the DVM life - Doctor of Veterinary Medicine

Today is Monday, we had our Histology exam. I like to think I did alright, time will tell.

What I know is that I spent a very, very, very large portion of the weekend studying for it. Like Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday, and a few hours today. I went over all the notes, powerpoints, and labs. I made 200 + flash cards. I did each lab 3 times over the space of 3 days. So I like to think I did alright on the exam. Or at least good enough.

Now that I'm mulling things over, dense regular connective tissue might not have.... ah, need to stop thinking about it. Hopefully exams will be returned in a timely manner and I can stop doubting my self-worth and mental acuity.

For my future sanity, I'll be trying to make the flash cards on a weekly basis so I don't have a terrible marathon the weekend before. Too bad I didn't think of that several weeks ago! There is nothing else new to report, since all that happened between now and last was studying.

Thankfully, our exam strech is over for now and we have a week or so to breathe. I'm going to make some soup and clean my home. It got messy in my study-induced hermit lifestyle.

I really, really, really, really, REALLY want to know how I did. Really.

The farmer's market here is awesome. It's actually a good market where you can buy your veggies and meat for the week. It's all pretty much organic too! There are some arts and crafts, food vendors, and the best tomatoes ever. EVER. I've been buying 3 huge tomatoes a week, I never knew tomatoes could be so tasty. I'm going to be so very disappointed when we hit November and the market is done. I so enjoy getting out to go shopping there. It's so much more fun, exciting, and the produce really is that much better.

I got my anatomy exam back, and I passed! Woohoo!! Now I didn't exactly pass with flying colors like a lot of my classmates, but I didn't exactly give myself a coronary studying. So I'm content. I'd like to do a little better for the next exam, but I'm not going to kill myself. I did study for the first exam, but I didn't push myself hard-- I had a relaxed attitude. I've been not studying as much, instead getting out and enjoying my new town/country side.

I graduated at the tip top of my class. I was stressed out, getting sick, grumpy, and I really disliked my life. I'm done with striving for the top grades, that's really only satisfying to a point.

Many of my classmates made charts, drawings, and did flashcards every night. I make some charts a few days before the exam. On one hand it's nice to know I'm doing fine just how I am. On the other hand, my perfectionist self would like to kick ass in class rank. But I'm content with my lifestyle - I like to think my calm, peaceful approach has it's benefits. Many of my uber stressed classmates have gotten sick.

It rained today and it was nice to hear on the roof of the trailer. A few days ago before the clouds came I was able to get out at night. I drove out into the middle of wheat field nowhere and parked -- I got to see the whole entire sky. It was amazing. Back home, we have trees everywhere, you don't get the WHOLE ENTIRE sky. I had 360 degrees of wide open sky, so many stars, I could actually see the milky way, and I even got a shooting star.

Now I know I'll have to push myself for the histology exam coming up. Histo is a bit more detailed. In fact, I should get back to studying for that ......

So, I neglected to mention that on day 3 they taught us how to hold scalpels. Basically like holding a pencil. Yeah, that was cool. Could it get more cool? YES. Now we're in week 6 (or 7, it's all starting to blend together) and in anatomy we got to crack some ribs. It made my day. Sort of like on ER how they have to get through the ribs so they can massage the heart. Except we're using cadavers and it's much less intense than that. But still cool.

Today I got to see the heart, lungs, and all the good stuff in cardio-thoracic region. What I'm I saying! It's all good stuff!! I've be itching to see the heart since day one!

School is going well, I think. We have not gotten either of our 2 exams back yet >=( which I frown upon. I'm curious to know how I did but perhaps ignorance is bliss. Anatomy should be coming back tomorrow, and I think my cell phys prof should be a little embarassed if his isn't being returned either (it's been 2 weeks!)

We're preparing for our histo exam, so far this is being the most annoying one to prep for in my opinion. Cell phys sinks into my brain. Anatomy is great hands on. Histo is details, details, details. I'm getting a little grumpy, but I think I'll be fine. The review wasn't very structured so that made me grumbly. And the weather changed dramatically.

For the past few days it's been 80+, sunny, no clouds. Today it was low 70s, rainy, all clouds. And if you haven't caught on, I don't like fall. The VP debate is on tonight, however I don't have TV (I own one, I don't get any programming) so I'll continue my ingorance in current events.

Anyhoo, I'm now going to take a shower, have some dinner (wheat free vegetarian lasagna), watch one episode of star trek for relaxation, and study for a few more hours.

Today was a busy day. Anatomy exam! Woohoo!

I like to think I did well. There were a few I guessed on, but for the most part I felt confident. We will get scores back in a week so I should just be content for now. I like to think I showed that exam who's boss. And the boss was not anatomy.

The exam was in 2 parts. First we had an hour long written exam. That was alright, I finished with time to spare. Then we had the 2 hour practical part. The anatomy lab had been setup with 35 stations. Each station had either a bone, radiograph, or cadaver with multiple questions. There were a few that I had to hem and haw on, mostly I felt good. Again the results are really going to do the talking in a week.

The trickiest one was the blind box. Literally. There was a box with arm holes, you stuck your hands in and couldn't see. You had to be able to name which bone was in there and specifically the left or right side. After feeling the bone up for a while (heheh) I came to my conclusion and felt smugly satisfied.

Taking the exam was pretty cool, it was like playing with little puzzles. The room was silent, most people were in lab clothes, and we looked really intense. Great shot for a vet med school poster "Learning in Action". I thought to myself "Wow! I'm really in vet school!"

Some of my classmates were annoyingly grabby with the specimens. The proper etiquette is to wait for a person to finish with a cadaver before messing with it yourself. Some people tend to get so wrapped up, thinking they're the only ones taking the exam and will butt right in, moving the specimen while you're still looking at it. Shame on them I say. Shame shame. I believe they'll be the ones pushing people out of the way when it's fire drill time.

After classes were out I headed over to the draft horse club. We were going to start learning how to drive. Eventually when people get good enough they can drive the wagon - Oregon Trail style.

Today was my first time attempting to drive. Let me just say I'm not going to be plowing any trails or blazing the Oregon trail any time soon. Much harder than it looks! That, and the horse knew I hadn't driven before so he was really testing me to see who was boss. In the end (after some embarrassing getting stuck in a corner) and lots of encouragement from the senior members, I finally got him to Gee (turn right) and Haw (turn left) for a few good rounds. I still have a long, long way to go. We were just pulling the harrow for practice. Then we hitched him up to the wagon and cruised around the vet school.

Seriously though, it's much harder than it looks. I was secretly hoping I'd automatically be fantastic at it. I mean, chances are that in a past life I've had to at least driven a wagon, cart, or chariot. So shouldn't I have some innate skill? The answer is obviously NO. Sorry buddy. Sigh. I wish I was innately good at something but I'll have to settle for just learning my skills.

The horse kicked up a bit of dust and the harrow didn't exactly act as a spoiler. So it's off to the showers for me, followed by some needed sleep.

Today was a nice long day. Nice, because I got a lot accomplished. Long, because I was at school from 8AM to 8PM. Except for the lunch hour I got off campus, ate some Chinese food and then fell asleep in my car.

If anyone cares to know, here was the breakdown.

8am-10am: Anatomy Lab
10:00-12:30 Study Embryology
12:30-1:10 Embryology Quiz
1:10 - 2:00 Cell Physiology
2:10 - 3:00 Histology
(Note: 3:10 - 5:00 class canceled!)
3:00 - 4:00 eat/sleep
4:00 - 5:00 review Anatomy
5:00 - 8:00 PM Anatomy Lab

Oh yeah, life as a first year! WOot! But really, it was kind of fun with the exception of embryology which isn't my favorite. My awesome lab partner quized me on all the musles and I got really excited - it's like a game! But cooler because you sound pretty smart!

Then I got home (which is cold, it got COLD here!) took a walk, talked with my Mom and helped edit some personal statements for some pre-vet amigos.

Now it's 10:30 and I'm looking forward to a hot shower, a grapefruit, and a few more hours of anatomy. When a client complains of my fees, I will think back on the days I spend 12+ hours at school and feel justified. Skill doesn't come cheap.

Fall is here. My least favorite season. Why? Because it gets cold and I really dislike being cold. It also gets soggy and I also dislike being soggy. I really don't understand people who like fall. You just came from a wonderful warm sunny place where you didn't have to worry about freezing, all the yummy fruits are in season, and you can take walks, camp, and swim without worry -- and somehow, SOMEHOW people prefer to be cold, dark, and limited in activities and fruits. I'll never understand you people. I'm attributing it to a lack of vitamins during cranial development.

Anyhoo, school today was alright. Studying for the anatomy test and embryo quiz. Yesterday the cobbler turned out nicely, the eggplant was 5/10. Will I eat it? Yes. Will I imagine I'm eating something else. Probably.

There was a lunch seminar today for the Holistic Club. A few of the faculty here are certified veterinary acupuncturists. It's very interesting and I would like to get further training/info. I'm signed up for an indepth seminar in Nov. The official training is expensive and takes a while to complete but there are many benefits. As a 3/4 year you can get scholarships to attend the Chi Institute and I'd like to try out for that down the road.

And now to cram scientific knowledge into my poor brain.

So I'm in vet school. And my brain hurts. HURTS. Hurts bad. Mostly because of anatomy and the impending exam. We're going into week 5 tomorrow. In 4 weeks we've covered the front limb, hind limb, neck, thorasic muscles and more! Woohoo.

Now naming the muscles is getting easy. The harder part is origins and insertions. The Sternocephalicus originates from the manubrium - the first sternebra - and goes to the basihyoid bone or something equally wonderful. Its action is to move the head laterally. And that was my Saturday night.

But it's getting better. Yesterday I didn't know the O/I of the front leg. Today I struggled through it. Last week I didn't have the names down. So in theory, next week this will all be cake.

The exam is on Friday. I am eager for next Saturday! Yesterday was nice because I just finished my cell phys exam. Now the relaxation is halted for the upcoming exam. Agh. But it's all good. A good grasp of anatomy is imperative for being a good doctor.

Now I should get around to cooking dinner. Yesterday I went to the farmers market. I only wanted 1 eggplant, but the nice elderly gentleman insisted I take 3 for the same price ($1, and 3 for $1 is a steal!) Then he gave me back too much change and I told him so. He said I was a sweet heart and I should take a flat of peaches. So I got 3 eggplant and 15+ peaches for $1. Then I got some Italian plums for free because the other stall was closing for the day. Suffice it to say I have more fruit than I know what to do with and some kind of pie is on the way. Hopefully my oven with give birth to a beautiful eggplant lasange later tonight! Push oven, push!