Student Support and Resources

The ability to manage your time well is one of the most important skills for veterinary medicine students. While it might seem simple, good time management is essential for academic success and can also help decrease anxiety and stress. And since time management is a skill, you can get better at it through intention and practice. Below are some time management strategies that support student success:

·        Use a planner. A planner is an essential tool to manage your schedule and stay organized. Use your planner to plan lecture and lab times, as well as study time, social events, self-care, and other tasks. We recommend using a planner that shows the hours of each day. Fill in your schedule, and use the planner to help you stay on track and keep you accountable.

·        Plan time for self-care. Whether self-care is going to the gym, walking, yoga or getting coffee with friends, make sure you plan your time for self-care proactively.

·        Plan enough study time. We recommend planning for 3-4 hours of study every day. It doesn’t need to be all at one time, and you can take study breaks. If you have trouble focusing, try using Pomodoros (short, focused study sessions followed by 5-minute breaks).

·        Prioritize. There isn’t time for everything, so you need to prioritize activities, and be willing to say “no” to things that won’t help you reach your goals.

Want to learn more about effective time management?

Cornell University, “Managing Time”

3 time-management methods every new medical student must know

The learning strategies (or study skills) that are used in veterinary medicine may differ from what you have used before. Active learning strategies are strategies that require attention and engagement, whereas passive study strategies require very little effort and attention (for example, re-reading or re-studying).

When to Study:

·        Spaced Repetition.  Also known as distributed practice, spaced repetition means spreading studying out over multiple sessions. By studying topics over several study sessions, you will increase your ability to recall information.

·        Interleaved Practice. Interleaved practice, or interleaving, means studying multiple but related topics during a study session. Interleaving strengthens neural connections by connecting related topics.

How to Study:

·        Retrieval Practice/Practice Testing. Any time you recall information or test yourself, you are practicing retrieval practice. Retrieval practice can be accomplished in different ways, including the use of flashcards, free recall of information, writing down everything you know about a topic or concept, answering questions or teaching someone else. The more often you recall information freely (without prompts or cues), the more likely you are to remember it in the future.

·        Elaboration. Elaboration is an encoding strategy that expands knowledge by adding to existing information and making connections between existing knowledge and new information. This could be done by finding YouTube videos, case studies, or other thinking about how the information relates to what you already know or have learned.

·        Dual Coding. The more ways we can encode information, the better we are able to retrieve it later. Putting information into a concept map, table, chart, or other visuals are dual coding strategies.

Learn more about effective learning strategies here:

UC San Diego, "Effective Studying"

Scientific American, “What Works, What Doesn’t”

VMCVM embraces diversity and inclusion, including equal opportunity in education for individuals with disabilities and complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

VMCVM is committed to providing all accepted and current students opportunities to take full advantage of our educational, academic and community programs.  We recognize that students with documented disabilities may need accommodations to fully participate and encourage students to disclose with Virginia Tech’s Services to Students with Disabilities (SSD). 

SSD is responsible for ensuring that all qualified applicants and current students with disabilities receive the accommodations they need. They can also provide guidance on numerous accommodations, answer questions about using accommodations to meet the technical standards, and assist students with short-term medical illness or temporary disability (less than 6 months).

Students wanting to request accommodations, should contact Virginia Tech’s SSD office to confidentially discuss their accommodation needs. Students can begin the registration process and submit their documentation online on the SSD website. You must notify SSD that you are a VMCVM student. Once a student is registered with SSD, an accommodation recommendation will be generated. It is up to the student to provide their accommodations letter to the VMCVM Office of Academic Affairs; who are responsible for ensuring approved accommodations are implemented.

Given the clinical nature of our programs, time may be needed to create and implement the accommodations. Accommodations are never retroactive; therefore, timely requests are essential and encouraged.

We look forward to working with students seeking accommodations and we are eager to ensure that any approved accommodations are efficiently and effectively implemented such that all learners have full access to our facilities and curriculum. Students should not hesitate to reach out if they have any questions or need assistance completing this process.