my case. Also one of my vets at my clinic said I should go to Cornell but from what I understand she had a lot of financial help, also just said I should pursue a specialty and I’ll be fine and make bank. And THEN to top it off one was a vet who said she had students rotating through her practice and she said as an AZ resident she would have turned down her seat. NXNSNS

As for the debt free vets, I don’t think I accurately explained that U of A has provisional accreditation and that my degree is still considered accredited no matter what happens, so think some people had the impression it was not accredited and I would have to take extra exams to get my license like foreign graduates.

Also there was a small amount of people turning up their nose at a new program vs an established one… of course there were also some that had the opposite view and said less debt all the way and that the school doesn’t make the student a good doctor, the students work does!

Oh god, that's some Boomer **** if I've ever heard it. Reminds me of the whole "just go to college and you'll get a great job and be fine" line that my generation (Millennial) was force fed for years. Sure as heck didn't turn out that way for a lot of us, despite the platitudes our parents all blathered to us.

I don't know how old the people replying to you on that page are as well, but the finances of veterinary school (and higher education in general) are different than they were 30+ years ago. I would VERY surprised if any younger vets who are currently in the debt trenches would be giving advice like that unless they were financed through vet school by parents or spouses and had therefore not ever really had to worry about or pay down a lot of debt.

 

[Drjc1977]

Completely okay thing to say I need to hear it. I guess I didn’t clarify, I’ve already made my decision and chose U of A for the cost and proximity to home even though as a program it wasn’t my ideal. Probably won’t change your answer but that’s why I’m feeling all the doom and gloom

I can only comment further based on my own experience. I was intimidated when I matriculated. Professional school in my opinion is the big leagues, the students are the cream of the crop. I wasn't sure I was smart enough or good enough to be successful. I suppose it was from anxiety from my own insecurities; perhaps since I told every one I wanted to be a veterinarian, the fear of failure would be too humiliating for me to have to admit to family, friends, and peers, that I was a failure. That was my doom and gloom. Again, relax you have nothing to prove. My only advise, do not get behind.

 

[socalgooner]

The chill pill advice is good, but be warned that anxiety will be present in vet school. A lot of people get their first taste of failure while going through 1st year anatomy, physiology, pathology, etc. Just remember that it’s not the end of the world and put a plan together to change things (honestly, that’s life in general).
As far as wanting to work in a specific area of vet med, don’t worry about it during your 1st 3 years. You are going to be so consumed with coursework. Also, the feline, canine, bovine, and equine material that you will be inundated with applies. Take advantage of your 4th year externship/preceptorship blocks to schedule time in your field of interest. Also, take advantage of clubs. There should be student chapters of AAEP & AABP, as well as wildlife, zoo, avian, reptile, Ophtho, etc, which provide lunchtime & after class lectures & wetlabs. I remember getting to do things like turtle shell repairs, rodent dental work, and some aquaculture related activities.

 

[socalgooner]

Thank you! I think my anxiety is more so coming from the fact that it’s an accelerated 3 year program, so everything is coming up fasted in my mind and I think I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself because I feel like I have less time to figure out my interests and schedule these things!

Honestly, you should be fine. Your semester course loads will be similar to everyone else’s. The only thing you’ll miss out on is summer research opportunities. Of course burnout will hit sooner, but it happens to everyone at every school at different times. It hit me 5th semester.

Your clinical year should afford you the opportunities you desire, and like I said, use the clubs to your advantage. If anything, they provide meals during lunch and evening lectures.

One last thing, you should be assigned an advisor. Get to know this person and see if it’s helpful. Also, if you’re looking for zoo experience during your clinical year, the major zoos require an application for externship/preceptorship 2 years in advance.