Selectives fun!

Classes?  Over.  Exams?  Finished.  Learning?  It never ends!

We totally wrapped up our core classes and final exams last Thursday, and after a long weekend with the boy's family I'm in the middle of my first week of selectives.  I'm taking a week-long course in avian pathology with a few classmates and am having a loooot of fun!  I don't mind microscope work at all, and it's really neat to be able to learn to recognize lesions and responses by cell type or distribution or the amount of fibrin.  Pathology is this huge complicated puzzle, and I love getting introductions to it little by little before next year hits!

Monday and Tuesday our group worked through multiple histopathology cases where we had to identify the organ and bird response to the insult/injury with only a single microscope slide!  Even though I haven't had a whole lot of practice with it before, I am actually learning a lot about what to look for and how to approach the histologic examination. 

Today we all went on a field trip to a North Carolina poultry layer farm and worked on a current case using gross pathology techniques.  The farm has been experiencing a decrease in egg production and a slight increase in mortality, and we were called in to examine the house and conduct some necropsies.  We first did a walk-through of the houses to look for overall flock health and see how many were clearly sick or out of production (small combs, yellow legs, etc. on the females).  Each of us then got to work on doing the necropsies of several birds from each house.  Several of the recently deceased chickens were examined and in addition several of the sick birds from the houses were culled in order to more easily examine the population as a whole. 

What'd we find?

• Most of the culled female birds were out of production and were not currently laying.  These had small, regressed ovaries with tiny or no follicles left.
• Other females had hemorrhagic, congested ovaries and follicles.
• Egg shell strength and bone density were both low in multiple birds.
• Some birds had esophageal lesions and/or were off feed.
• Some retinal degeneration and spinal abscesses were observed.
• There was one hen with a really impressive cystic ovary (like, the cyst took up here entire abdomen) and several old, laminated yolks left over.

Our recommendation after this evidence was examining the feed because the problem was likely nutritional in origin.  The problems we saw all seemed to fit with either a Vitamin D/Calcium and/or Vitamin A problem, so it's possible that either there isn't enough nutrient being delivered or it isn't being well-absorbed due to low fat content in the feed.

Overall, pretty cool day!  It was really awesome to see the approach to a "mystery" case where clinicians are gathering evidence right at the location with very little previous information.  It was also my first time at a large poultry facility, so that in and of itself was pretty amazing.

And after a long day like today, nothing is better than being able to come home and relax without having to think about studying.  I love selectives!

Tornado!

My first real brush with Southern weather!  We had a tornado rip through Raleigh this afternoon and there was some pretty real damage only a few miles from my house (closer to the school and hospital, actually).

Sooooo close!

First year of classes completed?  Check.

Veterinary anatomy completed?  CHECK as of 4 pm today.  THANK GOODNESS.

Seven finals finished before freedom from studying until August?  I'll get back to you on Thursday.

Yes, Thursday.  As in next Thursday.  The day I'll be DONE with my first year of vet school!  When the heck did that happen?!?

I'm so excited to be able to say that I've made it through my first year.  Excited to start selectives and learn awesome stuff without any exams (I'll be taking avian pathology and skin toxicology).  Excited to hang out with my amazing vet school friends without talking about that last exam, anatomy lab, or the professors we can't stand (or love to death).  Excited to work on a research this summer and have my nights free.  Excited to catch up on some reading and movie-watching.  Excited to get ready for NEXT year to start so we start learning about all the stuff that goes wrong in an animal.

Woooo!  This year was an absolute blur but in a good way.  I'll have to compile a list of the "top things I learned in vet school this year" to post after finals.  There's definitely been a lot!

Also, best thing about finals week?  Free breakfast every morning courtesy of various pet food and pharmaceutical companies!  Now that the lunch meetings for the semester are over, I need something food-related to look forward to!

Also again...have I mentioned how much I want a dog down here?  This summer might have some interesting developments in that department if my willpower gives out...

Go NCSU!

There's been some exciting stuff happening at NC State in the past few weeks.

1) The US News Vet School rankings placed us at #3 in the country this year!  Now, I don't think that these rankings are super, super important considering that there are only 28 schools in the country, but we're excited all the same.  Our school is pretty new, so we're happy to see that our reputation is great despite our youth.

2) Our small-animal surgery team completed a ground-breaking surgery this past week when they completed a prosthetic limb implant on a Siberian husky.  I'm not just talking a false limb.  I'm talking a false limb that was actually grafted INTO the bone so it can act as his own natural foot!  Check it out!

3) Our new huuuuge companion animal hospital (the Terry Center) is almost ready to be opened!  We'll be allowed inside to tour it on May 6th!!!  I can't wait to be able to start clinics in that place in only two years. :)

4) We had our welcome day for the incoming class of 2015 this past Friday.  I had the chance to sit on the
Q and A panel, lead a tour group, and mix and mingle with new students at the reception.  It's pretty crazy to think that my class was in their shoes only a year ago and that we'll be second-years in just a few short weeks.  It's going way too fast!!!

Speaking of school, we have only seven more full days of class before our finals start.  Eeeeek!  So much to learn and so little time in which to do it!  We were able to move one of our exams (production med) up to this Tuesday, which leaves six in as many days during finals week.  That's...a lot.  I'm not super, super worried about any of them, but it's a long week which leaves you pretty drained by the end.  After that hurdle, I'll be 1/4 of a way to being a doctor.  Whoa.

Along with the end of the school year, we're holding elections and such for all of the clubs.  I'm going to be serving as wetlab coordinator for both SCAAHA (American Animal Hospital Association) and SVECCS (emergency medicine) next year and am in the running for Surgery Club secretary.  I'm also in the process of holding our class elections, so we'll see what happens there.  I still want to remain as involved as possible with the class so I will likely run for whatever I am nominated for.  Someone put my name up for President, which I will definitely consider.

Aaaaand that's it.  Getting through the next couple of weeks, and then it's smooth sailing!  I get to visit with the boy's family for Easter since my own parents won't be home (laaaame).  Then it's two weeks of selectives and learning with NO exams; my classes this semester are avian pathology and skin toxicology.  After that I get to spend a week with the boy in Arkansas camping and seeing my Grandpa and extended family before heading home for a few days.  Then it's BACK to Raleigh in order to start my summer research project and enjoy the southern summer in all of its glorious heat and humidity.  Woot!

I want off this train!

Because it's going too fast! 

Seriously, where has the semester gone?!?  Only four more days of class (and two pesky little exams in the way) before Spring Break is here!  After that, only three more weeks until Easter and the end of semester classes.  I do NOT feel ready to face the fact that I'm almost 1/4 of the way to a DVM.  I don't know enough yet...

School is rolling along, but it's not even funny how "out of love" I am with anatomy right now.  Last semester, yes, it was a pain in the neck sometimes to be learning all of these itty bitty pieces of animal and how they connect and where they go.  But it was bearable.  It was still very new, sometimes interesting, and usually only mildly painful (ahem, neuroanatomy).  This semester?  Ouch.  I'm so, so, so sick of that class.  I'm sick of sitting in lab for eight hours.  I'm sick of cramming my brain with a bunch of teeny details that I know I won't remember next year or use in practice.  I'm sick of the smell of moldy cadavers.  I'm sick of hugely ridiculous exams that are worth two credit hours a piece.  Don't get me wrong, it's still kind of fun to joke around with labmates and learn some of the really weird or cool bits of anatomy, but overall?  I'm over it.

/end whiny rant.

Ooooother than that, same old, same old.  Immunology and renal physio exams this week which, hopefully, will go okay.  We just about wanted to kiss our current physio teacher because she decided to make the test multiple choice - a first for the semester in any of our classes and a huge load off!  It's probably bad, but I definitely study for a multiple choice test differently than for an essay test.  My brain is slightly fried, and I'm excited that recognition and recall rather than regurgitation and comprehension is the name of the game on Thursday.

After that, I get to pack up and head home for a few days to see  my mom and puppy dogs!  Hoping to visit a few friends in the area and get some nights of good sleep before then flying out to Omaha to spend a weekend with the boy at his  new project site (how's that for an exotic vacation locale?).  As much as I don't want to...I probably will have to do some work over break seeing as how we have an exam the Wednesday we come back.  Ugggggh.

I also got word that I got a position in the research program here for the summer!  I'll be doing work on respiratory epithelial cell transitions that occur during fibrosis, which is pretty nifty.  Hope to learn a lot!

And, in happier news, I'll be on a baking frenzy this week for the many bakesales at school.  On the docket?  Pumpkin pie bars, white chocolate coconut blondies, and cinnamon rolls.  Tasty!

P.S.  I want a dog.  Bad.  *sigh*

More goats!

Drive-by posting to report that my lab group successfully castrated a baby goat last Friday!  We also got to watch a debudding (removing the horns) and helped get both babies and moms up to date on vaccines and wormers.

Not a bad day in school!

The boy was here this weekend and when we went to see all of the animals, we JUST missed two kids being born in the barn.  They were still all wet and barely standing and soooooo adorable!  We did however see the huge number of them in the fields frolicking and fighting over clumps of hay. :)

Oh, and anatomy is still going to likely kick my butt on Friday.  Nothing much has changed!

Stressing...

I really haven't gotten overwhelmed or stressed so far in vet school.  I've had some long days and nights of studying.  I've gone through a finals week and survived with plenty of sleep.  I've been tired and exhausted but have pulled it together without too many problems.

Definitely feeling significant stress for the first time right now. 

First off, we had our immunology midterm today which was incredibly frustrating - I knew our notes and information inside and out and was even helping other students with the information before the exam.  The test was incredibly NOT what we discussed in class, a bunch of random teeny facts that I don't have in writing or explanation anywhere in my notes.  I honestly could have studied way less and devoted the time to other subjects and probably done just as well.  Least my virology exam grade made up for this one.

There's a lot coming down the barrel at us before Spring Break, and it's got me very, very worried.  Hence, the stress that I'm really not very familiar with experiencing.  I honestly don't know if there's going to be TIME to do all of it!

1) Renal physiology quizzes this week and next, followed by an exam the week after.

2) Virology case presentation to put together with a group.

3) Embryology exam covering sixty pages of detailed notes.

4) Another immunology exam.

5) ANATOMY.  This is the kicker to me.  The others I think I can handle, but anatomy is next Friday and it covers the pelvic limb and pelvic cavity.  And our horse cadaver is covered in mold and is unusable so we're kind of in a bind to even see all of the species.  I honestly don't know how I'm going to be ready for this exam in time.

Oh, and the boy is here this weekend meaning I won't get nearly as much studying done as I ought to.

Grrrrrrrrr.  I don't even know where to start so I'm just throwing myself into a bit of everything to hopefully be ready in time.  MARCH 18TH, HURRY UP AND GET HERE!!!

/end rant.

Yay!

Physiology exam is tomorrow (respiratory stuff) - YAY!  One less thing to have to worry about in the near future.

Anatomy exam was returned - YAY!  Guess it could have been worse...but it could have been a whole lot better (AKA more fair?) too.

It's getting warmer outside - YAY!  Too bad I don't get to experience it being locked inside with the books so much.

Boy will be visiting next weekend - YAY!  Just wish it was sooner.

Yeah, this is my mood right now.  As I cross one more exam or quiz off my list, there's always a next one that's only a few days away.  Spring Break can get here just about any old time it wants!

Oh, and I get to see my Grandpa and go camping with the boy in May - YAY!  And that one is just a YAY, no ifs, ands, or buts attached to it. :)

SQUEE!

I can't believe I'm going to say this...but puppies aren't the cutest things in the world.

They are second to kids.  And by kids I mean little baby goats.  And by little baby goats I mean the ones that I cuddled for a solid hour during lunch today.

I submit these as undeniable proof of their cuteness.  Exhibit A.  A standing for "adorable".

Valentine's Day studying

Geez, I need to be better at posting in this.  It's not that my life is so boring there's nothing to write about, it's just that it's so BUSY I don't have the time to write about it!

Tomorrow is our big exam day with both our first anatomy and virology exams of the semester.  Apparently it's school policy to not have two exams scheduled for a class on a single day...not quite sure how this one managed to happen but hopefully it won't be too much to our detriment.  Anatomy covers four species and their necks, backs, thorax cavities, and abdominal cavities.  Sooooo, kind of a lot.  But at least it's a known "unknown" since we've been through this once before with small animal anatomy last semester.  While the comparative stuff can bog you down with details (the last centrifugal coil of the goat spiral colon?  The medial and lateral cecal arteries in the horse only?), there doesn't seem to be as much teeny minutiae as last time (muscle attachments, innervations, etc.).  Plus, now that we kind of know the language and how to study best for this, it's not as challenging the second time through (hoping I'm still singing that tune tomorrow afternoon!). 

Virology has me a little more worried.  I think know everything I'm going to know for the test but I have this feeling that the questions are going to be asked in a way I won't recognize.  The first exam from a class or professor is always a little frightening, especially now that the school has made it a policy to not allow old exam sharing between classes. *sigh*  That'd be awfully nice to have in place.

Extracurricular stuff has been interesting lately, too.  I entered a baking competition run by the theriogenology (animal reproduction) club and actually won!  It was a brownie Oreo cheesecake recipe that turned out to be pretty deadly.  Definitely going to be making that again sometime in the future!  SCAVMA (kind of the student-wide government for the school and the student part of the AVMA) applications are now open for board elections and someone nominated me for secretary, so I'll be running for that.  I think I'm up against a second-year, so not really sure if I'll be getting it.  Doesn't hurt to try!

I also interviewed for the school representative for Bayer pharmaceuticals, which is a two-year position.  The interview was...weird and it made me kind of unhappy.  I showed up ten minutes early and the room was closed with an older gentleman and a student talking - figured it was either an interview or they were discussing applicants.  In either case, I decided I'd wait outside until they were done and it was time for my interview slot.  A good fifteen or twenty minutes went by before they realized I was outside and let me in; not a good start and they probably thought I was late and not just waiting for an invitation to come in.  The interview itself only consisted of two questions (What are the duties of this position?  Why do you want the job?) and then an invitation to ask them questions.  To me, it was not a fair evaluation of me as an applicant, especially considering the application only asked for our GPA and identifying information.  I brought resumes along (which they also didn't ask for) and they took them, but I had a feeling that they'd already made up their minds about me before I even entered the room.  In a bad way.  Oh well.  It was a pretty sucky feeling considering I actually spent some time researching the products, preparing some answers, and finding out more about the company.  They haven't announced the pick yet, but I guarantee it wasn't me. :(

And Valentine's Day!  I told the boy that this past weekend was NOT a good weekend to visit (see exam schedule above.  Gross), so we're spending time together this coming weekend.  And I won't have a ton to study, so it should actually be quality time!  He surprised me with a flower delivery which was not red roses.  Those are some of my least favorite flowers and the white, peach, yellow, and deep pink ones he picked were way, way prettier.  He did good. :) I have a gift for him and will likely be baking something tasty to bring along (I'm leaning toward some giant chocolate chip cookies or red velvet whoopie pies).  I looooove baking!