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FAQ - Freshmen

GPVEC (Great Plains Veterinary Education Center)

During the summer between your first and second years, you will be required to attend one week learning agricultural animal clinical skills. You will be given more information in your veterinary orientation regarding this, but following are a few things not given to you in class.
Detailed driving directions to GPVEC. There are a variety of routes that you can take, this is one that I have found to be the fastest. Plan on about 3 hours give or take 15 minutes depending on how you drive. (It takes me 2'45 averaging 65-70.) You will need to get on Hwy 24 initially. You can do this by either taking Tuttle Creek Blvd northwest out of Manhattan (Tuttle Creek Blvd turns into Hwy 24), or by taking Seth Childs Road north out of Manhattan, and then turning left when it meets up with Hwy 24. Continue north on Hwy 24 for about 10 miles or so until Hwy 24 turns off to the left (which will also be Hwy 77 south). Turn left onto Hwy 24, which will have you going west. Landmarks at the turn will be a very large sign posted up on a hill pointing to Riley at the turn. Go west on Hwy 24 for about 10 miles. As you pass Riley, Hwy 24 will turn right. Stay on Hwy 77 south for about 3 more miles until you come to Hwy 82, which will go off towards your right. (This will enable you to bypass Leonardville.) Turn right on Hwy 82, and go north on 82 for about 5 miles. You will come to a stop sign. Turn left at the stop sign, which will put you back on Hwy 24. Stay on Hwy 24 west for the next hour. You will go through Clay Center, Glasco, and Beloit. (You will pass a Burger King in Clay Center if you want to stop somewhere for breakfast.) As you come to the end of Beloit, you will turn right on Hwy 14 north. Landmarks will be a Pizza Hut on your right. Go north on Hwy 14 for about 25 miles. You will go through the town of Jewell. When you come to a stop sign at Hwy 36, turn right on Hwy 36 for 2 miles, then left again back on Hwy 14. (Just follow the Hwy 14 signs.) You will stay on Hwy 14 all the way to Clay Center. As you go through the town of Superior, you will need to turn left at the traffic light (only 1 in town) to stay on Hwy 14. You will go through a few small towns in Nebraska. As you come into Clay Center, you will need to take a left onto 18D spur. Landmarks will be a Country General gas station on the right corner. Go west on the 18D spur for about 5 miles. You will come to a cluster of buildings on your right (not well labeled). That is where you want to go. You will need to go to the east door of the most western building.
Driving directions in brief: Hwy 24 west to Hwy 77 south to Hwy 82 north to Hwy 24 west to Hwy 14 north to 18D spur west.
Your lodging during your stay at GPVEC will consist of rooms that will sleep 4-6, and have a refrigerator, microwave, oven, dishwasher, plates and silverware, a phone, and a tv, although I don't think there was a VCR. There are 2 bathrooms per room, and alarm clocks. There is also one washer and dryer on the main floor that you are able to use. I don't know about other groups, but our group was done by 5 or 6 most nights, although you are scheduled until 8pm each night. There is a small bar in Clay Center and an ice cream/hamburger type shop, but not much else. Otherwise Hastings has numerous bars, a mall, Wal-Mart, fast food, movie theaters, etc. Hastings is about 15 minutes west on Hwy 6 from Clay Center.

So you’ve been an A-B student all through undergrad, you worked hard, and you finally made it into vet school. Time to relax, and just pass all of your classes for the next four years. Right? Wrong. Vet school is a bit more challenging than undergrad classes, with 19-22 credit hours on average per semester, and slightly higher stakes. Many A students suddenly find themselves getting Bs and Cs for the first time in their lives. In addition, one D will see you repeating a year (you will have to repeat that class plus any classes that you earned a C in for that semester, which will effectively hold you back for a full year), an F or 2 Ds will see you booted out of vet school. But, you think, I’m smart, I can handle it. By the time you reach your senior year, you will have lost 7-15 students from your original freshmen class, mostly due to grades – and they are all smart, hardworking students, or they wouldn’t have made it this far. At this point in your schooling, you may also just plan on graduating, getting your DVM, and going into general practice. However, many students change not only their ideas of what type of animals they want to practice on by the time they graduate, but they also decide that they are interested in doing at least an internship, with a possible residency and board certification in an area after graduation. However, only about 10% of graduating students are accepted into internships, and only about 1% of graduating students make it into a residency program. GPA figures very highly in the selection process for internships and residencies, so unless you want to narrow your options before you even learn enough to decide what you want to do, you may want to keep those grades up, which will be a bit more of a challenge than undergrad. So, start early in your freshman year, and get good study habits formed.

As a veterinary student, you have the opportunity to obtain a masters degree by the time you graduate from veterinary school. You do NOT have to have your bachelor’s degree to be able to obtain your masters degree. (That is according to Dr. Elmore.) However, obtaining your masters degree along with your DVM degree in the dual-degree program is time consuming, and you will have to work harder than most of your classmates.
To obtain your masters degree through KSU requires 30 credit hours. 12 of the required credit hours can be taken from your veterinary curriculum, although you will have to obtain an A or B in those classes. 6-8 of the credit hours must be research hours. This leaves an additional 10-12 credit hours of graduate level classes that you will need to take prior to graduation. Since research hours can be very demanding of your time, it is usually recommended that if you are going to participate in the dual-degree program, that you start as a freshman. It is possible to start as a sophomore, but much more difficult, not only to complete the required research and class credit hours, but to also be able to keep your grades up in your veterinary curriculum. Regardless of whether you start as a freshman or a sophomore, you will also need to devote your summers towards research and taking the graduate level classes. You can find a list of the classes available, along with more information on requirements for a masters degree at www.ksu.edu/grad/catalog.
You can get your masters degree in a wide variety of fields relating to veterinary medicine. Since you will need 6-8 research hours, you will need to find a PhD or a board certified clinician who happens to be working on a research project that is willing to work with you on the research, and to help you obtain your masters degree. If there is a certain field of science that you are interested in that is conducted on the VetMed campus, you can try talking to a PhD or board certified clinician who works in that field and ask them if they are working on any research projects or getting ready to start one, and if they would be willing to mentor you towards getting your masters degree. If you would like to see a list of current research projects that you might be able to work on towards a masters degree, go to www.vet.k-state.edu/gradschool/general.htm.
For more information, or to seriously look into participating in the dual-degree program, contact Dean Lisa Freeman, the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies of KSUCVM at Freeman@vet.k-state.edu, or Nelwyn Cook, the liaison between veterinary graduate school students and the graduate school at ncook@vet.k-state.edu.

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