My stats and application process

Well, it's official! We are going to Missouri! Just sent in my deposit to be a part of the University of Missouri Vet Med Class of 2018!!!!! Off to the Midwest for 4 years!

I am so excited and can't believe that I ACTUALLY got into vet school and am going to be a veterinarian in 4 years!!! Ahh!! Now to find a place to live, a job for Eddie, etc, etc! 

So now I am going to reveal my stats and explain the process that I went through for EACH of the 14 schools I applied to... this is going to be a long entry :)

So these are the different areas of the VMCAS application:

GPA and pre-requisite classes- have to send transcripts from ALL schools attended

GRE scores

Veterinary Experience

Animal Experience

Job Experience

Research Experience

Honors/Awards

Extracurricular/Community Activities

ELORS-letters of recommendations from professors/veterinarians/etc. 

Personal Statement-why do you want to go to vet school/how did you get to this point

Optional Explanation Statement- I did not chose to do this- If you want to explain a gap in your schooling, bad grade, hardship you went thru, this is where you can explain it

So here we go: My stats according to VMCAS-NOTE: schools may calculate themselves differently

Cumulative GPA: 3.60 -competitive- this is normally around the average for accepted applicants when you look at school stats

Science GPA: 3.52- however most schools calculated themselves differently and it ranged from 3.30-3.52

Last 45 credit GPA: 3.38-most schools realize that you may not do as well when first starting college and use the last 45 credit GPA in deciding your academic score, mine was lower than average and that's because my summer courses of Physics were calculated in this (Physics was the lowest grade on my transcipts: B-)

Quantitative GRE: 154, 60% below- I think this was ok but saw other applicants do better than this

Verbal GRE: 145, 24% below- NOT a good score - I thought that this would really hurt my chances but I did an explanation statement that included my verbal GRE score-I discussed how my hearing impairment set me back in hearing and recognizing new words while growing up/learning and this hindered my score tremendously- obviously being a LVT I have a vast medical/veterinary terminology that I was able to learn and use fluently-I made sure to mention that

Analytical Writing: 4.0, 49% below, the scale is out of 6.0, I think is an average score

Side note: The GRE sucks! I'm sure many people would agree with me on this. Prepare for it ahead of time and know your vocabulary! Don't stress out too much though and don't go crazy taking it 3-4 times! If your scores are okay-good then just go with them! I took my GREs late (after I started the VMCAS application) and it was HORRIBLE for me-I decided to stick with my scores knowing that I wouldn't do much better if I took them again. Don't get me started on standardized testing-especially at this level of education?? Definitely not necessary. Just prepare, take them, and get them done with as soon as your ready to and don't think about them again! 

Animal Experience: This is experience that you have gained with animals and NOT under the supervision of a veterinarian NOTE: Most schools do NOT count pet ownership

4000 hours Equine-Working/riding at a local barn for 5 years

100 hours Small Animal/Avian/Lab animal- Animal Care as a part of the Vet-Tech program

792 hours Small Animal/Exotics/Avian- Worked as a Pet Care Specialist at Petsmart-responsible for care and husbandry of fish, birds, small mammals, cats, and reptiles

865 hours Small Animal- Working as a Doggie Daycare Attendant/Bather at a Dog daycare/grooming/boarding facility

Veterinary Experience: Experience under the supervision of a veterinarian- probably MOST important experiences to get!! It is EXTREMELY important to get VARIED experiences with different types of animals such as: equine, large/food animal, small animal, exotics, avian, zoo animal, lab animal

70 hours Small Animal: First internship at a small animal hospital, mostly observed, some hands on lab stuff

20 hours Small Animal: Surgery observation/assisting

45 hours Equine: Equine Handling class at University of Findlay

~250 hours: I listed all my classes and labs taken at Medaille that were taught by a veterinarian

72 hours Equine/Large Animal: Advanced Farm Animal Lab-taught technical procedures on cows, llamas, sheep, goats, alpacas, horses

70 hours Equine: Shadowed an equine veterinarian

15 hours: Listed my experience at the North American Veterinary Conference that I was chosen to attend to

2100 hours Small Animal/Exotics: Working as a receptionist, assistant and now a licensed veterinary technician in a 24/7 emergency/referral/community practice

I had a lot of Small animal (which is the most common experience) and exotics from internships, school, and where I work. I also had some large animal and equine from shadowing a equine veterinarian and labs. I also have experience working in an emergency setting which is definitely worth mentioning and can be considered an experience of its own. Also listing my continuing education hours at the North American Veterinary Conference showed that I am constantly learning, open to new things, and was a great professional experience in general. I feel that my animal/veterinary experiences were a strong part of my application.

Job Experience:

3120 hours:Worked at Wegmans for 5 1/2 years 

150 hours: Peer tutor

Research Experience: Working in research under the supervision of a DVM or PhD

I have no real "research" experience- I had applied for 2 summers in a row for multiple research internships so that I could gain some experience in this area. However I was never chosen for these internships and my school didn't have a strong research department. However, I did take an Intro to Lab Animal Medicine and decided to list this under research experience so that I didn't leave it blank. This class was about the husbandry of the lab animals used in research and all the laws and regulations that you must follow. It was a different angle on research that what I think vet schools are still looking for but I still listed it!

75 hours Lab Animal- Intro to Lab Animal Medicine class/lab

So clearly the research area of my application was poor-but I had many other experiences to make up for it :)

Honors and Awards: Now you get to list every honor/award that you have ever received pretty much so my advice is to keep track of them starting in high school!

Deans List: 7/8 semesters

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society: Was invited into this society because of my grades and paid my dues to be a member but never really did anything with it...

Medaille College Collegiate Scholarship: Received during my time at Medaille (GPA based)

UAW CAP Scholarship:

Wegmans Schoalrship:

Buffalo Urban League Scholarship:

National Honor Society: In high school

I had a couple scholarships that I was proud of but other than that I wasn't student leader of the year or anything special like that !

Extracurricular/Community Activities: This would include volunteer work, clubs, study abroad trips, etc.

Spanish Club: In high school

AFS (American Field Society): In high school, hosted foreign exchange students, multi-cultural club

European Discovery: Chosen to be a Student Ambassador to represent People to People-traveled to Europe for 3 weeks to travel/study- I write about this in an earlier post

Pre-Vet Club: At University of Findlay

Vet-Tech Club: At Medaille

Life Sciences Club: At Medaille

Trip to Belize, Central America: This was with the Life Sciences Club, spent 10 days travelling to different ecosystems of Belize and learned about the culture, flora, and fauna.

Personal Statement: From VMCAS app

-Discuss briefly the development of your interest in vet med

-Discuss those activities and unique experiences that have contributed to your preparation for a professional program

-Discuss your understanding of the vet med profession

-Discuss your career goals and objectives

This is obviously written in essay format and you have to cram all your experiences, thoughts, ideas, future goals into 2000 characters-which is equivalent to 1 page typed. START THIS EARLY and have several people read it and proof it for you! I talked about how my hearing impairment and being an only child lead me to this field because i recognized the importance and significance of the human-animal bond at such an early age. From there I summed up all my experiences, what it had taught me, why I can handle this program, and how I will be successful, etc. 

ELORS: Can have up to 6 letters (if i remember correctly) however most schools ask for 3 with one of them being from a DVM

These are the people that I asked!

-LVT/Hospital administrator from where I work

-Chemistry professor at Medaille

-Veterinarian/Professor at Medaille

-Veterinarian/Professor at Medaille

I asked these 4 professionals because I felt that they all knew me well and for a good period of time, they knew my strengths/weaknesses and I felt that they thought positively of me ;) 

I didn't ask any DVMs from work because I felt that I didn't have a close relationship with any of them at the time of application ( I was only working on weekends as a receptionist/assistant and just gotten my license) After I became full time as a LVT I felt that I could ask some of the DVMs there but it was too late. 

My advice would be to ask a DVM that you work with in practice for a recommendation. It is good to have recommendations from different professionals who work in different parts of the field or are in different disciplines. 

So there you have it: the breakdown of the VMCAS application! It is not an easy app and requires lots of time and planning ahead- START EARLY- most cycles open up around the first week of June and the deadline is October 2nd. START IN JUNE and SUBMIT IT EARLY :) Will save you lots of stress!

I will talk about the 14 schools I applied to and the breakdown of each in my next post :)

Euthanasia: A Double Edged Sword

I said that I would talk about issues in veterinary medicine and one topic that affects everyone from pet owners to veterinarians is euthanasia. If you want to be in the field you HAVE to learn how to handle it and how to deal with euthanasia, you CANNOT avoid it no matter how much you want to. Some people change their careers/fields because of euthanasia.

         

When I first started my job at where I work as an LVT now, I had never witnessed a euthanasia and never had one of my own pets euthanized. I didn’t know what to expect.  I started out as a receptionist and at first my job was just filling out the form and cashing them out in the room. Even that was too much for me. My first week I cried during each one. It just hits you when you walk in that room, even as a receptionist and you see the bond between the pet and owner and the pet is about to pass on.

Eventually you adapt to these situations but it wasn’t until a good year that I finally became comfortable with euthanasia. I hate to use the word “comfortable” or “ok” when talking about euthanasia because even though it the act of humanly ending an animal’s life. You are still taking away that animal’s life and I don’t ever want to truly be “ok” or “comfortable” with that. Yes, euthanasia may be the best and most humane option in some cases but it is important to always be sensitive towards this decision.

I used to always think how could owners make the decision to euthanize their pet? It just seemed to cruel to me, even if the pet was suffering. It wasn’t until one of my professors, who was very influential on me, said that “deciding euthanasia for your pet is one of the most selfless decisions an owner can make for their pet.” I never thought of it that way but it really is true. It really is selfish to make a pet suffer and live a poor quality of life just because YOU want to still be with him/her. I have slowly come to terms with euthanasia and have realized the importance and necessity of it in veterinary medicine.

With that said, there is the other side of consciousness where you become so used to euthanasia that it doesn’t even phase you anymore. Sometimes I reach this point while working in emergency/referral medicine, it just becomes so repetitive that sometimes I don’t even realize that these animals are no longer here anymore. It is especially scary when I hear HUMAN cases that sound so suffering and terminal and I think “why don’t they just euthanize?” And I’m like WAIT because they don’t euthanize in human medicine and I quickly realize that it is scary how “comfortable” you can become with this topic.

The next few paragraphs are from a proposal I wrote for a paper I wanted to write on euthanasia and the effects of it on veterinary staff. 

          Euthanasia is a very touchy subject and should not be taken lightly.  Many healthy animals are euthanized every day due to cost concerns, behavioral problems, accidents, overpopulation, not enough shelter/homes, etc.  Not only is this an issue of too many healthy pets not having homes and as result euthanasia is selected as a solution.  This is also an issue of what effects constant exposure to euthanasia has on veterinary professionals in the field.  When I say veterinary professionals, I am primarily talking about veterinarians, but also veterinary technicians, veterinary assistants, and receptionists.  Veterinary professionals often do not ultimately have the final say in euthanizing an animal.  It is the client’s choice whether the pet is old and suffering and it is “time,” or the client simply does not want the pet anymore for various reasons and chooses to end its life.  When veterinary professionals are exposed to this over and over they must develop a coping method, whether it is a positive or negative method. 

Studies show that workers in this situation are at risk for high blood pressure, ulcers, depression, unresolved grief, substance abuse, and suicide. (Pierce)  Research has also shown that veterinarians have high suicide rates, four times higher than the general public.  (Pierce)  “Veterinarians have a proportional mortality ratio for suicide approximately four times higher than the general public and around twice that of other healthcare professions.” (Bartram and Baldwin)  Possible factors that contribute to these high suicide rates are the rigorous undergraduate work it takes to get accepted into veterinary school, the stressful graduate level learning, the availability of lethal drugs to veterinarians, high stress environment of being veterinarian, and the desensitization to euthanasia from constant exposure to it. 

          Although animals are not humans and cannot literally be compared to them, people who work in the veterinary field often view pets/animals as their children.  Their job is to take care of these animals and very empathetic towards them.  This is a psychological quality of many people in the field that may contribute to how euthanasia affects them, where euthanasia mat be viewed differently and have different effects by a person who has no feelings towards animals.  

It is very important to recognize euthanasia and have a support system that you can turn to when you start to become emotionally drained. This field is very emotional and mentally draining and it's important to stay healthy and stable while working through these situations!