Comments on: What to Expect in Veterinary School http://vmdiva.com/2009/07/what-to-expect-in-veterinary-school/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what-to-expect-in-veterinary-school Musings of a Veterinarian Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:18:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Dr. K http://vmdiva.com/2009/07/what-to-expect-in-veterinary-school/comment-page-1/#comment-865 Dr. K Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:30:31 +0000 http://vmdiva.com/?p=370#comment-865 Anagha: It would be pretty difficult to get through something like gross anatomy without having a tangible model to study from but veterinary schools do provide models for students who object. Cornell is one school I know that has a library stocked full of models, computerized programs, etc. I can tell you, though, from personal experience that until you feel it in real life you'll be at a disadvantage while learning surgeries. I *think* few veterinary schools practice euthanizing surgery patients following the procedure. My experience at Penn was students spayed/neutered dogs from the local animal shelter as part of a shelter medicine program. The animals were brought to the veterinary school, housed for a week, had one to two surgeries performed on them, and then were either adopted and returned to the adoption floor at the shelter. You can also see if you can participate with the school's pathology department while they do necropsies. These are people's pets who are being medically examined so you'll have very limited access to handle tissue but you will at least know the animal wasn't euthanized expressly for your learning. Anagha: It would be pretty difficult to get through something like gross anatomy without having a tangible model to study from but veterinary schools do provide models for students who object. Cornell is one school I know that has a library stocked full of models, computerized programs, etc. I can tell you, though, from personal experience that until you feel it in real life you’ll be at a disadvantage while learning surgeries. I *think* few veterinary schools practice euthanizing surgery patients following the procedure. My experience at Penn was students spayed/neutered dogs from the local animal shelter as part of a shelter medicine program. The animals were brought to the veterinary school, housed for a week, had one to two surgeries performed on them, and then were either adopted and returned to the adoption floor at the shelter.

You can also see if you can participate with the school’s pathology department while they do necropsies. These are people’s pets who are being medically examined so you’ll have very limited access to handle tissue but you will at least know the animal wasn’t euthanized expressly for your learning.

]]> By: Anagha http://vmdiva.com/2009/07/what-to-expect-in-veterinary-school/comment-page-1/#comment-862 Anagha Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:41:15 +0000 http://vmdiva.com/?p=370#comment-862 Oh and this is a wonderful article. I am a potential career-changer going from finance to vet school and it is extremely insightful to be able to read about what to expect. I like that you've written about it without making it sound worse than it is or sugar-coating; usually people tend to do one or the other. Thanks! Oh and this is a wonderful article. I am a potential career-changer going from finance to vet school and it is extremely insightful to be able to read about what to expect. I like that you’ve written about it without making it sound worse than it is or sugar-coating; usually people tend to do one or the other. Thanks!

]]> By: Anagha http://vmdiva.com/2009/07/what-to-expect-in-veterinary-school/comment-page-1/#comment-861 Anagha Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:39:04 +0000 http://vmdiva.com/?p=370#comment-861 From your experience, would one be able to get through veterinary school without having to work on an animal that's been killed expressly for the purpose of the class? I suppose the alternative would be to work on animals that were euthanized for other reasons whose bodies were then donated to the vet school. Do people do that? From your experience, would one be able to get through veterinary school without having to work on an animal that’s been killed expressly for the purpose of the class? I suppose the alternative would be to work on animals that were euthanized for other reasons whose bodies were then donated to the vet school. Do people do that?

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