PHEW, holy moley people. I can not BELIEVE I haven't posted since March of last year. so much has happened. so much has been learned, achieved and advanced. I am 5 months away from graduating. Rotations have been both amazing and terrible, life affirming and confidence-draining. But ultimately-I am near the finish of this long adventure and when I walk into a room and talk to an owner about their pet-I feel like I am home. Everything else disappears and I know I am where I belong. Those are good things, yes?
SO on Dec. 4th-next week, I am taking the North American Veterinary Licensing Exam...and I am scared. but-I figure I have made it this far without falling on my face-so, I have hope I will pass. wish me luck! I will try to make a post after.....In the meanwhile.......I study!
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Not dead yet
Helloooo. I am not dead, and I have not failed out. I just am a terrible blogger and probably should never even have teased you all with this wonderful blog name. I am almost done with my 3rd year of veterinary school and am about to begin clinics. I'm excited and scared at the same time, but I also have some final exams to take-so I promise I will try to post again soon about how great/awful/challenging vet school has been for this old lady.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
I am finally posting after many many months off from this blog-things just became a bit overwhelming after christmas break-the rest of 2nd year almost killed me! I don't know how much you all know about the 'most dreaded year' of medical school-but it involved virology, bacteriology, mycology, immunology, pathology, clinical pathology, epidemiology, parasitology, organ systems pathology, antimicrobials and epidemiology. Tons and tons of information and learning taxonomy, nomenclature and what seemed like a billion different new names of diseases I still don't know that I will ever be able to memorize. I spent entirely too much time studying and let my exercise regimen and quality 'me' time fall away and toward the end of the semester/last quarter I had my first anxiety freak out in a long time. I'm proud of myself that I was able to get out of it and pass the year decently, but it was annoying and scary for a few weeks there.
There were some fun moments I will try to remember of second year....Like streaking bacteria plates and growing our own colonies. Yes, I actually found that fun. We had a wet lab doing necropsies on cats for the Feline and Pathology clubs. We got to do a lot of sleuthing to detect diseases and causes in organ pathology on dead specimens. Clinical pathology was fantastic too-we interpreted blood chemistries and other lab work that is entirely relevant to my future as a clinician.
And of course all the horrifying moments ....not knowing if I ever knew enough about all the bacteria on earth...going into exams wishing I had *just* another day to study...trying to memorize epidemiological terms and formulas I barely understood....complete and utter burn out and sleepless anxiety laden nights wondering if I was going to stay sane enough to make it through....
and I DID.
I also lucked out and was able to get a student job internship for the summer at a local clinic-I was quite worried for a while there that I wasn't going to be able to get work, but I heard about it at the last minute. That job has helped me gain confidence in my hands-on skills as well as my client communication skills. VERY important things that vet students forget about while we're in classes all day. I also contacted a local feline shelter where I have been volunteering once a week, and they have let me do spays and neuters totally on my own on some feral kitties that were dropped off there. The head veterinarian there was willing to train me and work with me on a lot of my skills, and I'm so super appreciative! I'm very interested in shelter medicine now, and have already looked into a shelter med externship for 4th year.
And now-I am about 3 weeks away from beginning my 3rd year. This is the real introduction into clinical diagnosis and surgery. We'll be doing surgeries within the first few weeks of school! I'm excited and feeling so ready to move on.
This is my last week at my clinic job and my next job after this will be...as a licensed veterinarian in 21 months. squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
There were some fun moments I will try to remember of second year....Like streaking bacteria plates and growing our own colonies. Yes, I actually found that fun. We had a wet lab doing necropsies on cats for the Feline and Pathology clubs. We got to do a lot of sleuthing to detect diseases and causes in organ pathology on dead specimens. Clinical pathology was fantastic too-we interpreted blood chemistries and other lab work that is entirely relevant to my future as a clinician.
And of course all the horrifying moments ....not knowing if I ever knew enough about all the bacteria on earth...going into exams wishing I had *just* another day to study...trying to memorize epidemiological terms and formulas I barely understood....complete and utter burn out and sleepless anxiety laden nights wondering if I was going to stay sane enough to make it through....
and I DID.
I also lucked out and was able to get a student job internship for the summer at a local clinic-I was quite worried for a while there that I wasn't going to be able to get work, but I heard about it at the last minute. That job has helped me gain confidence in my hands-on skills as well as my client communication skills. VERY important things that vet students forget about while we're in classes all day. I also contacted a local feline shelter where I have been volunteering once a week, and they have let me do spays and neuters totally on my own on some feral kitties that were dropped off there. The head veterinarian there was willing to train me and work with me on a lot of my skills, and I'm so super appreciative! I'm very interested in shelter medicine now, and have already looked into a shelter med externship for 4th year.
And now-I am about 3 weeks away from beginning my 3rd year. This is the real introduction into clinical diagnosis and surgery. We'll be doing surgeries within the first few weeks of school! I'm excited and feeling so ready to move on.
This is my last week at my clinic job and my next job after this will be...as a licensed veterinarian in 21 months. squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Finals and clinics
So finals are over-i had to take a breather for a week before I could finally post about them! We had our 2 days of intensive exams, day 1 of all pathology, then day 2 of the other subjects we covered in the 3 1/2 weeks prior: Immunology, toxicology, pharmacology. That makes it sound actually manageable, but like with everything else-it was way too much information to actually feel like I could know it all well. I just really hope over these next few years it all begins to aggregate and I actually know stuff.
.
The wildlife clinic scene has quieted down significantly, we haven't had a patient in a while, and even pager has calmed down a lot. I have it this evening-we'll see if it changes.
But the more fun news is that I've been on clinics since last week. Dentistry rotation which involved extracting teeth from cadaver heads and doing radiographs on skulls. Then learning all about dental anatomy and pathologies. This week is ER, and it has been super exciting but at the end of the day there was a very frustrating case. I will be vague about it, NO names, breeds or species are mentioned as to spare the innocent...as this could be anyone/any type of pet. So-pet comes in and has a....a problem, let's say, we bring it to the back to do a thorough exam and look over the information from the regular veterinarian. Many, MANY clinicians come in and out and take a looks at him/her, doctors talk to the owner to see what they want to do about this...It would involve extensive surgery to explore and repair the problem. Regular vet wasn't able to successfully repair the problem. Surgeons came back and assessed the radiographs that were up from the regular veterinarian, internal medicine doctors came in and looked. Everyone had great ideas of what we could do to help, and the pet spent about 2 hours with us back there on pain meds and oxygen...I was so excited to go and watch them operate and do their magic and see this lil dude(ette) leave happy, but after many hours of back and forth, the owners decided they couldn't afford surgery and opted for euthanasia. This was a youngish animal that had great odds of successful recovery. All I can say is, this will be extremely frustrating for me moving on into this career. A completely fixable situation that is entirely determined by cost, and the pet loses. This would never happen in human medicine. I can't even express how upset I am over this, but what can I do. What can I possibly do? You can't always save a life.
Frustrating.
.
The wildlife clinic scene has quieted down significantly, we haven't had a patient in a while, and even pager has calmed down a lot. I have it this evening-we'll see if it changes.
But the more fun news is that I've been on clinics since last week. Dentistry rotation which involved extracting teeth from cadaver heads and doing radiographs on skulls. Then learning all about dental anatomy and pathologies. This week is ER, and it has been super exciting but at the end of the day there was a very frustrating case. I will be vague about it, NO names, breeds or species are mentioned as to spare the innocent...as this could be anyone/any type of pet. So-pet comes in and has a....a problem, let's say, we bring it to the back to do a thorough exam and look over the information from the regular veterinarian. Many, MANY clinicians come in and out and take a looks at him/her, doctors talk to the owner to see what they want to do about this...It would involve extensive surgery to explore and repair the problem. Regular vet wasn't able to successfully repair the problem. Surgeons came back and assessed the radiographs that were up from the regular veterinarian, internal medicine doctors came in and looked. Everyone had great ideas of what we could do to help, and the pet spent about 2 hours with us back there on pain meds and oxygen...I was so excited to go and watch them operate and do their magic and see this lil dude(ette) leave happy, but after many hours of back and forth, the owners decided they couldn't afford surgery and opted for euthanasia. This was a youngish animal that had great odds of successful recovery. All I can say is, this will be extremely frustrating for me moving on into this career. A completely fixable situation that is entirely determined by cost, and the pet loses. This would never happen in human medicine. I can't even express how upset I am over this, but what can I do. What can I possibly do? You can't always save a life.
Frustrating.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
quick mid-mid term update...
Hellooo! so I just wanted to throw in a quick, QUICK update because I said I'd update more often this year....AND, my mom's reading this! so, yea.
The last few weeks leading up to midterms have been insane. not only are we hit with a TON of material to learn in just a few weeks, but my wildlife team has been extremely busy this year. I was on call a few weeks ago and was paged NINE TIMES. So many head trauma squirrels, orphaned bunnies, cat deglovings of bunnies, hit by car turtles...and then this past week...a turkey vulture with a broken wing, 2 great horned owls with longstanding injuries, more turtles and neuro squirrels...and the most painful I think-was the fawn.
She appeared to be around 2 days old (not much bigger than an adult cat), cachexic (anorexic to the point of wasing), was completely lethargic, floppy when picked up, had grey gums and was barely responsive. We tried everything we could, put her on IV fluids with dextrose, gave her dextrose directly on her gums, put her on heat and 02 and watched her for around 2 hours. She seemed to go agonal every now and again. It was extremely sad and excrutiating to watch, not to mention that the person who brought her in told us he knew the mother had died days ago-so this poor baby had been without nutrition for at least 2 days. She was definitely not long for the world. Alas, we ended up deciding the most humane course of action would be to help her get to heaven, there wasn't much more we could do for her. It was one of those sad cases that you wish you hadn't seen or been involved with.
It was a good dose of reality though, no, being a veterinarian is definitely not just vaccinating cute puppies and kittens. It's about life and death, and the helplessness you feel against nature. Some days I feel like a junior doctor and some days I feel like the grim reaper. *sigh*.
The last few weeks leading up to midterms have been insane. not only are we hit with a TON of material to learn in just a few weeks, but my wildlife team has been extremely busy this year. I was on call a few weeks ago and was paged NINE TIMES. So many head trauma squirrels, orphaned bunnies, cat deglovings of bunnies, hit by car turtles...and then this past week...a turkey vulture with a broken wing, 2 great horned owls with longstanding injuries, more turtles and neuro squirrels...and the most painful I think-was the fawn.
She appeared to be around 2 days old (not much bigger than an adult cat), cachexic (anorexic to the point of wasing), was completely lethargic, floppy when picked up, had grey gums and was barely responsive. We tried everything we could, put her on IV fluids with dextrose, gave her dextrose directly on her gums, put her on heat and 02 and watched her for around 2 hours. She seemed to go agonal every now and again. It was extremely sad and excrutiating to watch, not to mention that the person who brought her in told us he knew the mother had died days ago-so this poor baby had been without nutrition for at least 2 days. She was definitely not long for the world. Alas, we ended up deciding the most humane course of action would be to help her get to heaven, there wasn't much more we could do for her. It was one of those sad cases that you wish you hadn't seen or been involved with.
It was a good dose of reality though, no, being a veterinarian is definitely not just vaccinating cute puppies and kittens. It's about life and death, and the helplessness you feel against nature. Some days I feel like a junior doctor and some days I feel like the grim reaper. *sigh*.
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.
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....
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
It's been so long....
Woah, it has been a very, VERY intense and long past 6 months. I apologize for not posting since Spring Break, and even then, I didn't post anything of interest.
So, I made it through the first year of veterinary school. All the studying kept my free time completely full, but I did it and am now considered a second year. It was a whirlwind of quizzes, exams, lab practicals, study groups and lots of extra time spent in the anatomy lab.
Something important I did this last semester that I really think helped my health and studying was working out regularly.....the university has a fantastic gym system and as a student I just *had* to take advantage of it...I really think that it helped me maintain my brain power, and just 'get away' from studying for a while and focus on something entirely different. It was helpful-AND i got fit to boot! So-for those of you going to grad school-especially later in life-make time for exercise!
I have already started looking at what our syllabus for next year looks like, and I am scared! At least in the first year there was elaboration on subjects I already had under my belt-but next year...all pathology and bacteria and virology all the time. yeeikes. i'm going to have to seriously plug my brain onto an external hard drive....
I am back home for the summer, and was able to land a perfect job at the perfect clinic-a feline only hospital. I am constantly surprised by how nice and knowledgeable everyone is, and willing to train me.
anyway, that is all for now! I made it! wooooooot!
So, I made it through the first year of veterinary school. All the studying kept my free time completely full, but I did it and am now considered a second year. It was a whirlwind of quizzes, exams, lab practicals, study groups and lots of extra time spent in the anatomy lab.
Something important I did this last semester that I really think helped my health and studying was working out regularly.....the university has a fantastic gym system and as a student I just *had* to take advantage of it...I really think that it helped me maintain my brain power, and just 'get away' from studying for a while and focus on something entirely different. It was helpful-AND i got fit to boot! So-for those of you going to grad school-especially later in life-make time for exercise!
I have already started looking at what our syllabus for next year looks like, and I am scared! At least in the first year there was elaboration on subjects I already had under my belt-but next year...all pathology and bacteria and virology all the time. yeeikes. i'm going to have to seriously plug my brain onto an external hard drive....
I am back home for the summer, and was able to land a perfect job at the perfect clinic-a feline only hospital. I am constantly surprised by how nice and knowledgeable everyone is, and willing to train me.
anyway, that is all for now! I made it! wooooooot!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
sorry it's been so long!
Hellooooo world...I'm sorry it's been a while.
Our schedule leaves little time for much more than studying between Thanksgiving and the end of the semester. After two last weeks of class we had a quiz (or a 'quest' as I like to call it since it is definitely more like a test) followed by entire week of finals. The tests consisted of a palpation exam on the resident horses, and a lab exam consisting of identifying histology slides and anatomical parts on our specimens (those were the parts I rocked...) then a study day, then a day of multiple choice questions and a day of the integrative portion. These were far more challenging, and the integrative part puts everything over the last 8 weeks together into clinical correlations. This way of testing us is great, but very difficult to prepare for. There was a lot to cram into my brain, but I made it through and need to plow on through next semester, maintaining as much info as possible. Overall, I'm very happy I made it through this first semester unscathed.
Holiday break is about a month. This past two weeks we’ve visited with friends and family (you know who you are) and now I have 2 more weeks of freedom before 2nd semester starts. During this time, I will be chillaxing, volunteering, and prepping a resume to drop off at clinics for summer work.
I'll also be preemptively reading ahead in my anatomy and physiology books. It may sound like it's because I'm a hard core studier, but really it's because I enjoy it. Is that so wrong??
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Phew a *BREAK*?
Well, the last month has been incredibly tough. Classes are crammed into one main subject of 'structure and function' which is a combo of histology, physiology, neurobiology, anatomy (with a lab) and some clinical correlations. It is a ton of information which requires a ton of study time, so far i'm doing fine but i have definitely been putting a lot of time into studying, and i even still think i can study 'smarter not harder'....
The good thing is thanksigiving break is starting up and there will be some time to relax and not think about the vet med world but i'm sure i still will do some studying. i'm just a big nerd that way....
The good thing is thanksigiving break is starting up and there will be some time to relax and not think about the vet med world but i'm sure i still will do some studying. i'm just a big nerd that way....
Sunday, September 19, 2010
What an interesting week...
First of all, we had some presentations about handling debt and money and our finances. All very interesting and somewhat depressing, and of course, the presenter was directing the conversation to the 20-somethings because he kept saying we would have 40 years minimum of practice ahead of us. I'm sure the other over 30's and I were scoffing. We used to work. we used to make ok money, and now we're here spending that hard earned money. I know it is a choice and I'm supremely happy I have this chance to do this, but the financial part is going to be hard on my husband and I...It's just a reality check I hope soaked into the 20-something's brains cuz I think about it quite a bit.
Other stuff that was discussed during colloquium and during my Surgical Skills rotation was discussing a pet's death with clients, and being empathetic. I am really going to need a lot of practice with this....not that I am not empathetic, but sometimes it is hard for me to actively *be* empathetic and console another person. I hate using cliche's and for some reason at those moments, those cliche's are all I can think of to say. ugh. More practice is needed for me in that arena....
The Surgical Skills rotation was great! it was all very well organized and taught us pertinent skills we will use forever...suturing, instrument identification, surgery prep for the patient and us as surgeons, even some large animal procedures with simulated models for things like castration and dehorning. I feel safe saying I hope to never have to dehorn anybody...
On the personal front-I have made some great friends, there are some truly unique and fun individuals I am excited about spending the next 4 years with and knowing the rest of my life. We have been having weekly dinners out, which, are getting pricey-and with all that financial talk, that money can probably be put to better use, so we may change those dinner out nights to potlucks where we bring food......we'll see.
Also, It will be my 8th wedding anniversary on Monday the 20th. Since it's on a monday, we decided to celebrate it this weekend instead, so we spent a lovely day in my great college town and had a lovely dinner at a local fancy italian place and ended the night at a place that was my husbands favorite bar here in the mid 90's. Who knew 8 years ago we'd be where we are...me living my dream but us unfortunately having to live apart. gah. We have been seeing each other regularly on weekends, but it ain't easy.
Things I am looking forward to this week: a dental on a tiger via the dental club, an acupuncture wet lab via the Integrative medicine club, a lunch presentation by Heifer International (serving veggie food!) and my small animal internal medicine rotation! exciting stuff!
Other stuff that was discussed during colloquium and during my Surgical Skills rotation was discussing a pet's death with clients, and being empathetic. I am really going to need a lot of practice with this....not that I am not empathetic, but sometimes it is hard for me to actively *be* empathetic and console another person. I hate using cliche's and for some reason at those moments, those cliche's are all I can think of to say. ugh. More practice is needed for me in that arena....
The Surgical Skills rotation was great! it was all very well organized and taught us pertinent skills we will use forever...suturing, instrument identification, surgery prep for the patient and us as surgeons, even some large animal procedures with simulated models for things like castration and dehorning. I feel safe saying I hope to never have to dehorn anybody...
On the personal front-I have made some great friends, there are some truly unique and fun individuals I am excited about spending the next 4 years with and knowing the rest of my life. We have been having weekly dinners out, which, are getting pricey-and with all that financial talk, that money can probably be put to better use, so we may change those dinner out nights to potlucks where we bring food......we'll see.
Also, It will be my 8th wedding anniversary on Monday the 20th. Since it's on a monday, we decided to celebrate it this weekend instead, so we spent a lovely day in my great college town and had a lovely dinner at a local fancy italian place and ended the night at a place that was my husbands favorite bar here in the mid 90's. Who knew 8 years ago we'd be where we are...me living my dream but us unfortunately having to live apart. gah. We have been seeing each other regularly on weekends, but it ain't easy.
Things I am looking forward to this week: a dental on a tiger via the dental club, an acupuncture wet lab via the Integrative medicine club, a lunch presentation by Heifer International (serving veggie food!) and my small animal internal medicine rotation! exciting stuff!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
almost end of week 3
It's funny, my classmates and I keep referring to 'when we start school'...meaning, when we begin the didactic portion of school. These first 8 weeks are all following 4th years on clinical rotations, so, the outside of clinics work is minimal and therefore, doesn't feel like 'school' yet....But it is fun and I am learning a lot.
Some things I have learned:
Horses get LOTS OF HEALTH PROBLEMS. it's not just their feet and their crazy a** digestive systems, it's their eyes too! One of our horse patients got melting ulcers and surgical implants in his eyes of a cyclosporin impant! neat-O, huh?
Eyes are fascinating. Some people choose to get prosthetic eyeballs for their blind pets because it's less disturbing to have them than eyelids sewn shut. eyoo.
Most of the people in my class are extremely friendly and I believe, generally excited to be in vet school. And nobody seems to mind or notice that I'M OLD. (though I hear there are older people than me in my class...)
4th year vet students don't get much rest.
I am ending an equine rotation this week, it has been a LOT of rounding and some learning about general anatomy and doing physical exams and lameness checks, but overall, am looking forward to next week....Surgical Skills!
Some things I have learned:
Horses get LOTS OF HEALTH PROBLEMS. it's not just their feet and their crazy a** digestive systems, it's their eyes too! One of our horse patients got melting ulcers and surgical implants in his eyes of a cyclosporin impant! neat-O, huh?
Eyes are fascinating. Some people choose to get prosthetic eyeballs for their blind pets because it's less disturbing to have them than eyelids sewn shut. eyoo.
Most of the people in my class are extremely friendly and I believe, generally excited to be in vet school. And nobody seems to mind or notice that I'M OLD. (though I hear there are older people than me in my class...)
4th year vet students don't get much rest.
I am ending an equine rotation this week, it has been a LOT of rounding and some learning about general anatomy and doing physical exams and lameness checks, but overall, am looking forward to next week....Surgical Skills!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
ooooh followers!
So I have some followers now and in order to keep them interested, I must update the blog!
Well, today is day 3 of vet school and I smell like pigs. My farm animal husbandry techniques rotation has been taking us to different farms daily, and today was a pig 'farm'. We restrained, drew blood on the pigs and swabbed their noses. yesterday we did physical exams on horses at a barn...monday we did PEs on goats at a small goat dairy. Tomorrow, dairy cattle; friday, beef cattle. Exciting stuff, every week for the next 8 weeks will be something new, then lecture and lab for the rest of the year. I am very pleased with this new curriculum so far at my school because we get to be involved right away.
On the personal front, I was *going* to go to the gym until I realized I forgot my yoga mat in my apartment in Chicago. oh well. I can't exactly run up there and get it in time....
I still am struggling with being away from my husband, but I suppose we will have to get used to it unless a plan B transpires.
off to wash off the pig smell.....
Well, today is day 3 of vet school and I smell like pigs. My farm animal husbandry techniques rotation has been taking us to different farms daily, and today was a pig 'farm'. We restrained, drew blood on the pigs and swabbed their noses. yesterday we did physical exams on horses at a barn...monday we did PEs on goats at a small goat dairy. Tomorrow, dairy cattle; friday, beef cattle. Exciting stuff, every week for the next 8 weeks will be something new, then lecture and lab for the rest of the year. I am very pleased with this new curriculum so far at my school because we get to be involved right away.
On the personal front, I was *going* to go to the gym until I realized I forgot my yoga mat in my apartment in Chicago. oh well. I can't exactly run up there and get it in time....
I still am struggling with being away from my husband, but I suppose we will have to get used to it unless a plan B transpires.
off to wash off the pig smell.....
Thursday, August 19, 2010
My first 8 weeks are scheduled-
here are my clinical rotations. yeee-ikes.
Farm animal husbandry
sounds exciting, no?
Farm animal husbandry
Ophthamology
Equine Medicine and Surgery
Surgical Skills
Small animal internal medicine
Imaging
One Health
Wildlife & Exotic animal med and surgery
sounds exciting, no?
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
first night alone in vet school...
So J just left and I am here in my vet school apartment listening to the extremely loud cicadas screeching outside reminding me of how far away from the city I am now. It's been a whirlwind last couple of days, checking in for IDs, acquiring software, checking into new apt, moving into new apartment, realizing all the stuff I still NEED for new apartment...getting a closer tour of the campus, meeting my big sib, etc. OH-and, the bar crawl last night. You know...I was somewhat dreading it, but it was SUPER FUN. I met some extremely nice and friendly people and it made me feel better about my choice to come to vet school.
Tomorrow we have a day of bonding activities at some park in the woods-and then yet MORE BOOZE at a happy hour. There is a lot of drinking that happens in this town...
J will be returning already on saturday to spend the weekend with me..but I miss him already (it hasn't even been an hour yet). of course. I know it will get easier but right now it stinks.
Tomorrow we have a day of bonding activities at some park in the woods-and then yet MORE BOOZE at a happy hour. There is a lot of drinking that happens in this town...
J will be returning already on saturday to spend the weekend with me..but I miss him already (it hasn't even been an hour yet). of course. I know it will get easier but right now it stinks.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Spay Day Fun!
T-minus 20 days to move to vet school apartment. YEEIKES. I am not yet mentally prepared as I think I'm still in denial it is actually happening.
My last day at my clinic job was last Sunday, so what did I spend my first free Sunday in months doing? Volunteering at a feline spay/neuter clinic, of course! fun times. It was a great time for a great cause...everyone was a volunteer at every level of experience, from vets doing the surgeries, all years of vet students assisting in prep and post-op, vet techs, assistants and pre-vets. And especially the feral cat trap and release people-not medics but fully prepared to help in all aspects. We all helped in getting 90 cats spayed and neutered, and it worked like a well oiled machine; prep-stations, 4 spays going on at once in the surgery suite, neuter stations, post-op recovery teams and cage-organizers. I was glad to be utilized as a soon-to-be vet student, and they treated me as such. Just when I was having some slight doubts about my abilities, this clinic gave me confidence again. I was also glad to meet and talk to some of the upperclassmen (women) at my school and they were very nice.
So, that was super fun. Next in line....next week is my last week as an animal research tech. I am glad to say goodbye to that and hello to all clinical all the time.
My last day at my clinic job was last Sunday, so what did I spend my first free Sunday in months doing? Volunteering at a feline spay/neuter clinic, of course! fun times. It was a great time for a great cause...everyone was a volunteer at every level of experience, from vets doing the surgeries, all years of vet students assisting in prep and post-op, vet techs, assistants and pre-vets. And especially the feral cat trap and release people-not medics but fully prepared to help in all aspects. We all helped in getting 90 cats spayed and neutered, and it worked like a well oiled machine; prep-stations, 4 spays going on at once in the surgery suite, neuter stations, post-op recovery teams and cage-organizers. I was glad to be utilized as a soon-to-be vet student, and they treated me as such. Just when I was having some slight doubts about my abilities, this clinic gave me confidence again. I was also glad to meet and talk to some of the upperclassmen (women) at my school and they were very nice.
So, that was super fun. Next in line....next week is my last week as an animal research tech. I am glad to say goodbye to that and hello to all clinical all the time.
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