Midterms are done! And misc. other things

I was a bit surprised by the response to my last blog, though perhaps I shouldn't have been.  When I sat down to write it, as with most things I write- I had a general idea of where I was going but I let my trail of consciousness flow where it might.  Apparently, I felt I needed to air my feelings du jour and the end result was not a typical (nor perhaps expected) post by me where I typically sing the praises of vet school and how much I enjoy it.  After posting I received messages and calls and chatted with people about my post ultimately realizing that I am so fortunate.  I am fortunate for the friends I have who remind that I am here for a reason, who remind me that they have faith in me and that they have my back.  It's a powerful thing, to realize how many people care enough to check in, and I owe the beginning of this post to them as a thank you!  I try to have a sunny outlook on life and most days I succeed at this.  Most days I realize I can enjoy the simple things- catching an extra 10 minutes sleep, a laugh with friends, nightly walks along the beach and trails.  Some days I do get bogged down and the post was a reflection of that.  I also need to stop and remember that my fortune is not limited to my friends and family but also having the ability to do something that feels custom cut for me, something that many people wish they could do.  I owe it to myself and those who don't have this opportunity not to waste this journey.  Life isn't a straight line path to the finish- I know I have taken my share of curves and switchbacks to reach this point- so to expect that each day progress without a single bump in the road is unrealistic and it would make me stagnant as a person.  Cliche though it might be, I truly believe that how we handle the challenges in our life define us, and if you never face challenges you haven't really had the chance to grow as a person.  Sometimes I need a reminder from my self or my family and friends that I am doing just fine carving my way through the world, and luckily it seems the Rolling Stones were correct: "you can't always get what you want, but if you try real hard you just might find, you get what you need."  

So, what else has been going on?  Since I last posted, midterms have (FINALLY) come to an end!  We wrote our last midterm on Tuesday this past week in Food Animal and all the grades have come in.  I have no complaints, my grades were as I expected them to be, and as usual I use them as a benchmark for how much work I need to put in for my final exams.  The semester has gone by in an odd admixing of paces- both snails sliding slow, and cheetah fast!  In the scheme of the semester I feel like it was just the other day I was unpacking my cottage, my mom and Tizzie were saying their goodbyes, and classes were just beginning.  In the day to day with the midterms spanning time from September til now, it feels like it has taken forever to reach this point.  Our final exams will begin on the day after Thanksgiving (American), and last through December 12th.  Normally our final exam schedule is an every other day schedule with the occasional extra day between tests thrown in.  This semester however, we have a couple of exams that are tightly packed back to back.  I would say that means I won't be very chatty to my friends back home, but truthfully the closer we get to Christmas and Christmas break I find the more excited I get and I spend my study breaks making plans to do things with friends.  It gives me light at the end of the tunnel.  Some of my exams will not be worth that much, because we have had 2 or 3 midterms and it splits up the points a bit better.  One of my exams is worth 100 percent of my grade- but thankfully that's pass/fail instead of a grade, and one of my other exams- also worth 100 percent of my grade- is a written take home which I have a copy of now and will probably start working on this weekend.  

Outside of school, I have had a little more time to breath.  Halloween was a lot of fun!  Last year on Halloween I had planned to dress up and go to the parties with friends, but Cherry ended up having a very lengthy day at school, and came home still sedated from her procedures so I stayed home and hung out with her.  The first year I was on the island I pulled together a last minute costume, and went to the class party which was a lot of fun.  This year, after working hard on midterms, my friends and I planned a night out!  We got ready and hung out, then went to the class party for a very short period of time (long enough for a class picture), and then went down to the halloween party our school puts on at a bar.  I went as a flapper- carefully planned since the beginning of October.  I ordered the dress, and got all kinds of accessories- and I was really happy with how it came together!  Going out for Halloween was a lot of fun, we danced, we hung out and socialized with a lot of people.  It was nice to be doing something not related to studying for a change!  

Today was another exciting day for me as I got to go learn about falconry.  I admit that while I love animals (with the notable exception of ladybugs and most insects) there are definitely animals I know very little about.  I have always enjoyed wildlife, though I know the least about wild animals in general.  The opportunity came up to go see a falconry demonstration, and learn about what it takes to train and handle these birds.  I had close to no idea what falconry was or what it involved and in also knew very little about the birds themselves.  After some nudging by a friend, I decided to sign up to go and I was glad I did!  This morning I woke up to flurries, a temperature of 32 degrees, and a strong wind.  Unfortunately, the strong wind prevented us from getting a demonstration of the flight of one of these birds- but I learned so much!  For starters, I learned about the different kinds of birds of prey that could be used for falconry, I learned about their eating habits and hunting preferences, what it takes to train them, and miscellaneous other facts.  We got to see the birds that this falconry master has, and he brought two out to show us some differences between them (one was a Harris Hawk, and the other was a Gyr Falcon.)  When I was young- elementary school aged- I recall taking a trip to VINS to see their raptors, but I was too young to actually retain what I learned on that field trip.  Today, I learned so many things that I will carry with me!  We were invited back at a date to be determined to see them take flight and hunt and if I am free I definitely want to take them up on the offer.  For me, the most interesting aspects were the behavioral things.  These birds are still wild in nature despite being bred in captivity so trying to forge a bond with a falconer- necessary so they return after the hunt- and still maintain their natural instincts is a fascinating study.  It's based on food, but it's a tenuous bond that relies on the falconer understanding his hunting partner.  To date this is maybe one of the neatest things I have gotten to experience while in vet school.  

With finals coming up it's doubtful I will make another post until Christmas break and maybe not until after depending on how busy the break is.  This weekend is a rare 4 day weekend in which I don't have to study for some exam, or do some project that cuts into my free time.  Last night I went to a large craft fair in town- full of talent that makes me wish I could actually do something crafty.  The craftiest thing I can manage is my handwriting, but I doubt many would consider it "artsy".  Currently, Ryker is spitting his slobbery ball in my chair while mind numbing television is running in the background.  I am looking forward to taking some lengthy walks, relaxing and reading some non-school books, and having a Netflix binge complete with cheesy Christmas movies.  Since vet school has started I am not sure we have had a four day weekend unencumbered by tests or assignments- so I am going to make the most of this glorious free time, do very little school work, and try to reset my mind to get ready for finals crunch!  

 

Well that's different...

I initially thought I would be too busy to post much this semester, but truthfully I have had a less busy semester than anticipated- I just haven't updated.  I will get better about this someday!  A lot has happened since the beginning of the school year, and yet there really has been very little I've felt worth noting.  Most of my classes this semester are lecture based- in fact I have three labs, of which two alternate weeks and one is more of a tutorial than a lab.  Midterm "season" has been in full swing now since the last week of September so I have spent a lot of time trying to prepare for exam after endless exam, and the string of testing doesn't break until beginning of November.  Almost all the other vets I have talked to told me from the start that things get better from first year on.  While I certainly have no desire to return to my first year of vet school, I am not entirely certain third year is better than second year was. 

I am not sure if it is because this is now my third year of vet school and exams are old hat, or if it's because I am so tired of taking exams I no longer care as much anymore but I have found it hard to get motivated to study for my exams this year.  Normally, despite being a top notch procrastinator, I spend at least the day before and the morning of an exam stressed that I will never know enough to pass the exam and speed reading through material.  Last year, I don't know of a single exam I didn't have a panic phase before, excluding the last couple of final exams where I was so tired of writing tests that I struggled to get to the finish line for the semester.  This year starting off with the first exam I barely put in enough effort studying, even compared with first year when I was just realizing how much work vet school is.  So far, my grades have all been fine, so obviously my retention has been decent enough- but I am waiting for the other shoe to drop.  Surely, eventually, I am going to hit a time where I go back to my panicky nature?  The only exam I can think of that I actually put in a lot of effort, and actually was nervous for was my neurology/opthomalogy exam and that was because every single person I had talked to said the exam was horrendous.  I am still waiting for the results from that exam, but when I left I felt like it could have gone worse, could have gone better.  Normally after exams I wait for my friends to finish writing and we talk about questions that threw us off or we weren't sure about... while we still do this, I feel less like regurgitating about the exams because whatever happens, happens.  I guess overall I am most nervous with this attitude- I am hoping that by the time finals rolls around I will have the drive to study harder, and the nerves to make me feel a little more like I did last year.

Maybe the nerves missing is a good thing, maybe it means I am finally comfortable with my place in vet school.  I doubt that's the case and if it was, there is always something that triggers me to think "I don't have any idea what I am doing here, I really don't know that I will make it through".  It's not an every day haunting feeling, but when I think about the future and what is coming up (4th year, rotations, the NAVLE, then real life!) I am plagued by concerns over my adequacy.  I write each exam after essentially cramming information into my brain for 2 days straight and then once I write the exam I hardly recall what I wrote.  I do get reminders every now and again that I retain more than I think, but vet school exams are a binge and purge style of living and it is not conducive to long term retention, at least not for me.  This semester one of the lab based courses has us doing physicals on in-clinic patients and coming up with their problem list, rule outs, differential diagnoses and so on.  It's highly useful for the rest of my career and yet when it comes to certain diseases or presentations of those diseases I blank.  I know at some point I knew the pathophysiology behind a disease, the possible ways it presents... but I can't always draw a ready connection.  This inability is worrisome for fourth year and beyond, as essentially that is what this career is.  I am hoping that over the span of my fourth year and the remainder of this year I can pull things back together so that when I graduate I don't have a deer in the headlights glow about my new graduate face.  I look at the fourth year students I have worked with or known over the last couple of years here and I think they all appear to know so much.  I am hopeful that rotations instill the faith I need in myself to be successful at this job.  

My semester projects/assignments/scary tasks I don't want to do list has dwindled down and for the most part aside from exams the rest of my semester is downhill.  This semester there were two tasks I was most nervous for- the first was a presentation of a case we did an exam on in the hospital and the second was an shift in the ICU for a few hours.  I wasn't terribly nervous for the ICU shift, as much of the tasks on our list we needed to accomplish were either things I had done before as a tech, or things that I knew they would show me when I got there.  My shift for the ICU was scheduled the night after we wrote an exam and I was exhausted as I had been up since 4:30AM, and the shift wasn't scheduled to end til 9 (which as with all shifts in the veterinary world means later than that).  I got to the ICU, was shown the cases in the hospital by the technician who was supervising myself and a second year student, and then we got an idea for the layout of the unit.  I worked on my task list, item by item, and by the time 9:30 rolled around and I had finished the sufficient number of tasks I was more than ready to go home.  I actually really enjoyed doing the ICU shift.  Being a teaching hospital means that the school has "toys of the trade" that I wouldn't normally get to play with in a lot of other clinical settings.  I got to see some neat cases that were there and it was a good learning experience.  It took away some of the nervousness I had associated with fourth year as well.  Overall, despite being tired I was glad the shift went how it did and I had ample opportunity to do things!  

The second thing I dreaded doing this semester was the case presentation.  Each time your group has the lab, you get assigned a case in the large animal hospital to work through.  One member of your group is responsible to present your findings in a precise manner to the rest of class members present.  I agreed to do the presentation for my group on the day of my birthday- thinking maybe it would be good luck!  This presentation involves public speaking, something I am both not good at and not comfortable with.  Despite being thrown into countless presentation situations over my academic career I have never built up a comfort level with presenting.  The closest to comfortable I have come is with this group of people in my vet school class, because I am with them so often and as a class we tend to be respectful of our peers who are presenting (it's much appreciated!)  My group got a case, began working through it and I furiously scribbled notes down about the case as we tried to figure out what we were finding.  About halfway through the clinician overseeing us for the week came in and gave us a little bit of a hint about what we were seeing- and told us we were missing something.  We sort of discovered what she meant, but not quite and by the time she came back to us to show us what she meant and discuss things a little bit I realized I needed to rework a lot of my findings/notes to present as what she said changed the clinical picture.  Unfortunately because she came to us last to check back in, and decided we would be presenting first I lost the opportunity to chat with the group memebers and reorganize/confirm what I was going to say.  Nonetheless, I figured I could probably combine and pull things together.  So, as the other members of the class came in to hear my presentation, my nerves pounding away I began.  I think I made it through about 2 sentences before the voice of the clinician interrupted me.  Not only did I then lose my train of thought, but I lost a huge chunk of the "confidence" I was trying to fake.  So, she told me to continue and again I made it through about two sentences before she interrupted me to tell me what I  was doing wrong, again.  At this point I was shaken.  There was nothing I could do to mentally get back my presentation back on track.  I took a deep breath and moved to the next section.  Thankfully, she interrupted me a third time shortly after that, to bring up a point about the case and instead of making me stumble my way through the end she got so wrapped up in her point that I did not have to finish.  I know that I was not presenting things well... I also know that I might have recovered after the first interruption but after the second I had no hope.  I was pretty sure I failed the presentation, and by far I knew I was the worst presenter from the class since we had started doing them a few weeks before.  She was a different clinician than we had the first two rounds of presentations and we didn't know what to expect from her.  We didn't know how she ran the lab sessions (which it turned out was different from the previous clinician), and we didn't realize how she would chose to critique presentations.  When she finished her spiel about the case, the final nail in my coffin was when she asked the rest of the class what their critiques for me were.  If  I could have shrunk into the wall and never be seen again, I would gladly have done that.  Thankfully (I don't know if any of my classmates know how thankful I really was) not a single person offered any critique.  They could have- there was plenty they could have said... I would probably have dissolved into tears... but thankfully no one did.  We moved on to the remaining two cases, for which their presentations were more straight forward and both presenters did a good job.  In the end, my grade for the presentation is not a grade I would normally be happy with- but given how it went, I was just happy I passed. 

So, since the two things I was nervous for are done, I am left just plugging away on exams until the semester draws to a close.  I can't believe in just under 2 months I will be done this semester and heading home for the last time in a long time.  Once we finish writing our finals for the spring semester (which ends in 197 days by the way!) we have a couple days and then rotations begin for fourth year.  I won't likely be going home again after this break until August.  However, the true grit of fourth year- the busy pace and lack of sleep- will make time fly by and before I know it I will probably be writing some post about how I can't believe fourth year is almost done.  

On a non-school related note my dad came up for Thanksgiving day weekend, as he did last year.  This year, we didn't have much planned as he was only going to be here Friday night through Sunday early morning.  When he got here I took him out to see sunset at one of my favorite spots on the island, and then we came back and watched The Heat- which he had never seen.  Saturday we were busy, but he very kindly agreed to put my new office chair and desk together!!  For sometime now my kitchen table has doubled as a desk, and not only was it cluttered and messy looking, the chair was NOT comfortable for studying 8 hours at a time in.  I would finish studying and be super sore- my back, my arms- it made studying even less enjoyable.  So, I splurged and dad and I made me a new little office space in my living room.  Saturday night we went to a hockey game which was a lot of fun and was a great game, despite our team losing the game in overtime.  I was bummed he didn't get to stay longer, but I also would have had to spend time studying if he was here any longer since we had an exam this Tuesday.  Also aside from school I've been having my favorite fuzzy man spending some time with me weekly- Mr. Ryker comes on Wednesdays usually and then I bring him home Thursdays on my way into class (which best of all doesn't start til 1:30!)  I look forward to laughing at his goofy antics while he is here, his cuddles... it allows me to have cuddle time with a dog, while not having to worry about how some days I am gone too long.  It's been fantastic!  I am not sure what my schedule next semester will shake out to be, especially because Jr. surgery on Thursday morning will mean being at school very early, but I am sure I can find some time to spend with the monkey!  

So, there you have it... the school semester so far.  If something worthwhile comes up I will probably gladly procrastinate for a bit to write a post about it... however I am not anticipating a lot of excitement between now and the end of the semester.  I am however looking forward to Halloween.  For the first time in a long long time (or maybe ever?) I bought a costume and planned an outfit in advance!  We have 2 exams the week of Halloween, however the exam the week after Halloween is on a Tuesday and since Halloween falls on a Friday there is not a good reason not to go out and celebrate a little!  Last year on Halloween I was just beginning the Cherokee saga with her infected knee, and I didn't go out because I was watching her while she recovered from her sedation from school.  This year, I will go out and I am sure we will get to have fun.  I am not going to say what I am going as yet- but I will say that it hopefully isn't too cold because my outfit is not one that would pass a New England Winter Halloween Prep test (aka... no way does a snowsuit work with it!)       

And the beat goes on

Today marks the beginning of the third week of the third year of vet school.  At the moment I should probably be working on learning about food animals, but once a procrastinator, always one.  At the beginning of second year I realized when classes got going how easily I had fallen out of good study habit, and how easily I had forgotten everything I had learned.  This time around, some of that is true- I don't remember things I know I "learned" at one point or another causing me to have to go back and review, but I also don't think my study habits have fallen too badly off- I even studied last weekend when I could very easily have taken time off from doing anything at all.  

On August 24 at 3 AM my mom, myself, Ryker and Tizzie all loaded up into our cars to begin the migration back to the island.  Poor Ryker was very confused as to why we were loading things in the car the night before- he was pretty sure he was getting left behind and he did not approve.  Tizzie didn't know what we were doing but she didn't really care either.  Neither Ryker nor I slept particularly well Saturday night into Sunday and before I knew it the alarm was going off and it was time to get a move on.  The drive is always long, but it's even longer when you are travelling with dogs because you have to stop and let them stretch their legs a little longer and more frequently.  It was also a very warm day- beautiful for driving but too hot to leave the dogs in the cars while we did things like take pee breaks- so we shuffled around and made it all work.  Finally, we arrived at my little cottage where Ryker's mother and some of the other girls in my class met us to pick him up so they could go out to the beach.  While they invited us to come along, I had too much unpacking and organizing to try and do before classes on Monday.  

Mom and Tizzie stayed with me until Tuesday morning, which worked out well.  Monday's I don't have classes til 10:30 and I am done by 3:30 so they didn't have to try and entertain themselves too long while I was in class.  They came to the campus about the time of my lunch break and we hung out and relaxed.  Tizzie enjoys being a ham and she continued her tradition- catching the attention of many a passerby.  Mom and I went out to dinner Monday night, and they left early Tuesday morning as they had a long day of driving ahead of them and I had classes all day long.  The cottage was very quiet after they left.  Last year when I returned after putting Cherokee to sleep the cottage was hugely empty but by the end of finals I had come to accept the new routine and quiet.  This year I won't have a pet in the cottage with me, and despite knowing and expecting the quiet it is odd.  Thankfully, Ryker (and even his sister sometimes!) will get to spend some time with me over the semester so I won't get too lonely!  In fact this past week Ryker was at the cottage with me Wednesday night to Thursday.  He wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he was content so long as we were playing with a toy.  

Classes have been good, though it's kind of an odd semester worth of courses for me.  I am taking 11 classes, a few of which are just once a week courses and one of those is just a pass/fail class.  I am not taking Jr. Surgery lab this semester as I expected, so Thursdays I don't even have class until 1:30, which is spoiling me.  Most of my classes are lectures, with just 3 labs mixed in.  The courses are:

-Food Animal Health- which as you surmised basically talks about food animal production, and diseases.  It's probably not my favorite subject, but it is a 5 credit lecture course so it will require a lot of work.

-Diagnostic Radiology- Which again is not difficult to guess that we are learning about x-ray interpretation, and this course has a lab component.  I love the professor for this course but sometimes I have absolutely not idea if I am making things up- so hopefully with time this will improve for me.

-Equine Health and Disease- All about the equine world, this course is strictly lecture and focuses on their disease processes.  I enjoy horses, but I have always felt I don't know much about them, so I am enjoying this course so far. 

-Neurology/Opthomalogy- This course is split in focus between the neuro standpoint and the eyes.  This will probably be one of the more difficult courses for me this semester, especially in the neurology aspect, but the disease processes that can occur and the bodily responses to injury can be impressive, so I won't be bored trying to learn this material!

-Cardio/Respiratory- This class is also split in focus between the heart and the respiratory centers.  For whatever reason I have a mental block on heart related things so I anticipate having to put a lot of work into this class.

-Integrative Medicine- This course was an optional course I decided to take, that deals with the alternative medical therapies that can be used in practice such as chiropractics and holistic approaches.

-Introduction to Exotics- This class deals with the exotic pets that may grace your practice doorstep.  It is also an elective course, but I took it as I know I enjoy rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets, etc. and inevitably there will be people who show up with them at your practice.

-Advanced Anesthesiology- This focuses on small animals, and the more difficult cases that you would see requiring anesthesia- such as compromised cardiac function.  This class is pass/fail and optional but anesthesia is such an important part of working in veterinary practice I felt this would be a good class for me to take.  

-Musculoskeletal- Deals with what it says- the musculoskeletal system.  The course outline highlights the different types of diseases we will be talking about and of the list I think at least one pet in my life has hit all the major diseases we discuss.  I find orthopedic things very interesting and so I expect to enjoy this class. 

-Clinical Techniques in Large Animals- This is a lab course that has two components- the first is case presentation which involves doing a physical exam and integrating history and diagnostics to explore a problem, then presenting to your classmates; and another portion that includes learning procedures for large animal medicine- such as palpation for pregnancy.  The presentations scare me, despite having seen how they were done last time- as public speaking always makes me nervous.  Thankfully I have a good group for that.  The medicine part of this lab is exciting, and also a bit nerve wracking- but it makes the whole being a doctor thing seem real!  

-Medical Exercises in Companion Animals- This is the counter part to the large animal lab, except no presentation of the cases.  We continue to work on doing some more advanced things for small animals in this lab, and it will be a good lead-up to Jr. Surgery and the clinical rotations next year. 

So, as you can see my schedule sounds great, but it is chalk full of classes.  I am excited for most of the courses, though I admit the large animal things are less interesting to me than the small animal.  There is still plenty of time for that to change for me though- who knows maybe once we get going I will discover I really enjoy some aspect of large animal more than small.  I don't see that happening, but I will keep my options open.  

Last weekend was a holiday weekend and it was busy!  The freshman class has orientation activities planned for them throughout the whole first week and sometimes beyond that.  The first Friday of classes they do a large pub crawl, which is not technically school sponsored.  They go to three bars and basically do the things one does on a pub crawl.  The shirts are open for sale to any student at the school, but this year I didn't buy one.  I hadn't really intended to go out to the bars that night but friends of mine were all going, so we decided it would be fun.  We ended up at the last bar the pub crawlers were going to- and there was no cover charge!  We danced and had a lot of fun- but it was about 4 AM when I crawled into bed on Saturday morning!  I haven't been out til 4 AM in a long time- because I am getting old, no fun anymore, and I really enjoy my 8 hours of sleep when I can get it!  I slept until about noon, got up and did a couple of things, but then took another nap.  Saturday night we all had tickets to the Shania Twain concert downtown.  The show was excellent- despite that I am incredibly short and therefore I couldn't really see the stage from where we were standing.  It was another late night, and we got home around midnight.  Two late nights in a row, and a cold I was battling knocked me for a loop and much of Sunday was spent in bed, reading notes or watching Netflix.  Monday being a holiday, I got up and read over some notes, lounged around a bit, took a walk and relaxed.  Overall, it was a lot of fun- but I do know that I may be too old for 2 late nights in a row!

As this weekend comes to a close, I have been house sitting for a friend and classmate who has a very adorable, comical little cat.  Often times when I am just watching cats I don't stay there with them because cats don't care- but Sushi does!  She likes having company, I think!  The place is in town, which is a bit different from my cottage which is 20 minutes away, but one of the perks is delivery that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, so I gladly ordered that Friday night, and just vegged out.  The remainder of today will be spent reviewing notes for a couple of classes, before school starts up again tomorrow.  As time winds on I am sure I will have more to say about classes individually, though for now I am still trying to gain my bearings in each class.  I do have my goal set for the semester and year, which is to maintain my grades to the same standard I did last year.  After working hard all year long I was rewarded by a note in my mailbox on the first day of classes saying I made the Dean's List for the previous academic year!  I am very proud of that accomplishment, specifically because of where I was academically in first year.  While my grades were not horrible in first year, I did have a couple of grades lower than I had ever seen before and it was disheartening.  So to come back in the second year with the marks that I did, making Dean's List was a validation for me that my hard work paid off.  On October 8, I will be going to the school's award ceremony, and I am sure there will be pictures to see.   

Third year around the corner!

I can't believe in 9 short days I will be back in school, back in class, and most of all back to the little island up north!  It seems like just yesterday my mom and I were loading my car up with things to come home for the summer!  Sadly, when you have as wonderful a summer as I have- time will fly too fast!  

Yesterday I opened the webpage that has our schedule, and another that has my course materials posted.  Then I took a deep breath.  I realized a few things pretty quickly- the first is that I am signed up for 11 courses this semester.  The second was I remember very little from last year that I probably need to remember.  Third I realized that it is real.  I really am entering my third year of vet school- I will be writing my last final exam (aside from the one really big licensing exam in 4th year), I will be expected to retain and implement things I have learned the past two years, and most importantly third year represents a turning point in vet school.  The labs are now much more hands on, the procedures are things you will be doing for the rest of your life, and the classroom lectures are preparing you for your future- both in rotations and beyond.  All of a sudden it hit me that third year is over the halfway hump, which means my real "adult" future is practically glaring at me, taunting me from afar- yet close enough so I can begin to see the outline of what may happen.  It's daunting, it's exciting, and most of all it's my goal.  

Once courses start up I will have more to say about what they entail, and what I am learning.  This first semester we had three lecture courses that were supplemental we could take if we wanted to.  I have opted to take all three, as I feel that in some way they will all likely come into play in the future.  They are once a week courses, and while it adds to the workload, this has become somewhat of a moot point for me- as vet school is a large workload anyways, 3 extra courses or not.  The first course is Advanced Anesthesiology. I really like the professor who will be doing the teaching, and it will be case based and focus on difficult patients and how we can best manage them under anesthesia.  Anesthesia is one of those things that doesn't go away- it's vital as a veterinarian (and technician) to understand and be able to use it appropriately, and I welcome the chance to review important things in this class.  The second course is called Integrative Medicine.  This will focus on alternative therapies like acupuncture, and while I am not sure many of the fine details for this course, it is clear that many clients have an interesting in alternatives to traditional medicine, so being able to discuss these even in just a cursory manner will be helpful down the road.  Lastly, I signed up for Intro to Exotics.  While I don't have any particular interest in treating the exotic or pocket pet patients, inevitably you get phone calls and clients who want you to deal with their small, slightly less traditional pets if you are a small animal veterinarian and I feel it's important to round me out as a vet to have an understanding of these patients.  

My summer has been blissful.  I did do a few shifts of work if someone was out and the clinic needed help, but mostly I focused on doing things I wanted.  I did get to expand my knowledge for surgical things.  I did get a tan.  I did spend more time with friends and family.  I got to go camping with some of my favorite girls- we drank, we swam in the water, we got sunburnt and hung out.  I don't know the last time I went camping- but I should make time to do it more often!  I also got to go with my father to Saratoga to the horse track, and even though we both lost all our money we had a lot of fun!  I am always in awe of the racehorses, they are such impressive creatures.  The first race we watched was a steeplechase and I had never seen one in person.  I wish that the biggest race held at Saratoga- the Traverse- was not the Saturday before I am due to head back to school, because I would love to go.  Depending on the results of the Derby, Preakness and Belmont, often big name horses that participated in those races appear.  This year, the horse who won the Belmont will be racing in the stakes.  Some year, I will get there!  

My lack of coordination continued and it has put a damper on the length of hiking I have been able to do this summer.  I fell and messed up by ankle pretty severely in the end of June and it is still in the process of healing.  About three weeks ago I fell again and hurt my knee on the same leg.  This too is still in the process of healing- and admittedly both would be doing better if I didn't insist about doing at least a short walk daily.  The dogs need exercise, I need exercise and summer would be wasted if I didn't get out and enjoy it.  I finally took a long hike the other night, close to 7 miles, and while I was sore the next day- the pain was certainly not as bad as it could have been!  I am hoping despite having a busy school schedule I will be able to get daily walks in still- especially on the beach as I enjoy wandering it.  

Having Ryker stay with us this summer has been wonderful.  He's smart, he's goofy, he's a good cuddler, he loves (and tolerates) Tizzie, you really couldn't ask for a better house guest.  I am going to have to have some visitations with this charmer when school kicks back up again- because I will miss him!  I thought long and hard about whether or not I was going to consider taking on a dog this year, and the even though I would love to, I can't see how it will be fair for the dog- especially next semester when I have surgery duties that are a huge time constraint.  I am toying with the idea of bringing my "fridge cat" Pepper back to school with me after winter break- it will depend on how things are going.  The nice thing about that option is that when craziness of fourth year hits she can easily transition to going back to living with my mom, if need be.  She really prefers being the only cat- somewhat of a pariah in the house at the moment- and she would love being the only kitty in the house.  I am planning to see what happens with my schedule this year and what the feedback is from my classmates who are enrolled in the surgical lab this semester in terms of balancing their time.  

Like all good things, this summer is coming to a close and I wouldn't have traded it for the world.  I needed to take some time to just do things I wanted.  I am truly an introvert- I enjoy and need my alone time to recharge.  In the past, being at work all day (even though I love the work, the clients and their pets), and then still having to find time to spend with friends, family, my own pets, and house sitting for others was very draining to me.  I found that I often turned down chances to go out and spend time with friends because I simply didn't want to be doing anything involving social activities.  Having had this summer to take advantage of ample alone time, I was also more excited and "rested" to do things with my friends and family- and go out and be social.  I took time to enjoy being outside, to work on some training things with the little black pug monster, and to explore books and more.  Maybe my cash flow is low now that the end of summer is here, and maybe I could have worked, saved more money and had a slightly lower student loan- but I have the rest of my life to work and pay on my loans- I don't have this option anytime in the near future.  

On a final note, I owe a huge thank you to everyone who has given my name out as a potential house sitter over these last several years.  I never have to advertise for my service, and I am very grateful for the good references and word of mouth that have given me the ability to house sit for a large number of clients and pets.  I have been house sitting since I was 13 years old- first just letting dogs out once or twice a week, and then gradually I began staying at people's houses for them.  That's close to 15 years experience doing this job, and I have enjoyed nearly every minute of doing it, in large part because I have wonderful clients and they have equally wonderful animals.  Every time someone calls and asks my availability, or messages to tell me they want to plan their vacations around my availability I am awed, and thankful.  Trusting someone to stay with your animals is a huge undertaking, one no one takes lightly, and it means so much to me that you all have allowed me to do it so long. With the close of this summer, comes the close of my pet sitting service in Vermont, at least for the next few years.  I am entering a time in my education where I will be very busy, and have very few opportunities to return home to see my family and friends.  In December I will return home for Christmas, but after that the likelihood that I will be home before August of 2015 is quite slim, depending on what my rotations end up looking like.  House sitting for me is serious, and I hold myself to spending the majority of the time you are gone to being with your fur children- which means I don't spend as much time with my own family and friends.  While I don't mind this at all, my vacations will not be long enough as it is, and I am going to dedicate the time over breaks to be with friends and family.  I hope you all understand, and I am happy to try and help you find someone else who will work for you, if I can.  

As the semester gets underway, I will try to post about what kinds of classes we have this semester as they promise to be more interesting than the previous two years! By now you are all aware of how poor I am at updating this, so bear with me if it takes awhile.  With luck, I will remember and have time to do it a little more frequently so that the posts are not pages long!   

Summer time sunshine

*Editor's note- I apparently never published this post!  It was meant for viewing more towards the beginning of the summer... technology, grr!*

I have been planning to update the blog for many weeks now, but as you know by now I am not the best at keeping up with writing, especially when life is not terribly exciting.

So, where I left off: I was heading into finals which is always a grueling time of year, and trying to decide what to do with my summer.  I am happy to report on both fronts I made a plan, and actually stuck to it!  Finals were the normal busy, stressful time.  I have sat through four full sessions of final exams at vet school and I would be lying if I said it got any easier along the way.  This semester it seemed finals took forever- we had barely ended midterms when lab finals began- but this is also why the school year flies by so quickly!

It has been so long now since I wrote the exams, I don't recall many of the individual details.  Lab practicals are the most stressful for me, as they involves showing what you can do in front of professors.  For as long as I can remember, I have stressed and fumbled my way through exercises where people are standing in front of me awaiting to grade or scrutinize my work.  I prepare particularly hard for these scenarios for that reason.  My first lab practical was surgical exercises.  There were three manned stations and a couple of unmanned stations.  I had to show that I could do a circumferential ligature, a hand tie, and begin an intradermal suture pattern.  None of these were things I was unprepared for.  My hand tie was very nice, though apparently it was left handed, as the person who was teaching it to me was a leftie- and I cannot duplicate it on my right as well!  I was very nervous and shaking when I had to do my intradermal pattern- and not for lack of knowing it, more for the intimidation factor.  My ligature for the circumferential was fine- however snugging down a knot on the material we were using was not easy and it flustered me a bit when it was slipping.  Overall, I finished the practical and all tasks in the allotted time.  My second practical was in anesthesiology.  Having done much anesthesia as a technician before I came to vet school, I was not as nervous for this practical.  That said, I still shook my way through the two manned stations, even though the professors administering were very nice, calm people.  The practical for that went very well for me, which gave a nice bonus to my overall grade- as their written lecture exams were notoriously difficult.

All said, my final GPA for the semester was very good- at a level I never thought I would be able to reach considering the way my vet school career started.  I spent a lot of time this year refining my study methods, and put in a lot of effort to learning the material.  It was helpful that the material was more interesting in a lot of ways then the first year was to me, but it was also beneficial knowing that I was going to be halfway done vet school as soon as I wrote my last exam!

As most people are aware by now, in between finishing midterms and beginning finals, I had to say goodbye to my school year companion and favorite fluffy dog.  If you read the previous blog posts you know Cherry was battling a few issues- none of which were uncomplicated or easy to handle- and you know she was facing a tough road with her joint infection.  Interestingly, since Cherry had started her new round of meds she had been doing pretty well.  I had even increased her exercise some- we began walking the paved path by the beach more frequently.  It was on one such walk that Cherry collapsed and could not get back up.  Unfortunately, even if I had opted to do a CT scan on her, I knew the prognosis for her was not good.  I called Nikki and we decided it was only fair to her, given all her issues, to say our goodbyes.  The most fitting thing for Cherry was to bring her home so she could be surrounded by people she loved in a place she knew well, and not a clinic where her only encounters had been with her knee surgeries.  I drove her the 12 hours home- stopping once in Maine to sleep briefly beside her in the back of the car.  Once we made it home all of us sat outside with her, and hugged her and told her how special a dog she was- and she sat and watched traffic go by- one of her favorite past times.  We took her to McDonald's and fed her nuggets and fries, and before she entered her anesthetic phase prior to euthanasia, she sat contentedly licking an Oreo McFlurry- completely ignoring the needle and completely involved in her food.  It was peaceful and calm, something I wish for anyone who has to watch their loved pet leave this world.  While I may not have been her owner, her time living with me both at our apartment in Colchester with Nikki, and at school this past year, cemented a relationship with her that was important and lasting.  Always proving she had something to teach, she showed me that no day is a given and it's important to take the time and smell the roses (or, in her case the beautiful ocean breeze.) 

Since school has let out for the summer I have been trying to follow that example.  I decided before the school year came to a close that I was going to take the summer off from work.  From the time I was 16 years old I have spent my summers working at least full time- the only exception being the summer I took classes.  Last summer I worked an ungodly number of hours between a couple of jobs, plus I house sat.  Next summer I will be busy on rotations for school and after that for the remainder of my working life I will be busy earning money to pay back all my student loans.  Never again will I have the chance to take a summer and do with it what I want to- at least not until I retire. Taking the summer off has allowed me to do some things I did not have the chance to do before now.  For one, I have been able to do some surgical learning.  While I spent many hours standing in a surgery room monitoring patients, to see if from the perspective of someone who will be performing surgery is totally different.  I have a better understanding of suture patterns, wound closures, and what the actual process for doing each procedure is.  This will be beneficial to me in the upcoming semesters as we perform surgery!  I have done some house sitting this summer, and I have gotten to spend some time with friends, whereas last summer I was always that lame girl who could never go out.  I will get to take some time this summer to enjoy the weather- in fact I have mowed the lawn, gotten a tan, taken the dogs for walks and generally enjoyed having a more lax schedule.  Unfortunately about 10 days ago I fell and hurt my ankle/foot- however I think I am on the mend- and the dogs hope I am as our walks have been shortened, slower and boring this last week.



Another benefit to taking the summer off has been that I could agree to watch Ryker- a Malinois owned by a classmate of mine- for the summer.  Nancy, who owns this beautiful boy, is partaking in a summer of Vets Without Borders in Kenya and as such needed someone to take on her two dogs.  Her parents took her Malamute, but I agreed to take on Ryker so he could have some time away from his sister (and more so she could have a break from him!)  He is a wonderful dog, and Nancy has put a lot of time and effort into his training.  I am hopefully he doesn't regress to far while he is in my care- we do practice his commands I promise... however he also has me wrapped around his little paw at times ;)  Ryker and Tizzie have become great friends- they play together, walk together, just generally enjoy being together.  Ryker and I have been spending a lot of time walking, hiking, and swimming, as well as playing ball- and when I bring him back to her upon return to the island I will be very sad to see him go!  I have missed having a big dog cuddling with me in bed.  I may have to steal him from her from time to time to get a fix for the big dog!  This school year promises to be very busy for me and as such I don't feel that having a dog will be in the best interest of myself, or the dog- so I will likely be animal free for the year.  I am considering a guinea pig, but the trouble will always be travelling between home and Canada, plus finding care for it while I am on rotations in fourth year.  So, for now I am going to be facing a quiet cottage this school year.

The remainder of my summer promises to be fun, and I am sure it will go too quickly.  I'd like to say I will update again in the near future, but in likelihood it won't be too soon.  Summer's are too short and the weather generally too nice to spend a lot of time inside on your computer, and as such I will probably not update until closer to my return to the island.  Until then, I hope everyone continues to enjoy their summer!

The end is near...

I'm fairly certain I say this every time I sit down to write a blog- but it has been a long time since I updated!  As always whatever I say is probably of little interest to those who experience it with me, but I enjoy taking the time to update my friends and family that I don't speak to on a frequent basis- or who just can't decipher what the heck my status updates mean and who enjoy reading through my meandering posts instead.  

Midterm season has finally come to an end for my second year of vet school.  It took FOREVER to reach this point.  Our  first midterm was January 31st.  Our last midterm was this past Monday- Saint Patricks Day!  While they were spread out for the most part, there was a two week span where I had 3 midterms scheduled in and very little time for anything other than a passing bite to eat and a short snooze (more like a nap really).  It seems to me every time midterms roll around I conveniently forget just how little sleep I get, and how little I do anything other than study.  I would be lying if I told you I never procrastinated because I do that well also- Netflix just one more episode, dishes to do- you name it, I probably have done it to avoid studying.  As you can imagine, by the end of midterms I am exhausted and mentally can't stand staring at text books any longer.  As my prize for making it through midterms this semester I took this week to catch up on other things while doing the bare minimum in terms of school studying.  This weekend will be the last weekend before finals that I am not stuck with my face in my notes for hours on end.  A friend and I were discussing how our definition of "a lot of studying" has changed since undergrad.  In undergrad if I spent the whole day before a test studying, I considered that a lot.  Sometimes I would study for 10 hours over weekends for really intense classes but I never had to be as disciplined as I am here.  On an average weekend before a midterm, even with procrastination factored, in I usually study 20 hours.  During the week I sometimes am in class until 3:30 or 4, and then come home, organize a few things, and then hit the books again for 5 or 6 more hours.  I never knew a person could study like that before- but when you have 70 or more pages of material in front of you that you must memorize, it's not hard to take that long! 

One last push for the semester begins with the start of lab finals on April 7, and then it snowballs from there, with my last final on May 3- and yes I know that is a Saturday.  The end of second year is in sight!  That fact is both exciting, and daunting.  Before the end of the semester, we will declare whether or not we are large animal, small animal, mixed practice or "other" which typically refers to wildlife and exotics, or something like government interests.  While this does not track you totally for the remainder of your vet school career, it does place you in terms of when you will do your surgery for third year, and when you pick your labs in third year.  It does have a little bearing down the road for your rotations in fourth year, but in the immediate future it plays a role in your scheduling.  I will be picking small animal, not a surprise if you know me, and that should place me for surgery in the second semester next year.


School hasn't been all work and no play.  I cannot study every hour of every day.  A few weeks back, before midterms really got into a hard push, the Bovine club put on the Large vs. Small pub crawl.  I love dancing, and I enjoy hanging out with friends, but the weekends where I used to spend the majority of my time out at bars and recuperating the next day have dwindled as I have gotten older.  It's not to say I don't still enjoy going out- just that I do so with far less frequency than I used to.  This was a throwback for me, though pub crawls in undergrad were never a school approved event.  I never went to a pub crawl back home, never had much desire.  This event turned out to be a lot of fun.  We started with some trivia at the first bar (my team didn't win trivia, but we did win a drink ticket for the next bar by having the best name... I don't think I shall repeat the name here- it's not exactly appropriate ;)).  The second bar we went to we had another round of beer and hanging out, but it was the third bar that I had the most fun at.  We danced, and met new people, and in general had a great time.  I had forgotten how much fun it was to just go out dancing, and I spent time with people I don't spend large amounts of time with, so it was a chance to get to know some of them better.

Last Friday, my class hosted the schools annual "Suture Review"  which actually has nothing to do with suturing.  Instead, this is a chance for our class to fundraise for graduation, and for the members of AVC to showcase their general humor and talent.  There are live acts, and videos and we present them in a manner according to a chosen theme.  For our class, we chose the theme Awards Night.  We had two great hosts from my class, and a lot of entertaining submissions from people.  Additionally, my class also had a live act.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I am NOT someone who enjoys being on a stage in front of people.  I don't even like presenting in front of my class- let alone a large portion of the school.  Somehow, my brain decided it would be a wise choice to agree to being part of the class live act on stage.  Regardless, some multi-talented people in my class put together a song and a performance to the "Cup Song" but with lyrics  pertaining to vet school.  I learned how to do the cup motions, and despite my initial hesitations regarding performing, things actually went quite well.  I did not fling my cup off the stage (which would not have been the end of the world), nor did I fall of the stage or forget what I was supposed to be doing.  I don't have any desire to be back on the stage at any point in time in the near future, but I do believe in personal growth, and I do believe that the only way to grow is to challenge yourself to do things that scare you.  Well, being on stage scares the ever loving crap out of me, and thus I took this as a chance to prove I could do something different.  

Earlier in the week of suture review, we also hosted a "Coffehouse" at the school in the evening.  The premise behind this was a night of artwork, musical talents, and snacks.  During the school day, artists in the school could display their artwork (in many forms- from pottery to jewelry to paintings) for people to appreciate, and then the display continued at night while the musical talent was on display as well.  I made chocolate peanut butter rice krispies treats for the event, though it was hard not to just eat them all when they were finished!  I am in total awe of the talent that my classmates have.  Some have incredible voices, or play phenomenal musical pieces with their instruments of choice... and me, I feel totally inadequate in both the artistic and musical fields.  I can't draw a straight line with a ruler, and my singing is best left in the walls of my bathroom, or in my car while driving alone- not something to share with the public.  To have the ability to perform in front of people, and put yourself and your talent on display is awe-inspiring enough.  There were many people who sang or performed that I had no idea could actually do those things.  It was refreshing to see something not related to veterinary medicine being celebrated, and I hope next years class continues the tradition as well.  

And finally, for all those who ask and are kind enough to care, there is the Cherry update.  As most people know, she has been battling her joint infection now for quite some time (as in, since October.)  She has endured joint tap after joint tap (which isn't terribly invasive, just a needle into the joint cavity), a joint flushing, another surgery to remove hardware and the remaining meniscus in the knee, and more joint taps.  We thought in December that she was going to be headed down the right path- her surgical hardware was out which was the likely source of infection, and her joint tap in December at home was negative for any bacteria!  When we got back up here in January she should have been continuing to progress with her lameness.  The removal of the meniscus in her joint means that she walks with bone on bone contact which causes much more arthritis in the joint than if she had some cushioning in the joint, so we knew that she was probably never going to be a sound (non lame) dog again. The hope was that with medical management she would have a decent gait to where she could compensate and enjoy her life still.  However, by the middle to end of January she was no longer making progress with her gait, and at times she was maybe slightly more lame than she was in the middle of December.  I brought her back for another recheck, and another joint tap which showed her infection was back.  We had stopped meds in December because the infection was negative when in reality it was likely present still in very small amounts.  Part of the problem with her culture has always been that the bacteria is never present in very high quantity and often she does not grow bacteria on culture as quickly as one would expect.  So, we started her back on antibiotics, with the plan being a full 6 weeks more of meds, and a joint tap in the middle to assess how well they were working.  She had her joint tapped halfway through the course of antibiotics, and the report came back as negative for bacterial growth.  So, we finished her meds, planning to retap the joint 4-5 days after finishing to be sure that her infection was really gone.  I brought her back to school on Thursday for a recheck and retap, and when they reopened her file to check her history they found that her last report that was "finalized" from the lab was actually finalized too early, and she was still positive at the previous tap.  So, she is back on antibiotics for another three weeks, then we will tap the joint again.  At this point I, as well as her mother Nikki, are praying the end of the tunnel is in sight after this round of medication.  If the tap comes back positive, her treatment for infection needs to become more aggressive, and options begin to dwindle.  So, please, if you have a spare thought in a few weeks down the line, use it to think positively for her.  In the mean time, Cherry is happy happy happy.  She loves her car rides, she loves to walk the trail/beach for her limited amount of time she is allowed, she loves to see people when we go out and about... food is the best thing ever.  There are a lot of people in this world who could learn from her.  Staying happy in the face of so much- it's a feat that I don't think many people could accomplish.  I learn a lot from her... I learn to laugh and not stress over little things (she might not stress because she can't grasp little things... but it works for my parallel), and I learn to get up and try again if something doesn't go exactly as I plan it.  We might joke that her brain has one brain cell that takes frequent vacations, but if that's the case her one brain cell does the functions that are most important perfectly well. 

As the school year winds down, I am reminded that this school year has been exciting, rewarding and difficult.  I have learned so much, with more hands on labs and interactive things to do.  I participated in a fun ultrasound wet lab this past week, and it's amazing to me the things I have the chance to do.  For some I think they spend their adult lives in a slow growth phase- where education and learning decrease to a trickle.  For me, I hope the day where my learning is diminished never comes.  I think how boring life would be if I didn't have something each day that I could say I learned.  Even though this summer will not require me to have a nose in the books, I look forward to taking part in things that allow me to continue to explore my love for this job, and for the animals.  Along with the barbecues and the fishing, the tanning and the reading I intend to squeeze in- I am looking forward to spending the time learning how to do new things, even some not related to veterinary medicine.  Who knows- maybe I will even learn to draw that straight line with a ruler.

We're back... back at it again!

Tizzie, Mom's pug, at home over break

After a much needed, albeit too short break Cherokee and I are back on the island of red sand beaches and wind.  Actually, the semester has been marching on for 2 weeks now, and before the end of this month I will sit my first exam for the semester!  It is truly incredible how quickly time passes up here while studying.

The trip back home for the Christmas break did not start off really well.  The day of my last final, the day before I was due to leave the island (at a very early hour), I went out to start my car about 10 minutes before I was supposed to head to town (yes, I know, environmentally bad but it was COLD)... except the car wouldn't start.  I tried unsuccessfully to get it to turn over a couple of times and by the time I was done attempting, it was time to be driving to school.  My stress level was pretty much through the roof at that point, but fortunately my neighbor is very nice, and even though her section of the exam did not start for an hour after mine she agreed to bring me to school early, and we left my car to deal with it after the exam. What was odd about the car was that the lights came on when I used the power unlock button, and at full strength.  The interior lights also all came on without an issue.  This made me wonder if was something other than my battery that was the issue.

I took my last final, which went fine- though it was a final where you had to sometimes go demonstrate/explain processes to examiners on the live animals.  It is not that I didn't know what I was doing or looking for, but having to explain things to people without much time to formulate my thoughts, and knowing it counts for a grade, really makes me flustered.  Thankfully, it went well.  When I finished my exam I went to try and find a place on the island that was open past 5 PM on this Friday, had time to change the battery on my car assuming I could get it jumped, and it wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg.  Turns out, last minute problems, especially when there is a storm due to hit, make any of the above nearly impossible.  I was really concerned that driving the car and having to stop for gas might lead to the battery dying somewhere not convenient (looking at you, Houlton ME... with your middle of nowhere gas station...) especially since we were hoping to be off island by 4:30AM, in order to beat the impending storm at home.  My landlord came by, and when he jumped the car for me- it started without a minutes hesitation once he had the charge pack connected.  That made me feel better, and I decided if the car started easily in the AM (when the high temperature was -10 F) I would drive it home... but leave later so that I wouldn't be stuck somewhere in the wee hours of the morning.

Cherry all ready for our trip home- in her princess seat of course

When I got up the next morning, I loaded the car up and it started without a problem.  Cherokee and I needed to try and make it to the mountain we have to cross to get home before it started to snow too bad, because I have crossed that mountain in bad weather before, and it resulted in an 2 hour wait at the peak for the winds/snow to subside.  I wasn't driving a 4 wheel drive vehicle then, but in reality, I would still have pulled off because I couldn't see.  Our drive was decent weather until we hit the New Hampshire border where the snow had started to grease the roads.  By the time we were getting off the last highway and onto the last main road we take over the mountain the road was covered in snow, but I found traction ok.  Finally, we arrived back home to a very fresh coat of snow, and a much welcome break!

The three weeks at home were great.  The only catch was that I managed to leave the majority of my 3 weeks of dirty laundry sitting on my floor in my cottage... not terribly helpful to only have 2 pairs of sweatpants, 1 shirt, and some random under garments.  I ended up having to shop a little while I was home for myself, always such a shame.  The time at home went too quickly, but I was also looking forward to coming back up here my little quiet cottage.  On the drive back to school, I was able to stop and catch up with the room mate I had my very first year of college!  We don't get a chance to chat or catch up nearly as often as I would like, and it was great to start where we left off!  Plus, getting to her is right on the way for me to go back, and I bypassed 2 tolls in the process!  It made for a nice break in the trip... though next time, I will leave earlier so I am not pulling in my driveway here on the island at 2 AM, with class the next morning.

And classes.  There are 8 full semester courses, and 1 shorter course this semester.  So far, I really like most of them, and they are as follows:

Aquaculture and Fish Health- A course that teaches you all about health of fish, and veterinary management of fish and aquaculture systems.  I really had my doubts about this course when I started this semester because I knew nothing about fish.  Turns out, there is a lot to know, they are pretty neat and the labs we get to do are fun too!  So far, I have had one lab where we did a bath treatment.  Basically, this consists of calculating the volume of their tank and adding salt (or other chemicals) to the water for the fish to swim through.  It was a neat experience, and I certainly had no idea what it meant to do a bath treatment.

Clinical Pathology- This class teaches us about the biochemical changes we can appreciate in an animal, especially using things like bloodwork reports, and lab work.  I always have enjoyed this subject matter, though so far a lot of this has been review for me.  I always enjoy when I get to add something new to my learning and I have now a better understanding of how something gives a result- not just what the result means.

Systemic Pathology- A continuation of the first semester study of the disease processes in the body.  We have started with the neurology aspect of it, and brains are fascinating to me.  I like this class a lot, and seeing the specimens lets me understand better what is going when I am presented with those cases.

Principles of Medicine- This class is kind of a catch-all course that is working to familiarize us with common medical problems and ways in which we can approach handling the cases.  I like it's practical approach, and I like that it is finally a chance to delve a little deeper into vet medicine.

Principles of Surgery- Pretty self explanatory really.  We are learning the background that is going to allow us to perform surgical procedures, including in the not to distant future the suturing aspect.  So far we have done gloving, gowning and draping and talked about instruments- which is review, but I like it.  I am nervous about doing real surgery, and who wouldn't be, so hopefully this will help me gain some confidence before we start junior surgery next year.

Principles of Anesthesia- Also self explanatory.  For me so far this class has been a lot of review, but not in a bad way.  Now I am also learning practical things like when to select specific drugs- whereas before I could tell you what drugs did what things, now I can understand why you pick them out.  I really like the professor, and I really enjoy anesthesiology in general- since there are so many ways to get the end result you want- a safely anesthetized patient!

Pharm and Tox- A continuation of last semester where we learn about the drugs, the systems they affect, and when to utilize them.  It's a lot of work to keep all the material straight and organized, and it is definitely an advantage that I have seen a lot of drugs used, so that I have to work a little less to keep it all straight.

Theriogenology- The study of reproduction!  I must say that at this point it is overwhelming the sheer number of hormones and feedback loops that play a role just in general in the way that reproduction occurs.  I have a fantastic professor, though he teaches in a very auditory learning style dominant manner- and I am largely a visual learner.  He goes off on incredible tangents and tells great tales, and the class is so dynamic.  I may not follow a lot of what he says in class til I go home and read the material, but it is always enjoyable to go to class.  (PS- he says the uterus goes ape shit... this does not make pregnancy appealing at all, in the least.)

Lastly, my absolute favorite and unfortunately the short course for the semester: Clinical Behavior for Companion Animals.  I pretty much have always been interested in behavior... I read the studies, the texts, the books that come out on the topic... It fascinates me.  When I first came to vet school I thought it was maybe what I wanted to pursue as a specialty.  My interest in specialty waned a little over the course of last year- but now I remember why I want to do it... I LOVE IT.  And, I love this professor.  She had me excited when she threw dominance theory out the window in the first lecture.  I suppose you could say my enjoyment of her as a professor is somewhat biased since she is echoing things I have read and ascribe to pretty much to a tee, but truly, I feel it is time that someone stands up and says these things!  I could write a whole other blog on the trouble with jargon, the trouble with the dominance theory etc. and so on- but I will avoid digressing further and simply say that this is my passion.  In some way, I will have this play a large role in my post vet school life- even if I do not go on to become a specialist in the field.  I need to get on the ball and looking at doing some external rotations for fourth year in this subject as the opportunities are limited and there are always more people attempting to do the externships than they can take on.

In closure for the post tonight, I'll just say that there is a lot coming up this semester- our class has a major fundraiser on the horizon, there is a pub crawl for the school towards the end of February, and our midterm and finals schedules are a bit crazy-- much better than they were to start off-- but certainly I will be busy.  I am sure I will post an update before too long!  

Good night, all!