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!