Tracking in Vet School (part 3)

By: Dayle Dillon

University of Illinois, Class of 2013

The University of Illinois has implemented a new curriculum that began with the class of 2013.  The most unique aspects of this curriculum are the exposure to clinics from day one, and the absence of traditional “tracking” during the fourth year of schooling.  Of course there will always be naysayers in any given situation but I feel that the new curriculum will prove to be quite successful as it allows for more instruction to take place in a true clinical environment, faced with situations a veterinarian encounters on a day to day basis. 

Click to read more ...

Out of the classroom…and back into the classroom

By: Becky Lee

UC Davis, Class of 2012

The summer after my first year of veterinary school, I traveled to Honduras with VetMerge, an organization that provides veterinary services in areas with limited access to veterinary medical care. Along with a small group of veterinary students and two doctors, we traveled to a town with a population of 7,000 called La Villa de San Antonio.

School was out, and I was excited about this trip. It would be a great opportunity to leave behind the lecture hall, abandon the books, and get some “real” clinical experience. We learned that the ranchers relied on their livestock as an important source of income, and we would have a chance to help them. Months before our trip we raised money and gathered supplies. Arriving with our suitcases stuffed full of medical supplies, we were ready to get to work!

Click to read more ...

Jolly Ball Time!

By: Jessica Dowling

Cornell University, Class of 2011

Another Look at NAVMEC

By: Dalis Collins

University of Georgia, Class of 2013

It seems that if something has an acroymn, then it must be important. NAVMEC is no exception. It stands North American Veterinary Medical Education Consortium, and this organization could drastically change not only our educational experience but the course the entire profession of veterinary medicine is taking. While you may not have heard of it, your administrators certainly have and more than likely someone from your school is participating in it. Here at UGA, Dr. Carmichael, our Dean of Academics, is our representative. Even SAVMA is represented by the two members of the SAVMA executive board. Composed of over 200 individuals from all aspects of the profession, the NAVMEC’s goal is to take a comprehensive look at veterinary curriculum try to determine how to structure education to best meet the changing needs of society. This may involve changes in everything from accredidation standards to tracking to required courses.

Click to read more ...

Sex Change Operation?

By: Jennifer Blewitt

University of Pennsylvania, Class of 2013

The bulk of my experience before applying to veterinary school was working as an emergency and critical care technician at a near-by specialty and referral hospital. Some of the roles of a CC/ER technician include acquiring radiographs, running various in-house laboratory tests, performing in-patient treatments, venipuncture, and assessing triages.

At my particular clinic, the number of technicians working on a shift are split into either in-patient or out-patient care. On one particular day I was assigned to out-patients which meant I handled the incoming triages. One triage I will never forget was a roughly six-year-old male neutered cat that presented for a gunshot wound. I assessed the patient fairly quickly to make sure it was stable before asking the owner too many questions. The cat’s vitals were WNL so I began to examine the patient for the wound. The owner mentioned that it was located in the cat’s “hind area” so I searched for a minute or so before I asked the owner to physically point out where he had seen the wound. At such time, the owner leaned in and pointed to a specific spot on the patient. I stood for a moment and tried my best not to laugh as I told him, “Um, sir, that is not a gunshot wound…that is your cat’s vagina, and ‘he’ is in fact a she.” We awkwardly starred at each other for a few seconds before I said, “would you still like your pet to be seen?” He picked up the cat and then walked out of the hospital.