A First Year’s Guide to UCD SVM: Winter Term Books & Classes

Posted onAuthorsostermannblog@gmail.com

You’ve probably heard rumors that Winter term is the most difficult term of first year at the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis. But please don’t worry, I definitely did not find this term to be more difficult than fall term. You’ve already survived a term, you are clearly learning how to study in vet school and you will be fine! Don’t worry — this is an incredibly fun term, so try not to stress, and enjoy the amazingly interesting topics that are covered during this term!

Classes:

  • VMD400A – Freshman Doctoring
    • Overview: A continuation of freshman doctoring from Fall term.
    • Recommended Books: NONE
    • Grading: Pass/Fail
  • VMD401B – Head Anatomy

    • Overview: Another gross anatomy class that is a lot of work but a ton of fun! You’ll be working with the wonderful anatomy team from Fall term again to go through all muscles, nerves and other nuances of the head.
    • Recommended Books:
      • Miller’s Anatomy of the Dog. Make sure to get a copy with the electronic copy as it will make your life easier by not having to lug that giant text about. You’ll be able to look everything up on your computer with a great search feature!
      • Pasquini’s Anatomy of Domestic Animals. Not required, but I had this from a course I took through Colorado State and it was amazingly helpful in lab!
      • Dyce’s Textbook of Veterinary Anatomy. I still have mine in shrink wrap, but I am told it will be of great use for individuals interested in species other than dogs.
    • Grading: Normal grading, lab practicals and lecture exams.
  • VMD402B – Cardiovascular Physiology
    • Overview: This is probably one of those classes you’ve heard about. Don’t believe any negative rumors you may have heard, the class is incredibly informative and the professor is a good teacher. I definitely felt like I learned a ton in this class. I will admit that the final is difficult — and long at 3 hours — but you will emerge from this class with a strong foundation of knowledge of cardiovascular physiology!
    • Recommended Books: Cardiovascular Physiology by Mohrman – get this tiny book early and start reading it as you go through the class. It is not a difficult read at all and helps make everything make sense!
    • Grading: Normal grading, one final exam and a few quizzes during lab. Final is 3 hours long and written — expect to take the full time to complete the exam.
  • VMD402C – Respiratory Anatomy and Physiology
    • Overview: This class was a ton of fun and is taught by really awesome professors! There is a lab portion in the gross lab as well as a few labs that are dry and are more working through problems. While the material might seem challenging, the professors really do a great job at explaining things and as long as you understand the powerpoint presentations, you will do well on the final. Lab is also very helpful in working through problems and the lab instructors are incredibly helpful as they are willing to sit down and work with you through something so that you understand why things happen the way they do.
    • Recommended Books: NONE
    • Grading: Normal grading, one final exam.
  • VMD408 – Nutrition
    • Overview: This class sounds like it could be a lot of fun and very interesting, however, I found the material to be more dry than I had anticipated. There is a lot of information provided — lots of memorizing vitamins, minerals and such — and you will have some lectures repeated from P-chem.
    • Recommended Books: NONE
    • Grading: Normal grading, multiple exams (MC, T/F, Fill-In, Short Answer, etc)
  • VMD415A – Nursing
    • Overview: Starting in the beginning of fall term you will be assigned nursing shifts in the following areas: Small Animal (2 nights in the same week for 3 hours), CAPE (Exotics, 4 days in a row in a week, for one hour per day), Farm Animal (1 night for 3 hours), and Equine (1 night for 3 hours). These are all scheduled after 5pm, which means they do run the risk of conflicting with electives (check your schedules and clear up any conflicts before they happen!). Do not miss a nursing session as they are not easy to make up — often inconveniently scheduled before finals or during finals. Nursing sessions are intended to give you a brief overview and exposure to all of the various tracks of medicine we offer at UC Davis. I think it’s great as some people come in to vet school confident that they want to do Small Animal Medicine but have never worked with exotics/wildlife, or horses before and find their passion in another field. I think it’s great and I’ve definitely had great experiences with most of my Nursing Sessions. Check out my post about Equine Nursing.
    • Recommended Books: NONE
    • Grading: Pass/Fail, just show up!
  • VMD421 – Neuro
    • Overview: Easily one of my favorite classes of first year — mostly thanks to the professor! I must admit that despite my background in psychology (which involves a bit of cranial anatomy and neurology), I was (at least at first) intimidated by this class. However, the professor is incredible and makes the class so enjoyable and humorous. He will have you laughing every day without a doubt and thus his classes are very well attended. He definitely keeps things simple for us during first year as he would rather have us retain more of the basic concepts for when we have neuro again in 3rd year and clinics.
    • Recommended Books: NONE
    • Grading: Normal grading, multiple exams (MC & IDs), final has a lab practical (written IDs)
  • VMD430 – Radiology
    • Overview: One of my favorite classes, this class is in a series; you will have radiology every quarter of first year and they all add up to contribute to one general grade for all 3 quarters. The professors are amazing and have a great sense of humor, keeping you laughing for the entire year. People definitely seemed to look forward to radiology! I know I learned a ton in this class and it definitely got me thinking about a future career as a radiologist.
    • Recommended Books: NONE
    • Grading: One exam per quarter, averaged over the year to give you a final grade for all 3 quarters. Exams are online and open note.
  • VMD432 – GI Anatomy
    • Overview: Another anatomy course that consists of lectures as well as gross labs. You will be working with your cadaver dogs in the gross lab to cover GI anatomy of the dog but will also have exposure to equine and bovine specimens. This class definitely felt more focused on equine and bovine anatomy than canine anatomy.
    • Recommended Books:
      • Miller’s Anatomy of the Dog. Make sure to get a copy with the electronic copy as it will make your life easier by not having to lug that giant text about. You’ll be able to look everything up on your computer with a great search feature!
      • Pasquini’s Anatomy of Domestic Animals. Not required, but I had this from a course I took through Colorado State and it was amazingly helpful in lab!
      • Dyce’s Textbook of Veterinary Anatomy. I still have mine in shrink wrap, but I am told it will be of great use for individuals interested in species other than dogs.
    • Grading: Normal grading, multiple exams and lab practicals.
  • Electives (My Recommendation):
    • VSR401 – Small Animal Radiology Case Discussions (OR VSR402 – Large Animal Radiology Case Discussions)
      • Overview: Low key class that consists of cases being presented in the form of radiographs being projected on the screen in the front of the classroom. A laser pointer is passed around and students are able to chime in to help evaluate the patient. You can point out anything from things that are clearly not wrong, to things that are clearly wrong and you’ll all learn a great deal.
      • Recommended Books: NONE
      • Grading: Pass/Fail. Based upon attendance, but attendance was never taken for my class, so it’s more so on the Honor system. You can re-take this class for credit!
    • VME487 – Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of Non-domestic Animals
      • Overview: Low key class in which you are lectured by various professors who are experts in their fields on various species of animals that are not dogs, cats, horses, or cows. It’s an incredibly interesting class as you can compare and contrast how the species that are focused on in veterinary school differ from other species of animals.
      • Recommended Books: NONE
      • Grading: Pass/Fail. Based upon attendance and a take home midterm and final (both MC)
Cardiovascular Physiology