Monday, August 29, 2011

So much to do....so little time.....

I'm so very tired. It's okay though, I had one of those great moments today where I thought "I am SO appreciative that I get to do this. go to vet school. become a veterinarian. ahhhh". So, it's all good-I just have a ton to do.

The Wildlife Clinic has kept me insanely busy-we now have 2 cases, a juvenile opossum who had an open wound on her side (still does, we're trying some interesting honey bandaging techniques), and an adult squirrel who's having neuro signs. I have yet to meet that one, I'll see how he is doing tomorrow morning at my treatment shift.

And classes....ahh the massive buildup of information. It's amazing what they can cram in to a mere week. And since we're on quarters (which I may have already mentioned) we have a midterm exam already in 2 weeks or so. insanity. BUT-on the plus side-just about everything we are learning right now is super interesting to me! I am loving pathology and immunology. I realized also I'm in that notorious year that any type of medical student starts learning about disease and immediately become hypochondriacs. I can totally see how that happens. It appears so because during lectures it seems almost impossible that our bodies function as well as they do. There are so many places where things can go wrong. SO many ultrastructural, eensy, and nano- weensy places where just one molecule can wreak havoc on a system. The body is truly a remarkable thing.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Second year starts off with a bang

So I spent my first day of second year at the vet med campus for THIRTEEN HOURS. I had classes from 8-12, then lunch, then lab from 1-3, then studied for a bit, then had to do a treatment on some wildlife clinic patients at 4, then had my Fish Med elective at 5, then had Team Leader training for the Wildlife Clinic from 6-8. somewhere in there, I realized I needed to give my little orphaned opossum patient at the WMC some pepto bismol to help her with her diarrhea problem, so I went down there and ended up finally leaving campus by 9. eeesh. needless to say, I was exhausted.

More later....

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Sigh. back to school blues.

So today we moved in some of my stuff, heading back home tomorrow, then back Saturday for the final move. I have that overwhelming feeling of responsibility falling over me again. eh. I guess I'll get back in the groove, it's just a bummer that summer is over.

I thought I wasn't very detailed last year with what exactly we were doing in school-so here is a list of subjects we'll be covering this upcoming quarter:

General Pathology w/lab
Genetics
Immunobiology w/lab
Toxicology
Pharmacology
Path 'discussion' and electives-
I am taking fish medicine and surgery. interesting, eh?

then next quarter we go through rotations-a different one each week. I'm really hoping to get dentistry and exotics-but I have to just take what I get.

Monday, August 15, 2011

2nd year...yeeikes.

so, I had an incredibly busy summer as a tech assistant at a Cat Hospital. It was wonderful, I got to draw lots of blood, assist during echo cardiograms and ultrasounds, give enemas (woo!) talk to owners about their cats and I even successfully drew urine by cystocentesis! I learned a LOT about stress-free restraint and feline specific handling.....and Ultimately, I learned what life was like for a feline only vet at a day practice in the city, and I loved it. I definitely see myself forming relationships with owners and seeing their pets for the entirety of their lives. I'm sad to leave that place, and my life with a job, and return to school, but I gots to do what I gots to do.

oh-I met my 'little sib'. The school has a program where as a 2nd year you can volunteer to be a mentor to an incoming 1st year that they pair you up with based on experiences and interests..Mine was really cool! she's a second career person also-and was so excited to be going into vet med. I am excited to hear about her 1st year experiences and hope to help her as much as my big sib helped me.

The big move is this week-we're heading down this weekend to my lovely graduate housing apartment in the woods. I can't believe the summer is over already. gah.