Pony

The time has come to roll the dice to decide where to live for the next 3 years. It doesn't seem a year ago since we made similar choices and ended up leaving Bryan TX for Los Angeles for a year! Applications are due in December.

We are considering all of the following schools for Sue's radiology residency. Any insight, good or bad, is greatly appreciated:

University of Georgia
Iowa State University
KSU Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital
Michigan State University
University of Missouri-Columbia
North Carolina State University
The Ohio State University
University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine
Tufts Cummings Schoool of Veterinary Medicine, Massachusetts
Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine
Washington State University
School of Veterinary Medicine,Madison WI

We still haven't decided whether to just head back to Texas and buy a piece of land near the inlaws. 3 years is a long time when you have elderly parents (Sue's father is 80), who regularly play the guilt trip.

Elvira

How come you left out UC Davis?

Pony

The list only includes institutions offering a radiology residency, or institutions Sue is considering (I am not sure if UC Davis has a radiology residency or not, it may be that Sue didn't rate the appointment)

NC Penguin

I'm somewhat biased but NCSU has a very good reputation in general and I do know that the vet school is very highly regarded. In addition, it's a state institution and not a private institution so it won't be extraordinarily expensive (but of course Mrs. Pony will be paying out of state rates).

I'll also throw into the mix that NC is more welcoming to those who wish to uphold their second amendment rights and the cost of living is far more reasonable than most, if not all, of California.

Tracym

I've had dealings with Madison and Michigan State.

Madison was excellent from what little I had to do with them. Not her field, but they and Colorado State take turns being tops for oncology.

Michigan - well I took my dog there for an emergency. I've seen far better from every general vet I've been too - never seen anything like it. My Keith, who was in final year of vet school was with me - he agreed. In fact, we complained to the head of the hospital it was so bad.

They didn't respond for hours to a dog off his back legs - they didn't attend to basic needs (like giving the poor dog a drink even!). We had to fight with them to let the poor guy out to pee - he was cyring he was so desperate. They didn't think of pain meds - didn't remember he needed to take NSAIDS with food. They dispensed the medications at the wrong dose (double), under another person/dog's name.

We had to ask for water - ask for pain control. Remind them you needed food with nsaids. Ridiculous.

They blew the diagnosis completely too. I asked three times for a second opinion from the resident's boss - never got it. So basically I paid a bunch of money to see a new grad.

They said the dog needed an ultrasound - but after waiting three hours, the radiologist had gone home. So after driving three hours to get there, and waiting another three - they just said "oh well, too late now"

They said he needed a neuro consult - but they don't have a neurologist.

Worst mess I've ever gotten from a vet in my life.

The head of the hospital was upset by the meds error, but didn't seem to care too much about the rest.

I would stay away from that one.

Bill_S

FWIW, UPenn, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and NCState are among the highest in the US News rankings. As an Ohio resident, I probably have some Ohio State bias, but I believe it to be a good school (I didn't attend it BTW).
Cost of living will be reasonable, but Columbus is unfortunately not very 2nd amendment friendly. Ohio in general is OK, but Columbus is very Democrat-rich. North Carolina definitely wins in that regard. The climate is better in NC as well.

Kaffy Mintcake

I didn't go to Ohio State either, but know that its veterinary school has an excellent reputation.

Best of luck in whatever you choose!

penguinsix

Madison, WI is a pretty nice and fun town. Some of those other schools are listed in pretty dull areas.

Have you visited some of the schools, say your top 5? Might give you a better feel for where you want to be for a few years.

Tracym

Madison is a nice area, I agree.

Pony

Sue's current internship (private practice) see's her working 14 hour minimum days with just one day a week off. It doesn't leave much time for travel. She has a week off next week, but she is flying to a radiology conference somewhere on the east coast (I was listening when she told me ). She managed to visit two candidates for her internship last year, but didn't end up placing at either.
The area itself is not that important (here we are in Los Angeles), we are more concerned about how much she will get out of the 3 years there. If the residency is anywhere near the amount of work the internship is then she won't get much time to enjoy the area. Depending on where we end up we will be looking for somewhere semi-rural to live, we intend to have the horses at home this time. Driving over an hour each way on your day off just to ride for a couple of hours is becoming real tedious. With that in mind I don't feel the location will be anywhere near as important as the quality of the school.

Tracym

Pretty cold in some of those areas to ride outside in winter....

jumping doris

We have used Ohio State for our dog and we have friends who have gone there over the years with their horses.
Everyone I know who uses it as a patient (well, owner of the patient) seems to praise it highly and I would rather take my dog there (3 hour drive) to see the canine cardiologist than the one 15 miles away.

What it is like to work/study there I don't know.

scrubbedexpat097

Come back to Texas................you know you really want to

tamms_1965

Ohio State is ranked in top 100 of schools worldwide. (I read it on BE so it must be true.)

Bob

Don't have a gnats clue about the others, and minimal about this place, but it's got a fantastic reputation apparently, also nice location, not that cheap though, but on the plus, you've got NH's manchester airport for really cheap internal flights, plus Logon Int in Boston for quick flights around the country and the UK.

Bloody cold time to check it out in December though, but don't let that put you off, but then it'll be something different from the two hot states you've been living in