Year 2 begins

I’m back….!

I had a wonderful summer.  I went to Hawaii, worked at a corporate vet outfit, and did a little bit of shadowing. Hawaii was amazing.  I am not entirely sure why I don’t live there except that there is no veterinary school and you have to quarantine your animals for about 6 months if you move there.  Working for Big Vet Corp was interesting.  There are a lot of good and bad things I could say about it, but overall I think it was a good experience, especially for between first and second year.  Even though I had worked in a practice before, everything was in a different light after a year of vet school. The shadowing I did was amazing.  I mostly worked with vets I had worked with before, but I also got to follow a small animal surgeon around for a day, which was really, really awesomely cool.

Speaking of vet school, I am in day 6 of year 2 of veterinary school.  We are currently taking Dermatology, Pharmacology, Parasitology, Pathology, Epidemiolgy, and Animal Behavior.  Whoa is this year different so far.  Overall, teachers are better and the classes are more interesting.  Supposedly it gets really tough later because there are 2 tests every week, but right now I am a pretty happy vet student.

We changed classrooms this year.  There are 102 of us in my class and approximately 104 seats in this room.  So that’s right, people are on top of each other.  On the first day of school people who really cared about where they sat, got there really early.  After that the whole first week there were mini tiffs breaking out about people stealing seats.  I am ashamed to admit that I was a passive participant in one of these tiffs.  On day 3, I came back from lunch and someone was in my seat – and then for the next few days I kept having to try and sneak in early to get it back.  Luckily the girl in front of me gets to school super early and agreed to save my seat everyday.  (I think this is partially because she likes me and partially because the other person talked all through class and was very distracting.)

Another disadvantage of being in such a high density situation is that small things can be amplified – noises, smells, heat, and annoyed people all seem much bigger than they are. For example, last Friday the air conditioning was out and it got hot so quickly.  It was 85 degrees by the time our 11 am class started. If someone is eating yogurt 4 rows behind you, you smell it.  If someone in the back row sighs loudly because they are annoyed with someone in the front asking questions, everyone can hear it.  So far, everyone seems to be handling it well, but I guess time will tell.

My personal drama is that my housing situation is still a mess.  Right now I am living with my husband and commuting from about 90 minutes away.  That’s right, 3 hours minimum in the car everyday, which means that I have no time to do anything.  I feel like I drive, go to class, and sleep. I am stressed about figuring out where we are going to live and am actively trying to solve the problem… but more on that later.

Communications: The Elective

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am taking a communications elective.  In this class we have learned about asking the right questions, reflective listening, nonverbal skills, expressing empathy, giving feedback, conflict, euthanasia, medical errors, and talking to clients about money. Needless to say, these are all really important skills to have as a veterinarian, no matter what type of vet you become.

The assignments and labs in this class have been plentiful.  They have ranged from role playing to writing up feedback after watching a video to being filmed taking a history from an actor and then having to critique that video with a professor.  Being filmed was incredibly nerve racking.  When I walked out of the room afterwards, I felt like it was a train wreck. I kept going over all the mistakes I felt like I had made in my head.

 I recently got my video back, and it wasn’t bad.  There is definitely a lot of room for improvement, but I don’t think a client would think it was a weird interaction walking out of the room… you’ll have to tell me what you think.

http://vimeo.com/23411264

I am believable as a veterinarian, right?  For the record, that is a stuffed dog.  I was really tempted to ascultate it with my stethoscope and then exclaim that it was in cardiopulmonary arrest and start CPR, but I resisted the urge.  I think not taking it seriously might have reflected poorly on my grade. J

Electives!

At my school we are now in the period known as electives.  It is truly a breath of fresh air. The elective peroid is 6 weeks at the end of each semester (except your very first semester) where you get some choice in the classes you take. Not every school does it this way. In general everyone at our school really likes the format.

I am currently taking International Veterinary Medicine, Public Health, Small Mammal and Aquatic Medicine, Communications, Animal Welfare, and Emergency and Critical Care.  All of which are much more interesting than any of my required courses.  There are a lot of assignments and papers and some tests, but I also get some non-class time everyday.

During electives, classes are not 8 – 5 straight all day, every day.  Don’t get me wrong, I still have classes and lots of work to do - but I also have a little time to breathe.  I have been to the gym and seen my husband, which were both much needed for my mental health. 

I currently have 7 full days of school left. I can't wait to be able to put year one under my belt.

9/11/01 - 5/1/11

We were all in different places in our lives when the Twin Towers were attacked almost 10 years ago.  It created different life experiences, different losses for each of us.  There is an entire generation who doesn't really even have a meaningful recollection of what life was like before 9/11 - the war on terror has been going on half their lives.  Most of my vet school classmates were in middle school. Today someone told me that they didn’t even know what the twin towers were until they got hit by a plane- which is completely understandable since he was 12.

I don't condone celebrating death, but Osama's removal as a threat to the US is a good thing.  There has been so much criticism between people about how others were handling it, who gets credit, and what the appropriate reaction is.  We are again focusing on what divides us instead of what unites us. We are using this as an excuse to hate each other instead of a reason to unite and celebrate together.  People who don’t really remember 9/11 are telling those that were there that they can’t be happy to have some closure.  Focus on yourself; focus on doing the right thing; lead by example. 

Show compassion for your fellow man that may not have had the same experience you did. Let's focus on what we can agree on as Americans, instead of what divides us.   This is not the time to throw stones at each other.

Baby Duckies!

There was a youtube video that went around the vet school during the fall that was about a baby monkey and a pig and had a very catchy song.  You can see it here, but be warned, if you watch it more than once, this video will be stuck in your head.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_sfnQDr1-o

My husband coined a song to the same tune about my new wildlife case.  “Baby duckies, baby duckies, swimming in a tub, baby duckies.”

Monday I was assigned my new wildlife case, a female mallard duck and her 9 ducklings. Apparently this little family was attacked by a goose and 2 babies were killed and the mom now has a broken femur (Bad Goose!).  It is pretty much the most adorable thing ever. 

Twice a day my partner Wade and I go down to the wildlife ward to care for the family.  We change the water tubs, all the towels, the paper in the bottom of the run, and the food.  We also weigh all the ducklings and the mom every morning, and give the mom a ton of medicine.

Overall, it’s pretty cool.  We have named the ducklings Ferdinand, Filbert, Speedy, Lyle, Julia, Dolly, Arnold, and Lucy. They are very cute and “cheep” a lot.  They all want to be huddled together all the time.  If one gets separated from the group, it panics and runs in circles screaming… if you are imagining a cartoon, that’s really exactly what it looks like.

Mom is getting better.  She had surgery to set her leg.  Yesterday she actually started defending her ducklings. While that is unfortunate for us and our hands, it means she is feeling better – which is great! She will likely be in the hospital for 3-4 weeks, so I will likely pass the case off to the next on call shift Monday after next.

Then I am done with Wildlife Team!  It has been a good experience and I learned a lot, but it is definitely not one I am planning to repeat There has been a lot of unnecessary nonsense involved, and I am ready to pass the torch.

Happy Friday!

If you can’t say anything nice…

I have been a very bad blogger for the past few weeks, which is truly an indication of how hellish they have been.  I hope to give you guys several updates in the next few days.  

Finals.  We had them.  They were awful.  So much harder than last semester.  While, I don’t think that any of them did my GPA any favors, what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger, right?  Mine were also unusually spread out because…

Last Thursday morning – the morning of my last final, I woke up to excruciating pain in my right eye. It first started at 5:30 am and by 6:30 it became apparent to me that there was no way I was taking a test that day. I called the school and left them a message and then went to seek medical aid.  I asked both of my roommates to drive me to the health center (and both of them turned me down), but I managed to painfully get myself there anyway.

Turns out that it was a flare up from an old injury.  In July of 2009, my neighbors’ baby poked me in the eye and ripped up part of my cornea.  The neighbors never really thought it was a big deal, but it was honestly probably the most painful thing that has ever happened to me. I was on Percocet, so I don’t remember too much of my recovery.  Anyway, it turns out that in many of these cases the cornea never completely refuses the basement membrane as it heals.  So on Wednesday night while I slept, my cornea fused to my eyelid instead. When I opened my eyes Thursday morning, the eyelid ripped off a chunk of the cornea.  The technical term is "Recurrent Corneal Erosion."

When I got to the health care center they asked me what my pain was on a scale of 1-10, and I said 8-9.  Then they took my blood pressure, which rolled in at 140 / 90 (my usual is 110 / 65), and the nurse said “Wow, you really are in pain, huh?” The nurse left and the doctor was there about 2 minutes later.

The optometrist at the health care center was great. She examined me and then gave me some ointment and instructions to keep my eyes closed and the lights off for the rest of the day.  She also put a large unattractive patch on my face, so it was pretty unlikely I was going anywhere anyway.  I, amazingly, slept all day AND all night  with only limited breaks.  I imagine the stress and lack of sleep of finals combined with my injury was just more than my body could deal with.

Luckily, my very awesome friend Elizabeth came to my rescue that evening and took me to get food and more bandages.  I was a big whiny baby, so I really applaud her patience and kindness.  I don’t know what I would have done without the help. During this trip I also began to feel really sick to my stomach and that continued for 3 days unfortunately.

I was still obligated to work the vet school open house on Friday.  Luckily, I was staffed inside - out of the sun.  I also went for a follow up appointment with the optometrist. My eye was not progressing as she had hoped, so she dilated the pupil and gave me some salt drops to reduce the swelling.  I didn’t really understand the dilation at first, but apparently it paralyzes the iris to prevent said iris from agitating the wound.  She knew what she was talking about because other than the temporary numbing drops she used when she examined it initially, that dilation was the best thing that had happened to me since this debacle began.  This also gave me the chance to wear a pirate eye patch, which is not nearly as cool or as fun as it sounds.

I finally made it back to the city Friday night. (That drive was probably not the safest decision I have ever made.)  My dear husband took care of me and sat in a dark house with me for the rest of the weekend.  He went out and got me food that actually sounded good, and let me sleep a lot.  Today I finally took my last exam, and I am feeling mostly better. (Pain about 3 out of 10 J)  The stress of having to delay that exam was almost as bad as the injury itself. Looks like I either have to put this ointment in my eye for the rest of my life or have surgery.  We'll see.

Well, this post is already long enough without anymore color commentary from me. Coming soon… Posts on my baby ducks patients and electives.

Spring Break is somehow still tiring...

It has taken me 5 nights of Spring Break to finally wind down enough to actually get a goodnight’s sleep.  Boy, did it feel good.  This spring break has had me wound up worrying about everything – school, getting caught up on my life, cleaning my car, etc .  I can’t believe it’s already Wednesday. I feel like the only thing I am getting caught up on is TiVo...  And I still have a lot of that to do. 

Monday, I got to do a little shadowing at the main specialty practice in town.  I followed a nutritionist / alternative medicine veterinarian.  I learned a lot and got to see what a private specialty practice is like.  The doctor had several Acupuncture appointments and that was really interesting.  The dogs and cats actually tolerate it very well which was pretty surprising to me.  The entire day was pretty neat even if I was tired.

Happy Mardi Gras!

This week is a beast. First thing Monday morning, we had a renal physiology test. I dislike Monday tests because I feel like they steal my weekend.  But thankfully, the test didn’t seem so bad.  (We’ll see when I get my grade back.)

We have our cumulative Large Animal Anatomy Final Friday afternoon, and it is a lot of material.   Every spare minute this weel has to be spent in the lab.  I have decided that it is not possible to be prepared for this test, so it is just important to put as much time in as I can.

The good thing about this week is that I am finally off call for Wildlife Team.  That was taking up so much of my time.  At least, I feel like I have some free time - time I desperately need to study.  I don’t go back on call for a month.

The last thing that is challenging about this week is that Wednesday is Ash Wednesday.   Every year I try to give up something and take something on for lent.  I am going to give up sugar again, but I haven’t decided what I want to take on yet… I get pretty grumpy for the first week or so, so I am preparing to be sour for the next week. Luckily (or unluckily depending on how you look at it) spring break is next week so my classmates don’t have to put up with me.

Sheep, Goats, and Tests, Oh My!

Yesterday I got bit by a vulture.  Today I wrestled a sheep - which is defintely a workout.  Today was our small ruminant physical diagnosis lab.  So we got to go in the pen with sheep and goats and examine them.  It was pretty fun, they were really neat animals. I also definitely understand the goats as pets thing a little more now - they were pretty cuddly. 

In order to completely examine a sheep and clip its hooves you have to "sit it up", which involves manuvering it to get it in a sitting position.  With a 180 lb sheep, that is about as easy as it sounds. I was out of breath by the time I got the first one down.  I learned that I am not very good at trimming the hooves and, in fact, got my finger caught in the trimmers (very small injury)…  no worry though since I am already on all the meds for the vulture bite J.  Speaking of my vulture bite, the health center got in touch with me today, and they want me to come back in for a tetanus booster.  I made an appointment for tomorrow after my test.

Today was a little bit of a breaking point for me.  I have been spending so much time treating my vulture and turtle, in addition to my classes, that I was just feeling overwhelmed, tired, and a little fragile. I had a monster head ache and was feeling achy and sour.   So shortly after I got to Anatomy lab and realized we were all caught up on our dissection, I just decided that I had to make a mental / physical health decision.  I went back to my room and took a 3 hour nap. I always feel guilty or worried about this kind of thing, because I am not the kind of person who misses class, but it was a good decision.  I feel like a new person – less emotional, less overwhelmed, less tired, and my headache is gone.

I, however, do per usual have a test tomorrow.  So, I will stop blogging and go study L.  I hope you are all doing well.

V is for very bad vulture.

This morning, as we were trying to give the vulture fluids, it bit me.  On my face.  True Story. I know technically it was my fault that he could reach my face, but that doesn’t make it any more pleasant.  I now have a nice, albeit shallow, vulture beak scratch on my right cheek.  I didn’t really know what to do.  So, I went to the Student Health Care Center, just to make sure everything was alright.

The health care center was rather baffled about why I was handling a vulture until I explained that I was a vet student.  They didn't seem to have any idea what to do about the bite.  The nurse practitioner however, did notice that I was sick, and sent me home with antibiotics for the cold that I have instead. They seemed very unconcerned about the bite…

… until I got a frantic voicemail from a nurse trying to get me to come back immediately…  oh Student Health Care Center.

V is for Vulture.

This is my on call weekend for the Wildlife team, which means I have been in my college town all weekend.  The weekend started at about 4:30 on Friday.  Just as I was about to leave school after our Ethics final, and I got a call saying there was a bird down in the Exotics Ward that was to be my next Wildlife case.  So, I turned around and headed down to the hospital wondering what awaited me. 

Much to my surprise, it was a big Black Vulture.  I was ecstatic to have another patient, but I must admit that vulture was not what I was hoping for.  If you have never been around big wild birds before (and I haven’t) they can be a little scary.  They have gigantic beaks and long talons.  Additionally, it is also a little scary because birds are so easy to hurt / kill.  They breathe different than mammals so if you squeeze them while holding them you suffocate them.  Alternatively, if they aren’t wrapped tightly enough their wings can get loose and they can pretty easily break the bones in their wings (birds bones are filled with air to make them more light weight for flying).

Whether I like it or not a vulture was what I had.  There was a little confusion about who else was supposed to come down to exam the bird, so I actually ended up waiting for about 2 hours.  In the meantime, I treated my turtle and waited patiently.  When everything got straightened out, I ended up with a great partner (we’ll call her Emily).  We examined the bird, and couldn’t really find anything wrong with him except that he seemed a little skinny and dehydrated. So our plan was to feed him well, give him fluids and then get blood work done on Monday.

For a canine patient, feed and give fluids is not really a complicated treatment, in fact it is rather easy.  For a wild bird, not so much.  Feeding him involves thawing a rat, give it to him, and then cleaning up the rat remains after.  That is about as ick as it sounds.  (Vet students, unlike the rest of the world, prefer our rats alive.)  It also smells horrendous.  Giving fluids involves catching the bird, restraining him, and then injecting the fluids under his skin from a giant syringe while he attempts to fail.  He often attempts to poop and pee on us during this part.  We give fluids 3 times a day and feed twice a day.  So, I am spending about 4 hours each day treating the turtle and the vulture. 

While I do love treating my patients, I need some time need to study too.  Since it really seems like there is nothing wrong with the vulture, we are hoping the blood work will confirm he is okay and we can send him to a rehabber early next week.  Then I will be back to just Yertle the Turtle.

My husband has come to see me each day this weekend, which has been nice.  Our littlest dog was sick last week and spent 2 days at the vet, so my husband couldn't come see me.  I was on call for wildlife team, so I couldn't go see them either.  The weeks are so much harder when we don't get to be around each other.

Yesterday we got to go out with some of my classmates, which was great.  I like introducing him to people, so everyone can put faces with names.  It was also nice to see some of them outside of school. 

Two more weeks and 3 exams (Endocrinology /Reproduction, Renal Physiology, and the cummulative Anatomy final) before Spring Break…  I think I am going to sleep for 3 days straight.

The Power of the Study Group

One of the best ways to get through vet school is to have a study group (or several study groups).  I study longer because learning with friends is just more fun.  When I get distracted there is someone else to pull me back (and I get distracted A LOT).  I learn so much better by talking something through than I do just by reading it.  And misery loves company, something about it is just a little better when it feels like you are all in it together. 

In an ideal world I would have study buddies for every class, and it would be easier to do better in school (and who doesn't want life to be a little easier?). If only lived in an ideal world...  unfortunately I have faced a few roadblocks that I am working to overcome:

·         In vet school, everyone is constantly trying to drink from a fire hose.  There is so much information, you can barely get it straight yourself, much less have time to go over it with others. When you have 2 tests in a week, it just seems like there isn’t time.

·         The people you like and the people you work well with aren’t always the same. In order for a study group to be successful and lasting you usually need both.  I have found a study group that worked for me, but socially we were a little different so it was hard to develop a long term relationship. Finally, some people that I like socially don’t have the same work or study style that I do.

·         Making friends in general can be hard. You need friends before you have a study group.

It seems that lately, there has been a small but slightly variable group of us that have been getting together to study before our more minor tests.  I really like it. Tonight we went to Jason’s Deli and reviewed Ethics for about 3 hours. As hard as it is to believe, it was a blast - mainly because those girls are hilarious.  (Actually I am pretty sure an outsider listening to our conversation would have thought we were bonkers, but I think that might be true of most vet student on vet student conversations.)

Here’s to good people, free ice cream, and making learning a little less miserable.  ::clink, clink::

If this is vet school where are all the animals?

First year, especially first semester, can be frustrating because you touch very few live animals.  You spend your time in the lecture hall and with dead animals in anatomy lab.  Most of your classroom learning is far from clinical… sometimes it seems like all anyone ever talks about is immunoglobulin and prostaglandin – 2 words I have never heard in a clinic.

There are a few ways you do get to be around animals (more than just briefly) in your first year. By joining a treatment crew, participating in wet labs, and in the physical diagnosis class you get these rare opportunities to “stoke to fire” and remind yourself why you are here in the first place.   I think the people who struggle the most in their first year are those that decided to be veterinarians after being hands on in the clinic or barn and realizing they were good at this stuff.  I count myself in this group.  Now, don’t get me wrong, we are all smart. Everyone here is. You can’t get in if you are not. But having your strength area be hands on stuff is a detriment right now, but I am hanging onto the belief that hopefully it will balance out sooner rather than later.

This also goes back to that “feeling like you are good at something” idea that I mentioned on other posts.  Hands-on experiences remind me, that I am good at this – and will be good at it in the future.  Sometimes you just need that.

Which brings me to the thought at hand.  Our first physical diagnosis lab, our first official chance to actually work with animals was today. Yup, today as in the end of February.  My group got to go out to a farm and play with (and learn from) some beautiful cows.  I just wanted to hug them with their feminine long eyelashes and sweet faces.  I don’t think I could ever be a large animal vet, because I am not a fan of horses (as a doctor, not as an animal in general), but man, cows are cool!  I think they liked me too ;). 

We learned about the bovine physical exam and practiced it. We felt for lymph nodes,  examined the mouth, and auscultated the chest to give a few examples.  We also got to do a few other things like removing stitches and passing a freck speculum.  That was an experience.  In general cows don't enjoy have a speculum shoved down their throats (I don't blame them) and they tend to block you with their teeth.  While I was trying, they cow I was working on got the idea to lick me. If you can imagine, as I was holding the head under my arm it the cow's mouth right next to my chest. Yup, that's right. I was so glad to be wearing enough layers that only my fleece got wet and I just felt jostled around instead of violated J.  Never fear, like a good little veterinarian, I did not let it stop me and did indeed get the speculum passed.

They also had two calves out for us to examine.  They were pretty much the cutest, sweetest things ever. You could only get one of them to stay still by letting it suck your fingers (like an udder).  So we passed off being the "udder" and examiner. The weather was beautiful and the instructors few nice.  Overall, it was pretty awesome experience (even if I did get lost twice on the way to the farm L).

I realized that I just talked about wet labs again and still haven’t explained it.  Soon, I promise.

Where do you live? I am not really sure how to answer that one.

I have implied that I have a kind of different living situation, but have never quite explained it. So here goes…

I officially live in a large city about an hour and a half away from my school. I live there, as in that is where my husband and dogs live, where my mail goes, and where my taxes are paid from.  I unfortunately only get to sleep there 2 -3 nights per week because our class / study schedule really requires me to be in my college town during the week.

 I also have a room in a veterinary fraternity house in my college town where I typically stay 4 – 5 nights a week.  This is the saddest part of being in vet school for me.  I am mostly just homesick and miss my husband, but also the fraternity house is not the best living conditions.  It is really dirty and pretty noisy, and the people there don't keep normal hours.  I am accustomed to my own clean, quiet space with the people I love.

My husband and I have committed to see each other once a week (M-F) and every weekend unless one of us has another specific commitment (like a conference or work trip).  This is pretty much torture.  We are not an “absence makes the heart grow fonder” couple.  We like to be around each other. A lot. There is a girl in my class who only gets to see her husband every month and a half or so, which I can’t even imagine.  I think I might die.

Our hope is to move into a house between school and the big city where my husband works so we each have about a 45 minute commute each way.  We haven’t done this yet because we have been trying to sell our house.  I think we have finally given up on that and have decided to try to rent our current house out this summer for the next school year.  I really hope someone wants to live there.

Keep your fingers crossed for us.

The downside of having a bunch of tightly strung people in one place…

... is that they are driving me crazy.  For as many wonderful people as there are in vet school, there are many that are very tightly wound.  Any place where I am considered laid back (anyone who knows me outside of vet school would never apply that label to me) is a pretty intense place to be.  People get upset at the drop of a hat around here.  They get upset about things that, in my mind, don’t affect them.  They also like to be in control of everyone and everything around them. 

To add to the problem(s), many of these students have spent most of their lives with their noses in a book, so they have no real conflict resolution skills to speak of and compromise is not a word in their vocabulary.  So if you are playing along...  we have people who get very upset about things that don't affect them trying to control others while not being open to compromise. 

Part of me wants to rehash the 3 events that set off this rant, but I almost think its too complicated to explain them. Here's my wish, I want people to stop using their neuroses to make my life difficult.  Just because you make me do something, doesn’t mean you have to. 

In my everyday life I strive to do the little things that help out others.  If I can do something that doesn't cost me anything to help you, I always will.  This environment is making it hard to keep up that attitude.

Maybe we could start pumping valium through the air vents around here. If everyone could just calm down they would be so much happier. I really think it would improve things.

Yertle the Turtle

This semester I joined the Wildlife Team at my school.  This is a designated, committed group of students who care for all the sick and injured wildlife that are dropped off at the school. This includes birds, turtles, etc.  The neat thing about it is that you actually get to manage cases as a student (since there are no owners).  I just went “On-Call” on Monday, and was assigned my first case – a Eastern Box Turtle.

You aren’t really supposed to name wildlife or even talk to them since the goal is for them to be released back into the wild.  However, my turtle has been in the exotics ward for months, so it is not likely that I will do any more damage by talking to him. This is good since I can’t seem to help myself.   In fact, he really needs to exercise and apparently hates the sound of my voice. So my talking to him really benefits him since he tries to run away from me and actually gets his daily exercise instead of just sitting on the towel starring at me :) .

He has a cracked shell and broken jaw - likely an HBC (Hit by Car), but is recovering nicely.  The staff are waiting for spring to send him to a rehabber to be released since turtles are cold blooded animals. My partner and I perform treatments on him 4 times a day – 7:30 am, noon, 3 pm, and 6 pm,  which is a lot.  We feed him through an esophageal tube, give him medicine, and injections as well as completing general husbandry tasks.

This is a great case for me.  For one, most of the cases are birds.  Birds are not my favorite patients.  The only thing I might prefer to a turtle is a bunny.  Also, even though it requires a lot of time, I like that my case requires frequent visits. I feel like he is really my patient.

I have learned a lot on this case already.  I now know how to sex a turtle, how to give an intramuscular injection to a turtle, and how to exercise a turtle to name a few things.  Did you know that in the Eastern Box Turtle Species the males have red eyes and the females have yellow eyes?  How neat is that! It is also nice that I am getting comfortable down in the teaching hospital, since that is where I will spend most of my senior year.

Hip, hip, hooray for Yertle!

*Note: I can only talk about Yertle because he is wildlife.  We are not allowed to talk about normal cases outside the hospital without owner permission.

Sometimes you just need a slap in the face from, our friend, perspective.

I have a wonderful, brilliant, beautiful friend who has really endured more than her fair share in life.  When she was in high school, she slept walked out the second story window of her house.  She was in a coma for weeks.  Her priest came and read her her last rights.  Her parents believed they had lost a child.

She pulled through. She now has a metal plate in her head and a few scars you have to look hard to see, but if there is any brain damage you would hard pressed to know.  I met her in Organic Chemistry, where we took turns getting the highest grades in the class (her more often than me). I think we would all be lucky to have that brain.  From what she has told me her recovery wasn’t easy, but she came back kicking.

I was overjoyed for her when she got engaged and then married.  It couldn’t happen to a more deserving person. I am ashamed to say that we lost touch a little after her wedding. I started vet school, and I assumed she was off being a happy newlywed.

Yesterday we got a letter from her parents.  Apparently, we never got a thank you note for our gift (we hadn’t noticed).  They explained (quite beautifully and graciously) that this was because the marriage wasn’t working out.  I don’t know the details, but it sure does make my problems seem small.  I can’t imagine the pain she is in.

 I know God won't give us more than we can bear.  All I can assume is that he knows how amazingly strong and resilient she is.  I am pulling for her to get another second chance. 

No one said it would be easy; they just said it would be worth it.

This weekend I helped with the annual auction our vet school student organizations put on.  We raised a good deal of money, and I got to bring my husband along with me, so that made it even better.  It was a lot of hard work, and my feet were killing me by the time it was over (it seems liek I wore more sensible shoes when I put these things on in undergrad). All in all it was an interesting, fun night.

During the event, I introduced my husband to one of my anatomy teachers, and after briefly exchanging pleasantries she had some poignant advice for him.  “Be a good support system for her, because it (vet school) is just as awful as she says it is, probably worse. We put them through a lot.” He knows that it’s awful, and he is a great support system. It was just really interesting that this teacher chose to put it that way within such little time of meeting him. It kind of made me wish that she could tell everyone’s friends and family that exact same thing. I think it would make all our lives easier.

Even though I was working the event, I had a really good time.  As many of you know I am pretty good at managing events, and it sure was nice to feel good at something.  Vet school has this way of making you feel like you are bad at everything. And then because vet school takes so much from you, you start to become bad at the other things in your life that you used to be good at.  It’s a pretty vicious cycle.  It was nice not only to feel like I was doing a good job, but also to have other people notice. 

It is similar to the way I feel when we have extracurricular wet labs. What’s a wet lab you ask? I think that is a post for another day.

Love is not a four letter word

Happy Valentine’s Day!  I have anatomy test Wednesday, and I drove back to school early this morning so my husband and I won’t see each other today. Never fear, we celebrated yesterday. We went to the Melting Pot, which is always fun.  It’s actually probably good that we can’t see each other… I really need to study.

Valentine’s Day used to feel stressful to me– it was all about expectations and finding the right gift to express how much you love someone. My husband and I no longer have that stress in our lives; we made a rule: no presents and no cards, spending time together is the only gift allowed.  It makes sense, since no gift could ever express how much I love him J. Regardless, this rule makes us both pretty happy.

I encourage everyone to celebrate Valentine’s day by showing a little bit of love to everyone you come across!

The Average Day

The average weekday of a first year vet student is pretty consistent. We have 4 hours of lecture in the morning, which is usually overwhelming but somehow simultaneously, mindbendingly boring.  Sometimes it is that the subject matter is not interesting, but more often than not it is the way it's taught.  

Then there is an hour for lunch where sometimes I study or go to the lab, but just as often I just sit and eat (or like today I blog). Then in the afternoon, we may have one more lectures and then a lab - usually anatomy, but occasionally something else like histology.  Then we eat dinner and study until bed with occasional bouts gym time thrown in there.

My best days are the ones where I come in prepared for the same old thing and I am blown away or excited by a really cool lecture.  I feel this way pretty much any time they talk about anything clinical. For example, I thought all the endocrinology lectures were awesome – they were talking about real diseases that I will helpfully one day diagnose.

Today, we had a lecture on doing physical exams on small animals.  While the lecture didn’t tell me anything novel it reminded me that soon I will get to do physical exams.  I cannot wait to learn all finer points of a physical exam.  I can’t wait to get down in the lab and practice. I can’t wait to go into the clinic this summer and really be able to get good information by touching, feeling, smelling, and listening to an animal.

I think we might be finally getting to at least a little of the good stuff…  J  I have a virology test tomorrow morning, so I should sign off and study.  Wish me luck!

My New Year’s Resolution

I know what you are thinking... "JPC you are over a month late with this one..." But this is my update on my 01.01.11 resolution.  Read on...

I believe in constant improvement.  There is no reason to wait for the new year to make a change.  I have been known to think up resolutions for a random month and carry them out.  For example, one month I resolved to work out in the mornings every Thursday before work.  This goal was short term and attainable. However, as someone who likes setting goals to make myself a better person, I usually think of several ways I want to improve myself each new year's day as well.   This year I wanted my resolution to be simple, discrete, daily but not require much time, and something that could build on itself.

My New Year’s resolution this year was to do 40 push-ups and 40 sit-ups every day.  The definition of push-ups and sit-ups is loose – they can be modified push-ups, v-ups, crunches, etc and the sets can be as small as 10 repetitions  – just as long as I do some combination of 40 of each.  Also, a day is wake to sleep, not midnight to midnight.  These rules were to remove barriers. I am sick – do modified push ups.  I forgot and got in late – no problem do them before bed.  I am tired – space out the 40 throughout the day. I didn’t want to make this hard on myself; I just wanted to do it every day without fail.  There is enough in my life that is difficult right now J.

I am happy to report that over 5 weeks into the new year, I am still at it.  I haven’t missed a day yet, although I have had to get out of bed at least 4 times.  I can now do 4 sets of 10 full push-ups and have started supplementing my sit-ups with the ab-roller.  In case, you aren’t familiar with this torture device, suffice it to say that made me extremely sore the first 2 times I used it.

I hope to give an update in several months to tell you I stuck with it and can now do 40 full push-ups in a row and that I now laugh at the ab roller.  We'll see....

Super girl…

Wouldn’t it be fun to have superpowers?  I have put a little thought into which ones I might like to have.

1. Teleport (with friends): This means that I could go wherever I wanted and take whoever I wanted with me. Think about how much extra time you would have. No travel time - ever.  You could vacation wherever you want, whenever you want. You could pop to Paris for dinner. The cherry on top  - no car, insurance, or gas payments. 

I would get to see my husband every day and my friends and family all the time.

2. Superbrain: This means that I could understand complex problems immediately and be able to remember large quantities of information first time through.  This would be ideal for vet school and being a vet.  All the time I spend making study guides could be spent at the gym or the movies.

3. Not needing sleep: This means I would feel great with no sleep!  I would have all this extra time while everyone else is sleeping. (I could sleep if I wanted.)

I need a ton of sleep.  3 days with less than 8 hours and my body almost completely shuts down.  This superpower would get rid of that problem.

4. Super Metabolism: I love food.  With this power I could eat whatever I wanted and feel great. Chocolate mousse for breakfast, ice cream for lunch, and fried oreos for dinner. This would also counteract the sitting on my bum all day I do in school.

4a. The ability to make a Starbucks beverage appear whenever I wanted. Soy Peppermint Hot Chocolate and Soy Iced Chai all the time.

I feel like a therapist could tell you a lot about me with this list, but then again I could too.  I want more time, more vacations, more time with the people I love, and fun food.

You’ll shoot your eye out…

You might think this is going to be post about how I dislike movies that everyone else loves…  A Christmas Story, Princess Bride, Space Balls, etc, etc.  I actually finally saw the entirety of A Christmas Story at Christmas this year, and I was pretty bored. That is, however, a rant for another day.

Back to the matter at hand.  Friday night, my husband got dishwasher detergent in his eye.  I was sort of wondering how one manages that, but after going into the kitchen and looking at the splatter pattern, I don’t see how it didn’t get in my eye (and I was in the living room.)  It was everywhere.  Apparently when he flipped the cap (pointed down at the dishwasher) it semi-exploded.  I can’t even imagine how painful it is to have detergent in your eye.

By this point in my education I have had about a billion science labs. At the beginning of each course they make us watch a safety video explaining the use of the eye wash and then we have to take a test on it. What is an “eye wash” you might ask? Each lab, even in middle school,  is equipped with a piece of safety equipment that is like a specialized “water fountain” that dumps an insanely large amount of water in your eyes to flush out whatever blinding chemical you have gotten in them.   Teachers warn that it is very unpleasant if you ever have to have it done.

Having this drilled process into my head, when this chemical in the eye emergency arose I knew exactly what to do.  Poor husband just looked like he was in agony – not that anyone could blame him.  I looked at the back of the bottle and it said flush with water.  So, I set the kitchen timer on the microwave for 15 minutes and immediately began the eye wash.  At first I tried get him to put his face under the faucet in the kitchen sink.  This pretty much just got water up his nose (talk about adding insult to injury). Luckily our faucet is one of those that detaches so I turned it water fountain style and actually got the water in his eye this time.  I could tell it hurt, but he just trudged through the whole 15 minutes.

For my piece of mind, after the 15 minute eye wash I called our opthamologist’s on call technician, and she called the doctor.  They said we did the right thing and didn’t need to go to the emergency room since we flushed it.  Thank goodness, because there are few things that are less fun than the emergency room on a Saturday night.  By Sunday his eye was back to normal.  The whole experience was pretty scary…  you don’t want to take any chances with your eyes.

Solving Mysteries with the Power of Endocrinology

We have had 3 tests since school started.  From here until the beginning of electives we have 2 tests almost every week.  These tests have all felt a little funny to me - 1 good, 1 bad, and 1 somewhere in the middle - and I am eager to find out how I did.  Luckily this morning’s test, Endocrinology, was the good one, which has solidified my good mood for the rest of the day.  Hormones questions are  all very cause/effect related, which many of you may know is the way I think. Each question was like solving a little mystery with the power of science.  I dare say taking it was even a little fun.

I also got out of autonomy lab early today and hit the gym (yay for priorities).  Tonight my husband is coming to see me for dinner (double yay for priorites).  We are going to one of our favorite restaurants in this college town, and he is bringing my phone. 

Before he gets here, I thought I would knock out an ethics paper that is due Monday.  And right now I am procrastinating writing that paper...

I guess I better get back to work.  I just wanted to report on a nice day!

Sarcifices

Vet school is hard on the student.  It also requires sacrifices on the part of people who are close to the student.  People handle this experience in different ways.  The most common response is not getting it…  not understanding that vet school is different than every other experience. This leads to hurt feelings, guilt, and possibly sabotaging the student, not because they are trying to, but because they don't understand.

Then there are responses that reveal the people who love you.  My husband is one of those (and I know there are many of you out there).  Just supporting me quitting my job was above and beyond the call of duty.  He supports us both and puts up with me being away. He never complains – not even a little.

But that is just the tip of the iceberg. The reason he is so overwhelmingly amazing is he completely supports me through the mental and logistical challenges of this experience.  In the last 4 days he:

·         Put up with a mental breakdown in the middle of the night (yup, I woke him up)

·         Went to AT&T to try to get my phone (that I dropped in water) fixed

·         Then went to the Apple store to get a replacement phone (across town)

·         Installed and learned Skype so he could still talk to me

·         Comforted me through a bad test grade

·         Got my car washed

·         Drove halfway to school to meet me for dinner (about 45 minutes) after going to let the dogs out

·         Picked up a prescription for me

·         Offered to adjust our weekend schedule to go to Starbucks to study with me every weekend so we could spend time together while I study

On top of all of this did I mention that he is a law firm attorney who works about 10 – 12 hours a day (at least) and takes care of our 2 dogs and our house.  I am not sure how he does it, but I know I don’t deserve it – no one possibly could.  I am so thankful we found each other.

762 days until Clinics...

Today we started our physical diagnosis class, where we learn basic restraint and physical exam skills for several species.  The professor started the lecture by announcing that we had 762 days until we started clinics.  This made some people in our class rather nervous, but I can’t wait. Clinics are the hands on / patient facing part of our education, where we actually get to start practicing medicine.  I think it is going to be a lot of hard work, but such a rich experience.  Clinics will last for 14 months, with us rotating 2-3 weeks in each area. Apparently some rotations are pretty normal hours inside and some are 14 hour days in a freezing cold barn, but you learn a lot everywhere.

On March 4, 2013 we, the class of 2014, will start clinics.  I am already excited. 

Do grades matter?

Do grades matter?

In vet school, for the average student who does not want to pursue any post vet school education, they do not.  There is some argument among students about this, but almost none among clinic owners.  As long as you make a C and pass your boards, that’s all you need.  They are more concerned with how you will be with clients than in your book learning.  As you can imagine, trying to get a group of students who has never made less than an "A" to believe this is quite difficult. There are a lot of undergraduate 4.0s in vet school. That being said vet school classes aren’t ridiculously hard to a group at this level, it is simply the volume of material that you have to remember and figuring out how to play the game for each class that is the challenge .

Again, the caveat to this is if you want to do an internship and residency after veterinary school… then they do matter.

Veterinarians can do a lot of different things for a living.  They can work with horses, food animals, zoo animals, birds, reptiles, or small mammals. They can go into research, academia, public health, or lab animal medicine. 

They say that you are likely to change your preference in vet school, but I am doubtful about this for myself.   I spent enough time with horse vets, food animal vets, and the zoo vet and working in a small animal practice to know that small animal medicine is what I want to do.  I am not a horse person or a cow person.  I am a dog, cat, bunny person.

Before I got to vet school, I thought that was the only decision I had to make.  My plan was going to work in a small animal clinic and then eventually own one.  I hadn’t really thought about specializing…  until now. 

When a veterinarian specializes they take on an additional internship and residency lasting about four more years after vet school.   So if I specialize that will mean 4 years of college, 1 year of business grad school, 4 years of veterinary school, 1 year of internship, and 3 years of residency…  For those of you who have been counting, that’s 13 years of post high school education.  That’s a lot. Any way I look at it that seems like too much.  But if it was easy everyone would do it, right?  I have a meeting later this week with one of my professors to talk about a surgical residency. I feel very torn.

In favor of a residency:  I will be earning a small salary (between 1/2 and 1/3 of full associates salary) during my internship and residency, which is better than paying to go to school.  I will have a significantly higher earning potential afterward.  I get to be a surgeon, and will likely have a more interesting job than just being a regular small animal practitioner.

Against a residency:  My full earnings will be delayed.  When / If I get a residency, I will have to move my family to another state.  Completing a residency includes a research project – which is scary.  Most prominently, this insane, constant, overwhelming stress about my grades will continue. Lastly, there is not guarantee that you will even get the residency if you apply for it. 

This decision seems so far away, yet so close and for someone like me who prefers to have all her ends ticked and tied it is hard not knowing what my plans are.

First Large Animal Anatomy Exam... Ug.

Anatomy lab is the biggest class that first year Vet students have – over 9 credit hours over the span of the year.  There is a learning curve for the learning curve.  One of the hardest parts is figuring out what you need to know and how to make the material stick in your head.  Small animal anatomy was 3 days a week for 17 weeks in the fall, and large animal anatomy is for 4 days a week for 10 weeks.  A point for those who think a vet is not a real doctor,  their human doctor only had to do the anatomy of one species and only for one semester. (I’m really just jealous.)

Lab is an assault on the senses.  Your nose and eyes burn and tears stream down your face.  Your eyes feels like you are cutting a chemical onion.  Your mucous membranes feel pickled by the end of the first week.  Your skin on your face looks dimpled after a long lab.  It smells terrible, and that smell gets into everything – your bag, your clothes, your hair, and your shoes.  Upperclassmen can tell who is a first year by the way we smell.  The floor gets extremely slippery.  It is all pretty unpleasant.

Last semester the large animals arrived before we were done with the small animals.  During the final exam practical there were 20 dead horses and cows in the corner of the room.  Because of the fumes coming off them, they opened all the doors to the lab…  in mid-December.  So to recap, stress of a cumulative timed, lab practical final, a freezing, smelly, chemical filled room, and 20 large animals in the corner.

Also, the anatomy lab is separate from the rest of the school in a temporary building… a “temporary” building that was built 30 years ago.  If there is a severe weather warning we actually have to leave the building and go outside. As in, if there is a tornado or even a thunder storm, they think that we are safer in the parking lot than in the lab building.

Despite all of this, I really like anatomy.  It feels like the one class we take in first year that really matters, that will have practical application to actually treating animals. I am genuinely interested in knowing what and where everything is.  Working with your hands is also a nice change. 

Yesterday was our first Large Animal Anatomy exam.  It was a little rough, especially for those of us who have never really worked with horse or cow extensively.  This is going to be a different beast from small animal anatomy. I am completely exhausted.

I am looking forward to getting some sleep soon.

... and then there were 100

Today we received an email that we had lost yet another classmate to the stress of vet school.  (Dropped out, not died.) She was in my orientation group and a really great girl.  That puts us down 2 out of 102.  I guess it could be worse, but if I had my way we would graduate with everyone we stared with.  There is always the feeling of “Could I have done more to help?”   One of the other girls in my orientation group said she felt the same way, like if she had put her in her anatomy dissection group maybe she could have kept her coming to class. I reached out to her and let her know that we wanted her here and that I was here to support her.  In the end she had to choose what was right for her, and I am trying not to beat myself up about it.  I am going to miss her as a part of our class.

Later this evening I also found out that one of my friends in my class started taking antidepressants over Christmas.  This sparked a discussion among several of my rather cheery friends talking about how they cried themselves to sleep the day before school started this semester. (and these are people who are making great grades.)  This experience is defintely taking a toll on our emotions.

In other, better, news, I think I have actually made a few real friends.  I am quick to have a lot of casual acquaintances but really slow to make friends that I really want to spend time with.  I think these are some really good ones, and friends are what is going to really get me through this for the next four years.  It feels like some of the pressure is off and I can really be myself more often.  It felt like I had been waiting to exhale until I found some people of my own.  (Or for my vet school peeps keeping my scalenus, intercostals, diaphragm, and serratus dorsalis cranialis contracted.)

Here’s to breathing a little more freely... and to not losing anymore classmates.