Creating Your Vet School List Manisha Lakhotia Assistant Director of Health Professions Advising

I CAN’T LEAVE CALIFORNIA!!!

There are MANY factors to consider when picking schools. Choosing schools is a strategic process. Location Exposure to Tracks Philosophy Curriculum Model Class Sizes Clinical Setting Early Clinical Experiences Board Pass Rates Cost

Metric Averages Some schools have a metric cut-off. For schools that do not, averages are not the minimum requirement. Safety vs Reach Schools

Tie who you are with what the school offers! Cultural Match Tie who you are with what the school offers! Student Life websites, YouTube, Facebook, Website Photos, Mission Statement, Talking to Students/Faculty Are there people like me there? Can I connect with anyone?

Philosophy Research, Community Service, Public Health This should align with your past experiences and goals.

Location Suburban, Urban, Rural Do you want a car? Are you ok with public transportation? Access to underserved populations?

Curriculum Model PBL, SDL, CBL, Traditional (Lecture), Hybrid Interprofessional Education Class Sizes

Clinical Experiences Location of sites. What are the clinics/hospitals like? Will you have exposure to the area you want to pursue? Location of sites.

PBL-Problem Based Learning An active, student-centered process where they are responsible for the learning in their groups Some schools have PBL groups consisting of 5-6 students and a facilitator (sometimes no facilitator) Facilitator are guides not lecturers or resources. Groups meet for a couple hours every week for x amount of sessions to work through special designed cases Most veterinary schools are moving towards PBL to avoid mechanical memorization of material found in traditional lecture

SDL-Self Directed Learning The individual takes initiative with or without the help of others in Problem-based learning Case-based learning Team-based learning Small-group learning One of the more appropriate learning method for health care professions to keep up-to-date with current medical advances Adopted by UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 2016

CBL-Case Based Learning Students are presented with case studies that focus on diagnosis and management of a patient Clinical cases are selected to provoke deep student learning by making them use basic scientific and clinical knowledge for the case as well as build upon: Problem-solving Team-building Self-directed learning Communication Self- and peer-assessment skills

Example Case ATM Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences http://cases.vetmoodle.org/CET_CoursePlayer/demo1/case.html

Traditional (Lecture) Most undergraduate courses Material is taught didactically A professor will lecture on material and the student will be assessed via exams or quizzes throughout the course

Hybrid Some sort of combination between traditional lecture and Problem Based Learning Students will attend lecture and right after or the following day, are presented with a case that utilizes information they just learned Depending on the school the balance is more lecture or more cases or more discussion

Tracking vs. Non-tracking Tracking: allows you to take more classes/rotations in your desired specialization Example tracks at UCD: Small Animal or Large Animal (Equine, Livestock, Zoologic) Tracking at Colorado State University: Small, Large, or Mixed Non-tracking: learn about all animals more generally Good if you don’t know what you want to specialize in yet Even if you do know, having knowledge of all animals is useful! The small animals you treat may live in a household with large animals, etc. Generally do better on the NAVLE since it contains questions on all major domestic species (but keep in mind the NAVLE pass rate is pretty high everywhere)

Rotations, Externships and Residency What are rotations? Typically 2-4 week rotations in different services Usually there will be several required rotations, and some that you choose Look for schools that offer rotations your interested in But also keep in mind many schools allow you to do externships What are externships? Opportunity to study an interest somewhere other than the university Examples: Wildlife conservation in Africa, lab animal medicine at Stanford Medicine, study pathology at the UF Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory, Leader Dogs for the Blind, Marine Mammal Center, etc. Optional Residency (Cornell) Provides the resident with a high level of clinical proficiency in a specific clinical discipline Allows you to meet the postgraduate education requirements of the specialty board related to that discipline Get experience in professional veterinary medical education and in teaching Minimum of 2-3 years depending on the program

Comparing Curricula: UC Davis *Look at website for list of rotations

Comparing Curricula: University of Illinois. Poke around the website Comparing Curricula: University of Illinois *Poke around the website! Not mentioned in this chart are elective streams in Business, Equine, Food Animal, Small Animal, Wildlife/Zoo/Ecology TIME OF YEAR YEAR 1 COURSES YEAR 2 COURSES YEAR 3 COURSES YEAR 4 COURSES FALL SEMESTER FIRST HALF VM602 Structure & Function I VM605 Pathobiology I VM609 Medicine & Surgery I VM614 Clinical Practice V FALL SEMESTER SECOND HALF VM601 Clinical Practice I VM607 Pathobiology II VM610 Medicine & Surgery II VM615 Clinical Practice VI SPRING SEMESTER FIRST HALF VM603 Structure & Function II VM606 Clinical Practice II Milestone Exam I VM611 Medicine & Surgery III VM616 Clinical Practice VII SPRING SEMESTER SECOND HALF VM604 Structure & Function III VM608 Pathobiology III VM612 Milestone Exam II Clinical Practice III VM617 Professional Development Graduation SUMMER Vacation VM613 Clinical Practice IV Employment

Cost of Attendance Factors to consider In state/out-of-state tuition Can you establish residency? Living expenses Transportation costs to visit home A great resource: VIN Foundation (vin.com)

Start Researching (Websites) Track Your Questions Along Columns Create Excel Sheet Determine Your Budget Start Researching (Websites) Track Your Questions Along Columns Collect Same Info for All Schools School Name LOR Requirement Outstanding Prereqs Secondary Cost Location Curriculum Clinical Training Sites Out of state acceptance rate Western 2 Science, 1 non-sci None $75 Pomona: Suburbuanish PBL, Interprofessional On campus & 3 miles away 50% Cornell 4 max from anyone Sociology $125 Rural Traditional All around campus 30%

Practice: Pick a school.