the DVM life - Doctor of Veterinary Medicine

What a week. Ugh. 4 exams: large animal anatomy, physiology, immunology, and pathology. BUT the fun isn't over just yet! There's a neuroscience exam after the weekend. yesssss.

It was a toughie and I was studying constantly. I got about 4 hours a sleep each night. I hope I did well! We already got our anatomy scores back and I did well to my standards at 84. The class average was slightly higher because our class is neurotic. I actually did fine and the things I missed were mostly on the cow cadavers.

We don't actually get to work on the cow cadavers during scheduled class time, so if you want to learn cow anatomy (which will be on the test) you have to get it on your own time. And during popular times that cow is swamped. So I said: screw it. I don't want to work with cows ever anyways. Had there not been any cow questions on that exam I would have gotten a 91.

Next time I may pay more attention to the cow stuff, but I begrudge working with large animals. I don't ever want to work with LA so I don't see why I should waste my time and brain space on something that doesn't apply to me. I'm becoming a bigger and bigger fan of tracking schools. My time in vet school is so short I should be learning things that will apply to my future. Not some antiquated James Harriott approach.

In neurosci lab we got to play with brains. That was pretty neat. There was even a human brain and I got to hold it. Too bad I can't use two at once!

But that was the highlight of the week. Mostly it was spent studying and studying. I really hope the exams went well. We should know mostly next week.

Now if vet school was a TV show, this is the week that would have gotten higher ratings. Some of my classmates got rather testy. Many of them were flat out bitchy. It was terrible.

I've always thought that you don't really know the quality of a person until you've seen them in a tough spot. Watching some of my classmates I can say that quite a few have less than desirable personalities during times of trial. They seem to have forgotten all the lovely things they taught us at orientation: the value of working together, respecting others, being considerate, having a positive attitude.

There are a few people who I think would shove others under a bus to get across the street faster, if you know what I mean.

Now, not all the class is like that. There are friendly faces and people I really respect and enjoy. There are also others who make snide comments, are very cliquey, snub others, and pass study resources around only in their groups. They really bring the class down and make me disappointed. I'm very disheartened that they actively choose not to help their classmates and bring such a negative vibe to the mix. What does that say about the future of the profession?

One previous vet told me you can tell a lot about a class by how much they share resources. A great class will have everyone sharing notes, charts, all those goodies. A less than ideal class will horde resources and group off.

Perhaps the curse is true. They said that fun, nice classes alternate years. I am unfortunately in the wrong year for nice people.

But whatever, I just hang out in my own little world which I strive to make a pleasant as possible. And I love my friends for being in my world :) It's been great to work with them during the exam week. Even though everyone was dead tired, they didn't get bitchy or cranky. We tried our level best to help eachother get through this tough time. We laughed at stupid things, made plenty of jokes to help us remember the material and went out to lunch when it was all over. We welcomed people to study with us and tried to keep a good vibe.

I'm curious to see how it all turned out!

After the exams were done I was off to work. This was a major holiday weekend, especially for bakeries and we are crazy busy. I'm working 3 days in a row which isn't supposed to happen. But I'm not going to complain when I get that next paycheck! Work is fun and tasty!

Today was a fun day. (Well after I finally got to school. It was -4 degrees this morning and my car was frozen over. There was even ice on the freaking inside of my windows. Which I couldn't scrape because my scraper was too flat for the concave surface. So I had to sit there and defrost for 15 minutes. While my breakfast froze to the roof of my car. And on the way to school it was negative 12 degrees. When I walked to class my nose hairs froze).

Anyways...

Today was fun because I got to study with my friends at Starbucks off campus (since we were in a section that didn't have the lab). We had a good time and made lots of jokes about action potentials (neuroscience) and studied for the quiz that day.

School is a-buzz with the class of 2013 candidates coming to interview. I vividly remember being in their shoes. Being nervous, wondering what the interview would be like, being in awe of the actual vet students, wondering if I would make the cut. It was a nice reminder of where I've been and how far I've come.

The place where they store the waiting applicants is pretty central to classes, so we get to walk by and see the newbies. I like talking to them. Some of them are happy and excited. More of them are jittery and nervous. They have to write an essay while waiting, so a handful of them are furiously scribbling things down on a clip board. Ahhh, I remember that.

I'm kind of shallow and have a critical eye for interview attire (I've been very well trained in appropriate attire. I was a knock-out business woman for my interview - when I walked in they actually said "Wow, that's a great suit!") So I have high standards for what to wear to such an important interview.

My stance is that an applicant is there to impress the committee and should take every step possible to do so. Sure, you should be judged on your intellect and capabilities alone. But face it, impressions are important. Leave a good one - not a half assed one. So my lab mates have heard a stream of interview outfit critique.

Some basic things. Do the sit test. Make sure your hems are long enough. For God's sake, if you're wearing a skirt sit accordingly. Don't have hair falling into your eyes. Cut your nails. Don't slouch. Looking like you're at a Trump board room meeting and carry youself like a future doctor.

Ok, off soap box. It's just that I took my interview seriously and I'm embarrassed for people who don't.

Anyhoo, so it was nice to see all the newbies! It's a magical thing to be on the other side of the fence. In the evening there was a pizza mixer! I remember going to that last year. I didn't really know anyone. It was crowded and I couldn't tell who were students and who were applicants. I kind of stood in a corner and tried to talk to people. Then some first years came along and talked to me! I asked them all sorts of questions like how they liked school, if it was as scary as people say, where they lived. It was cool and I was in awe. They were livin' the dream.

Now I'm that student! I made sure to talk to everyone who was standing in a corner looking lost. I tried to set them at ease, make them feel better about the process, let them know that the light on the end of the tunnel is as good as it looks.

The mixer was held at a large meeting space with windows overlooking the campus and the vet med parking lot. As I was talking I looked outside and remembered one year ago. It was also cold. We had a difficult time just finding the vet med parking lot. I was there with my red backpack, interview clothes inside from my interview earlier, holding my coat and a can of rootbeer. The whole school looked foreign and I hoped they would let me in! I wondered if I would get to come back next year and share my stories with the next cycle....

I would like to come back as a second year, a third year, and a fourth year! It's such a poignant reminder of how much work, hope, and anxiety went into the whole process. If I had to lay words towards this emotion, I would hesitantly suggest a mix of pride for all the work I put in, gratitude for this opportunity to live my dream, and excitement for the next group to coming to their full circle. I should take a breath and just be thankful of where I am. I know there's a whole pool of applicants who would love to experience this unique nostalgia, one year from now.

It's truly a full circle. Last year I received my invitation to interview on Chinese New Year. Not any new year, it was *my* year --- year of the Rat. Now today is Chinese New Year again and I'm reflecting back on the process. A magical year indeed and I am see I have been very blessed.

Last night I went to the store around 9pm to get some groceries. It's freaking cold here and it was around 25 degrees F outside.

I'm in line and the guy behind me is buying boxes of Popsicles. I make my purchase, head out to the car (I'm wearing cleats on my boots to keep from falling in parking lot ice) and start the engine.

Out comes the guy, walking out in front of cars, immersed in the task of opening his boxes of Popsicles. It's 25 degrees and they guy wants a Popsicle. Weird, weird, weird.

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Today I go into work and it hits me: working in a kitchen is a lot like working in a clinic. It's fast paced, crowded, noisy, you go home smelling like work and you're on your feet all the time. The major difference is that the kitchen smells much better and you don't have to euthanize anything. It's also nice not to have people sobbing about their dog just dying. And if you're lucky you go home with free cookies.

For example: today I was making 300+ cookies, working with dough, setting it in the oven, listening to my timer, dodging the washers, moving out of the way so people can grab equipment, keeping in mind which pans were hot, listening to 2 kids of annoying music at the same time, and prepping my next dish.

At the clinic I'm: nexting the room, then debriefing the doctor, restraining the animal while listening to instructions, remembering which items I need to stock, moving out of the way so people can grab equipment, and attempting to answer the phone.

I think working in the kitchen will help me adapt to pressure/fast paced environments. At least I hope so! I can see how it might be overwhelming for people who haven't' been exposed to that sort of thing. And if not, at least I get some free cookies.

Now I'm back at school! I arrived late last night after a 6.5 hour car trip with my rabbit as co-pilot.

Today was our first day of the semester. It was a really nice day for me because it was such a contrast to the very first day of vet school ever.

On the first day ever, I didn't know anyone hardly at all (except from the nice orientation, but lets face it, there's no way to get acquainted with 96 people in 2.5 days!). On the first day ever I had no idea where I was going. I had no idea what who my professors were, what classes were like, or where to find basic things. I couldn't even find the grocery stores in town. On the very first day I came back home to a pile of boxes in a brand new place.

Which is why this "first" day was so nice. For starters I knew how to get to school and where to park. I knew where my class was. I was happy to see my friends and catch up about the break. I was glad to sit with them and laugh at our inside jokes. We've had enough to time to build up inside jokes :) It was nice to go into LA anatomy and have some memory of SA anatomy to help me along. I knew my professors and we chatted about our Christmas break and their kids. The lady in the office knew my name and asked how my job was going. Wow! Talk about coming to a place that feels homey. I came home to my lovely little abode, just the way I like it. This "first day" was as nice as a bowl of hot soup on a cold day. (which is what I had for dinner, BTW)

Then I spent $300 on books. Margh.

What am I taking? LA anatomy, Physiology, Immunology, Neuroscience, Nutrition...and I think there was something else. So far I like all my instructors. The ones I've seen before I've enjoyed and the new ones (so far) seem to have a nice lecture style.

All in all, it was a great first day. Lets see how day 3 goes...which is when we get our large animal cadavers and we were cautioned to get rubber boots to avoid the copious amounts of bodily and embalming fluid we'd encounter. Sounds stinky.

So a fair bit of time has passed since my last post. What happened after that?

Around that time we finished up the last wave of exams before finals. I had the good anatomy score, an 85 in histology and 98 in cell phys. All in all, I was quite pleased.

Then there was Thanksgiving Break. It was great. I got to fly home, see my family, catch up with people at the clinic, eat delicious foods and sleep in. It was a very nice week. Then I flew back and got to work.

School was fairly busy. Instead of spending Black Friday shopping (ha, I've never done that) I finished up some papers.

We had a group presentation, in which we opted to make a cute movie. We ended up doing a vet school version of "The Office" and it was well received. I love doing the more creative projects. They just seem like less work.

Finals rolled around and I was getting tired of school and a little cranky. Because my previous scores were good enough I didn't have to majorly stress over finals. I think I only had to hit 50% on my finals to pass with the needed averages.

Of course I didn't just flake out like that!! I ended up studying a lot, as usual. Finals week approached and I did get a little stressed out. Only because:

a) I started a part time job the week before finals (assistant pastry chef)
b) Had to work a 10hr shift the day before a final
c) The weather decided to dump snow and get friggin cold (like 0 degrees F)

But finals went well anyhow. Remember how I wanted to make histo flash cards weeks before the exam? Yeah. Well that didn't happen... and due to timing of finals I gave myself a mere 36 hours to study 4+ weeks of histology material. Due to caffeine and the grace of the guys above, I actually did much better than expected and pulled an 86, with an overall average around 88.

The anatomy final was the first one and it was good. I spent the most time on that, at least around 20-30 hours a week for the previous 2 weeks. I came out with an overall grade of 84, which included the embryology portion.

Finally we ended with cell physiology. I still don't know my score but it clearly was good enough to pass according to my grade report. The teacher we had for the last segment really got on my nerves -- I really disliked her "teaching style". It's in quotes because I didn't learn anything from her at all. At ALL. And the 26 page final was just annoying. But oh well, that's all over with.

After finals I had some friends over for dinner. We watched a movie and pooped out before we could start decorating our gingerbread house. Eh, we'll just do that next year.

It snowed quite a bit, I think the total now is well over 4 feet. Temps haven't been above freezing for several weeks and there were many days were it was a high around 10 and lows of 0, with wind chill pushing it below 0.

After another shift at the bakery I waited a day for the weather to improve and drove home. My car told me it was -12 outside. Without windchill. Thankfully I had a good (albeit long) drive back and have since been enjoying my Christmas break! I've gotten to work at the clinic, see some old friends, and have time with family.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone!