Which schools prioritize your well-being?

[Gina Lawson]

Inevitably, vet school will be super-challenging. Does anyone have insight on which programs care about student emotional and physical well-being the most? Seems like U of A prioritizes this based on their website. Any others?

Also, what do you anticipate are average classroom hours and study hour per week in the first two years?

Thanks all!

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[EB73674]

I'll be honest, I think basically all schools will tout this on their website. There's a lot of lip service paid to "well-being" and things like gym memberships, yoga/meditation classes, mindfulness activities, etc. But I think there's more value placed in less time in the classroom & realistic expectations for amount of work being done on a weekly basis. tOSU's new curriculum had an initial huge jump in material in the first couple of months, but it's evened out to be fairly reasonable since then, and most of the professors have been VERY cognizant of not overloading us. Part of the reason they changed the curriculum was due to overwhelming feedback that having exams every single week was miserable, so we've now moved to a block curriculum where we only have an exam at most every 2 weeks. There are also two full-time counselors on staff that are dedicated to the CVM students, and they have the ability to refer out to a psychiatrist for any issues requiring medications. We even had a multiple-week unit in our communications class on how to deal with interpersonal communication in the workplace and maintaining a work-life balance, and that's going to be continuing through second year. And frankly, any school that's working to reduce it's overall tuition burden for students has an A in my book (tOSU is middling on this).

I think it's most worthwhile to talk to current students - what's your school-life balance like? Do you feel overloaded all the time? What mental health resources are actually available and helpful on campus? The websites can say all they want that they "value" wellness, but do they back it up in practice? For example, I heard that UMN ditched their dedicated counseling service on campus due to budget cuts, but they also allow your pets to come to class & free kenneling is available for students on campus.

 

[RightMeow!]

I absolutely agree with everything EB posted. Every school has their own culture and student wellness goes beyond just offering counseling services. I'd assume (hope) that a majority of schools care about their students and have something to offer. Speaking for WSU, our wellness team is fantastic and also helps with extracurricular things. But we also have exams nearly every week in 2nd/3rd year (sometimes 3 exams in 2 weeks) which isn't very healthy for students in my opinion.

Also, what do you anticipate are average classroom hours and study hour per week in the first two years?

I'm sure those times vary by school/curriculum type/semester/person.

For me at WSU
- First year: ~30-40 hours in the classroom depending on what lectures/labs I had, ~30 hours studying, but I felt like I didn't study enough.
- Second year: ~25-35 hours in the classroom, ~40 hours studying because the material is far more dense

I personally do most of my learning outside of the classroom, so I'm sure there are people that study less and do just fine.

 

[Gina Lawson]

I'll be honest, I think basically all schools will tout this on their website. There's a lot of lip service paid to "well-being" and things like gym memberships, yoga/meditation classes, mindfulness activities, etc. But I think there's more value placed in less time in the classroom & realistic expectations for amount of work being done on a weekly basis. tOSU's new curriculum had an initial huge jump in material in the first couple of months, but it's evened out to be fairly reasonable since then, and most of the professors have been VERY cognizant of not overloading us. Part of the reason they changed the curriculum was due to overwhelming feedback that having exams every single week was miserable, so we've now moved to a block curriculum where we only have an exam at most every 2 weeks. There are also two full-time counselors on staff that are dedicated to the CVM students, and they have the ability to refer out to a psychiatrist for any issues requiring medications. We even had a multiple-week unit in our communications class on how to deal with interpersonal communication in the workplace and maintaining a work-life balance, and that's going to be continuing through second year. And frankly, any school that's working to reduce it's overall tuition burden for students has an A in my book (tOSU is middling on this).

I think it's most worthwhile to talk to current students - what's your school-life balance like? Do you feel overloaded all the time? What mental health resources are actually available and helpful on campus? The websites can say all they want that they "value" wellness, but do they back it up in practice? For example, I heard that UMN ditched their dedicated counseling service on campus due to budget cuts, but they also allow your pets to come to class & free kenneling is available for students on campus.

Thanks for the insight! Where can you find out if the school has block style sched (info doesn't seem readily available on all sites? Ok to ask this Q on the vet (not pre-vet) channel to seek current perspectives?

 

[matthirten13]

Thanks for the insight! Where can you find out if the school has block style sched (info doesn't seem readily available on all sites? Ok to ask this Q on the vet (not pre-vet) channel to seek current perspectives?

I say go for it on asking the Q on the vet channel if you are seeking experiences from graduates.

I'm not sure about where to find the block vs. no block. Could make a post about it here and I'm sure current students would answer. Davis is block.

 

[battie]

Thanks for the insight! Where can you find out if the school has block style sched (info doesn't seem readily available on all sites? Ok to ask this Q on the vet (not pre-vet) channel to seek current perspectives?

Illinois has a mega block schedule. All the courses are graded together so there are only 9 grades for all of vet school, and there are only 2 tests per quarter. There's pros and cons to this as you can have quarters where 90% of your grade rides on two tests.

Illinois advertises the same as U or A. But part of that is actually going out of your way to use those services. I felt immensely supported through failing and repeating first year and experiencing the death of my younger sister during second year. However, I can think of multiple people who did not feel supported by our administration. I will also add that I had zero desire to excell academically. Without that internal pressure, I feel like that helped me (and I actually did better when I let that pressure go).

 

[JaynaAli]

People are really only going to have one frame of reference (their school), so this is a hard question to really answer. Even those of us who went the internship and residency route and had exposure to other schools still didn’t have the same experience as a student. But people can talk about all the things they offer but whether or not they follow through or provide the things they students actually need and utilize can be a whole other thing entirely. Like having a dedicated counselor for the vet students is great, but not if they’re so busy it’s impossible to get in to see them when you need them.

 

[Gina Lawson]

Inevitably, vet school will be super-challenging. I am planning on applying for 2025 entry and would appreciate any insight on schools that prioritize well-being. Beyond optional support resources, which schools structure their curriculum in a way that supports your health? All experiences and opinions appreciated!

 

[CalliopeDVM]

Don't look to the school to support your health -- they've more a lot more on their plate. You should look after your own mental and physical health by setting boundaries for yourself on study, sleep, and party time, having mental and physical outlets (hobbies, sports, etc), remembering to eat properly, having realistic goals, etc.

 

[Gina Lawson]

I appreciate your response. I should clarify that I'm looking more for an alignment of values than direct support.

 

[supershorty]

This thread was cross posted and the two have been merged.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

I appreciate your response. I should clarify that I'm looking more for an alignment of values than direct support.

What do values matter if they aren't backed up by actionable things? That's like saying you love your dog but you never pet it or take it on walks.

Don't pay attention to catchphrases posted on websites. It's advertising, and as we all know advertising is anywhere from 50-100% bull****. Look for actual things the school has done to help support their students, and talk to students about the culture at the school and whether these actions have improved their well-being.

Don't look to the school to support your health -- they've more a lot more on their plate. You should look after your own mental and physical health by setting boundaries for yourself on study, sleep, and party time, having mental and physical outlets (hobbies, sports, etc), remembering to eat properly, having realistic goals, etc.

Also this. The school's responsibility to provide a supportive environment is only part of it - there is far, FAR too much going on for them to be on the ball all the time. It's just not feasible to hold everyone's hand all the time. The other part of the equation (and I would argue the larger part) is students themselves doing all the things mentioned above and not falling victim to the cult of self-congratulatory masochism, which is insanely pervasive in professional school in general.

 

[faye]

I'll be honest, I think basically all schools will tout this on their website. There's a lot of lip service paid to "well-being" and things like gym memberships, yoga/meditation classes, mindfulness activities, etc. But I think there's more value placed in less time in the classroom & realistic expectations for amount of work being done on a weekly basis. tOSU's new curriculum had an initial huge jump in material in the first couple of months, but it's evened out to be fairly reasonable since then, and most of the professors have been VERY cognizant of not overloading us. Part of the reason they changed the curriculum was due to overwhelming feedback that having exams every single week was miserable, so we've now moved to a block curriculum where we only have an exam at most every 2 weeks. There are also two full-time counselors on staff that are dedicated to the CVM students, and they have the ability to refer out to a psychiatrist for any issues requiring medications. We even had a multiple-week unit in our communications class on how to deal with interpersonal communication in the workplace and maintaining a work-life balance, and that's going to be continuing through second year. And frankly, any school that's working to reduce it's overall tuition burden for students has an A in my book (tOSU is middling on this).

I think it's most worthwhile to talk to current students - what's your school-life balance like? Do you feel overloaded all the time? What mental health resources are actually available and helpful on campus? The websites can say all they want that they "value" wellness, but do they back it up in practice? For example, I heard that UMN ditched their dedicated counseling service on campus due to budget cuts, but they also allow your pets to come to class & free kenneling is available for students on campus.

Happy to hear this about tOSU as my daughter will be starting there in the fall.

 

[Westernvet223]

None. That's your job.

No matter how much schools tout that they prioritize your well being, there will be students who can't handle the load and complain (see recent article from Iowa states students, one of the few places that has administrative limits on student hours in clinics).

What's the frequency is right. Admin can't hold everyone's hand all the time. If it was made easy and comfortable, everyone would do it. It's sink or swim, learn to set boundaries and manage your time early on because pressures and demands only get worse once you get out into practice.

 

[supershorty]

there will be students who can't handle the load and complain (see recent article from Iowa states students, one of the few places that has administrative limits on student hours in clinics).

Respectfully, I'd not categorize students who speak out against being overworked as "not handling the load and complaining." It's mindsets like this that foster unhealthy work/life balances and contribute to exactly the problem being discussed here: students (and eventual veterinarians) who don't have the ability to prioritize their mental wellbeing because they have actively been discouraged from doing so and thus, never been able to develop those skills.

Being in the clinic for 80-100 hours a week all the time isn't going to make someone a better veterinary student and veterinarian. It's going to burn them out fast and hard.

 

[battie]

Inevitably, vet school will be super-challenging. I am planning on applying for 2025 entry and would appreciate any insight on schools that prioritize well-being. Beyond optional support resources, which schools structure their curriculum in a way that supports your health? All experiences and opinions appreciated!

All schools would argue that they're organized in a way that supports the health of their students. As an example, Illinois switched to mega block format so there are only 2 tests per quarter, with a total of 18 tests for the didactic years. In theory, this would be "better" than the 150 tests per *year* (5 classes with one test per class per week at a minimum). However, there are absolutely students who over the last 10 years think that just 2 tests per quarter is harder than multiple tests per week.

What works for one student won't work for another. And there's a certain point where vet school cannot be formated any better because of the sheer amount of information.