Class of 2024... how you doin?

[SkiOtter]

I like immunology but am not a fan of epidemiology. I got a new study tool called Anki that is amazing and helps a lot. Hard to learn but once you do it changes the world.

@awesomenessity was it you with all the anki tips

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[PetVet23]

Lololol. tHe ZoNe oF LiSsAuEr. 🤖

I definitely just read this in his voice as much as I couldn't stand neuro, I do have to admit I miss his lectures

 

[awesomenessity]

@awesomenessity was it you with all the anki tips

You know I love me some Anki Here's my basic how to guide if anyone wants it! I've only made 36k cards in one semester of my residency so far...

 

[JaynaAli]

You know I love me some Anki Here's my basic how to guide if anyone wants it! I've only made 36k cards in one semester of my residency so far...

The image occlusion mode was extremely useful for me for the general pathology board exam.

 

[TrashCat]

Happy bc we have a snow day today (online classes/labs AND in person labs cancelled). ☃️

 

[EngrSC]

Happy bc we have a snow day today (online classes/labs AND in person labs cancelled). ☃️

I feel grateful for the extra study day ... but also worried about where they're going to cram our missed lectures in

 

[TrashCat]

I feel grateful for the extra study day ... but also worried about where they're going to cram our missed lectures in

Yeah, I am grateful for the extra time to do that neuro lab... lol. My third year roomie said he thought they might just post the recordings from last year and ask us to watch on our own time

 

[PetVet23]

Yeah, I am grateful for the extra time to do that neuro lab... lol. My third year roomie said he thought they might just post the recordings from last year and ask us to watch on our own time

It wouldn't surprise me if they end up doing that, we had a snow day last year and they just posted old lecture captures for us to watch (granted this was also before we switched to zoom university)

 

[blueheeler]

I feel grateful for the extra study day ... but also worried about where they're going to cram our missed lectures in

This is exactly what I'm worried about as well. We've missed a week of school (including tomorrow) due to the winter storm in Texas. Most of the professors have been uploading their lectures throughout the week, but I only just got reliable internet this morning. I've barely made a dent in the material lol. One of my professors hasn't uploaded anything this week and we normally meet 4 times a week for lecture.

 

[Lisagk]

sorry to hear it's been so terrible in Texas in general
Hopefully Texas will be very understanding of the fact that most people don't have electricity or clean water and not stress you guys with exams any time soon because school is hard enough without having your electricity go on and off after 2 days.

 

[WonderingStudent]

Before our Immunology Exam this morning our professor sent us this video to destress us and told us to kick some ass today.

 

[St3phni]

You know I love me some Anki Here's my basic how to guide if anyone wants it! I've only made 36k cards in one semester of my residency so far...

I love Anki, especially the image occlusion and cloze functions. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t even take notes anymore and just simultaneously make my Anki cards while I listen to and pause during recorded lectures.

 

[awesomenessity]

I love Anki, especially the image occlusion and cloze functions. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t even take notes anymore and just simultaneously make my Anki cards while I listen to and pause during recorded lectures.

That's what I did for all of vet school! But during in person lectures (back in ye olden times ). I would work ahead a little bit of the lecturer and if I had any questions I could stop and ask

 

[Old-Country-Vet-Tech]

SDN did an april fools

so far i have:
g'oro -> Easter Bunny
i'nterview -> Easter egg hunt
wait'list -> purgatory
G'PA - > treats!
a'pril fools day -> Easter day
any'one -> anybunny
m'cat -> flowers

 

[Old-Country-Vet-Tech]

That's what I did for all of vet school! But during in person lectures (back in ye olden times ). I would work ahead a little bit of the lecturer and if I had any questions I could stop and ask

Thats the plan!!

 

[EngrSC]

So who’s ready to be done with first year?

 

[PetVet23]

So who’s ready to be done with first year?

I was actually talking to a first year just a little bit ago and I wish I could just hug you all!! This is always a tough time of the semester, especially for the class you're in right now. You can see the end but there's still so much left to do that it can very easily get overwhelming. I believe in you all, you're here for a reason and I know you can do this. Hang in there, summer will be here before you know it

 

[WonderingStudent]

So who’s ready to be done with first year?

It's so close yet so far.

 

[EngrSC]

I was actually talking to a first year just a little bit ago and I wish I could just hug you all!! This is always a tough time of the semester, especially for the class you're in right now. You can see the end but there's still so much left to do that it can very easily get overwhelming. I believe in you all, you're here for a reason and I know you can do this. Hang in there, summer will be here before you know it

So many things between now and mid-May! Home stretch though!

 

[Old-Country-Vet-Tech]

So who’s ready to be done with first year?

Me, I laughed when someone from K-state said to a just accepted that they could work 30+hrs a week in school. NOT AT UF....UF schedules in such a messed up way that its like running from a zombie hoard keeping up. If you aren't hardly organized you fall over and get trampled. The folks that excell are the folks that can rote memorize and memory dump easily ( which is not good for 2nd year..or any related courses) and are auditory learners. Anki and just studying on my own vs lecture has helped me go from C's to B's at least in my last two exams.

I love UF but they really need to stop lecturing us on wellness and taking a break and look at why we feel we cant take a break. They say to take 30 minutes to read for fun or meditate but heck I have to schedule in a 40 minute workout after class ( usually I break it up so its easier to fit in with life). Apparently 2nd year is harder but easier because everyone just stops caring as much I'm just trying to get to 3rd year and clinicals so I can breathe. I'm used to crazy long days on my feet, im an equine tech ( 15-18hr days hello).

 

[TrashCat]

Yeah it's pretty wild we only have about a month left in first year... But don't get me wrong, I am so ready to be done for summer and be home with my family and furkids. Lol I am wondering about the fall being in person... and also about our white coat ceremony amiright @EngrSC ?!? haha.

Also, I couldn't imagine working 30+ hours a week. I work once a month-ish at a small animal clinic and that's more than enough for me. Even just one study day lost feels like a lot sometimes, haha. But I do appreciate work days because it reminds me why I'm doing this madness called school!

 

[WonderingStudent]

We have exactly 8 weeks until our last exam of the semester which seems pretty late for end of the year. Can't wait for the summer when I don't have to watch Zoom lectures for a while, don't have to always feel like I'm behind on lectures/studying, can feel like I have time to read for pleasure and can get some hands-on experience with hopefully some veterinary knowledge.

 

[SkiOtter]

Hugs to you all!!!!! You will make it through and then get to just R E L A X all summer and get a brain break. Go do fun things over summer!!! You guys are so close to the end of the semester and the end of your first year of vet school. You can do it!!!

 

[vetmedhead]

Me, I laughed when someone from K-state said to a just accepted that they could work 30+hrs a week in school. NOT AT UF....UF schedules in such a messed up way that its like running from a zombie hoard keeping up. If you aren't hardly organized you fall over and get trampled. The folks that excell are the folks that can rote memorize and memory dump easily ( which is not good for 2nd year..or any related courses) and are auditory learners. Anki and just studying on my own vs lecture has helped me go from C's to B's at least in my last two exams.

I love UF but they really need to stop lecturing us on wellness and taking a break and look at why we feel we cant take a break. They say to take 30 minutes to read for fun or meditate but heck I have to schedule in a 40 minute workout after class ( usually I break it up so its easier to fit in with life). Apparently 2nd year is harder but easier because everyone just stops caring as much I'm just trying to get to 3rd year and clinicals so I can breathe. I'm used to crazy long days on my feet, im an equine tech ( 15-18hr days hello).

Yeah I don't recommend anybody work that much during any part of vet school, let alone first year. Being a student is basically a full time job and 30 hours a week on top of it would be killer. I'm not sure how you'd even fit it in unless you did multiple overnights and worked every weekend. I had several friends who had outside jobs and honestly seemed to be working at literally all times outside of class and I think even they were only able to put in like 20 hours a week

 

[SardonicWit]

Me, I laughed when someone from K-state said to a just accepted that they could work 30+hrs a week in school. NOT AT UF....UF schedules in such a messed up way that its like running from a zombie hoard keeping up. If you aren't hardly organized you fall over and get trampled. The folks that excell are the folks that can rote memorize and memory dump easily ( which is not good for 2nd year..or any related courses) and are auditory learners. Anki and just studying on my own vs lecture has helped me go from C's to B's at least in my last two exams.

I love UF but they really need to stop lecturing us on wellness and taking a break and look at why we feel we cant take a break. They say to take 30 minutes to read for fun or meditate but heck I have to schedule in a 40 minute workout after class ( usually I break it up so its easier to fit in with life). Apparently 2nd year is harder but easier because everyone just stops caring as much I'm just trying to get to 3rd year and clinicals so I can breathe. I'm used to crazy long days on my feet, im an equine tech ( 15-18hr days hello).

OMG yes! I'm so tired of wellness lectures and taking endless assessments that remind me that my lifestyle right now isn't exactly healthy. We have exams every Monday morning and almost every Friday afternoon - when is this "taking a break" supposed to happen? If I don't stop studying, I can keep up, but I certainly can't get far enough ahead for time off.

On the bright side... today is one of those Fridays where we don't have an exam. I'm so excited I literally cried. That's healthy, right?

 

[amsweeney]

So who’s ready to be done with first year?

Me!!! I feel like road kill. Just keep getting run over. We just finished our 5th exam in a 2 week period and have to cram for the 6th Monday morning. Not having a spring break was truly cruel. We keep getting "words of wisdom" or "encouragement" but they don't mean much when we get roasted for not being above average. We had a wellness talk about burn out yesterday and she kept on saying "if you are experiencing..." More like "you ARE experiencing!" 5 more weeks for us and I already plan on not working more than 3 days a week this summer.

 

[EngrSC]

I feel like road kill.

Accurate!

 

[ZZ801832]

Less than 4 weeks until the end of 1st year here, and I am both incredibly excited to be done first year and incredibly scared for finals! I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by.

 

[Old-Country-Vet-Tech]

Me!!! I feel like road kill. Just keep getting run over. We just finished our 5th exam in a 2 week period and have to cram for the 6th Monday morning. Not having a spring break was truly cruel. We keep getting "words of wisdom" or "encouragement" but they don't mean much when we get roasted for not being above average. We had a wellness talk about burn out yesterday and she kept on saying "if you are experiencing..." More like "you ARE experiencing!" 5 more weeks for us and I already plan on not working more than 3 days a week this summer.

I love the wellness talks. like maybe if you actually designed a functioning curriculum that allows that. I am legit dying from my 2nd moderna vaccine, and I'm stressing what I'm gonna do tonight to just make sure radiology is caught up. The good thing is we have a lot of non lecture time next week to catch up and no anatomy lab so its not drastic but I kept up ahead of the rest of my class. UF gave us a spring break ( BUT NOT the undergrads).

We don't get whitecoats till 2nd year end because 3rd and 4th are our clinical years.

2nd years petitioned to get " Hell week" taken away for us so we cant get more than 3 exams in a week because we had like 7 in two weeks next year but the class of 23 pulled through and fought for us just like we will fight for a more organized and fluid learning experience for the next class.

ALSO why is roasting you C=DVM and as I got from my interviewer who was a equine dentist A students work under B students who send their cases to C students. Unless you are wanting a residency, be average.

 

[SCML]

Does anyone feel comfortable posting their schedules for next year (exams or weekly)? Ours is literally terrible and our class is having a fit over it but the admins arent receptive at all. We have been online all on semester (minus labs) and we are going back in person from 8-5 with exams EVERY Monday or Tuesday at 8 am (minus a few weeks). The second years schedule from 2020 was NOTHING like this. I’m just really disappointed in how our admins are handling it and our whole class has been arguing about.

 

[MixedAnimals77]

Does anyone feel comfortable posting their schedules for next year (exams or weekly)? Ours is literally terrible and our class is having a fit over it but the admins arent receptive at all. We have been online all on semester (minus labs) and we are going back in person from 8-5 with exams EVERY Monday or Tuesday at 8 am (minus a few weeks). The second years schedule from 2020 was NOTHING like this. I’m just really disappointed in how our admins are handling it and our whole class has been arguing about.

I'm not sure what school you're at, but I know at our school year 1 exams were really spaced far apart and in general an *easy* schedule compared to other years. I attached our second year schedule which is was usually 2 exams T/Th every week most weeks (it's 2 years old but I don't think much has changed). Year 3 is exams every Monday and usually every Friday as well.

 

[finnickthedog]

Does anyone feel comfortable posting their schedules for next year (exams or weekly)? Ours is literally terrible and our class is having a fit over it but the admins arent receptive at all. We have been online all on semester (minus labs) and we are going back in person from 8-5 with exams EVERY Monday or Tuesday at 8 am (minus a few weeks). The second years schedule from 2020 was NOTHING like this. I’m just really disappointed in how our admins are handling it and our whole class has been arguing about.

Back in my second year we had 2 exams Tues and Thurs most weeks. The entire curriculum has changed so I don't know what they get now as far as exams go but an exam every week doesn't sound that unusual for vet school. Also 2020 was a weird year, was was the second year schedule like in 2019? Also did they have less exams or were the exams just clustered together?

It's possible they made changes based on previous student feedback. I know some people in my class at one point asked for more exams because they didn't like having only 2 exams for an entire class in some classes (didn't happen). I also heard the reason we had Tues/Thurs exams (which sucked btw) was x
due to feedback from previous classes.

 

[WildZoo]

When I was going through, our schedule was typically Monday/Friday exams almost every week. After my class they switched to doing a midterm week. Upside: more free weekends, encourages better study methods rather than the binge and purge we had going on. Downside: requires more self control (keeping up with the material as you go), if you have a bad week you're screwed because there were only two big grades for each class. Some people who had the weekly exam schedule wished they'd had midterms instead, and vice versa. The change was made because they found that overall people did better on finals than on the exams spread out through the semester (this was not the case for some of us lol).

All that to say even if the school hasn't set things up that way in the past, that kind of thing changes all the time. Curriculum changes happen too. And it all sucks because there's no pleasant way to shove that much information into your brain in the time that we have

 

[PetVet23]

Does anyone feel comfortable posting their schedules for next year (exams or weekly)? Ours is literally terrible and our class is having a fit over it but the admins arent receptive at all. We have been online all on semester (minus labs) and we are going back in person from 8-5 with exams EVERY Monday or Tuesday at 8 am (minus a few weeks). The second years schedule from 2020 was NOTHING like this. I’m just really disappointed in how our admins are handling it and our whole class has been arguing about.

At VMCVM schedules are more or less the same for first and second year. We can count on most days being 8-5, usually 1/2 day lectures and 1/2 day labs, and we have exams every other Monday

 

[amsweeney]

Does anyone feel comfortable posting their schedules for next year (exams or weekly)? Ours is literally terrible and our class is having a fit over it but the admins arent receptive at all. We have been online all on semester (minus labs) and we are going back in person from 8-5 with exams EVERY Monday or Tuesday at 8 am (minus a few weeks). The second years schedule from 2020 was NOTHING like this. I’m just really disappointed in how our admins are handling it and our whole class has been arguing about.

This is ours for the fall - we don't have exam schedules yet, but it was horrible this semester so i can't imagine it'll be any worse next semester.

 

[vetmedhead]

Back in my second year we had 2 exams Tues and Thurs most weeks. The entire curriculum has changed so I don't know what they get now as far as exams go but an exam every week doesn't sound that unusual for vet school. Also 2020 was a weird year, was was the second year schedule like in 2019? Also did they have less exams or were the exams just clustered together?

It's possible they made changes based on previous student feedback. I know some people in my class at one point asked for more exams because they didn't like having only 2 exams for an entire class in some classes (didn't happen). I also heard the reason we had Tues/Thurs exams (which sucked btw) was x
due to feedback from previous classes.

Yeah, here during first year we ended up rocking out a minimum of an exam a week for at least 12 weeks out of the 15 week semester and routinely had ~30 exams in the whole semester. Sucked and definitely felt like a huge slog after a while, but it's also just what happens when you have like five classes that all do 3-4 midterms plus a final. Vet school sucks like that lol

 

[blueheeler]

Does anyone feel comfortable posting their schedules for next year (exams or weekly)? Ours is literally terrible and our class is having a fit over it but the admins arent receptive at all. We have been online all on semester (minus labs) and we are going back in person from 8-5 with exams EVERY Monday or Tuesday at 8 am (minus a few weeks). The second years schedule from 2020 was NOTHING like this. I’m just really disappointed in how our admins are handling it and our whole class has been arguing about.

At A&M we have an exam almost every Monday and Friday until the week before finals each semester, but that’s the norm down here. We don’t have exam the first two weeks of classes. Last semester, we had 21 exams including finals. This semester we have 27. Weekly exams do get tiresome. Overall, I like it once I get into the grind. I can focus my energy studying for a Monday exam on Friday through Sunday, and a Friday exam Monday through Thursday if that makes sense.

 

[SCML]

Thanks everyone for sharing your schedules/insight!! I’ve really been wondering how every school does theirs. I am at Auburn. I guess i’m just worried because the past two semesters have been basically online for me. I have some learning disabilities that took me a LONG time and a lot of changes to adapt to and I have gotten in a great cycle of how I study/watch lecture that has allowed me to succeed. I just know that me sitting in class 8-5 will have an extremely negative effect on my studies and I know we need to overcome and adapt and I know I don’t deserve any special treatment, it’s just that I will not learn nearly as well as I do now . Majority of people in my class have stated the same fears and got attacked by ~5 in my class stating we need to be adaptive as vets. Here is my schedule (the two separate screenshots) and the schedule from the 2nd years (fall 2020 - the screenshot with the exams and weekly schedule in one photo). I just don’t know why they changed ours so much. The 8 am exams also means people with accommodations have to start at 730 or earlier, and then we have lecture from 9-5 afterwards. I know I sound like i’m just complaining, I am just extremely worried for the lack of mental health care we will have due to have 2 tests every monday and tuesday (not allowing us to have weekends off ever). Edit (forgot to add this): we have 2 exams per week this semester (2nd semester 1st year) as well with most being at least one day apart. I’m glad that has prepared me for the amount of tests (there have been like 2-3 weeks this semester where we have only had one test, every other week has been 2), I think it’s just the mental drain of being in class from 8-5 with severe ADHD and other issues :/ Thanks for listening to me rant. I know it can’t be perfect and obvi covid has ruined everything and that every school has its own issues, I guess I am just very nervous and don’t know what to think and was very shocked after seeing the schedule

 

[SkiOtter]

Thanks everyone for sharing your schedules/insight!! I’ve really been wondering how every school does theirs. I am at Auburn. I guess i’m just worried because the past two semesters have been basically online for me. I have some learning disabilities that took me a LONG time and a lot of changes to adapt to and I have gotten in a great cycle of how I study/watch lecture that has allowed me to succeed. I just know that me sitting in class 8-5 will have an extremely negative effect on my studies and I know we need to overcome and adapt and I know I don’t deserve any special treatment, it’s just that I will not learn nearly as well as I do now . Majority of people in my class have stated the same fears and got attacked by ~5 in my class stating we need to be adaptive as vets. Here is my schedule (the two separate screenshots) and the schedule from the 2nd years (fall 2020 - the screenshot with the exams and weekly schedule in one photo). I just don’t know why they changed ours so much. The 8 am exams also means people with accommodations have to start at 730 or earlier, and then we have lecture from 9-5 afterwards. I know I sound like i’m just complaining, I am just extremely worried for the lack of mental health care we will have due to have 2 tests every monday and tuesday (not allowing us to have weekends off ever). Edit (forgot to add this): we have 2 exams per week this semester (2nd semester 1st year) as well with most being at least one day apart. I’m glad that has prepared me for the amount of tests (there have been like 2-3 weeks this semester where we have only had one test, every other week has been 2), I think it’s just the mental drain of being in class from 8-5 with severe ADHD and other issues :/ Thanks for listening to me rant. I know it can’t be perfect and obvi covid has ruined everything and that every school has its own issues, I guess I am just very nervous and don’t know what to think and was very shocked after seeing the schedule View attachment 335553

Are your lectures mandatory attendance? If not, are they all recorded?

 

[SCML]

Are your lectures mandatory attendance? If not, are they all recorded?

So we have been told through other students (from other classes, not anything from admin) that it is the professors discretion if they will record the lecture or not, and attendance was mandatory in the past but i don’t know if it will be. I assume since they can’t require everyone to get the vaccine, they cannot force anyone to be in person. I would just have to miss out if a lecture isn’t recorded (which isn’t the worst thing in the world for me, it helps me more to read it myself). I know it won’t be the end of the world and i am just getting in my head/being dramatic, but that’s what I do best lol!!

 

[SCML]

This is our current schedule just for reference. We are forsure used to the multiple exams per week but it’s much nicer when they are spread out hhaha. So interesting to see how other schools do it. I would love if there was a collective spreadsheet of all the schools schedules just to compare lol

 

[britzen]

So we have been told through other students (from other classes, not anything from admin) that it is the professors discretion if they will record the lecture or not, and attendance was mandatory in the past but i don’t know if it will be. I assume since they can’t require everyone to get the vaccine, they cannot force anyone to be in person. I would just have to miss out if a lecture isn’t recorded (which isn’t the worst thing in the world for me, it helps me more to read it myself). I know it won’t be the end of the world and i am just getting in my head/being dramatic, but that’s what I do best lol!!

If you have accommodations for your learning disabilities, they may allow you access to recordings of all lectures regardless of whether or not instructors make them generally available.

That is the case at my school - all lectures are recorded. Instructors can choose whether or not to make them available to all students (most do). The few that don't still have to make the lectures available to students with at least some types of accommodations.

 

[EngrSC]

Generally I like our schedule because it's relatively predictable with a lecture exam every other Monday and a lab exam every ~4 weeks. But I think every school administration has done stupid things this year. Like we had graded mandatory client simulations last week that they scheduled during class times so we all miss at least 1 lecture. So everyone was basically behind and when we got to our integrative session we were told it was closed note ... which was super annoying since we had all been forced to miss lecture and felt varying degrees of behind. And our final week of the semester is pure crap ... we have a lab exam Friday, a lecture exam Monday, a clinical skills exam Tuesday, and a case-based final on Wednesday. Like who the heck thought that was a good idea?

It helps me to remember that I'm not alone in these shenanigans. I have ~120 classmates in the same boat and we'll survive if we just keep putting one foot in front of the other. But not going to lie, it does sting a little bit when administration gives the 3rd years open-note finals but tells 1st and 2nd years to basically suck it up

 

[amsweeney]

Thanks everyone for sharing your schedules/insight!! I’ve really been wondering how every school does theirs. I am at Auburn. I guess i’m just worried because the past two semesters have been basically online for me. I have some learning disabilities that took me a LONG time and a lot of changes to adapt to and I have gotten in a great cycle of how I study/watch lecture that has allowed me to succeed. I just know that me sitting in class 8-5 will have an extremely negative effect on my studies and I know we need to overcome and adapt and I know I don’t deserve any special treatment, it’s just that I will not learn nearly as well as I do now . Majority of people in my class have stated the same fears and got attacked by ~5 in my class stating we need to be adaptive as vets. Here is my schedule (the two separate screenshots) and the schedule from the 2nd years (fall 2020 - the screenshot with the exams and weekly schedule in one photo). I just don’t know why they changed ours so much. The 8 am exams also means people with accommodations have to start at 730 or earlier, and then we have lecture from 9-5 afterwards. I know I sound like i’m just complaining, I am just extremely worried for the lack of mental health care we will have due to have 2 tests every monday and tuesday (not allowing us to have weekends off ever). Edit (forgot to add this): we have 2 exams per week this semester (2nd semester 1st year) as well with most being at least one day apart. I’m glad that has prepared me for the amount of tests (there have been like 2-3 weeks this semester where we have only had one test, every other week has been 2), I think it’s just the mental drain of being in class from 8-5 with severe ADHD and other issues :/ Thanks for listening to me rant. I know it can’t be perfect and obvi covid has ruined everything and that every school has its own issues, I guess I am just very nervous and don’t know what to think and was very shocked after seeing the schedule View attachment 335553

That's too bad. People with accomodations are allowed to schedule the exam basically anytime in week that works for them. We had 7:30am Monday morning physio exams this semester followed by 8:30am class so students with accomodations scheduled them later in the week. Also, all of our lectures are set to record here. Even if class is canceled, the system is still set to record.
We don't usually have a set exam schedule, just whenever a class is set to have an exam. We had at least 1 exam this semester for 10 weeks, many weeks had 2 exams and 2 weeks had 3 exams. It was miserable and mental health was definitely sacrificed in the month of march.

 

[SCML]

Thanks again everyone for your helpful comments and insights!! Obviously I don’t want to see any other school making their students suffer, but sometimes I feel like it’s just us who are having a rough time (when obviously that is never the case). I know they have to shove so much information in a short time and it’s hard to make it ideal for everyone. Congrats to everyone for almost being done with this semester as well and good luck on finals (and 3rd years I hope you are loving rotations!!)

 

[SardonicWit]

Generally I like our schedule because it's relatively predictable with a lecture exam every Monday and a lab exam every ~4 weeks. But I think every school administration has done stupid things this year. Like we had graded mandatory client simulations last week that they scheduled during class times so we all miss at least 1 lecture. So everyone was basically behind and when we got to our integrative session we were told it was closed note ... which was super annoying since we had all been forced to miss lecture and felt varying degrees of behind. And our final week of the semester is pure crap ... we have a lab exam Friday, a lecture exam Monday, a clinical skills exam Tuesday, and a case-based final on Wednesday. Like who the heck thought that was a good idea?

It helps me to remember that I'm not alone in these shenanigans. I have ~120 classmates in the same boat and we'll survive if we just keep putting one foot in front of the other. But not going to lie, it does sting a little bit when administration gives the 3rd years open-note finals but tells 1st and 2nd years to basically suck it up

What's with schools and overloading the last week of the semester? We had a similar situation - written exams Monday and Friday, a clinical skills exam Tuesday, and a very detailed communications exam on Thursday. I mean... WHY? Now we're heading into finals week exhausted and burned out. I know we're all in the same boat, and we'll get through it. I'm just disappointed because I don't feel this "9 exams in 10 days" (seems to be the current class mantra) gives a very accurate depiction of what we've actually learned and accomplished over the semester.

 

[vetmedhead]

I gotta say, eff those people who said you're not learning to be adaptive because you're concerned how a **** testing schedule will interact with known and documented learning disabilities. Beyond being ableist it's completely disrespectful to what qualities are necessary to be a good veterinarian. Figuring out ways to reschedule things or make this work for your specific needs IS being adaptive and I will never accept people who say that suffering in less than ideal circumstances just because you should is what will make you an excellent clinician. The people I work with who are adaptive are good at adjusting for situations and that is exactly what this is. Plus you will struggle to be good at that without getting some of the fundamental didactic information down, which is what you are doing right now.

 

[PippyPony]

@SCML you only mentioned this so I'm not sure if it's a big deal, but... if the early start times are hindering your exam performance, tell your school's disability office and get a note from your doctor saying that's not acceptable. Our school tried to do that to some students (starting their exams progressively earlier to accommodate extra time) and the problem with that is two-fold: not only does it take away study time (unequal prep vs the rest of the class), it robs people of valuable sleep. So it's essentially penalizing people for having accommodations. Not legal to do.

 

[SCML]

@SCML you only mentioned this so I'm not sure if it's a big deal, but... if the early start times are hindering your exam performance, tell your school's disability office and get a note from your doctor saying that's not acceptable. Our school tried to do that to some students (starting their exams progressively earlier to accommodate extra time) and the problem with that is two-fold: not only does it take away study time (unequal prep vs the rest of the class), it robs people of valuable sleep. So it's essentially penalizing people for having accommodations. Not

I gotta say, eff those people who said you're not learning to be adaptive because you're concerned how a **** testing schedule will interact with known and documented learning disabilities. Beyond being ableist it's completely disrespectful to what qualities are necessary to be a good veterinarian. Figuring out ways to reschedule things or make this work for your specific needs IS being adaptive and I will never accept people who say that suffering in less than ideal circumstances just because you should is what will make you an excellent clinician. The people I work with who are adaptive are good at adjusting for situations and that is exactly what this is. Plus you will struggle to be good at that without getting some of the fundamental didactic information down, which is what you are doing right now.

Thank you for saying this. I’ve been feeling really guilty about trying to find a way to get “around” this schedule and felt like I was expecting special treatment. I appreciate everyone on this thread so much rn!!

 

[vetmedhead]

Thank you for saying this. I’ve been feeling really guilty about trying to find a way to get “around” this schedule and felt like I was expecting special treatment. I appreciate everyone on this thread so much rn!!

I will always say this until I am blue in the face, remember that people are not being fair to you when they act like your NEEDS are actually your WANTS. It's not your job to make it clear to them (unless they are in charge of your accommodations and being unreasonable) but it is your job to remember that always. You don't need to be forgiving toward yourself because you've done nothing wrong. You're not asking for special treatment, you're asking for the treatment that's necessary for you.

To put it into context for the people who apparently think this is going to make you a bad veterinarian (sorry, that particular point is driving me nuts because it's so wrong lol), I had three different blocked cats come in this week that all got treated differently even though the basic principles of their care were the same. They all achieved the same end goal for care even though the particulars of their care varied. By necessity we have to allow for nuances in the process if we want to achieve the best outcomes for every patient.