Q&A: How do you compare schools for what they specialize in?

How do you compare schools for what they specialized the most in, or what type of medicine they offer the most experience in before graduation/residency? Which veterinary school offers the most for food animal medicine, for equine, for zoo medicine. Every school claims to be the best at one thing or another on their websites, Read More …

UC Davis 4th Year Clinics

People keep asking, “What’s 4th year like?!” Well, if you’re following me on Facebook you have an idea of what it has been like for me, but how about the nitty gritty details? That’s what this new series of posts is for! So many of us go through vet school only hearing snippets of what Read More …

A Proud Moment for the San Francisco SPCA

The San Francisco SPCA has decided to provide free spay and neuter surgery for Pit Bull and Pit Bull mixes indefinitely! Here’s the article. This is excellent news in my opinion. Given that San Francisco is one of those cities that makes sterilization mandatory for these breeds and mixes, the SF/SPCA is doing a service Read More …

An Average Week in the Life of a Vet Student

I realize there are a lot of people who are curious as to what an average day is like for a vet student. Fact of the matter is: there are no average days  in vet school, at least not at the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis. At best we have an expectation that Read More …

Veterinary Experience for VMCAS — Why It’s Important

This is not meant to be a post that will delve into the many, many reasons why veterinary experience is important (and often required) to have before applying to veterinary school. Surely there are obvious reasons; for instance, you will gain a better understanding of the field of veterinary medicine. With even the slightest amount Read More …

My First Vet School Summer: What I Did

To be honest, I didn’t truly have a plan for this summer. During the winter and spring terms I made some plans. I applied for a research fellowship, expecting not to get it and made back up plans which included: An externship at the San Francisco SPCA Summer clinics in Neurology, Dermatology, and Oncology at Read More …

Scrubbing in and Assisting in Surgery as a 1st Year Extern

I admit that I pursued an externship at the San Francisco SPCA for the varied caseload and experiences. I was able to see everything from routine appointments to emergencies and shelter medicine. Given that my background is primarily in shelter medicine, I wanted to gain as much exposure to the other aspects of veterinary medicine Read More …

Scrubbing in and Assisting in Surgery as a 1st Year Extern

I admit that I pursued an externship at the San Francisco SPCA for the varied caseload and experiences. I was able to see everything from routine appointments to emergencies and shelter medicine. Given that my background is primarily in shelter medicine, I wanted to gain as much exposure to the other aspects of veterinary medicine Read More …

Applying Knowledge to Cases

When I first arrived at the San Francisco SPCA, I was definitely assumed to be a 4th year as that is the more common time for students to be doing externships. I was sure to inform doctors that I had just completed my first year so that they knew what level of knowledge (and perhaps Read More …

Applying Knowledge to Cases

When I first arrived at the San Francisco SPCA, I was definitely assumed to be a 4th year as that is the more common time for students to be doing externships. I was sure to inform doctors that I had just completed my first year so that they knew what level of knowledge (and perhaps Read More …