I love how Christmas-y it is right now! It's gotten pretty cold here in Raleigh (it actually rivals Pennsylvania weather!), and we're expecting a dusting of snow tomorrow. Naturally, everyone is freaking out at the news. Plus, without classes I've had the chance to do Christmas baking, shopping, and movie-watching. It's going to be really strange (and not so fun) going back to long days and hard-core studying in January...
Now that we're done with the fall semester, I've had the chance to spend the week with the oncology department in the teaching hospital. LOVE IT! There's a senior clinician on staff each week along with five oncology residents and three fourth-year students. It's been a blast tagging along on appointments and treatments and getting some first-hand information on the whole internship/residency process from people who are currently in its midst.
Things I've learned this week...
1) On the whole, cancer medicine is NOT depressing! Sure, there is always patient death or euthanasia to contend with, but that is true of any part of veterinary medicine. "Cancer" is not necessarily an immediate death sentence. Owners that bring their pets to the oncology service are able to get answers to their questions and often get additional time (often years) with their animals that they wouldn't have otherwise.
2) You don't really cure cancer as much as treat cancer. For example, lymphoma is extremely common in dogs and cats and is one of the more common conditions that we've seen this week. Even after pursuing radiation or chemotherapy for an initial diagnosis, remission is temporary and relapse is inevitable. It's amazing to me how many owners are enthusiastic about pursuing treatment with the knowledge that a relapse will occur.
3) Golden retrievers and boxers are cancer machines. I always knew these were breeds with strong cancer predispositions, but I think half of our patients this week have been one of these breeds.
4) Oncology is an attractive field to me due to the long-term interactions that you have with the client-patient unit. Unlike some specialties where you stabilize or fix a problem without any additional follow-up, oncology gives the chance to be involved in a particular human-animal bond for years on end.
5) There are no right and wrong answers in treatment. What's right for one owner isn't right for another, and what works for one animal may have no effect on another.
6) There's a lot of guesswork and extrapolation from human medicine and veterinary studies with small sample sizes (25 dogs in a paper is a decent study). As a result, doctors in the field do the best they can with the information they have with little guarantee of efficacy. For example, this week we completed a consult for a cat who had a lung lobectomy. The owners wanted to know what they could do next to control growth of additional cancer processes. The problem is, there is no solid or collected data about lung cancer chemotherapy in cats...so we advise, explain, and suggest things but always remind clients that nothing is known for sure.
7) All of those cell surface markers I learned in immunology are pretty important and can tell us a lot about the cell populations present in lymphoma and leukemia cases!
8) One of the first things that will happen with any new cancer patient is staging of the disease - where is it located and how far has it spread? At our hospital that involves a CBC/Chemistry panel, lymph node aspirates (to check cytology in those locations), chest radiographs (to see if there is any pulmonary metastasis), and an abdominal ultrasound (to see if there is any other organ metastasis).
9) Dogs are really, really resilient!!! Just today there was a surgical removal of a fibrosarcoma from the chest of a dog who just started showing clinical signs this past week. There was a golf-ball-sized piece palpable on the outside of the ribcage...and a cantaloupe-sized continuation of it inside the ribs, smushing the lungs and surrounding the heart and aorta! The surgeons spent eight hours removing the mass and it was amazing to see this huge ugly, lumpy thing sitting in the biopsy tray after. And 14 days ago, the owners had no idea it was even present in their pet!
10) Seeing dogs and cats that are living two or three years after their initial cancer diagnosis is pretty awesome.
All in all, I'm really loving my time with the service. Can't wait for neurology in January!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Relaxed...
Honestly, the reason I haven't posted much recently is that there's nothing super-exciting going on!
Finals finished up last Wednesday, and it felt amazing walking out of school knowing I finished my first semester of vet school classes. Can't believe that I'm 1/6th of the way through with my classroom work! Everything turned out great - made all A's for my first semester! Plus I got to enjoy Thanksgiving at home with family, Grandpa, pets, and boy without any stress about school! Perfect!
Right now we're in the middle of our selectives blocks. A lot of my classmates are doing some pretty awesome stuff - spaying iguanas, assisting with hospital departments and cases, learning avian pathology, etc. - but I elected to get the required business course out of the way. Ugh. It definitely reminds me why I'm not pursuing law or business school. Soooo boring! I mean, none of us are arguing that how to build practice value, negotiate contracts, hire/interview, or bookkeep is irrelevant or unimportant. It's critical, and we know that. But getting two straight weeks of lecture (7 hours daily) is brutal. Can't wait for it to be over!
I also got the official go-ahead on some clinical work for Christmas break. I'll be putting in a week with the oncology department as well as a week with the neurology department. I can't wait to get a feel for what referral and specialty work is like. Internships and residencies are still avenues I haven't ruled out, so getting an idea of how specialists operate and how their days flow will be really useful.
Next week I've got an ultrasound wetlab scheduled using goats and sheep, and I've also arranged a cookie exchange between members of our class. It's awesome to not have to come home at the end of the day and study. We can actually hang out, have fun, and enjoy each other's company. Love it! Heading to Pittsburgh for the weekend to see my favorite boy - and this time I won't have to get up really early or lock myself away to get schoolwork done! Can't wait!
Finals finished up last Wednesday, and it felt amazing walking out of school knowing I finished my first semester of vet school classes. Can't believe that I'm 1/6th of the way through with my classroom work! Everything turned out great - made all A's for my first semester! Plus I got to enjoy Thanksgiving at home with family, Grandpa, pets, and boy without any stress about school! Perfect!
Right now we're in the middle of our selectives blocks. A lot of my classmates are doing some pretty awesome stuff - spaying iguanas, assisting with hospital departments and cases, learning avian pathology, etc. - but I elected to get the required business course out of the way. Ugh. It definitely reminds me why I'm not pursuing law or business school. Soooo boring! I mean, none of us are arguing that how to build practice value, negotiate contracts, hire/interview, or bookkeep is irrelevant or unimportant. It's critical, and we know that. But getting two straight weeks of lecture (7 hours daily) is brutal. Can't wait for it to be over!
I also got the official go-ahead on some clinical work for Christmas break. I'll be putting in a week with the oncology department as well as a week with the neurology department. I can't wait to get a feel for what referral and specialty work is like. Internships and residencies are still avenues I haven't ruled out, so getting an idea of how specialists operate and how their days flow will be really useful.
Next week I've got an ultrasound wetlab scheduled using goats and sheep, and I've also arranged a cookie exchange between members of our class. It's awesome to not have to come home at the end of the day and study. We can actually hang out, have fun, and enjoy each other's company. Love it! Heading to Pittsburgh for the weekend to see my favorite boy - and this time I won't have to get up really early or lock myself away to get schoolwork done! Can't wait!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Three down, two to go
Definitely on the down-hill part of finals week, and I can't be more excited for 48 hours from now when I'll be done with my first semester of classes!
Not much new to report as I've been spending most of my time studying in my apartment and trying to not be tooooo distracted with Facebook, YouTube, NetFlix, etc. I'm mostly successful...
We had our big (163 questions!) physiology exam this morning on repro and endocrine stuff. And boy am I glad that I started studying earlier than this weekend! It was pretty specific, nitty-gritty information, and if you didn't know it frontwards and backwards it was tough. I actually felt really confident going in, and I think I did well enough to keep the grade I had in the class.
The only two we have left are histology tomorrow and bacteriology on Wednesday, and I've started work for them already so there isn't too much reason to panic yet. I don't think either will be too bad, and the professors were awesome enough to provide us with previous exams to study from. A HUGE help! I'm also meeting with Dr. Sannes tomorrow after histology to go over to his lab. He's one of the mentors who is sponsoring a project through the Merck/Merial summer research program, and I think I'll be applying to enter his lab. He does a lot of work with respiratory systems and lung fibrosis, which is pretty cool stuff. Inflammation is the coolest process ever! I figure between that application and applying for the pathology program here at school, I should have somewhere to go this summer to get some experience and a little money.
Going to take a little break (and maybe a short nap?) before starting in with histology. Freedom is soooo close! :)
Not much new to report as I've been spending most of my time studying in my apartment and trying to not be tooooo distracted with Facebook, YouTube, NetFlix, etc. I'm mostly successful...
We had our big (163 questions!) physiology exam this morning on repro and endocrine stuff. And boy am I glad that I started studying earlier than this weekend! It was pretty specific, nitty-gritty information, and if you didn't know it frontwards and backwards it was tough. I actually felt really confident going in, and I think I did well enough to keep the grade I had in the class.
The only two we have left are histology tomorrow and bacteriology on Wednesday, and I've started work for them already so there isn't too much reason to panic yet. I don't think either will be too bad, and the professors were awesome enough to provide us with previous exams to study from. A HUGE help! I'm also meeting with Dr. Sannes tomorrow after histology to go over to his lab. He's one of the mentors who is sponsoring a project through the Merck/Merial summer research program, and I think I'll be applying to enter his lab. He does a lot of work with respiratory systems and lung fibrosis, which is pretty cool stuff. Inflammation is the coolest process ever! I figure between that application and applying for the pathology program here at school, I should have somewhere to go this summer to get some experience and a little money.
Going to take a little break (and maybe a short nap?) before starting in with histology. Freedom is soooo close! :)
Friday, November 19, 2010
I survived!
First semester of vet school anatomy? CHECK!
We had our final exam this afternoon, and I think it went pretty well. And that's great, but just being able to walk out of that lab knowing I wouldn't have to smell tons of formalin for almost two months was the best feeling. I actually really like the study of anatomy - finding out how things are put together and work and contribute to an organism's function is pretty sweet. But the constant stream of seemingly minute details that you have to memorize in order to succeed in the class is tiring. Even worse is the knowledge that a lot of what we're learning is is not going to be remembered by clinics or even clinically relevant to our cases.
Still, small animal anatomy is now finished! We also finished our production medicine exam on Thursday. It's just a pass-fail course, and I managed to pass with room to spare.
Two down, three to go. I'm taking it easy tonight (baked some cookies to send to the boy for his birthday) but tomorrow starts a pretty hard-core studying weekend. Physiology is the other biggie, and that's on Monday followed by histology and bacteriology, which aren't quite as scary. And then we're home free for the Thanksgiving holiday! Definitely need to do some Christmas shopping too because I haven't gotten much accomplished in that department yet.
Oh, and "Harry Potter" at midnight the night before my exam dressed in full costume? FREAKING AWESOME! An incredible movie that really captured a lot of what made the book and entire series amazing. Can't wait to see it again soon, and it really gave me the itch to re-read the entire series before next semester starts.
We had our final exam this afternoon, and I think it went pretty well. And that's great, but just being able to walk out of that lab knowing I wouldn't have to smell tons of formalin for almost two months was the best feeling. I actually really like the study of anatomy - finding out how things are put together and work and contribute to an organism's function is pretty sweet. But the constant stream of seemingly minute details that you have to memorize in order to succeed in the class is tiring. Even worse is the knowledge that a lot of what we're learning is is not going to be remembered by clinics or even clinically relevant to our cases.
Still, small animal anatomy is now finished! We also finished our production medicine exam on Thursday. It's just a pass-fail course, and I managed to pass with room to spare.
Two down, three to go. I'm taking it easy tonight (baked some cookies to send to the boy for his birthday) but tomorrow starts a pretty hard-core studying weekend. Physiology is the other biggie, and that's on Monday followed by histology and bacteriology, which aren't quite as scary. And then we're home free for the Thanksgiving holiday! Definitely need to do some Christmas shopping too because I haven't gotten much accomplished in that department yet.
Oh, and "Harry Potter" at midnight the night before my exam dressed in full costume? FREAKING AWESOME! An incredible movie that really captured a lot of what made the book and entire series amazing. Can't wait to see it again soon, and it really gave me the itch to re-read the entire series before next semester starts.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Last day of classes! What???
Hard to believe that today is our last day of classes in our first semester of vet school! I don't know where the time has gone! And I feel like instead of getting closer to being a doctor, my head is just full of a bunch of stuff that I don't fully understand...
Anyway, last day of class and Thursday marks our first day of finals which then last until Wednesday of next week. I still have a lot of preparation to do, but I'm definitely feeling okay about them. Getting anatomy out of the way this Friday will be great because physiology is still kind of looming out there, and it's hard to focus on much else when that neuroanatomy exam is in the way. Still, I have started preparing for physio and am actually feeling like I've passed the halfway mark of being ready for the exam, but there's still a long way to go until taking it on Monday morning. I'm just super-thankful that both histology and bacteriology (T and W) aren't going to require nearly as much work to get ready.
And have I mentioned the food in vet school? I know I have (because it's one of my favorite things), but free food = awesome. And during finals week, the students get free breakfast provided by different drug and food companies. Brueggers, Bojangles, Chick-Fil-A, Panera, etc. Can't freaking wait! Plus it forces me to get into school a little early to do a last minute read-through of my notes before the exams. Win-win!
Other than that I'm getting pretty excited for a break from school at Thanskgiving. Even though we're feeling the crunch of finals now, we're all incredibly thankful that we can actually enjoy our few days of break without worrying about tests, studying, or schoolwork. I get to see my family, Grandpa, pets, boy, and the boy's family over break - and I can't wait!!!
And Mom asked me what I want for Christmas. Honestly, aside from money and Walmart/Target cards, I don't need anything else. Pretty sad that I've officially become a boring adult. Even worse, a boring adult who is also a poor doctorate student. :((( I'm thinking of adding some Disney DVDs to the list just to keep it from being the lamest Christmas ever.
Anyway, last day of class and Thursday marks our first day of finals which then last until Wednesday of next week. I still have a lot of preparation to do, but I'm definitely feeling okay about them. Getting anatomy out of the way this Friday will be great because physiology is still kind of looming out there, and it's hard to focus on much else when that neuroanatomy exam is in the way. Still, I have started preparing for physio and am actually feeling like I've passed the halfway mark of being ready for the exam, but there's still a long way to go until taking it on Monday morning. I'm just super-thankful that both histology and bacteriology (T and W) aren't going to require nearly as much work to get ready.
And have I mentioned the food in vet school? I know I have (because it's one of my favorite things), but free food = awesome. And during finals week, the students get free breakfast provided by different drug and food companies. Brueggers, Bojangles, Chick-Fil-A, Panera, etc. Can't freaking wait! Plus it forces me to get into school a little early to do a last minute read-through of my notes before the exams. Win-win!
Other than that I'm getting pretty excited for a break from school at Thanskgiving. Even though we're feeling the crunch of finals now, we're all incredibly thankful that we can actually enjoy our few days of break without worrying about tests, studying, or schoolwork. I get to see my family, Grandpa, pets, boy, and the boy's family over break - and I can't wait!!!
And Mom asked me what I want for Christmas. Honestly, aside from money and Walmart/Target cards, I don't need anything else. Pretty sad that I've officially become a boring adult. Even worse, a boring adult who is also a poor doctorate student. :((( I'm thinking of adding some Disney DVDs to the list just to keep it from being the lamest Christmas ever.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
T-Minus One Week
This time next week I'll be at the movie theater waiting for the midnight showing of "Harry Potter 7"!!! And...probably with my anatomy notes in tow seeing as how my final in that class is the next day at noon. Here's my logic on this one, because I know it probably sounds really irresponsible of me to be doing this. I don't really study that much from about 10 pm onwards anyway, so going to a movie starting at 10 pm isn't cutting into any study time. What about sleep you say? Well, I should get home from the showing at around 3 am. I plan on falling right asleep (should be a cinch), sleeping for six hours (typical school night of sleep for me), get up at 9:30 or so, and have another hour or two to do some last minute note-reading before the exam. No problem! Honestly, if I don't know something by 11 pm the night before an exam, it probably ain't going to happen. I don't do all-nighters and don't absorb a lot of academic stuff once my brain starts going fuzzy at night.
This week went waaaaay too fast, and it's definitely crunch time for finals. They're coming up quickly, and I still have a lot to do. We blew through the anatomy of the entire brain and spinal cord this week, and I think it goes without saying that your central nervous system is slightly complicated. Definitely going to be studying for that exam a lot this weekend. It's tough to focus on everything else that comes after just because of how overwhelming that single subject and single exam can be.
But in two weeks I'll be at home, probably going to bed, with a full belly of Thanksgiving dinner. Can't wait!
Also had lots of fun in physiology lab today where we got to focus on both mammalian and avian reproduction with some hands-on stuff. There were reproductive tracts to palpate, aborted cattle fetuses to examine and age, ovaries to study, chicks to necropsy, and lots of other fun stuff! It was definitely a really nice break from lecture after lecture.
I also made a huge pot of potato soup which should feed me for the next week - so tasty! Figured I'd better prepare my little study hole of despair with some good rations to give me brain power. Might also need to run for an emergency ice cream supply too...
This week went waaaaay too fast, and it's definitely crunch time for finals. They're coming up quickly, and I still have a lot to do. We blew through the anatomy of the entire brain and spinal cord this week, and I think it goes without saying that your central nervous system is slightly complicated. Definitely going to be studying for that exam a lot this weekend. It's tough to focus on everything else that comes after just because of how overwhelming that single subject and single exam can be.
But in two weeks I'll be at home, probably going to bed, with a full belly of Thanksgiving dinner. Can't wait!
Also had lots of fun in physiology lab today where we got to focus on both mammalian and avian reproduction with some hands-on stuff. There were reproductive tracts to palpate, aborted cattle fetuses to examine and age, ovaries to study, chicks to necropsy, and lots of other fun stuff! It was definitely a really nice break from lecture after lecture.
I also made a huge pot of potato soup which should feed me for the next week - so tasty! Figured I'd better prepare my little study hole of despair with some good rations to give me brain power. Might also need to run for an emergency ice cream supply too...
Monday, November 8, 2010
Crunch Time!
I got to spend this past weekend with the boy out in Pittsburgh, and it looks like that'll be the last "fun" thing I do for the next 2.5 weeks. We had a blast, though! I flew out on Friday and promised to treat him to a birthday weekend since I won't see him until after his actual day later in the month. I took him to a tasty breakfast, cleaned the apartment and cooked dinner, took him to see "Due Date", and surprised him with tickets to the circus. And then on Sunday, I had made reservations at an ATV site about an hour away. Didn't tell him where we were going or what we were doing, so it was a total surprise. And a huge success! Really glad that he had such a good time.
And subsequently between being super-busy and having tons of fun over the weekend, I didn't get any studying done.
Not sure if that will be a problem or not...
This week we have an anatomy quiz which looks to be pretty awful. The professor showed us a sample quiz from years past to give us an idea, and there was stunned silence throughout the lab. Really, really tough questions that require a LOT of thinking and problem-solving, which is tough to do in only 15 minutes. The histology quiz on Friday shouldn't be quite so bad, but I still need to do some reviewing of slides to prepare. Plus we get our second evidence-based medicine exam this week to finish. It's a take-home test but it actually does take a few hours to complete in its entirety.
And between all of that stuff, we have to really start worrying and buckling down for finals which start in about 9 days. SO. NOT. READY!!!!!!!! And we have a good handful to worry about...
Production Medicine - Thursday. Should be okay. Just a lot of basic stuff on food animal production.
Anatomy - Friday. WORRIED AS CRAP (I think that's the theme of every vet school anatomy course). Focuses mostly on head, cranium, nervous system, brain, reflexes, etc. but there's cumulative stuff from anywhere in the class on there as well. Definitely going to be a huuuuge time sink to prepare for this, and I'm not at all confident that I won't too terribly on this one despite lots of preparation.
Physiology - Monday. I have a LOT to do still, but I think it's do-able. It's everything on endocrinology and reproduction, so there are lots of pathways and hormones to learn. I've heard at least parts of it all before in other classes, read all of the notes, made my study sheets, and have gotten through about 1/3 of them. Worried, but it'll come together.
Histology - Tuesday. I think a solid day or two of work will make this one okay. I didn't have a problem with the last practical or written exam, so I hope this will be the same.
Bacteriology - Wednesday. Sad to say, but this will be the lowest on the totem pole. Past evaluations have taught me that reviewing my outlines and old exams/quizzes will be sufficient to get the main points of the material. No problem.
And that's it! Thanksgiving break is coming up fast!!!
Plus, I bought my ticket for the Harry Potter 7 midnight showing! Can't wait!
And, vet school isn't all bad. We're all in this together, I still am having lots of fun despite the stress, and tonight I got free dinner and six months of Advantix for each of my dogs at home just for attending an informative lecture on the Bayer products. Pretty sweet!
And subsequently between being super-busy and having tons of fun over the weekend, I didn't get any studying done.
Not sure if that will be a problem or not...
This week we have an anatomy quiz which looks to be pretty awful. The professor showed us a sample quiz from years past to give us an idea, and there was stunned silence throughout the lab. Really, really tough questions that require a LOT of thinking and problem-solving, which is tough to do in only 15 minutes. The histology quiz on Friday shouldn't be quite so bad, but I still need to do some reviewing of slides to prepare. Plus we get our second evidence-based medicine exam this week to finish. It's a take-home test but it actually does take a few hours to complete in its entirety.
And between all of that stuff, we have to really start worrying and buckling down for finals which start in about 9 days. SO. NOT. READY!!!!!!!! And we have a good handful to worry about...
Production Medicine - Thursday. Should be okay. Just a lot of basic stuff on food animal production.
Anatomy - Friday. WORRIED AS CRAP (I think that's the theme of every vet school anatomy course). Focuses mostly on head, cranium, nervous system, brain, reflexes, etc. but there's cumulative stuff from anywhere in the class on there as well. Definitely going to be a huuuuge time sink to prepare for this, and I'm not at all confident that I won't too terribly on this one despite lots of preparation.
Physiology - Monday. I have a LOT to do still, but I think it's do-able. It's everything on endocrinology and reproduction, so there are lots of pathways and hormones to learn. I've heard at least parts of it all before in other classes, read all of the notes, made my study sheets, and have gotten through about 1/3 of them. Worried, but it'll come together.
Histology - Tuesday. I think a solid day or two of work will make this one okay. I didn't have a problem with the last practical or written exam, so I hope this will be the same.
Bacteriology - Wednesday. Sad to say, but this will be the lowest on the totem pole. Past evaluations have taught me that reviewing my outlines and old exams/quizzes will be sufficient to get the main points of the material. No problem.
And that's it! Thanksgiving break is coming up fast!!!
Plus, I bought my ticket for the Harry Potter 7 midnight showing! Can't wait!
And, vet school isn't all bad. We're all in this together, I still am having lots of fun despite the stress, and tonight I got free dinner and six months of Advantix for each of my dogs at home just for attending an informative lecture on the Bayer products. Pretty sweet!
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
It's the final countdown...
Only ten days of class left of my first semester of vet school - can't even begin to describe how fast it has gone! After tomorrow we only have three quizzes total to worry about before our exams start, which will feel amazing. Our last day of classes is two Tuesdays from now followed by a study day followed by our finals week. Definitely am feeling like I will not be ready for those exams and have to keep reminding myself how far away those really are. Plenty of time to get prepared!
Tomorrow we have our fourth anatomy quiz on the head and cranium structures, and we started cranial nerves and the central nervous system this week in lecture. Looooots to learn but at least it's interesting stuff! We're continuing with endocrinology in physiology, and we're specifically learning about reproductive physio. I'm super-thankful that I took a pretty in-depth repro class in undergrad, so I've at least heard all of this before (even if it was a while ago). The last bacteriology quiz of the semester was also this week, and we've started working on the mycology (fungi) aspect of the course. Today he mentioned that we only have four of those classes left before finals...it's seriously difficult to comprehend that I'll be 1/8th finished this program in just a few weeks.
It's also finally starting to feel like fall outside! Beautiful chilly weather, and the leaves are changing colors. Can't wait to start making tons of soups for winter dinners! I've also got to get working on Christmas and birthday shopping since I have no idea what I'm going to get most people in my family. I feel like some people can be extremely difficult to shop for; I hate getting a gift for someone simply because it fills that gift requirement. I wish I was good at finding that "perfect" item or experience or whatever for everyone on my list.
Other than that I've been starting to think about summer employment and what to do over my breaks. For Christmas I think I'll be heading home for the holiday itself for about five days and then going out to see the boy for another five or so. That means that I'll be here in Raleigh for over two weeks of my break with nothing to do. In the next few days I want to start contacting some of the clinicians in the hospital to set up some shadowing experiences. Since specialization is something I may be interested in, I want to experience as much as I can as early as possible and also get some quality time with clinicians before fourth year. There's also a meeting next week about summer research opportunities, which are compensated projects that you complete with an assigned PI (usually a clinician or researcher at the school). I'll definitely be applying to the clinical pathology externship here at the school, but some of the projects are pretty interesting as well. I figure it can't hurt to put in multiple applications to ensure I get a job or project that I'll be happy with.
Two more days left of this week before I get to spend a weekend with the boy. Unfortunately I have a weird, funny feeling that my body is fighting something off right now and that it's on the brink of losing. Hopefully my immune system does it's job so I can enjoy my time before the craziness of finals sets in!
Tomorrow we have our fourth anatomy quiz on the head and cranium structures, and we started cranial nerves and the central nervous system this week in lecture. Looooots to learn but at least it's interesting stuff! We're continuing with endocrinology in physiology, and we're specifically learning about reproductive physio. I'm super-thankful that I took a pretty in-depth repro class in undergrad, so I've at least heard all of this before (even if it was a while ago). The last bacteriology quiz of the semester was also this week, and we've started working on the mycology (fungi) aspect of the course. Today he mentioned that we only have four of those classes left before finals...it's seriously difficult to comprehend that I'll be 1/8th finished this program in just a few weeks.
It's also finally starting to feel like fall outside! Beautiful chilly weather, and the leaves are changing colors. Can't wait to start making tons of soups for winter dinners! I've also got to get working on Christmas and birthday shopping since I have no idea what I'm going to get most people in my family. I feel like some people can be extremely difficult to shop for; I hate getting a gift for someone simply because it fills that gift requirement. I wish I was good at finding that "perfect" item or experience or whatever for everyone on my list.
Other than that I've been starting to think about summer employment and what to do over my breaks. For Christmas I think I'll be heading home for the holiday itself for about five days and then going out to see the boy for another five or so. That means that I'll be here in Raleigh for over two weeks of my break with nothing to do. In the next few days I want to start contacting some of the clinicians in the hospital to set up some shadowing experiences. Since specialization is something I may be interested in, I want to experience as much as I can as early as possible and also get some quality time with clinicians before fourth year. There's also a meeting next week about summer research opportunities, which are compensated projects that you complete with an assigned PI (usually a clinician or researcher at the school). I'll definitely be applying to the clinical pathology externship here at the school, but some of the projects are pretty interesting as well. I figure it can't hurt to put in multiple applications to ensure I get a job or project that I'll be happy with.
Two more days left of this week before I get to spend a weekend with the boy. Unfortunately I have a weird, funny feeling that my body is fighting something off right now and that it's on the brink of losing. Hopefully my immune system does it's job so I can enjoy my time before the craziness of finals sets in!
Monday, November 1, 2010
Happy Halloween!
All I'm going to say is that vet school students certainly know how to party it up. The Halloween party on Saturday night was sooooo much fun! There must have been about 200 of us there, and the costumes were fantastic! Some of the best were a group of Jetsons characters, Paul Bunyan and Babe the ox, a goldfish, car insurance characters (Flo, the Gecko, etc.), Avatar, and the Ninja Turtles. There was definitely a lot of creativity and thought put into everyone's costumes, and it was sooooo much fun to hang out with people from school without a single thought given to schoolwork.
Yesterday I got some studying done in the morning and was actually somewhat productive. Go me! Last night I made the drive over to Carrboro to visit with a Penn State friend who is down here now to study architecture and planning at UNC. She had a few of her program friends over as well, so I got to hear a bit about how their program works, their classes, and their fellow classmates. It's funny how similar their conversations are to those within the vet school. Seems like students in advanced programs everywhere have the same sort of experiences no matter what they're studying!
Yesterday I got some studying done in the morning and was actually somewhat productive. Go me! Last night I made the drive over to Carrboro to visit with a Penn State friend who is down here now to study architecture and planning at UNC. She had a few of her program friends over as well, so I got to hear a bit about how their program works, their classes, and their fellow classmates. It's funny how similar their conversations are to those within the vet school. Seems like students in advanced programs everywhere have the same sort of experiences no matter what they're studying!
Friday, October 29, 2010
In on a Friday!
It's finally starting to feel more like fall here in Raleigh - got to spend the morning outside in the cool air wrangling some beef cattle for my last TAU course of the semester. Our group did some basic herding and handling, and we all practiced using a head chute. The clinician and a few older students did pregnancy checks for each of the cows, so it was pretty cool to feel like our work was actually helping in some way.
Today we had our first quiz after break - histology - and I think it went pretty well for us as a class. Since the last exam we've been going through organs and organ systems and doing identification work for each. This quiz covered the GI tract and some of the accessory organs (liver, pancreas, gall bladder), and we started some work on the eye today. Pretty cool stuff! It's amazing to see how everything in your body fits together so well to do everything it needs to.
Anatomy has been kind of a pain since the last exam. We've started in with all of the head and cranial stuff, and geez - there is a LOT to learn! I have one of our group's dog skulls sitting on my table now, and I think I'll be practicing the skull bones and parts tonight. We spent this week doing the dissection of the bones, muscles, mouth, eye, nose, etc., and we start right in with the cranial nerves on Monday, which is supposed to be the beastliest part of the course. I think that's the case in just about any vet school for some reason! Since we're dealing with such a small part of the anatomy (literally JUST the head itself), you can imagine that every nerve, blood vessel, muscle, fossa, and foramen is just as tiny. I can't help but feel like I'm blatantly missing a lot of things during our lab period, which could be a problem come exam-time. Plus our group is working on the cat right now, which doesn't help the whole visualization thing at all - thank goodness we switch cadavers in a few days!
In both good and bad news, we only have 2 1/2 weeks of class left before our finals week starts. Pretty cool that the first semester is almost finished but pretty scary that I'm expected to be ready for a half dozen exams in that amount of time. Eeep. Gotta get cracking!
Buuuuut this weekend does hold some quality distractions in store. Tomorrow morning I get to head back into school for Saturday necropsy! It's the first one I signed up for, and I'm pretty excited to see gross dissection of some pathologies. Getting my car inspected right after, and tomorrow night is the annual vet school Halloween party. Every year I promise myself I'll start planning an awesome costume really early and every year I fail. So I'm re-using my Hermione Granger costume again this year. I already have all the parts, it's comfy, and I can decently pull it off. Works for me!
Gotta start being productive between all of that stuff because the boy is coming up for a visit next weekend, and I don't get nearly as much done when he's here. I think I have some pretty good ideas of things to do while he's here, which I'm not sharing in case he's reading this! His birthday is coming up soon, and I feel like there's not many things I can get for him, so I'll treat him to a few fun days instead.
Today we had our first quiz after break - histology - and I think it went pretty well for us as a class. Since the last exam we've been going through organs and organ systems and doing identification work for each. This quiz covered the GI tract and some of the accessory organs (liver, pancreas, gall bladder), and we started some work on the eye today. Pretty cool stuff! It's amazing to see how everything in your body fits together so well to do everything it needs to.
Anatomy has been kind of a pain since the last exam. We've started in with all of the head and cranial stuff, and geez - there is a LOT to learn! I have one of our group's dog skulls sitting on my table now, and I think I'll be practicing the skull bones and parts tonight. We spent this week doing the dissection of the bones, muscles, mouth, eye, nose, etc., and we start right in with the cranial nerves on Monday, which is supposed to be the beastliest part of the course. I think that's the case in just about any vet school for some reason! Since we're dealing with such a small part of the anatomy (literally JUST the head itself), you can imagine that every nerve, blood vessel, muscle, fossa, and foramen is just as tiny. I can't help but feel like I'm blatantly missing a lot of things during our lab period, which could be a problem come exam-time. Plus our group is working on the cat right now, which doesn't help the whole visualization thing at all - thank goodness we switch cadavers in a few days!
In both good and bad news, we only have 2 1/2 weeks of class left before our finals week starts. Pretty cool that the first semester is almost finished but pretty scary that I'm expected to be ready for a half dozen exams in that amount of time. Eeep. Gotta get cracking!
Buuuuut this weekend does hold some quality distractions in store. Tomorrow morning I get to head back into school for Saturday necropsy! It's the first one I signed up for, and I'm pretty excited to see gross dissection of some pathologies. Getting my car inspected right after, and tomorrow night is the annual vet school Halloween party. Every year I promise myself I'll start planning an awesome costume really early and every year I fail. So I'm re-using my Hermione Granger costume again this year. I already have all the parts, it's comfy, and I can decently pull it off. Works for me!
Gotta start being productive between all of that stuff because the boy is coming up for a visit next weekend, and I don't get nearly as much done when he's here. I think I have some pretty good ideas of things to do while he's here, which I'm not sharing in case he's reading this! His birthday is coming up soon, and I feel like there's not many things I can get for him, so I'll treat him to a few fun days instead.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Three more weeks (give or take a few days)
Break was fantastic...but way too short as most school breaks tend to be. I got to spend a lot of time hanging out at my veterinary hospital back at home - helped, observed, caught up with friends. Also read a few books, walked the puppies a half dozen times, and spent some time with my family (well, parents but no siblings). One of the dogs broke with ringworm while I was home, so taking care of that was a joy. She looks incredibly goofy now with a shaved patch on her back. On Thursday I picked the boy up from his day at work, and we drove to his place in Pittsburgh for the weekend. We didn't have very much time together since I had to drive back east then get to the Philly airport on Sunday, but it was still great seeing him (as always). He'll be out here for a visit not this weekend but the one after. Can't wait!
I was really hoping that break would get me all excited and refreshed to come back to school and power through the last few weeks of the semester. But mostly it spoiled me and made me not want to do much yesterday after school.
Tonight has been more productive so far but I'm definitely looking at a steep hill of information to climb before this is all over.
There's a histology quiz coming up on Friday, but I'm not super-concerned about that one. We started the skull/cranium/head in anatomy and holy cow is there a lot of stuff to learn. About two dozen bones, three dozen little holes and divots, random muscles and papillae, and things that like to run in and out of said holes and papilla. Yikes. I also have paid zero attention to physiology stuff outside of class since the last exam, so I need to buckle down and start studying for the final in a few weeks. And that class has been involving a lot of pathways and endocrinology, so it's definitely not light material. Lots and lots to do. We only have six quizzes to worry about until finals week, but there isn't a whole lot of grace time until that rolls around. I have a feeling the next few weeks are going to fly by.
Still haven't found or come up with a Halloween costume yet...hope I have time to pull something together before the vet school party on Saturday!
And before I get too comfortable with this "study break", back to my notes.
I was really hoping that break would get me all excited and refreshed to come back to school and power through the last few weeks of the semester. But mostly it spoiled me and made me not want to do much yesterday after school.
Tonight has been more productive so far but I'm definitely looking at a steep hill of information to climb before this is all over.
There's a histology quiz coming up on Friday, but I'm not super-concerned about that one. We started the skull/cranium/head in anatomy and holy cow is there a lot of stuff to learn. About two dozen bones, three dozen little holes and divots, random muscles and papillae, and things that like to run in and out of said holes and papilla. Yikes. I also have paid zero attention to physiology stuff outside of class since the last exam, so I need to buckle down and start studying for the final in a few weeks. And that class has been involving a lot of pathways and endocrinology, so it's definitely not light material. Lots and lots to do. We only have six quizzes to worry about until finals week, but there isn't a whole lot of grace time until that rolls around. I have a feeling the next few weeks are going to fly by.
Still haven't found or come up with a Halloween costume yet...hope I have time to pull something together before the vet school party on Saturday!
And before I get too comfortable with this "study break", back to my notes.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Home again, home again.
Fall Break officially started after class yesterday, but we were all unofficially on mental vacation immediately after getting out of that anatomy exam on Wednesday. Both Thursday and Friday were days that involved most of the class staring blankly at professors as we tried to stay focused. It was really tough absorbing anything knowing that freedom was so close.
On Thursday I attended another information panel about internships and residencies, this one consisting of current interns and residents at the school in addition to recent grads of those programs. They all stressed the importance and value of an internship whether you intend to go on to a residency or not. It's a difficult year of hard work and little rest but you learn a loooot in that time that will put you way ahead of the curve of new graduates. Definitely something I'm going to seriously consider whether general practice or specialization ends up being my calling.
Other than that, I managed to get my laundry done and apartment cleaned with all of the spare time that I had. Pretty great.
Today, though, I got to be really disgusting and pig out at the NC State Fair, which is held right across the street from the vet school. I signed up to work a shift at the vet school T-shirt booth this morning and then spent the rest of the day with a few friends enjoying the fair. Lots of adorable farm animals were being shown, fun rides everywhere, and, of course, tasty food. Funnel cake was an absolute win! There was also a booth with all apple stuff, and they had one of those old-fashioned apple peeler/corer/slicer gizmos. I think I might need to search Ebay for one for my own kitchen!
Tomorrow at lunch time I get to get on a plane and head home for a solid week! Can't freaking wait! I'm spending until Thursday at home with my mom and dad and my adorable puppies then I visit the boy in Pittsburgh until Sunday. I should be a good student and bring home some schoolwork to do...but I'm not. And it feels amazing.
On Thursday I attended another information panel about internships and residencies, this one consisting of current interns and residents at the school in addition to recent grads of those programs. They all stressed the importance and value of an internship whether you intend to go on to a residency or not. It's a difficult year of hard work and little rest but you learn a loooot in that time that will put you way ahead of the curve of new graduates. Definitely something I'm going to seriously consider whether general practice or specialization ends up being my calling.
Other than that, I managed to get my laundry done and apartment cleaned with all of the spare time that I had. Pretty great.
Today, though, I got to be really disgusting and pig out at the NC State Fair, which is held right across the street from the vet school. I signed up to work a shift at the vet school T-shirt booth this morning and then spent the rest of the day with a few friends enjoying the fair. Lots of adorable farm animals were being shown, fun rides everywhere, and, of course, tasty food. Funnel cake was an absolute win! There was also a booth with all apple stuff, and they had one of those old-fashioned apple peeler/corer/slicer gizmos. I think I might need to search Ebay for one for my own kitchen!
Tomorrow at lunch time I get to get on a plane and head home for a solid week! Can't freaking wait! I'm spending until Thursday at home with my mom and dad and my adorable puppies then I visit the boy in Pittsburgh until Sunday. I should be a good student and bring home some schoolwork to do...but I'm not. And it feels amazing.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Urgh.
I'm exhausted.
Anatomy exam was lame and difficult, and I felt crappy afterwards.
Anatomy lab and lecture tomorrow despite crappy exam today.
Arm is sore from second rabies shot.
My brain is already on Fall Break, but I have two more days of waking up at 6:00 am.
Hung out with friends tonight and griped, which was a plus.
I'm exhausted. Bedtime.
Anatomy exam was lame and difficult, and I felt crappy afterwards.
Anatomy lab and lecture tomorrow despite crappy exam today.
Arm is sore from second rabies shot.
My brain is already on Fall Break, but I have two more days of waking up at 6:00 am.
Hung out with friends tonight and griped, which was a plus.
I'm exhausted. Bedtime.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Best study music? "Battlestar Galactica" soundtracks.
Two on the list are done! Histology quiz was finished on Friday, and we had our quiz on the anatomy of the pelvic cavity today. Tomorrow is the bacteriology quiz...for which I'm sorely under prepared. The class has turned into a dangerous game of recognition rather than recalling information. I wish it wasn't that way, but there just isn't enough time in the day or week to do everything right all the time. My grade in that class is good so far, and the quiz tomorrow is something I'm letting slip a little. I mean, I've studied, but I don't know everything as well as I should.
Definitely have my mind focused more on the humongous anatomy exam on Wednesday.
As far as that one goes, I already feel like I've reached my "saturation point" with the material where no matter what other studying I do, I know it as well as I will for the exam. Still have two hours of lab time tomorrow to review (probably will focus on practicing reading radiographs) and tomorrow night to finish up any loose ends. Can't freaking wait to finish that exam and walk out of school on Wednesday afternoon. I plan on doing NOTHING that night...and ideally every night until we come back from Fall Break.
I was talking to one of my vet school friends today, and we were comparing notes on our relations with family and friends right now. We both agreed that we've become incredibly...boring since school started. Nothing really changes day to day, and unless I have a TAU lesson with live animals or learn some really weird or bizarre fact in class, I have nothing to report. Ever. I talk to my boyfriend every night on the phone, and while he always has something to tell me about his travels or his work day or the movie he saw that night or hanging out with friends, I don't have much to share in return. Whenever he asks, "How did your day go? What'd you do this weekend? What'd you do for fun?", the answer is always, "It was okay. I stayed in and studied. I went to lab and studied. I didn't really do anything fun...but I did open a new box of cereal!" It's the same with when I talk to my family or other friends.
While I love school (except for getting really tired of studying sometimes), love that I'm here, love my new friends, and love that I get to pursue this career...the day-to-day aspects of first year are really pretty boring if we're being honest with each other. School 8-4:30 pm each day, home to relax for an hour or two, dinner by myself, study for two or three hours, call the boy, bed. Repeat.
I think it'll get more thrilling as time goes on and we break out of the basic into more applied sciences. At least I know that our clinical year will be exciting if worse comes to worst! :) Well, back to studying. Don't know if I can remember these Streptococcal secreted factors any better, but I'll try.
Definitely have my mind focused more on the humongous anatomy exam on Wednesday.
As far as that one goes, I already feel like I've reached my "saturation point" with the material where no matter what other studying I do, I know it as well as I will for the exam. Still have two hours of lab time tomorrow to review (probably will focus on practicing reading radiographs) and tomorrow night to finish up any loose ends. Can't freaking wait to finish that exam and walk out of school on Wednesday afternoon. I plan on doing NOTHING that night...and ideally every night until we come back from Fall Break.
I was talking to one of my vet school friends today, and we were comparing notes on our relations with family and friends right now. We both agreed that we've become incredibly...boring since school started. Nothing really changes day to day, and unless I have a TAU lesson with live animals or learn some really weird or bizarre fact in class, I have nothing to report. Ever. I talk to my boyfriend every night on the phone, and while he always has something to tell me about his travels or his work day or the movie he saw that night or hanging out with friends, I don't have much to share in return. Whenever he asks, "How did your day go? What'd you do this weekend? What'd you do for fun?", the answer is always, "It was okay. I stayed in and studied. I went to lab and studied. I didn't really do anything fun...but I did open a new box of cereal!" It's the same with when I talk to my family or other friends.
While I love school (except for getting really tired of studying sometimes), love that I'm here, love my new friends, and love that I get to pursue this career...the day-to-day aspects of first year are really pretty boring if we're being honest with each other. School 8-4:30 pm each day, home to relax for an hour or two, dinner by myself, study for two or three hours, call the boy, bed. Repeat.
I think it'll get more thrilling as time goes on and we break out of the basic into more applied sciences. At least I know that our clinical year will be exciting if worse comes to worst! :) Well, back to studying. Don't know if I can remember these Streptococcal secreted factors any better, but I'll try.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Pathology?
We had a pretty informative lunch meeting today for the PathHeads club about summer job opportunities and externships in the pathology field. Really would love to get one of those for the coming summer break. There's the chance to work in the clinical pathology lab at the vet school, which would be helpful no matter what career I enter. Think that'll be on my short-list of applications this year.
Pathology is pretty freaking cool and something I'm seriously interested in exploring as a possible career. Just being able to see how everything fits together in a case and either be instrumental in designing the best possible treatment plan (if you're in clinical path) or figuring out what happened in a case post mortem (if you're in anatomical path) is amazing. The fact that disease follows a set, almost regimented, series of steps and that hardly anything is random or unexplainable in the body is amazing, and pathologists are lucky enough to be the ones who put all the pieces and steps together in a logical order.
I still am so unsure of what I want to do, but this avenue for my future career appeals to me more every time I hear and learn about it. There's also a dinner talk coming up with hospital interns and residencies about pursuing further training after completing a veterinary degree. We heard from an admissions committee member a few weeks ago in our careers class, and that was a frightening and sobering talk. I'd love to hear more about the process of getting there and the experience of being there from doctors who are just now in the middle of it. I'm sure it'll still be overwhelming to think about, but hopefully some good information will come out of it.
And on the subject of stuff involving live animals, my TAU group had our dairy cattle lab today. I LOVE dairy medicine. Like, a lot. You can't get much better than a cow for a patient, and they really are incredible animals. Next time you're near an adult Holstein cow (meaning female, already had at least one baby), take a look at the abdomen. You'll see these big pipe-like ripples running through the skin. Those are veins and arteries that are supplying the udder! To produce an average of 23,000 pounds of milk per year (seriously!!!) they have to send an enormous amount of blood to the udder all day, every day. Amazing, amazing stuff. But anyway, we got to cast the cows (meaning, pull them down with ropes to do a physical exam with them prone), halter them, and practice bleeding from the tail veins. That class is sooooo much fun - getting to be outside, working with live animals in beautiful fall weather, and learning about hands-on veterinary care is a blast.
This weekend is going to be consumed with huge amounts of studying. The anatomy exam on Wednesday is going to eat up the majority of my time, but I'd like to squeeze some bacteriology in there as well...seeing as how we have a quiz on Tuesday. Anatomy is pretty amazing. Seeing how everything fits together, how form and function are so meshed, and how species can be both incredibly similar but vastly different is lots of fun. However, being in the lab for 10+ hours per week, plunging your hands into a plastic tub to pull out a male reproductive tract specimen (testes and all), and opening your locker to smell a big whiff of formalin can make it lose some of its charm.
Once this exam is over and I can enjoy Fall Break, I think I'll be refreshed and ready to finish up the last weeks of the semester. Until then, I'll see you in the lab.
Pathology is pretty freaking cool and something I'm seriously interested in exploring as a possible career. Just being able to see how everything fits together in a case and either be instrumental in designing the best possible treatment plan (if you're in clinical path) or figuring out what happened in a case post mortem (if you're in anatomical path) is amazing. The fact that disease follows a set, almost regimented, series of steps and that hardly anything is random or unexplainable in the body is amazing, and pathologists are lucky enough to be the ones who put all the pieces and steps together in a logical order.
I still am so unsure of what I want to do, but this avenue for my future career appeals to me more every time I hear and learn about it. There's also a dinner talk coming up with hospital interns and residencies about pursuing further training after completing a veterinary degree. We heard from an admissions committee member a few weeks ago in our careers class, and that was a frightening and sobering talk. I'd love to hear more about the process of getting there and the experience of being there from doctors who are just now in the middle of it. I'm sure it'll still be overwhelming to think about, but hopefully some good information will come out of it.
And on the subject of stuff involving live animals, my TAU group had our dairy cattle lab today. I LOVE dairy medicine. Like, a lot. You can't get much better than a cow for a patient, and they really are incredible animals. Next time you're near an adult Holstein cow (meaning female, already had at least one baby), take a look at the abdomen. You'll see these big pipe-like ripples running through the skin. Those are veins and arteries that are supplying the udder! To produce an average of 23,000 pounds of milk per year (seriously!!!) they have to send an enormous amount of blood to the udder all day, every day. Amazing, amazing stuff. But anyway, we got to cast the cows (meaning, pull them down with ropes to do a physical exam with them prone), halter them, and practice bleeding from the tail veins. That class is sooooo much fun - getting to be outside, working with live animals in beautiful fall weather, and learning about hands-on veterinary care is a blast.
This weekend is going to be consumed with huge amounts of studying. The anatomy exam on Wednesday is going to eat up the majority of my time, but I'd like to squeeze some bacteriology in there as well...seeing as how we have a quiz on Tuesday. Anatomy is pretty amazing. Seeing how everything fits together, how form and function are so meshed, and how species can be both incredibly similar but vastly different is lots of fun. However, being in the lab for 10+ hours per week, plunging your hands into a plastic tub to pull out a male reproductive tract specimen (testes and all), and opening your locker to smell a big whiff of formalin can make it lose some of its charm.
Once this exam is over and I can enjoy Fall Break, I think I'll be refreshed and ready to finish up the last weeks of the semester. Until then, I'll see you in the lab.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Learn and purge commences...now.
Learning, regurgitating, and purging information is NOT what I want to be doing. I mean, I'd rather do anything but study at this point, but I am referring more to the purging step. I want to retain everything I can. I want to learn and make lasting connections. I want to feel like I will get to the point where I can quickly rattle off a diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment plan immediately after a physical exam. And stuck in first semester midterms without enough time to fully digest everything, it's hard to see how that will happen.
On Tuesday, I spent two hours in the hospital ICU observing patient care and shadowing the staff. There was an intern and an internal medicine resident there, and I got to listen in on rounds as they switched off the patients from the day to the night staff. I could follow a lot of their discussion, but there were times when I felt just awe-inspired by how confident they were in their clinical skills - and the intern is only four years ahead of me in training! It was an awesome night, and I learned quite a bit - there was a post-PDA surgery puppy, a kitty with a chylothorax, a dog with splenic tumors, etc. It was pretty cool to see so many of the topics we've discussed in lecture presented there as real, live cases. But at the same time, as I was leaving for home, I couldn't help feeling this niggling doubt that getting to the point where I was the intern left on duty for the night was more than I could handle.
I'm doing fine in school - better actually than I thought I would be - but being trapped in this cycle of "learn this piece of information, process it as much as you can (but only half as much as you'd like), write it on an exam, tuck it away or flush it to make room for more" is demoralizing at times. I mean, I can barely remember the main channel blood flow from the thoracic limb, which we learned only two months ago, without reviewing! How am I ever going to learn all of the stuff needed to actually TREAT a patient? I guess it comes with time, but it's slightly overwhelming to think about right now.
But back to regurgitation.
In the next four school days I have a histology quiz (cardiovascular, endocrine, renal, and respiratory systems), anatomy quiz (pelvic cavity), bacteriology quiz (mycoplasm, clostridium, strep, staph), and our first major anatomy exam (everything but the head). There's just not enough time to really learn everything. All you can do is study and learn for the exam, try to make some lasting connections in your head with the material, take the test, and immediately switch gears for the next. It'll be a fuuuuun week ahead. I forsee a lot of time spent in the anatomy lab this weekend. But this time next week, I'll be waking up for class knowing I don't have another evaluation for over 14 days! Cannot freaking wait.
I also got my first rabies shot yesterday, which was pretty exciting. They pull out this huge needle to mix the vaccine, and it was kind of funny to watch everyone's eyes bulge out of their heads. It actually didn't hurt much at all (the needle they use for injection was pretty tiny), and my arm is only a teensy bit sore. The next in the series is next Wednesday and the last will be two weeks after that. It'll be pretty cool to finally be a vaccinated staff member at a hospital!
Heading in to school in a few minutes. Starting off the day with anatomy lab bright and early. The smell of formalin at 9:00 am is pretty glorious.
On Tuesday, I spent two hours in the hospital ICU observing patient care and shadowing the staff. There was an intern and an internal medicine resident there, and I got to listen in on rounds as they switched off the patients from the day to the night staff. I could follow a lot of their discussion, but there were times when I felt just awe-inspired by how confident they were in their clinical skills - and the intern is only four years ahead of me in training! It was an awesome night, and I learned quite a bit - there was a post-PDA surgery puppy, a kitty with a chylothorax, a dog with splenic tumors, etc. It was pretty cool to see so many of the topics we've discussed in lecture presented there as real, live cases. But at the same time, as I was leaving for home, I couldn't help feeling this niggling doubt that getting to the point where I was the intern left on duty for the night was more than I could handle.
I'm doing fine in school - better actually than I thought I would be - but being trapped in this cycle of "learn this piece of information, process it as much as you can (but only half as much as you'd like), write it on an exam, tuck it away or flush it to make room for more" is demoralizing at times. I mean, I can barely remember the main channel blood flow from the thoracic limb, which we learned only two months ago, without reviewing! How am I ever going to learn all of the stuff needed to actually TREAT a patient? I guess it comes with time, but it's slightly overwhelming to think about right now.
But back to regurgitation.
In the next four school days I have a histology quiz (cardiovascular, endocrine, renal, and respiratory systems), anatomy quiz (pelvic cavity), bacteriology quiz (mycoplasm, clostridium, strep, staph), and our first major anatomy exam (everything but the head). There's just not enough time to really learn everything. All you can do is study and learn for the exam, try to make some lasting connections in your head with the material, take the test, and immediately switch gears for the next. It'll be a fuuuuun week ahead. I forsee a lot of time spent in the anatomy lab this weekend. But this time next week, I'll be waking up for class knowing I don't have another evaluation for over 14 days! Cannot freaking wait.
I also got my first rabies shot yesterday, which was pretty exciting. They pull out this huge needle to mix the vaccine, and it was kind of funny to watch everyone's eyes bulge out of their heads. It actually didn't hurt much at all (the needle they use for injection was pretty tiny), and my arm is only a teensy bit sore. The next in the series is next Wednesday and the last will be two weeks after that. It'll be pretty cool to finally be a vaccinated staff member at a hospital!
Heading in to school in a few minutes. Starting off the day with anatomy lab bright and early. The smell of formalin at 9:00 am is pretty glorious.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Fall Break - Two Weeks!
And man, break couldn't get here soon enough. All of us feel like we've been in school forever, even though it's only been about two months. Time goes by soooooo fast but we've also done so much in that time that having a break is going to feel amazing.
I had the boy here for a visit this weekend, so I didn't get a whole lot of school stuff done. There was an anatomy quiz today that I had to study for but that was about it on the immediate horizon - think it went okay, and now I'm switching gears to the huuuuge exam next Wednesday on everything but the head. There are 90 practical questions and a double-length written portion. And it's cumulative. Yuck.
Anyway, it was a great weekend and a fun visit. We grabbed some dinner on Friday at this awesome bistro with huge pieces of cake - 8" by 8" by 4"! Yes, everything comes back to food for me. Cake was good - we ended up ordering it first since the kitchen was taking a while - and then we ended with dinner. Relaxed for the rest of the night before spending Saturday in Pinehurst with his dad and grandparents (he was down visiting them for a few days after a business trip in Virginia). We met them at a town-wide flea market and spent a few hours walking around and enjoying the weather before heading to their place for dinner. His family is a lot of fun, and it's nice to be able to spend time with people who aren't talking about some aspect of school during every waking moment. And I'm 110% guilty of that too when I'm with my classmates. You can't help it! Sunday we did some more lounging around, movies, shopped for a class gift for one of our anatomy instructors, and split the apartment for a few hours that night so we could both get some work done.
Even though we didn't really do much, I was freaking exhausted today. He stays up later than I do, (I'm in bed by 11:00 at the latest, he pushes it until 12:30) and that forces me into staying up to a later hour as well. Then, since I still need to get some sort of work done on the weekends, I usually get up at 6:30 or 7:00 am to squeeze in two or three hours of school stuff before getting him out of bed. Six hours of sleep a night isn't bad during the week, but when I don't have that weekend to sleep in a bit and recover from school, I feel a little groggy. Plus, he heads out early on Monday, so I was up this morning to see him off at 5. Felt so tired all day, so even though I really ought to get some work done, I'm going to bed early tonight. Won't be able to make it through this week in a productive manner if I'm majorly sleepy.
Figure I'll try to make it up by being extra-good at studying each night! We'll see how that goes...
I had the boy here for a visit this weekend, so I didn't get a whole lot of school stuff done. There was an anatomy quiz today that I had to study for but that was about it on the immediate horizon - think it went okay, and now I'm switching gears to the huuuuge exam next Wednesday on everything but the head. There are 90 practical questions and a double-length written portion. And it's cumulative. Yuck.
Anyway, it was a great weekend and a fun visit. We grabbed some dinner on Friday at this awesome bistro with huge pieces of cake - 8" by 8" by 4"! Yes, everything comes back to food for me. Cake was good - we ended up ordering it first since the kitchen was taking a while - and then we ended with dinner. Relaxed for the rest of the night before spending Saturday in Pinehurst with his dad and grandparents (he was down visiting them for a few days after a business trip in Virginia). We met them at a town-wide flea market and spent a few hours walking around and enjoying the weather before heading to their place for dinner. His family is a lot of fun, and it's nice to be able to spend time with people who aren't talking about some aspect of school during every waking moment. And I'm 110% guilty of that too when I'm with my classmates. You can't help it! Sunday we did some more lounging around, movies, shopped for a class gift for one of our anatomy instructors, and split the apartment for a few hours that night so we could both get some work done.
Even though we didn't really do much, I was freaking exhausted today. He stays up later than I do, (I'm in bed by 11:00 at the latest, he pushes it until 12:30) and that forces me into staying up to a later hour as well. Then, since I still need to get some sort of work done on the weekends, I usually get up at 6:30 or 7:00 am to squeeze in two or three hours of school stuff before getting him out of bed. Six hours of sleep a night isn't bad during the week, but when I don't have that weekend to sleep in a bit and recover from school, I feel a little groggy. Plus, he heads out early on Monday, so I was up this morning to see him off at 5. Felt so tired all day, so even though I really ought to get some work done, I'm going to bed early tonight. Won't be able to make it through this week in a productive manner if I'm majorly sleepy.
Figure I'll try to make it up by being extra-good at studying each night! We'll see how that goes...
Friday, October 1, 2010
And, Friday.
And one of our weeks from heck this semester is coming to a close. Phew.
I don't think I saw anyone in our class who wasn't looking a little sleepy or bleary-eyed at least once this week. Honestly, we didn't even have THAT much stuff to deal with (not compared to what finals week will be), but it sure felt like a lot to handle all at once.
Bacteriology was up first on Tuesday, and boy, do I wish I hadn't studied as much as I did. I had a feeling it was going to be pretty easy, but I think most of our class was walking out of there within about forty minutes of getting the test. Not bad at all! He asked a lot of very broad questions involving matching of bacteria with the disease processes they cause, so nothing was too tricky. Plus, he built in nearly a 10% curve with his bonus questions. Seriously. I think he really likes our class - we ask a lot of questions, stay pretty engaged in lecture, and had a really good showing to the review session this weekend. We've been told that the difficulty of the class and exams really does get based on a lot of these factors, so hopefully he continues to think we're doing a good job before the final exam.
Physiology was yesterday. Oy. Not nearly as much fun. I started studying this past weekend rather than focusing on bacteriology because I knew it would be the tougher exam. Now, this was way before a lot of my classmates started working on it. A lot of them only got the chance to really sit down with physio starting on Tuesday after bacteriology; given how I felt after the test, I can only imagine how others must have felt, especially functioning on only two or three hours of sleep. I studied quite a bit, felt okay (not amazingly great, but confident), and I don't really know how I did on the test. It was tough, and I thought some of the questions were tricky, worded in a way that didn't make me confident I understood what he was asking, let alone what he wanted in a response. There were definitely some not-so-happy students mulling around after the test, so it'll be interesting to see how the class does as a whole. Oh well - can't win 'em all!
I am currently working on my evidence-based-medicine exam which is a take-home due on Sunday. Not much to say except it's a very vaguely worded test, and I'm not quite sure I'm answering everything in the right vein. I was going to turn it in today, but I've already gotten two class-wide e-mails from him answering student questions that have made me change or revise my own answers. Think I'll hang onto it until Sunday in case there are any more alterations I have to make.
Other than that, I was so happy to get the chance to bake this week - great stress therapy! Cake for our class birthday celebration on Wednesday, pumpkin rolls for the bake sale on Thursday, and pumpkin cinnamon rolls which are currently in the oven...just because! Plus my apartment is cleaned up and de-cluttered, so life is good.
It's been raining tons and tons for the past week - we definitely needed it but geez, people cannot drive here in inclement weather! I almost got hit by at least three cars yesterday, half the cars don't have their headlights on during the storms, and people like to drive 35 mph in a 60 mph zone because it's raining. Not pouring, not majorly storming...just raining. Ugh. It's really cloudy and windy out right now, but no rain. Hope it holds off for a while because I have my goat handling lab outside this morning! Very excited!
Think I'm going to go wake up the boy for breakfast - he's here for the weekend and still asleep in the next room. I have to start studying for the anatomy quiz on Monday. Not sure when that will get done exactly, but it's definitely worth putting it off to have him here for a visit.
Two weeks until fall break!!!
I don't think I saw anyone in our class who wasn't looking a little sleepy or bleary-eyed at least once this week. Honestly, we didn't even have THAT much stuff to deal with (not compared to what finals week will be), but it sure felt like a lot to handle all at once.
Bacteriology was up first on Tuesday, and boy, do I wish I hadn't studied as much as I did. I had a feeling it was going to be pretty easy, but I think most of our class was walking out of there within about forty minutes of getting the test. Not bad at all! He asked a lot of very broad questions involving matching of bacteria with the disease processes they cause, so nothing was too tricky. Plus, he built in nearly a 10% curve with his bonus questions. Seriously. I think he really likes our class - we ask a lot of questions, stay pretty engaged in lecture, and had a really good showing to the review session this weekend. We've been told that the difficulty of the class and exams really does get based on a lot of these factors, so hopefully he continues to think we're doing a good job before the final exam.
Physiology was yesterday. Oy. Not nearly as much fun. I started studying this past weekend rather than focusing on bacteriology because I knew it would be the tougher exam. Now, this was way before a lot of my classmates started working on it. A lot of them only got the chance to really sit down with physio starting on Tuesday after bacteriology; given how I felt after the test, I can only imagine how others must have felt, especially functioning on only two or three hours of sleep. I studied quite a bit, felt okay (not amazingly great, but confident), and I don't really know how I did on the test. It was tough, and I thought some of the questions were tricky, worded in a way that didn't make me confident I understood what he was asking, let alone what he wanted in a response. There were definitely some not-so-happy students mulling around after the test, so it'll be interesting to see how the class does as a whole. Oh well - can't win 'em all!
I am currently working on my evidence-based-medicine exam which is a take-home due on Sunday. Not much to say except it's a very vaguely worded test, and I'm not quite sure I'm answering everything in the right vein. I was going to turn it in today, but I've already gotten two class-wide e-mails from him answering student questions that have made me change or revise my own answers. Think I'll hang onto it until Sunday in case there are any more alterations I have to make.
Other than that, I was so happy to get the chance to bake this week - great stress therapy! Cake for our class birthday celebration on Wednesday, pumpkin rolls for the bake sale on Thursday, and pumpkin cinnamon rolls which are currently in the oven...just because! Plus my apartment is cleaned up and de-cluttered, so life is good.
It's been raining tons and tons for the past week - we definitely needed it but geez, people cannot drive here in inclement weather! I almost got hit by at least three cars yesterday, half the cars don't have their headlights on during the storms, and people like to drive 35 mph in a 60 mph zone because it's raining. Not pouring, not majorly storming...just raining. Ugh. It's really cloudy and windy out right now, but no rain. Hope it holds off for a while because I have my goat handling lab outside this morning! Very excited!
Think I'm going to go wake up the boy for breakfast - he's here for the weekend and still asleep in the next room. I have to start studying for the anatomy quiz on Monday. Not sure when that will get done exactly, but it's definitely worth putting it off to have him here for a visit.
Two weeks until fall break!!!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Silly Spirochetes!
The whole first-year class is in full less sleep, more caffeine, less fun, more stress, less proper meals, and more studying mode this week. We take our bacteriology midterm tomorrow afternoon and our physiology midterm on Thursday. Oh, and there's a take-home exam for evidence-based medicine to finish in there somewhere as well. And an anatomy quiz that I think everyone's behind in on Monday. Ugh.
Bacteriology is going to come down to recognition for me. His exams are very repetitive year to year, and while I know it's awful to be studying for an exam instead of more ingrained knowledge, I just am not gaining a good learning pattern from the class to do that. I know a lot of generalities for each group - which cause shipping fever and pneumonia, which cause enteritis, which are intracellular, etc. - but a lot of the nitty gritty specifics aren't going to stick for very long. And that's okay. I think I'll be easily able to recall a lot of this stuff in second and third year when we get into medicine and actual diseases. Once I learn about the disease process more in-depth, pinning a bacteria to it will be easier rather than the other way around. Overall, I think/hope it'll be okay. Maybe not the best test ever but definitely not the worst.
Even though physiology is further away, I've started studying for that even more just because I think it'll be more difficult. It's a lot of neural pathways that we have to trace from beginning to end...and there are a lot of big, nasty words! Some of the exam consists of those gross multiple-multiple choice questions (A and B but not C or D, all of the above except E, etc.) and the rest is drawing and explaining pathways. Tough to keep them from getting mixed up a lot in my head, so I'm putting a lot of time into talking myself through all of the pieces.
I did well on some of the past stuff we just got back - aced my anatomy and bacteriology quizzes and rocked my histology exam. That class is freaking awesome. I've always been interested in microscope work and learning how everything "fits" together - which is why I can't wait for our pathology classes. The professor for histology is soooooo energetic and fun and keeps everything simple and comprehensive. A lot of the other histology stuff I've done before had teachers who just showed us slides and had us learn what they were; he actually takes the time to explain why we're seeing what we're seeing, how it relates to function, what the problems are with the structures, etc. Makes it a lot of fun (and simple) to see how complex but "natural" the body's organization is.
And that's my love affair with histology.
And I can't believe I didn't talk about our turkeys in TAU! My group had our poultry lab session and we got to go to the campus turkey house with about 2,000 turkeys! And they were adorable and had soooo much personality; it made me a little sad to realize that birds which are produced by the billions actually are that friendly. As soon as we got close to the house, they started running up and down the sides of the barn and fighting to get close to the door - they loooove people. While we listened to our lecture on management, we had dozens of them all around us pecking at our boots and coveralls and falling asleep on our feet. Too cute. Then we got to practice catching and restraining them (not difficult - they fell asleep in our arms) and then doing preliminary exams of their beaks, eyes, feet, cloaca, etc. Too much fun for a school day! It makes me want some turkeys of my own.
Otherwise, I'm getting over a nasty cold that hit me last Friday. I was wiped out on Friday and Saturday morning and am still hacking a lot. I don't get sick often, but when I do, stuff seems to stick around in my lungs for a long time. I did manage to get out this weekend to go to school for a review session and then to the farmer's market; picked up some apples and fresh veggies. Broke out the Crockpot tonight and made a huge vat of minestrone soup, so I have dinner for the next week. :)
Also, I get several chances to bake this week, and I'm sooooo excited. I put together a snack session on Wednesday morning to celebrate our September birthdays, and there's an SCEVCCS (emergency and critical care) bake sale on Thursday. Hooray!
Guess I'll do another half hour of bacteriology before bed. I think I'll be dreaming of enteritis tonight...as gross as that is...
Bacteriology is going to come down to recognition for me. His exams are very repetitive year to year, and while I know it's awful to be studying for an exam instead of more ingrained knowledge, I just am not gaining a good learning pattern from the class to do that. I know a lot of generalities for each group - which cause shipping fever and pneumonia, which cause enteritis, which are intracellular, etc. - but a lot of the nitty gritty specifics aren't going to stick for very long. And that's okay. I think I'll be easily able to recall a lot of this stuff in second and third year when we get into medicine and actual diseases. Once I learn about the disease process more in-depth, pinning a bacteria to it will be easier rather than the other way around. Overall, I think/hope it'll be okay. Maybe not the best test ever but definitely not the worst.
Even though physiology is further away, I've started studying for that even more just because I think it'll be more difficult. It's a lot of neural pathways that we have to trace from beginning to end...and there are a lot of big, nasty words! Some of the exam consists of those gross multiple-multiple choice questions (A and B but not C or D, all of the above except E, etc.) and the rest is drawing and explaining pathways. Tough to keep them from getting mixed up a lot in my head, so I'm putting a lot of time into talking myself through all of the pieces.
I did well on some of the past stuff we just got back - aced my anatomy and bacteriology quizzes and rocked my histology exam. That class is freaking awesome. I've always been interested in microscope work and learning how everything "fits" together - which is why I can't wait for our pathology classes. The professor for histology is soooooo energetic and fun and keeps everything simple and comprehensive. A lot of the other histology stuff I've done before had teachers who just showed us slides and had us learn what they were; he actually takes the time to explain why we're seeing what we're seeing, how it relates to function, what the problems are with the structures, etc. Makes it a lot of fun (and simple) to see how complex but "natural" the body's organization is.
And that's my love affair with histology.
And I can't believe I didn't talk about our turkeys in TAU! My group had our poultry lab session and we got to go to the campus turkey house with about 2,000 turkeys! And they were adorable and had soooo much personality; it made me a little sad to realize that birds which are produced by the billions actually are that friendly. As soon as we got close to the house, they started running up and down the sides of the barn and fighting to get close to the door - they loooove people. While we listened to our lecture on management, we had dozens of them all around us pecking at our boots and coveralls and falling asleep on our feet. Too cute. Then we got to practice catching and restraining them (not difficult - they fell asleep in our arms) and then doing preliminary exams of their beaks, eyes, feet, cloaca, etc. Too much fun for a school day! It makes me want some turkeys of my own.
Otherwise, I'm getting over a nasty cold that hit me last Friday. I was wiped out on Friday and Saturday morning and am still hacking a lot. I don't get sick often, but when I do, stuff seems to stick around in my lungs for a long time. I did manage to get out this weekend to go to school for a review session and then to the farmer's market; picked up some apples and fresh veggies. Broke out the Crockpot tonight and made a huge vat of minestrone soup, so I have dinner for the next week. :)
Also, I get several chances to bake this week, and I'm sooooo excited. I put together a snack session on Wednesday morning to celebrate our September birthdays, and there's an SCEVCCS (emergency and critical care) bake sale on Thursday. Hooray!
Guess I'll do another half hour of bacteriology before bed. I think I'll be dreaming of enteritis tonight...as gross as that is...
Friday, September 24, 2010
Time to live like a hermit.
Finally Friday! And honestly, despite the knowledge of the upcoming weeks of intensive exams and quizzes, it was a pretty good one. They're ALL pretty good weeks if you can manage to forget about how much studying you have to do!
The wetlab on Tuesday was awesome! There were several dog and cat cadavers there for us to practice the procedures on. We first learned how to perform thoracocentesis - a chest tap - which can be both diagnostic to confirm the presence of air or fluid in the pleural cavity or therapeutic to remove it. You have to count from the last rib toward the head to find the 8th intercostal (between the ribs) space. A syringe is then inserted at this space (you have to be careful not to hit the artery and nerves on the caudal/back edge of the ribs). If you lose negative pressure in the syringe, you've hit a pocket of air in the cavity that shouldn't be there which is called pneumothorax! We also practiced placing urinary catheters in both dogs and cats and venous cutdown, which is an emergency procedure performed when you can't find a vein to give medication in an injured, shockey, etc. animal. Learned a lot...plus it was great review for the anatomy quiz yesterday about the thoracic cavity!
The officer team for our class also held our first class meeting yesterday afternoon, which went great. Some of the students weren't too thrilled to be there for additional time after classes, but the overall mood at the end was positive, and it was definitely a success. Still have to finish up the meeting minutes and get those distributed to the rest of the class in addition to organizing the monthly birthday celebration for September and planning a gift for one of our anatomy instructors who is out on maternity leave. I also attended the officer's meeting for the internal medicine club (SCACVIM) where we discussed planning some wetlabs and case discussions for the next year - excited to get started!
And in not so great news...two exams next week that will be taking up most of my spare time in the coming days. Bacteriology and physiology, both of which are going to be tough. There's also a take-home exam for our evidence-based med class, but that doesn't really count. Plus I'd like to not fall super-behind in anatomy since we have quizzes and a huuuuuge exam coming up in just a few weeks.
Least I get to play with baby turkeys in TAU lab and hang out with some friends tonight before really getting started with all that stuff! :)
Also, in our careers seminar we had a talk yesterday about internships, residencies, and specializing. And holy cow, was it scary. I still think that specializing might be something I want to pursue, but now I'm scared to death about getting good enough grades and experience, brown-nosing enough to the right clinicians for letters, getting the "best" internship when geographical location will be more important to me (because of the boy), etc. Might plan a meeting with someone soon to talk through the steps and the whole process. I think I'm going to see if there's a way to shadow or assist a few of the specialties in the hospital over Christmas break to get an idea of what each is about. Too much to think about, and it's only first year!
The wetlab on Tuesday was awesome! There were several dog and cat cadavers there for us to practice the procedures on. We first learned how to perform thoracocentesis - a chest tap - which can be both diagnostic to confirm the presence of air or fluid in the pleural cavity or therapeutic to remove it. You have to count from the last rib toward the head to find the 8th intercostal (between the ribs) space. A syringe is then inserted at this space (you have to be careful not to hit the artery and nerves on the caudal/back edge of the ribs). If you lose negative pressure in the syringe, you've hit a pocket of air in the cavity that shouldn't be there which is called pneumothorax! We also practiced placing urinary catheters in both dogs and cats and venous cutdown, which is an emergency procedure performed when you can't find a vein to give medication in an injured, shockey, etc. animal. Learned a lot...plus it was great review for the anatomy quiz yesterday about the thoracic cavity!
The officer team for our class also held our first class meeting yesterday afternoon, which went great. Some of the students weren't too thrilled to be there for additional time after classes, but the overall mood at the end was positive, and it was definitely a success. Still have to finish up the meeting minutes and get those distributed to the rest of the class in addition to organizing the monthly birthday celebration for September and planning a gift for one of our anatomy instructors who is out on maternity leave. I also attended the officer's meeting for the internal medicine club (SCACVIM) where we discussed planning some wetlabs and case discussions for the next year - excited to get started!
And in not so great news...two exams next week that will be taking up most of my spare time in the coming days. Bacteriology and physiology, both of which are going to be tough. There's also a take-home exam for our evidence-based med class, but that doesn't really count. Plus I'd like to not fall super-behind in anatomy since we have quizzes and a huuuuuge exam coming up in just a few weeks.
Least I get to play with baby turkeys in TAU lab and hang out with some friends tonight before really getting started with all that stuff! :)
Also, in our careers seminar we had a talk yesterday about internships, residencies, and specializing. And holy cow, was it scary. I still think that specializing might be something I want to pursue, but now I'm scared to death about getting good enough grades and experience, brown-nosing enough to the right clinicians for letters, getting the "best" internship when geographical location will be more important to me (because of the boy), etc. Might plan a meeting with someone soon to talk through the steps and the whole process. I think I'm going to see if there's a way to shadow or assist a few of the specialties in the hospital over Christmas break to get an idea of what each is about. Too much to think about, and it's only first year!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Should I really care about the thorax?
Sitting in the library on a lovely Tuesday afternoon - no bacteriology lab today, so a ton of classmates headed home right at lunch. Unfortunately, my hopes of an early day home were quashed but by all good things! First, I had a lunch meeting (supplemented with palpation team's bake sale goodies) discussing feline diabetes, which was pretty informative. Second, met up with my evidence-based medicine group to discuss our case of the week, a young foal with a bad case of rhodococcus. Third, finally got around to putting up our class bulletin board. Fourth, waiting until 4:30 when I have an awesome wet lab scheduled. I got picked to be one of the participants in the SCACVIM lab detailing thoracocentesis, urinary catheter placement, and venous cutdown! Very cool, and I can't wait to do something outside of the gross anatomy realm!
Until then, I'm spending the next hour or so chilling at the library and catching up on some schoolwork. We have our first anatomy quiz on Thursday on the thoracic cavity, spine, and spinal/neck muscles. And I'm definitely not ready for that one. But I'm slightly more worried that we have bacteriology and physiology midterms next week for which I also have some major studying to do. Yikes. Hopefully I'm in a super productive mood in the next week!
Not too much else is new. The boy headed out to work early Monday morning, and we had a really great visit. Didn't get too much work or studying done over the weekend as a result, but I think the histology exam on Monday went pretty well all the same. He'll be back again in two weeks and then I take a drive to see him for part of Fall Break (which is in less than a month!).
Other than that, our anatomy group finally got rid of the cat and are back to a rotation with the dog. We had the cat for the past two weeks of lab and it was terrible. So glad to have a cadaver that has good staining and, ya know, humongous everything!
Until then, I'm spending the next hour or so chilling at the library and catching up on some schoolwork. We have our first anatomy quiz on Thursday on the thoracic cavity, spine, and spinal/neck muscles. And I'm definitely not ready for that one. But I'm slightly more worried that we have bacteriology and physiology midterms next week for which I also have some major studying to do. Yikes. Hopefully I'm in a super productive mood in the next week!
Not too much else is new. The boy headed out to work early Monday morning, and we had a really great visit. Didn't get too much work or studying done over the weekend as a result, but I think the histology exam on Monday went pretty well all the same. He'll be back again in two weeks and then I take a drive to see him for part of Fall Break (which is in less than a month!).
Other than that, our anatomy group finally got rid of the cat and are back to a rotation with the dog. We had the cat for the past two weeks of lab and it was terrible. So glad to have a cadaver that has good staining and, ya know, humongous everything!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Hey, hey, it's the weekend!
Been a while, sorry about that!
Rest of the week since Tuesday went great - same old, same old!
Class-wise we finished up the last of our histology information (nerve tissue) before our exam on Monday. I have a little bit of studying to do, but I'm not super worried about it. It's a lot of describing tissues, matching what tissues have which function and appearance, and identifying cells on slides, but we've been taught this stuff so well, studying should be easy. In addition, there's an anatomy quiz coming up next week on the vertebrae, axial muscles, and thoracic cavity that I am extremely not prepared for, so I'll be doing a bit of catch-up on that. Physiology and bacteriology are quickly creeping up on us the next week, but at least we've been doing almost all review of neural stuff in physio (easy-ish exam?).
Our class officers met for our first officer meeting yesterday and started talking about class dues, fundraising, gift, and constitution/mission statement. We have a great group, and I'm super-excited to get started this year. One of the things I have to get done this weekend is go shopping and prepare stuff for our class bulletin board. I'm going to run some sort of monthly contest for the class, so I want to think up something fun for the first one - maybe best veterinary-related Halloween costume idea? I also got elected for the class representative position for SCAVCIM (Student Chapter of the American Colleges of Veterinary Internal Medicine - woof!); can't remember if I posted about this before or not. I think that SCAVCIM, PathHeads, SCASRP (Small Ruminants), and SCECCS (Emergency and Critical Care) will be getting the majority of my time and energy as far as clubs go, but that can always change!
And in fun news, I picked up my guy from the airport on Thursday, and he's currently still asleep while I got up to get a head start on some work for the day. It was lovely coming home to him after school yesterday, and we went out for a tasty meal at the Cheesecake Factory - we have leftovers for the next two days! Today we're planning on hitting up either a biscuit or BBQ place for lunch (gotta go Southern while he's here!) then heading to the natural history museum, this huge downtown arts fest, then to see "Toy Story 3" (again for me, first time for him). Tomorrow, we have a diner recommendation to check out before I take him to go-karts and mini-golf. So nice to relax with him (even knowing I have to study).
Also - one month until Fall Break!!!
Rest of the week since Tuesday went great - same old, same old!
Class-wise we finished up the last of our histology information (nerve tissue) before our exam on Monday. I have a little bit of studying to do, but I'm not super worried about it. It's a lot of describing tissues, matching what tissues have which function and appearance, and identifying cells on slides, but we've been taught this stuff so well, studying should be easy. In addition, there's an anatomy quiz coming up next week on the vertebrae, axial muscles, and thoracic cavity that I am extremely not prepared for, so I'll be doing a bit of catch-up on that. Physiology and bacteriology are quickly creeping up on us the next week, but at least we've been doing almost all review of neural stuff in physio (easy-ish exam?).
Our class officers met for our first officer meeting yesterday and started talking about class dues, fundraising, gift, and constitution/mission statement. We have a great group, and I'm super-excited to get started this year. One of the things I have to get done this weekend is go shopping and prepare stuff for our class bulletin board. I'm going to run some sort of monthly contest for the class, so I want to think up something fun for the first one - maybe best veterinary-related Halloween costume idea? I also got elected for the class representative position for SCAVCIM (Student Chapter of the American Colleges of Veterinary Internal Medicine - woof!); can't remember if I posted about this before or not. I think that SCAVCIM, PathHeads, SCASRP (Small Ruminants), and SCECCS (Emergency and Critical Care) will be getting the majority of my time and energy as far as clubs go, but that can always change!
And in fun news, I picked up my guy from the airport on Thursday, and he's currently still asleep while I got up to get a head start on some work for the day. It was lovely coming home to him after school yesterday, and we went out for a tasty meal at the Cheesecake Factory - we have leftovers for the next two days! Today we're planning on hitting up either a biscuit or BBQ place for lunch (gotta go Southern while he's here!) then heading to the natural history museum, this huge downtown arts fest, then to see "Toy Story 3" (again for me, first time for him). Tomorrow, we have a diner recommendation to check out before I take him to go-karts and mini-golf. So nice to relax with him (even knowing I have to study).
Also - one month until Fall Break!!!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
When in doubt, it's diarrhea.
Subject line? That's in reference to the number of times I have read, heard, written, or thought about diarrhea over the past few days in preparation for our bacteriology quiz today. It covered E. coli, Salmonella, and a few other random genera of bacteria. And pretty much all of them cause some sort of diarrheal process. Fun!
Even though it was just a few days ago that we took our anatomy and physiology exams, it feels like weeks have already gone by. And our next round is starting up very soon. The first histology exam is this coming Monday, and our first anatomy quiz is on Thursday. I'm not too worried about histology - everything is pretty straightforward as long as your understand the function and structures of the different tissues and how they will look when stained. It'll be a long test, but hopefully it'll go well.
Anatomy is definitely switching gears. We were just settling into our pattern of memorizing muscles, attachments, innervations, etc. and now we're working on the thoracic and abdominal cavities. We started with the axial muscles attached to the spine, neck, and ribs and took a look at some of the blood vessels and nerves associated with those areas. Today we actually cracked into the thoracic cavity of our group's cat to start with the components of that cavity - the heart, lungs, vessels, etc. It's a very different type of information to learn and absorb, and I think it will require some rethinking of how to get it all in my head. Not to mention that this next exam isn't for practically a month and will cover the spinal muscles, vertebrae, thoracic, abdominal, and pelvic cavities and all of the associated blood supply and innervation. Woof.
And have I mentioned lately how awful dissecting a cat is? Everything is this homogeneous clay-like color, so it's tough to easily differentiate anything. Plus, all of the nerves and vessels are tiny, thread-like, and very friable, so it's a little frustrating. Comparing a cat's thorax to that of a 70 pound dog emphasize how much more challenging the cat insists on being.
Also got my second anatomy exam back today and did exactly the same as I did on the first (to the point), so at least I'm consistent! If I can pull that grade on the third massive one, I'll be super-thrilled. We're supposed to get our physiology exams back tomorrow, so hopefully that'll have some good news attached.
Plus...less than two days until my next visit with my guy! :)
Even though it was just a few days ago that we took our anatomy and physiology exams, it feels like weeks have already gone by. And our next round is starting up very soon. The first histology exam is this coming Monday, and our first anatomy quiz is on Thursday. I'm not too worried about histology - everything is pretty straightforward as long as your understand the function and structures of the different tissues and how they will look when stained. It'll be a long test, but hopefully it'll go well.
Anatomy is definitely switching gears. We were just settling into our pattern of memorizing muscles, attachments, innervations, etc. and now we're working on the thoracic and abdominal cavities. We started with the axial muscles attached to the spine, neck, and ribs and took a look at some of the blood vessels and nerves associated with those areas. Today we actually cracked into the thoracic cavity of our group's cat to start with the components of that cavity - the heart, lungs, vessels, etc. It's a very different type of information to learn and absorb, and I think it will require some rethinking of how to get it all in my head. Not to mention that this next exam isn't for practically a month and will cover the spinal muscles, vertebrae, thoracic, abdominal, and pelvic cavities and all of the associated blood supply and innervation. Woof.
And have I mentioned lately how awful dissecting a cat is? Everything is this homogeneous clay-like color, so it's tough to easily differentiate anything. Plus, all of the nerves and vessels are tiny, thread-like, and very friable, so it's a little frustrating. Comparing a cat's thorax to that of a 70 pound dog emphasize how much more challenging the cat insists on being.
Also got my second anatomy exam back today and did exactly the same as I did on the first (to the point), so at least I'm consistent! If I can pull that grade on the third massive one, I'll be super-thrilled. We're supposed to get our physiology exams back tomorrow, so hopefully that'll have some good news attached.
Plus...less than two days until my next visit with my guy! :)
Sunday, September 12, 2010
"Love your anatomy dog!"
Dog Olympics was a huge success yesterday! The weather was great, everything ran smoothly and on time, and we were jam-packed with visitors and their canine friends all day!
I worked the morning shift until about 1:30 pm at the winner's circle and prize booth. Meaning, I got to give medals to all of the dog winners of the events and help them take pictures as they stood on the gold, silver, and bronze stands. :) Also helped out with selling raffle tickets to spectators and got to know plenty of cute puppies while I worked.
Some of the events that we ran included a wiener toss, best trick, best howler, Frisbee catch, musical sit, and a look-alike contest, among others. There was also an adorable paraolympics event that we held for all of the dogs who showed up in braces and wheelchairs. A lot of them were daschunds, but there was a lab and cocker spaniel also zipping around...I think that it was the cutest thing I may have ever seen. It was amazing to see some of the bonds that the pets and owners have formed as well as how much enjoyment both animal and people got out of the day. Could not have been more proud or happy to be attached to the vet school then that day; it was great to feel a sense of involvement with the community through their animals.
Also had a great time hanging out with vet school friends last night. Lots of laughing and swapping stories, and we ended up randomly watching "Jurassic Park III" while maintaining a pretty critical and non-serious running commentary. It's times like that - just having tons of fun with people that I met only a month ago - that make me LOVE vet school all the more.
Today I got bit of work done - read anatomy and took a look at the vertebral column from my bone box. We just started the spine and the axial muscles, and I can't decide if they're easier or harder to learn than the limbs. There's less information for each piece, but finding them and discerning their role is much less intuitive. I also worked on some bacteriology, which I've definitely been neglecting. We have our second quiz of that class on Tuesday, and it will cover several families and genera of bacteria along with some info on molecular techniques and antibiotics. I definitely don't know the specifics of everything, but honestly, I might not even need to for the quiz.
I have a stack of dishes in the sink and a pretty cluttered apartment that I'm going to tend to before going to bed. Another Monday starts tomorrow! :)
I worked the morning shift until about 1:30 pm at the winner's circle and prize booth. Meaning, I got to give medals to all of the dog winners of the events and help them take pictures as they stood on the gold, silver, and bronze stands. :) Also helped out with selling raffle tickets to spectators and got to know plenty of cute puppies while I worked.
Some of the events that we ran included a wiener toss, best trick, best howler, Frisbee catch, musical sit, and a look-alike contest, among others. There was also an adorable paraolympics event that we held for all of the dogs who showed up in braces and wheelchairs. A lot of them were daschunds, but there was a lab and cocker spaniel also zipping around...I think that it was the cutest thing I may have ever seen. It was amazing to see some of the bonds that the pets and owners have formed as well as how much enjoyment both animal and people got out of the day. Could not have been more proud or happy to be attached to the vet school then that day; it was great to feel a sense of involvement with the community through their animals.
Also had a great time hanging out with vet school friends last night. Lots of laughing and swapping stories, and we ended up randomly watching "Jurassic Park III" while maintaining a pretty critical and non-serious running commentary. It's times like that - just having tons of fun with people that I met only a month ago - that make me LOVE vet school all the more.
Today I got bit of work done - read anatomy and took a look at the vertebral column from my bone box. We just started the spine and the axial muscles, and I can't decide if they're easier or harder to learn than the limbs. There's less information for each piece, but finding them and discerning their role is much less intuitive. I also worked on some bacteriology, which I've definitely been neglecting. We have our second quiz of that class on Tuesday, and it will cover several families and genera of bacteria along with some info on molecular techniques and antibiotics. I definitely don't know the specifics of everything, but honestly, I might not even need to for the quiz.
I have a stack of dishes in the sink and a pretty cluttered apartment that I'm going to tend to before going to bed. Another Monday starts tomorrow! :)
Friday, September 10, 2010
Done and done.
Finished up my next round of exams this week - anatomy on Wednesday and physiology on Thursday. I know I made some mistakes on the anatomy practical (one or two of which being pretty stupid on my part) but overall, I felt like I did okay on both. It was such a great feeling walking out of school yesterday afternoon knowing that I didn't have anything pressing coming up in the next week or so. There's a bacteriology quiz this coming Tuesday, but that's small potatoes compared to the two evaluations of this week.
Even better than finishing the tests, about half of my class got together for a cookout at the beef educational unit at NC State that night. Sooooo much fun! It was great to be able to hang out with such awesome, fun people without classes or study sessions involved. Conversation naturally turned to vet school - it's kind of hard to avoid talking about tests, classes, teachers, etc. when that's your common thread - but it was still a blast. Plus, it was the best meal I've eaten in quite a long time! Can't really afford to spend the time or money buying and then preparing myself ribeye steak and all of the sides...
Afterwards, a couple of us headed to a classmate's apartment to watch a movie and chill for a few more hours. Again, being able to spend quality time with them outside of school is such a great break and one we all needed.
And today, I had my first lab session of our animal production and maintenance series. Basically, each semester we have a round of species-specific orientations followed up by one lab per species during that term. Totals to six sessions per species in total for years one to three and is meant to give those of us with limited or no experience with certain species at least some hands-on practical knowledge. Today, my group completed our first equine lab, so all of the stuff we did I was pretty comfortable with. Skills we had to practice and perform included haltering, leading, and trotting the horse, grooming, measuring, and cleaning and examining the feet. It was a beautiful day outside, and it felt amazing to be able to be out in the middle of the school day with real, live animals. We all loved it!
Tomorrow morning I get to head into downtown Raleigh to help out the the annual community Dog Olympics, which is sponsored by the school and its chapter of SCAAHA (Student Chapter of the American Animal Hospital Association). I think it'll be a lot of fun spending time with new friends PLUS tons of cute, adorable dogs. Pretty excited! It'll almost be as great as the hours of lounging in pajamas that I accomplished this afternoon. :)
Even better than finishing the tests, about half of my class got together for a cookout at the beef educational unit at NC State that night. Sooooo much fun! It was great to be able to hang out with such awesome, fun people without classes or study sessions involved. Conversation naturally turned to vet school - it's kind of hard to avoid talking about tests, classes, teachers, etc. when that's your common thread - but it was still a blast. Plus, it was the best meal I've eaten in quite a long time! Can't really afford to spend the time or money buying and then preparing myself ribeye steak and all of the sides...
Afterwards, a couple of us headed to a classmate's apartment to watch a movie and chill for a few more hours. Again, being able to spend quality time with them outside of school is such a great break and one we all needed.
And today, I had my first lab session of our animal production and maintenance series. Basically, each semester we have a round of species-specific orientations followed up by one lab per species during that term. Totals to six sessions per species in total for years one to three and is meant to give those of us with limited or no experience with certain species at least some hands-on practical knowledge. Today, my group completed our first equine lab, so all of the stuff we did I was pretty comfortable with. Skills we had to practice and perform included haltering, leading, and trotting the horse, grooming, measuring, and cleaning and examining the feet. It was a beautiful day outside, and it felt amazing to be able to be out in the middle of the school day with real, live animals. We all loved it!
Tomorrow morning I get to head into downtown Raleigh to help out the the annual community Dog Olympics, which is sponsored by the school and its chapter of SCAAHA (Student Chapter of the American Animal Hospital Association). I think it'll be a lot of fun spending time with new friends PLUS tons of cute, adorable dogs. Pretty excited! It'll almost be as great as the hours of lounging in pajamas that I accomplished this afternoon. :)
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Sleeeeepy...
Even though we're already two days into the week (seeing as how Monday was a holiday), I'm still already exhausted!
I had a great and pretty unproductive weekend hanging out with the boy. It was definitely worth sacrificing a few points on the upcoming exams to spend time with him, even if we did nothing of consequence. Lots of lazing around in pajamas, cooking some tasty dinners, watching about half a season of "Fringe" (which is freaking fantastic, by the way!), etc. He did have a nasty allergic reaction to something in my apartment where his sclera got all swollen; he actually formed a fluid bubble under the upper layer of his eye. Grooooss, and I don't know what caused it. He swears it must be cat allergens since that's one of the only things that he's allergic to, but my family hasn't had a cat in about eight years, and we've deep-cleaned the couch since then. Oh well. He survived - even though he was out cold after two tabs of Benadryl!
We also took a drive to Greensboro on Saturday to visit his grandmother for lunch. His mom was also in town, so we got to catch up with her as well. They are both incredibly adorable and fun to talk to. And his mom was pretty amazed that he actually ironed his own shirts and helped with the dishes the night before. Like I'd have it any other way!
I got a few hours of studying in while he was here by waking up in the morning while he dozed...wasn't too effective but at least it was something! I also cranked out a really decent morning and afternoon on Saturday before he arrived and two or three hours last night while he caught up on his own work and packed. Despite the lack of quality study time, I feel okay for anatomy after some final reviewing tonight. I might not do as well as the first time, but I think it'll go just fine - and this one isn't cumulative, which is a HUGE help! I also have the first physiology exam on Thursday, and I'm not quite sure how I feel about that one. I feel like I know the information in my notes and flashcards, but I mess up some of the sample questions he went over in class. It's the wording that the professor uses to ask the questions that keeps confusing me, so I have some more work to do for that one tomorrow.
The whole class is still wary of each other since the 24 hour plague is still in the air - another few classmates were struck down yesterday night and today. Praying I don't catch it before Thursday afternoon!
Off to bed. Sooooo tired, and I've only been in class a day this week.
I had a great and pretty unproductive weekend hanging out with the boy. It was definitely worth sacrificing a few points on the upcoming exams to spend time with him, even if we did nothing of consequence. Lots of lazing around in pajamas, cooking some tasty dinners, watching about half a season of "Fringe" (which is freaking fantastic, by the way!), etc. He did have a nasty allergic reaction to something in my apartment where his sclera got all swollen; he actually formed a fluid bubble under the upper layer of his eye. Grooooss, and I don't know what caused it. He swears it must be cat allergens since that's one of the only things that he's allergic to, but my family hasn't had a cat in about eight years, and we've deep-cleaned the couch since then. Oh well. He survived - even though he was out cold after two tabs of Benadryl!
We also took a drive to Greensboro on Saturday to visit his grandmother for lunch. His mom was also in town, so we got to catch up with her as well. They are both incredibly adorable and fun to talk to. And his mom was pretty amazed that he actually ironed his own shirts and helped with the dishes the night before. Like I'd have it any other way!
I got a few hours of studying in while he was here by waking up in the morning while he dozed...wasn't too effective but at least it was something! I also cranked out a really decent morning and afternoon on Saturday before he arrived and two or three hours last night while he caught up on his own work and packed. Despite the lack of quality study time, I feel okay for anatomy after some final reviewing tonight. I might not do as well as the first time, but I think it'll go just fine - and this one isn't cumulative, which is a HUGE help! I also have the first physiology exam on Thursday, and I'm not quite sure how I feel about that one. I feel like I know the information in my notes and flashcards, but I mess up some of the sample questions he went over in class. It's the wording that the professor uses to ask the questions that keeps confusing me, so I have some more work to do for that one tomorrow.
The whole class is still wary of each other since the 24 hour plague is still in the air - another few classmates were struck down yesterday night and today. Praying I don't catch it before Thursday afternoon!
Off to bed. Sooooo tired, and I've only been in class a day this week.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Long weekend, ahoy!
This week has been a very tiring blur. I thought high school went fast until I got to Penn State. Then I thought undergrad went fast until I worked at my vet hospital last year. That flew by. And now, vet school is going faster than any of those. From the time I wake up on Monday morning to when I walk out of histology lab on Friday afternoon, it's one big, fuzzy, long, hazy period of time. Time kind of loses its conventional meaning and passes in big chunks. From when I wake up to when I leave the apartment. Then from when I get to school to when I leave school. Then from when I get home and study to when I get too tired and go to bed. What the exact hour is doesn't really matter - as long as I'm at school on time, I don't have any other appointments or schedules to keep. It's sad but true that school and the occasional night out with friends are my only commitments.
I love school, and even when I'm stressed, I'm very happy, but it is really, really going by in a blur.
There's an incredibly nasty stomach bug going around school right now. It hit like a freight train yesterday evening and has taken out about ten or twelve students in each class overnight. Really, really hoping I've been spared because getting sick on a intensive studying and boy-visit weekend would be the WORST. I feel okay, but I bought some Saltines and Sprite juuuuust in case.
Studying tomorrow as much as I can before the boy lands at RDU in the afternoon. I'm planning on sleeping in until 7:00 then heading in for a few hours of anatomy lab, short study break and lunch, then to the library to work on physiology for the rest of the time. I think the weekend plan will be to get up at 7:00 on Sunday and Monday and study for a few hours in the morning before waking up the guy to start the day.
Also, you're reading the blog of the new Secretary of the Class of 2014! Woot! Really excited to contribute to this year and get to work more intensively with a lot of different students. Loved my clubs and activities in high school and college, and I'm really pumped to do the same here in vet school.
Time to clean and do some dishes...because it's looking a little cluttered in here...
I love school, and even when I'm stressed, I'm very happy, but it is really, really going by in a blur.
There's an incredibly nasty stomach bug going around school right now. It hit like a freight train yesterday evening and has taken out about ten or twelve students in each class overnight. Really, really hoping I've been spared because getting sick on a intensive studying and boy-visit weekend would be the WORST. I feel okay, but I bought some Saltines and Sprite juuuuust in case.
Studying tomorrow as much as I can before the boy lands at RDU in the afternoon. I'm planning on sleeping in until 7:00 then heading in for a few hours of anatomy lab, short study break and lunch, then to the library to work on physiology for the rest of the time. I think the weekend plan will be to get up at 7:00 on Sunday and Monday and study for a few hours in the morning before waking up the guy to start the day.
Also, you're reading the blog of the new Secretary of the Class of 2014! Woot! Really excited to contribute to this year and get to work more intensively with a lot of different students. Loved my clubs and activities in high school and college, and I'm really pumped to do the same here in vet school.
Time to clean and do some dishes...because it's looking a little cluttered in here...
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Dynamo time.
Busy, busy, busy. See last post for all of the stuff I have coming up in the next few days, and you'll see why I've been spending a solid four to five hours a night studying. Ugh. Hope it all pays off soon!
Had a histology review after class today and that put my mind at ease. I think I can probably look over my stuff one last time and do fine on the quiz. The bacteriology quiz on Tuesday will also not be too bad (I hope!). We have practice materials for that class, which will help, and there are only a few big concepts to remember for the Enterobacteriacea family.
Bigger ones? Physiology is my last one...and I think it'll be doable. It's all stuff that I've had before - action potentials and neurotransmission, muscles, genetics/genomics, etc. - so hopefully it's just a matter of putting in some solid time and "re-learning" it. I've made some study sheets and flashcards, and that'll be the big piece to tackle this weekend. Anatomy is in a week, and I HOPE that'll work out well. For some reason I'm having a really tough time getting the muscle attachments on the os coxae (pelvis) to stick in my head and the artery names are also slightly confusing. But there are less parts overall than for the thoracic limb, so I have confidence that it'll just take a little time and motivation to learn it. Plus, I aced my first exam, so I'm really pulling for a repeat on this one!
Complicating factor? Hoping to cram as much as humanly possible into the next few days so I'm not doing too much catch-up work on Sunday and Monday when the boy is here. At least it's a good motivating factor! :)
Had a histology review after class today and that put my mind at ease. I think I can probably look over my stuff one last time and do fine on the quiz. The bacteriology quiz on Tuesday will also not be too bad (I hope!). We have practice materials for that class, which will help, and there are only a few big concepts to remember for the Enterobacteriacea family.
Bigger ones? Physiology is my last one...and I think it'll be doable. It's all stuff that I've had before - action potentials and neurotransmission, muscles, genetics/genomics, etc. - so hopefully it's just a matter of putting in some solid time and "re-learning" it. I've made some study sheets and flashcards, and that'll be the big piece to tackle this weekend. Anatomy is in a week, and I HOPE that'll work out well. For some reason I'm having a really tough time getting the muscle attachments on the os coxae (pelvis) to stick in my head and the artery names are also slightly confusing. But there are less parts overall than for the thoracic limb, so I have confidence that it'll just take a little time and motivation to learn it. Plus, I aced my first exam, so I'm really pulling for a repeat on this one!
Complicating factor? Hoping to cram as much as humanly possible into the next few days so I'm not doing too much catch-up work on Sunday and Monday when the boy is here. At least it's a good motivating factor! :)
Monday, August 30, 2010
And back to reality...
Had a fantastic weekend with the boy. We did essentially nothing - slept in, grabbed ice cream, walked around his neighborhood for a few hours, cleaned up his apartment, watched a few movies and episodes of "Fringe", and made a big pasta dinner. I brought along my school stuff and actually got a few hours of reviewing notes, reading, and bone part memorization in during the plane rides. But then proceeded to do nothing during my actual time visiting with him. When we only have two days out of every two or three weeks to spend together, learning the fossae and tuberosities of the os coxae bones or actions of cholinergic receptors during that time does not get a high place on the priority list.
After getting in late last night on my flight, I started my third full week of vet school bright and early this morning. I have quite a bit coming up on my plate but I feel like it'll all work out somehow...
Upcoming Assessments:
Speaking of which, back to studying!
After getting in late last night on my flight, I started my third full week of vet school bright and early this morning. I have quite a bit coming up on my plate but I feel like it'll all work out somehow...
Upcoming Assessments:
- Histology quiz on Friday - basic cell function, connective tissues, epithelial tissues
- Bacteriology quiz next Tuesday - stuff from lab, Enterobacteriaceae family
- Anatomy exam next Wednesday - pelvic limb (bones, muscles, nerves, blood supply)
- Physiology exam next Thursday - genetics, genomics, biomath, excitable tissues/action potential stuff
- Bills are coming up! Ugh...
- Schedule rabies vaccinations
- Research for evidence based medicine course
- Decide which clubs to get more involved with and then do so
- Cleaning at some point? Maybe?
- Meet with legal advisor about residency changes
- Sleep (will NOT sacrifice this!)
Speaking of which, back to studying!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Goodbye blue jeans...
Well I didn't get quite as much done as I wanted to tonight, but I have a decent reason or two.
I went to do laundry tonight and used some of that "color-safe" bleach on my lab coat to get the formalin out. I figured, what the heck, I'll add some to my other load to get it extra clean. Nooooot such a good idea. Don't know if I did something wrong, but the bleach totally ruined two pairs of jeans and a shirt and ate up my pillowcases. Grrrrr!
I kept the jeans to use for barn work or something, and the pillowcases will just look pretty pathetic when they're on the bed. So then I had to go out for an emergency trip to Ross and find a few new pairs to fill out my wardrobe since I didn't have more than a half dozen pairs of jeans to begin with (and one of them is really too short and another is getting holes in the butt area). Quickest shopping trip for pants EVER, but I found three pairs for $50, which I charged to one of my Christmas gift cards. Lame way to spend an hour (and holiday money) that you don't have to spare!
Today in class we started the pelvic limb dissection and lectures, and it already seems like going through this process the second time won't be nearly as bad. We know the language a little bit better, and we've done it before. It's old hat by now! I was really hoping to get some studying for histo and physiology in tonight, but writing out my little mini-speeches for class positions ate up my time, and I didn't get much done. Tomorrow I don't have TAU lab, so I have a 3 hour break during the school day! I think I'll be holing up in the library to do some catch-up work with that time.
About to go pack for my trip to see the boy this weekend. It's been three weeks since he was here for the White Coat Ceremony, and I can't wait to see him. I think we'll be bums for most of the time and hang around the apartment and do nothing...which is just fine with me! I have a feeling I'm going to be exhausted next week, though. I'm catching a plane at 7 pm tomorrow night, landing at 11, then departing on Sunday at 5:30 to get here by 10:30. Lots of traveling but it'll be worth it.
I went to do laundry tonight and used some of that "color-safe" bleach on my lab coat to get the formalin out. I figured, what the heck, I'll add some to my other load to get it extra clean. Nooooot such a good idea. Don't know if I did something wrong, but the bleach totally ruined two pairs of jeans and a shirt and ate up my pillowcases. Grrrrr!
I kept the jeans to use for barn work or something, and the pillowcases will just look pretty pathetic when they're on the bed. So then I had to go out for an emergency trip to Ross and find a few new pairs to fill out my wardrobe since I didn't have more than a half dozen pairs of jeans to begin with (and one of them is really too short and another is getting holes in the butt area). Quickest shopping trip for pants EVER, but I found three pairs for $50, which I charged to one of my Christmas gift cards. Lame way to spend an hour (and holiday money) that you don't have to spare!
Today in class we started the pelvic limb dissection and lectures, and it already seems like going through this process the second time won't be nearly as bad. We know the language a little bit better, and we've done it before. It's old hat by now! I was really hoping to get some studying for histo and physiology in tonight, but writing out my little mini-speeches for class positions ate up my time, and I didn't get much done. Tomorrow I don't have TAU lab, so I have a 3 hour break during the school day! I think I'll be holing up in the library to do some catch-up work with that time.
About to go pack for my trip to see the boy this weekend. It's been three weeks since he was here for the White Coat Ceremony, and I can't wait to see him. I think we'll be bums for most of the time and hang around the apartment and do nothing...which is just fine with me! I have a feeling I'm going to be exhausted next week, though. I'm catching a plane at 7 pm tomorrow night, landing at 11, then departing on Sunday at 5:30 to get here by 10:30. Lots of traveling but it'll be worth it.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Exam 1 - Done!
Whew! First anatomy exam and first exam of vet school is finished! And it wasn't tooooo bad. I definitely felt prepared and even though there were a couple of questions here and there that I fudged a little, I had an overall good feeling leaving the test.
All I care about is that it's done, and the exam proved to me that anatomy is, in fact, do-able. Time-consuming and lengthy, but do-able.
Spent the rest of the evening hanging out with a few vet school friends. We ordered in pizza and watched some movies instead of hitting the bars with another part of the class. After the build-up to this test, we were just too tired and worn out to go out and drink until late. We have class at 8 am again tomorrow, after all!
It's not even ten o'clock, and I'm about ready to head off to bed. Good night all, and I hope your sleep is half as restful as I know mine is going to be!
All I care about is that it's done, and the exam proved to me that anatomy is, in fact, do-able. Time-consuming and lengthy, but do-able.
Spent the rest of the evening hanging out with a few vet school friends. We ordered in pizza and watched some movies instead of hitting the bars with another part of the class. After the build-up to this test, we were just too tired and worn out to go out and drink until late. We have class at 8 am again tomorrow, after all!
It's not even ten o'clock, and I'm about ready to head off to bed. Good night all, and I hope your sleep is half as restful as I know mine is going to be!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
First Exam
First exam of vet school tomorrow - anatomy of the thoracic limb including bones, muscles, blood supply, and innervation.
My brain is totally full, and I don't think I'm going to study for very much longer. Another quick review of my notes, and off to bed in the next hour or so. Either I know it at this point or I don't...and I really feel confident that I know it. Hopefully it'll come out the right way on the exam and my brain doesn't decide to abandon me halfway through the practical.
Over and out.
My brain is totally full, and I don't think I'm going to study for very much longer. Another quick review of my notes, and off to bed in the next hour or so. Either I know it at this point or I don't...and I really feel confident that I know it. Hopefully it'll come out the right way on the exam and my brain doesn't decide to abandon me halfway through the practical.
Over and out.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Monday, Monday
Another Monday and the start of another week - yay!
More anatomy, such a shocker. A lot of people are freaking about the first exam coming up on Wednesday - it covers the entire thoracic limb and includes both a practical and written portion. After some pretty low-key studying this weekend, a few extra hours in lab on Sunday morning, and another hour of review tonight, I feel pretty good. As in, I think I could take this tomorrow and do okay. It's a really nice feeling so I hope I'm not just underselling the difficulty of the material.
In undergrad, I was a high-stress studier and learner my first two or three semesters. Lots of crying over notes, wringing of hands, anxiety, etc. And I did okay but not great. Something kicked into gear during my second year, and I stopped a lot of that pretty quickly. Maybe it was survival mode for organic chemistry, but I started telling myself to just study until I knew it, stop worrying so much, and take what I could get on the exams without losing sleep or tears. And I did better as a result. I put less work into it and got a ton more out.
I think this mindset and method of studying is going to serve me well in veterinary school. So far, the other classes I have are still in the simple, easy-to-digest stage which is letting me focus on anatomy for the most part. There will come a time this semester when I have too much information to learn and not enough time to do it, and I need to learn to be okay with that. And the way that I've learned to think about my schoolwork and how to approach it and interact with it will - hopefully - let me adopt that mindset fairly easily. As far as anatomy goes, my study habits and the way I digest information has let me reach my personal "saturation level" with the subject a full day before the test.
I know it and I feel comfortable with it. It's a really good feeling. Hopefully it plays out on the test.
Other than that, there's a bacteriology quiz tomorrow that I haven't done too much review for. The professor has released the past quizzes to us, and none of them seemed too tough. His questions also were pretty continuous from year to year, so they should be a good basis from which to study.
And in other news, I've also tentatively submitted my name for class president and secretary runnings. I have to decide if I reeeeally want to go for it and submit a blurb by Friday. Honestly, the classmate also running for prez will have a strong backing, so I'll likely get creamed. But you don't know until you try!
More anatomy, such a shocker. A lot of people are freaking about the first exam coming up on Wednesday - it covers the entire thoracic limb and includes both a practical and written portion. After some pretty low-key studying this weekend, a few extra hours in lab on Sunday morning, and another hour of review tonight, I feel pretty good. As in, I think I could take this tomorrow and do okay. It's a really nice feeling so I hope I'm not just underselling the difficulty of the material.
In undergrad, I was a high-stress studier and learner my first two or three semesters. Lots of crying over notes, wringing of hands, anxiety, etc. And I did okay but not great. Something kicked into gear during my second year, and I stopped a lot of that pretty quickly. Maybe it was survival mode for organic chemistry, but I started telling myself to just study until I knew it, stop worrying so much, and take what I could get on the exams without losing sleep or tears. And I did better as a result. I put less work into it and got a ton more out.
I think this mindset and method of studying is going to serve me well in veterinary school. So far, the other classes I have are still in the simple, easy-to-digest stage which is letting me focus on anatomy for the most part. There will come a time this semester when I have too much information to learn and not enough time to do it, and I need to learn to be okay with that. And the way that I've learned to think about my schoolwork and how to approach it and interact with it will - hopefully - let me adopt that mindset fairly easily. As far as anatomy goes, my study habits and the way I digest information has let me reach my personal "saturation level" with the subject a full day before the test.
I know it and I feel comfortable with it. It's a really good feeling. Hopefully it plays out on the test.
Other than that, there's a bacteriology quiz tomorrow that I haven't done too much review for. The professor has released the past quizzes to us, and none of them seemed too tough. His questions also were pretty continuous from year to year, so they should be a good basis from which to study.
And in other news, I've also tentatively submitted my name for class president and secretary runnings. I have to decide if I reeeeally want to go for it and submit a blurb by Friday. Honestly, the classmate also running for prez will have a strong backing, so I'll likely get creamed. But you don't know until you try!
Saturday, August 21, 2010
The arm bone's connected to the hand bone...
Whew! It was great sleeping in for an hour or two today, but I'm still exhausted!
Was out with a few classmates until about 10:00 last night and had a blast. Six of us met up for dinner and spent the whole time talking about (naturally) vet school. I sometimes wish I had more to discuss or share other than that subject, but school really does consume my whole life from sun-up to sun-down. And so far, I like it that way. :) We were a little gossipy and compared notes on teachers and studying and classmates and who was going to be first in class and who the cliques would be, etc. We all seemed to be having really great experiences with our other classmates and hope that it turns out to be a low-drama class. Med and vet schools have reputations for becoming a little like high school. When you spend every single day with the same 80 people, everyone knows everyone's business sooner or later. And when you add in stress and a lot of type-A personalities, conflict always arises. But so far, so good in our class! *knock on wood*
Today I skipped out on going to lab in favor of staying in the apartment and drilling bones, muscles, nerves, and arteries of the forelimb. I feel pretty good with most of it though there are a few random pieces that my brain can't seem to retain. I think tomorrow I'm setting the alarm to go to lab in the morning and look at the models and cadavers and hopefully cement the studying I did today. Now that I know the paths of the arteries and nerves pretty well, I think it'll be easier to trace them in the cadavers and understand how they work.
I'm also meeting up for lunch tomorrow with a Penn State friend who is starting school at UNC this fall - it'll be great to see a familiar face from closer to home! I have to remember to make a grocery run on my way home - I love cereal for dinner, but I'm even running out of that! My freezer is stocked with tons of individually-boxed dishes I made before school started, but I hate to tap into that so early in the semester. I think I'll also pick up an extra Pyrex measuring cup. At school there are several microwaves in the cafeteria for our use, so I think I'll store the measuring cup along with tea bags and a travel mug in my locker - it'd be nice to have the ability to make some tea for evening or weekend study sessions.
Time to go do my dishes, wait for the boy to call (he's out camping this weekend), then head to bed. Can't believe so much sitting can get you this tired. :)
Was out with a few classmates until about 10:00 last night and had a blast. Six of us met up for dinner and spent the whole time talking about (naturally) vet school. I sometimes wish I had more to discuss or share other than that subject, but school really does consume my whole life from sun-up to sun-down. And so far, I like it that way. :) We were a little gossipy and compared notes on teachers and studying and classmates and who was going to be first in class and who the cliques would be, etc. We all seemed to be having really great experiences with our other classmates and hope that it turns out to be a low-drama class. Med and vet schools have reputations for becoming a little like high school. When you spend every single day with the same 80 people, everyone knows everyone's business sooner or later. And when you add in stress and a lot of type-A personalities, conflict always arises. But so far, so good in our class! *knock on wood*
Today I skipped out on going to lab in favor of staying in the apartment and drilling bones, muscles, nerves, and arteries of the forelimb. I feel pretty good with most of it though there are a few random pieces that my brain can't seem to retain. I think tomorrow I'm setting the alarm to go to lab in the morning and look at the models and cadavers and hopefully cement the studying I did today. Now that I know the paths of the arteries and nerves pretty well, I think it'll be easier to trace them in the cadavers and understand how they work.
I'm also meeting up for lunch tomorrow with a Penn State friend who is starting school at UNC this fall - it'll be great to see a familiar face from closer to home! I have to remember to make a grocery run on my way home - I love cereal for dinner, but I'm even running out of that! My freezer is stocked with tons of individually-boxed dishes I made before school started, but I hate to tap into that so early in the semester. I think I'll also pick up an extra Pyrex measuring cup. At school there are several microwaves in the cafeteria for our use, so I think I'll store the measuring cup along with tea bags and a travel mug in my locker - it'd be nice to have the ability to make some tea for evening or weekend study sessions.
Time to go do my dishes, wait for the boy to call (he's out camping this weekend), then head to bed. Can't believe so much sitting can get you this tired. :)
Friday, August 20, 2010
TGIF!
I meant to post yesterday, but it totally slipped my mind - surprised much?
It's our first Friday after our first full week of classes, and I am freaking exhausted! The days sure are long (7:30 am arrival at school until a 4:30 to 5:30 departure) with an additional few hours of studying to do when I get home at night. Looking forward to being able to study on the couch in my PJs this weekend instead of heading into school all day.
We have our first anatomy exam this coming Wednesday, so all of us will be absorbed in that from sun-up to sun-down for the next few days. My plan is to take off tonight - no or very minimal studying for me (might skim my other classes). A group of us are going out to dinner after our mock practical, and afterwards I definitely need a break to get to bed early and have a full night's rest. Tomorrow I hope to get up early and head in to school at 7:30 or 8 am, pull out a dog and cat cadaver, and start going through identification of the muscles, nerves, and arteries for the forelimb. Head home at lunch and spend the rest of the weekend here with my books and my notes. Fuuuuuun.
So what sorts of things have I learned this first week?
1) Compared to others in my class, I'm positively mellow about my studies at this point. Seriously, it came as a surprise to me too.
2) Professional school is more physically and mentally demanding than any job.
3) Free lunches help me get through the day and will definitely be a favorite part of the week.
4) Everything in the body is way more complicated and has way more parts than I ever thought possible.
5) Free time? Haha.
6) My dreams have become super, super boring. They all have to do with studying and assorted muscle attachments for some reason.
7) I miss having pets here even more than I thought I would! It would be sooooo nice to come home to a little dog or cat to cuddle and study with.
8) Despite all of the work, I'm still having a blast!
It's our first Friday after our first full week of classes, and I am freaking exhausted! The days sure are long (7:30 am arrival at school until a 4:30 to 5:30 departure) with an additional few hours of studying to do when I get home at night. Looking forward to being able to study on the couch in my PJs this weekend instead of heading into school all day.
We have our first anatomy exam this coming Wednesday, so all of us will be absorbed in that from sun-up to sun-down for the next few days. My plan is to take off tonight - no or very minimal studying for me (might skim my other classes). A group of us are going out to dinner after our mock practical, and afterwards I definitely need a break to get to bed early and have a full night's rest. Tomorrow I hope to get up early and head in to school at 7:30 or 8 am, pull out a dog and cat cadaver, and start going through identification of the muscles, nerves, and arteries for the forelimb. Head home at lunch and spend the rest of the weekend here with my books and my notes. Fuuuuuun.
So what sorts of things have I learned this first week?
1) Compared to others in my class, I'm positively mellow about my studies at this point. Seriously, it came as a surprise to me too.
2) Professional school is more physically and mentally demanding than any job.
3) Free lunches help me get through the day and will definitely be a favorite part of the week.
4) Everything in the body is way more complicated and has way more parts than I ever thought possible.
5) Free time? Haha.
6) My dreams have become super, super boring. They all have to do with studying and assorted muscle attachments for some reason.
7) I miss having pets here even more than I thought I would! It would be sooooo nice to come home to a little dog or cat to cuddle and study with.
8) Despite all of the work, I'm still having a blast!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Omotransversarius = Gay Dinosaur
The title of the post is from one of the lab group's way of remembering one of the muscles in the neck. It's not a mnemonic I use to remember the muscle, but it sure is funny! And indicative of how demented we already are as a group.
Bacteriology today was incredibly boring. I looooved my undergrad micro class and lab, but the professor we have this semester teaching us is...not so great. The upper classes warned us that he would be the "dud" of the semester, and so far I have to agree. He's very nice but extremely disorganized and inefficient in class. He skimmed through a whole section about environmental requirements for bacteria by dismissing it as "boring", which doesn't really help me on an exam or later in clinics. Lab was also kind of a waste. We had a twenty minute talk on how to do a gram stain and streak a plate (headdesk) and THEN had to watch him complete one of each in front of us - another ten minutes. Again, he's a super nice, sweet guy but just not the best teacher. And this is only our third class with him? Eeep.
Our lab groups in anatomy switched it up today. Unfortunately. My group very reluctantly gave up our pit gal Maude for one of the nasty rotting cats. And let me just say that while I didn't envy the people dissecting cats for the musculoskeletal system of the forelimb, I feel even worse for us that are now stuck dissecting them for the veins, arteries, and nerves! Holy crap, they're tiny! It's like trying to dig out these little blue, white, and pink threads from a mass of congealing, cottony playdoh. Oh, and the whole thing is so incredibly friable that the muscles are falling apart and shredding left and right. Identifying stuff for the next week is going to be a nightmare.
But we did get to practice live palpation on dogs today! We are using the dogs from the animal research lab on campus - today we had two incredibly sweet shepherd mixes named Chloe and Libra assisting us. And boy did it feel great to snuggle with a real live animal during class and also learn skills that will, you know, be practical in the field. I can now locate superficial cervical lymph nodes, the spine and acromion of the scapula, and most of the major bones in the brachium, antebrachium, and carpus. Saweet! Too bad I don't have a dog of my own here with me to practice.
Definitely miss Jesse and Ginger. I know that they're not getting nearly as much love and attention without me around. My dad loves them but he's so busy and not even home half the time. My mom could hardly care less about them. Wish I could bring them here to live with me but my apartment's so small and very few places allow GSDs, so Jesse's out. And I'm really reluctant to separate them or move Ginger now that she's pushing twelve years old. She's so used to going outside whenever she wants, strolling around the yard, and having a big house to explore and call her own. *sad face*
Oh, and it's T-minus seven days until our first anatomy exam. Already feeling slightly nauseous...
Bacteriology today was incredibly boring. I looooved my undergrad micro class and lab, but the professor we have this semester teaching us is...not so great. The upper classes warned us that he would be the "dud" of the semester, and so far I have to agree. He's very nice but extremely disorganized and inefficient in class. He skimmed through a whole section about environmental requirements for bacteria by dismissing it as "boring", which doesn't really help me on an exam or later in clinics. Lab was also kind of a waste. We had a twenty minute talk on how to do a gram stain and streak a plate (headdesk) and THEN had to watch him complete one of each in front of us - another ten minutes. Again, he's a super nice, sweet guy but just not the best teacher. And this is only our third class with him? Eeep.
Our lab groups in anatomy switched it up today. Unfortunately. My group very reluctantly gave up our pit gal Maude for one of the nasty rotting cats. And let me just say that while I didn't envy the people dissecting cats for the musculoskeletal system of the forelimb, I feel even worse for us that are now stuck dissecting them for the veins, arteries, and nerves! Holy crap, they're tiny! It's like trying to dig out these little blue, white, and pink threads from a mass of congealing, cottony playdoh. Oh, and the whole thing is so incredibly friable that the muscles are falling apart and shredding left and right. Identifying stuff for the next week is going to be a nightmare.
But we did get to practice live palpation on dogs today! We are using the dogs from the animal research lab on campus - today we had two incredibly sweet shepherd mixes named Chloe and Libra assisting us. And boy did it feel great to snuggle with a real live animal during class and also learn skills that will, you know, be practical in the field. I can now locate superficial cervical lymph nodes, the spine and acromion of the scapula, and most of the major bones in the brachium, antebrachium, and carpus. Saweet! Too bad I don't have a dog of my own here with me to practice.
Definitely miss Jesse and Ginger. I know that they're not getting nearly as much love and attention without me around. My dad loves them but he's so busy and not even home half the time. My mom could hardly care less about them. Wish I could bring them here to live with me but my apartment's so small and very few places allow GSDs, so Jesse's out. And I'm really reluctant to separate them or move Ginger now that she's pushing twelve years old. She's so used to going outside whenever she wants, strolling around the yard, and having a big house to explore and call her own. *sad face*
Oh, and it's T-minus seven days until our first anatomy exam. Already feeling slightly nauseous...
Monday, August 16, 2010
"When you touch yourself, you are soft and pliable..."
Words straight from our histology/cytology professor today. He was trying to explain the flexibility of the microtubules and filaments in the skin, and it came out a little awkwardly. But he also made a "Seinfeld" reference and had "Calvin and Hobbes" comics throughout his Powerpoint, so I was totally okay with it.
First Monday of the first full week of school, and I feel surprisingly rested and awake and ready to conquer my classes. Good thing since we learned about a dozen new muscles in anatomy and start blood vessels and nerves tomorrow! I feel like anatomy is the ONLY class I talk about, but it's only because the others are still review at this point - thank goodness! Gives me plenty of time to figure out how best to study for the class and absorb all of the information. My lab group has done a freaking beautiful job of the dissection so far (if I do say so myself). Our pit bull specimen, Maude, is looking great despite the skin being missing and numerous muscle transections on her left shoulder, chest, and forelimb. This week we're also starting some other anatomy aspects in lab including radiology (x-ray) interpretation and live palpation skills...meaning we actually get to touch a dog that isn't soaked in formalin!
Histology is actually a lot of fun, too. The professor (see above) is very sweet, energetic, and thorough. I've looked at cells under the microscope dozens upon dozens of times, but he's amazing at explaining exactly what we're seeing. Lab is a good mix of turning us loose with our partners and slide boxes and getting plenty of helpful feedback and hints on how to interpret the slide fields. It's really the way a class like that needs to be taught.
Okay, and there is a huuuge perk to vet school. We get butt-tons of free stuff thrown at us. Including meals! Almost every single day there's a lunch meeting you can choose to attend during lunch hour, usually put on by different clubs featuring a speaker or presentation. All you have to do is RSVP, show up, and chow down while learning lots of awesome stuff. Today the VMBA (Veterinary Medical Business Association) invited a local mobile surgery vet to speak with us about starting her practice.
Mobile care is nothing that I've really thought about before, but she was really, really interesting. She's a board-certified surgeon (4 years vet school + 1 year internship + 3 year residency + 2 year fellowship!) and has a mobile practice where she travels to about thirty to forty local hospitals to perform the surgeries that the general practitioners don't feel comfortable doing. A lot of cruciate repairs (TPLO) and other orthopedic surgeries with some additional soft tissue and critical care surgeries thrown in. Really cool idea for a practice without worrying about the "running a huge business with overhead, dozens of employees, etc." model. Something I've never thought about before, but it's really fascinating.
That's the blessing and the curse of veterinary medicine. The variety of things you can do with your degree is ENDLESS. General practice or specialization. Rural or urban. Large or small animal. Zoo medicine or pocket pet exotics. Academia or research. Conservation medicine or pharmaceuticals. Industry or public health. There's no excuse to be bored - I mean, you can do anything with that degree!
And that's the downside as well. I'm fairly undecided about what I want to do, and every speaker or lecturer gets me excited about the possibility of yet another asset to the field. Unfortunately, you have to decide what to do when you grow up at some point. :(
First Monday of the first full week of school, and I feel surprisingly rested and awake and ready to conquer my classes. Good thing since we learned about a dozen new muscles in anatomy and start blood vessels and nerves tomorrow! I feel like anatomy is the ONLY class I talk about, but it's only because the others are still review at this point - thank goodness! Gives me plenty of time to figure out how best to study for the class and absorb all of the information. My lab group has done a freaking beautiful job of the dissection so far (if I do say so myself). Our pit bull specimen, Maude, is looking great despite the skin being missing and numerous muscle transections on her left shoulder, chest, and forelimb. This week we're also starting some other anatomy aspects in lab including radiology (x-ray) interpretation and live palpation skills...meaning we actually get to touch a dog that isn't soaked in formalin!
Histology is actually a lot of fun, too. The professor (see above) is very sweet, energetic, and thorough. I've looked at cells under the microscope dozens upon dozens of times, but he's amazing at explaining exactly what we're seeing. Lab is a good mix of turning us loose with our partners and slide boxes and getting plenty of helpful feedback and hints on how to interpret the slide fields. It's really the way a class like that needs to be taught.
Okay, and there is a huuuge perk to vet school. We get butt-tons of free stuff thrown at us. Including meals! Almost every single day there's a lunch meeting you can choose to attend during lunch hour, usually put on by different clubs featuring a speaker or presentation. All you have to do is RSVP, show up, and chow down while learning lots of awesome stuff. Today the VMBA (Veterinary Medical Business Association) invited a local mobile surgery vet to speak with us about starting her practice.
Mobile care is nothing that I've really thought about before, but she was really, really interesting. She's a board-certified surgeon (4 years vet school + 1 year internship + 3 year residency + 2 year fellowship!) and has a mobile practice where she travels to about thirty to forty local hospitals to perform the surgeries that the general practitioners don't feel comfortable doing. A lot of cruciate repairs (TPLO) and other orthopedic surgeries with some additional soft tissue and critical care surgeries thrown in. Really cool idea for a practice without worrying about the "running a huge business with overhead, dozens of employees, etc." model. Something I've never thought about before, but it's really fascinating.
That's the blessing and the curse of veterinary medicine. The variety of things you can do with your degree is ENDLESS. General practice or specialization. Rural or urban. Large or small animal. Zoo medicine or pocket pet exotics. Academia or research. Conservation medicine or pharmaceuticals. Industry or public health. There's no excuse to be bored - I mean, you can do anything with that degree!
And that's the downside as well. I'm fairly undecided about what I want to do, and every speaker or lecturer gets me excited about the possibility of yet another asset to the field. Unfortunately, you have to decide what to do when you grow up at some point. :(
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Vegging...
So I wasn't nearly as productive today as I wanted to or thought I was going to be, but I feel pretty okay with it. I'm comfortable enough with the material that stress or panic are the last things I'm feeling. But who knows, maybe I'm utterly fooling myself.
Yesterday was a pretty quiet study day. First weekend of vet school, and I found myself studying on a Saturday. Which will probably become fairly typical. I spent several hours in the afternoon reading through the bones and muscles of the thoracic limb, quizzing myself on bone parts, and memorizing muscle insertions, origins, and actions. Honestly, while a few bits and pieces weren't quite in my head yet, I felt confident in my level of understanding thus far.
Treated myself to an Arby's dinner (yum!) before going into the anatomy lab to study. Yup. Saturday night in lab. BUT I wasn't alone! There were a half dozen other students there, and we had a lot of fun poking through one of the cadavers, coming up with mnemonic devices - some of them are remembering the omotransversarius muscle as "the gay dinosaur" if that gives you any indication - and laughing quite a bit. Studying in groups is something that, while fun, I don't get a ton of benefit from. I need to really study stuff on my own to get it to stick. I do a lot of talking myself through material, repetition, and sketching to understand it, and it just doesn't tend to work for me in groups. Also, I'm not a crazy-competitive person or anything, but when others I'm studying with are a bit faster at naming a fact or a bit more specific in their answers, I start to get worried that I don't know my stuff nearly as well as I should. It's usually a morale killer for me. However, I like reviewing with others once I'm sure I understand and know my material; it's a good affirmation that I'm in an okay spot for the test but I'm not actively learning new things by that point.
Anyway, we quit studying by 9:30 and went to see "Prince of Persia" at the dollar theater. Which was appropriately brainless fun with some great cheesy moments. Recommended if you don't want to think too hard. Or remember the freaking awesome computer game from when you were in second grade!
Got up early this morning and headed into lab at 9:00. I was crossing my fingers that I'd be by myself - and I was! Had the whole place to me, myself, and I! Dragged out one of the cadavers and one of the sample bone sets and quizzed myself for two whole hours before the next students came in to practice. It was great to go at my own pace, focus on the things I needed to review, and nail down some more specific facts I was missing. A bunch of us then went to the welcome picnic put on by SCAVMA (Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association) this afternoon. The best part? There was an open dog invitation so there were about two dozen dogs of all shapes and sizes running around, playing, begging for food, and waiting to be cuddled. Such great therapy when I would kill to have a dog of my own here with me.
I should have studied more when I got home today. But I didn't. I vegged all night and don't even know what I spent most of my time on. Oh well! Tomorrow morning is my first Monday of my first full week of vet school! I have a feeling I'll be pooped by Friday afternoon.
Yesterday was a pretty quiet study day. First weekend of vet school, and I found myself studying on a Saturday. Which will probably become fairly typical. I spent several hours in the afternoon reading through the bones and muscles of the thoracic limb, quizzing myself on bone parts, and memorizing muscle insertions, origins, and actions. Honestly, while a few bits and pieces weren't quite in my head yet, I felt confident in my level of understanding thus far.
Treated myself to an Arby's dinner (yum!) before going into the anatomy lab to study. Yup. Saturday night in lab. BUT I wasn't alone! There were a half dozen other students there, and we had a lot of fun poking through one of the cadavers, coming up with mnemonic devices - some of them are remembering the omotransversarius muscle as "the gay dinosaur" if that gives you any indication - and laughing quite a bit. Studying in groups is something that, while fun, I don't get a ton of benefit from. I need to really study stuff on my own to get it to stick. I do a lot of talking myself through material, repetition, and sketching to understand it, and it just doesn't tend to work for me in groups. Also, I'm not a crazy-competitive person or anything, but when others I'm studying with are a bit faster at naming a fact or a bit more specific in their answers, I start to get worried that I don't know my stuff nearly as well as I should. It's usually a morale killer for me. However, I like reviewing with others once I'm sure I understand and know my material; it's a good affirmation that I'm in an okay spot for the test but I'm not actively learning new things by that point.
Anyway, we quit studying by 9:30 and went to see "Prince of Persia" at the dollar theater. Which was appropriately brainless fun with some great cheesy moments. Recommended if you don't want to think too hard. Or remember the freaking awesome computer game from when you were in second grade!
Got up early this morning and headed into lab at 9:00. I was crossing my fingers that I'd be by myself - and I was! Had the whole place to me, myself, and I! Dragged out one of the cadavers and one of the sample bone sets and quizzed myself for two whole hours before the next students came in to practice. It was great to go at my own pace, focus on the things I needed to review, and nail down some more specific facts I was missing. A bunch of us then went to the welcome picnic put on by SCAVMA (Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association) this afternoon. The best part? There was an open dog invitation so there were about two dozen dogs of all shapes and sizes running around, playing, begging for food, and waiting to be cuddled. Such great therapy when I would kill to have a dog of my own here with me.
I should have studied more when I got home today. But I didn't. I vegged all night and don't even know what I spent most of my time on. Oh well! Tomorrow morning is my first Monday of my first full week of vet school! I have a feeling I'll be pooped by Friday afternoon.
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