Oh, Wenckebach.

This will likely not even be amusing to anyone not in the medical fields, but we got to watch it during cardio physiology the other day and couldn't stop laughing.  It's describing a phenomenon called Wenckebach or AV Block Second Degree.  Basically what happens is your atria depolarize normally but sometimes the conduction to the ventricles gets skipped and you lose ventricular depolarization for that cardiac cycle.



Cardio is great - I'm really enjoying it overall, and it makes a whole lot of sense (which is a relief since the exam is next week!).

Anatomy is still messy and gushy as always - we're now in the abdominal cavities of our cadavers and are comparing GI tracts which are very different from each other as well as the dog and cat.  The ruminants (goats and calves) have huge multi-chambered stomachs and a very looooong jejunum and large intestine.  The large intestine even does this awesome coil at one point!  The horse is just weird and has an expanded cecum and long, torturous, winding large intestine which makes you realize why they colic so much (10% of horses annually!).  Also, our goat is pregnant so we're really excited to start the reproductive tract dissections in a few weeks to see the placentation of the uterus.

The class is chugging along as a whole.  The consensus is that immunology isn't the greatest class ever - it's way too condensed and chopped for the density of information.  Some things (like biochemistry or immuno) are actually easier to understand if you have to learn and memorize a ton of details.  It makes everything clearer in the end.  This course is being taught as a very broad overview of a lot of things and it isn't going to have that nice neat moment of clarity at the end.  Oh well.  Exam also is coming up early next week, so this weekend will involve a lot of book-time.

On a non-class related note, I'm trying to eat a little better this semester and stick with salad every night for dinner when possible.  I don't care much for the three or four pounds I've gained since vet school.  I wish I had the willpower to give up the lunch meetings but it's one of my favorite things during the day!