This semester should be quite an experience. We spend a lot more time in class, therefore we have a lot less time during the day at school to study and a lot sadder schedule (we have physiology at 8AM every day... instead of having it every day but at different times so we had 9AM Monday starts and 10AM Friday starts.)
Overall, the classes seem like they won't be so bad. There's a lot of reproduction, which is not my favorite, but it should be ok. It's just 1 unit of physiology and 6 weeks of embryology.
Schedule:
Monday
8 - 8:50 AM -- VTPP 912 Physiology II
9 - 9:50 AM -- VIBS 913 Microscopic Anatomy II
10 - 10:50 AM – VIBS 912 Gross Anatomy II
11 - 11:50 AM – VTPB 911 Veterinary Microbiology
1 - 2:50 PM – VIBS 913L Microscopic Anatomy II Lab
3 – 4:50 PM – VIBS 912L Gross Anatomy II Lab
Tuesday
8 - 8:50 AM -- VTPP 912 Physiology II
9 - 9:50 AM -- VIBS 912 Gross Anatomy II
12 - 2:50 PM -- VIBS 912L Gross Anatomy II Lab
3 - 4:50 PM – VMID 913 Clinical Correlates II
Wednesday
8 - 8:50 AM -- VTPP 912 Physiology II
11 - 11:50 AM -- VTPB 911 Veterinary Microbiology
1 - 2:50 PM – VTPB 911L Veterinary Microbiology Lab
3 – 4:50 PM – VIBS 913L Microscopic Anatomy II Lab
Thursday
8 - 8:50 AM -- VTPP 912 Physiology II
9 - 9:50 AM -- VIBS 913 Microscopic Anatomy II
10 - 11:50 AM – VTPP 912L Physiology Lab
1 - 2:50 PM – VIBS 913L Microscopic Anatomy II Lab
3 – 4:50 PM – VIBS 912L Gross Anatomy II Lab
Friday
8 - 8:50 AM -- VTPP 912 Physiology II
9 - 9:50 AM – VIBS 926 Public Health
11 - 11:50 AM -- VTPB 911 Veterinary Microbiology
Showing posts with label clinical correlates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clinical correlates. Show all posts
Monday, January 12, 2009
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Oh, Dr. Blue-McLendon
This article quotes my Correlates professor... she really does sound this insane in real life when she talks:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081219/ap_on_fe_st/rudolph_s_gender;_ylt=Ark3k5NJxHWlM.h3lwtYkV3tiBIF
There may be a perfectly good reason why Santa doesn't get lost on his annual Christmas globetrot: His flying reindeer just might be female and don't mind stopping for directions.
The gender of Rudolph and his or her sleigh-hauling friends — the subject of goofy Internet chatter every year around this time — is now being pondered by renowned wildlife experts at Texas A&M University.
"Santa's reindeers were really females, most likely," said Alice Blue-McLendon, a veterinary medicine professor specializing in deer who cites the depictions of Santa's helpers with antlers as the primary evidence. It turns out reindeer grow antlers regardless of gender, and most bulls typically shed their fuzzy protrusions before Christmas.
But Santa's sleigh helpers might also be castrated males, known as steers, said Greg Finstad, who manages the Reindeer Research Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Young steers finish shedding their antlers in February and March, just as non-expecting females do. Bulls generally lose theirs before Christmas, while expectant mothers retain their antlers until calves are birthed in the spring. This allows them to protect food resources through harsh weather and to have enough for developing fetuses, he said.
Sledders most often use steers because they maintain their body condition throughout the winter, he said. Bulls are tuckered out from rutting season when they mate with as many as a dozen females in the months leading up to December. That leaves them depleted and too lean to pull a sleigh or sled through heavy snows, Finstad said.
Many females are pregnant after rutting season, which lasts from summer and into the fall. That would mean long hours of backbreaking work for an expecting Rudolph, as well as Donner, Blitzen, Cupid, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Comet and Vixen.
"You don't hook up your pregnant females to a sled," Finstad said. "That is not good animal husbandry."
But other aaspects of the Christmas story support the all-girl sleigh team theory, Blue-McLendon said.
For example, would a boy reindeer really sport a shiny red nose that almost glows?
"Females like accessories," said Blue-McLendon, who in 2003 led the school's cloning of a white-tailed deer. "I think that fits because females like bling. We like shiny stuff."
As for the reindeer games, forget the rough antler-smashing stuff. Blue-McLendon suggests a female Rudolph would be more up for "games of wit."
And as for the name, Rudolph could certainly still work.
"Why not?" Blue-McLendon said. "I know women named Charlie."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081219/ap_on_fe_st/rudolph_s_gender;_ylt=Ark3k5NJxHWlM.h3lwtYkV3tiBIF
There may be a perfectly good reason why Santa doesn't get lost on his annual Christmas globetrot: His flying reindeer just might be female and don't mind stopping for directions.
The gender of Rudolph and his or her sleigh-hauling friends — the subject of goofy Internet chatter every year around this time — is now being pondered by renowned wildlife experts at Texas A&M University.
"Santa's reindeers were really females, most likely," said Alice Blue-McLendon, a veterinary medicine professor specializing in deer who cites the depictions of Santa's helpers with antlers as the primary evidence. It turns out reindeer grow antlers regardless of gender, and most bulls typically shed their fuzzy protrusions before Christmas.
But Santa's sleigh helpers might also be castrated males, known as steers, said Greg Finstad, who manages the Reindeer Research Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Young steers finish shedding their antlers in February and March, just as non-expecting females do. Bulls generally lose theirs before Christmas, while expectant mothers retain their antlers until calves are birthed in the spring. This allows them to protect food resources through harsh weather and to have enough for developing fetuses, he said.
Sledders most often use steers because they maintain their body condition throughout the winter, he said. Bulls are tuckered out from rutting season when they mate with as many as a dozen females in the months leading up to December. That leaves them depleted and too lean to pull a sleigh or sled through heavy snows, Finstad said.
Many females are pregnant after rutting season, which lasts from summer and into the fall. That would mean long hours of backbreaking work for an expecting Rudolph, as well as Donner, Blitzen, Cupid, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Comet and Vixen.
"You don't hook up your pregnant females to a sled," Finstad said. "That is not good animal husbandry."
But other aaspects of the Christmas story support the all-girl sleigh team theory, Blue-McLendon said.
For example, would a boy reindeer really sport a shiny red nose that almost glows?
"Females like accessories," said Blue-McLendon, who in 2003 led the school's cloning of a white-tailed deer. "I think that fits because females like bling. We like shiny stuff."
As for the reindeer games, forget the rough antler-smashing stuff. Blue-McLendon suggests a female Rudolph would be more up for "games of wit."
And as for the name, Rudolph could certainly still work.
"Why not?" Blue-McLendon said. "I know women named Charlie."
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Auction Barn
Well, food animal medicine is definitely out. I have full, 100% eliminated that from my possible career choices! (Not that I was ever seriously considering it. I really am down to lab animal medicine or small animal practice, essentially depending on how much I want to put myself through more school when I finish my DVM.)
Today, I went to the Auction Barn for Correlates class. It was... horrifying, and kind of scary. I mean, I know they're trying to find the best/safest/most humane way to quickly move a lot of animals... but... still.
We were sitting in the back watching the cow/bull auction. And, it was just painful to watch them shock the cow up for bid multiple times. I understand that the buyers need to be able to see all sides of the animal (to look for things like bad eyes/limbs/teats/whatever)... but, it's sad to see an animal run into the chute looking terrified then see it get shocked 4 or 5 times to keep it spinning.
Then, in the back, it was even worse! There was 1 guy that I really couldn't tell what he was shocking the cows for, except maybe for fun. They were trying to get them into the chute kind of single file, but he was paying attention to this set of them that were in the back (pointing the wrong direction) and he'd shock their butts. This does not make them turn around... it just makes them try harder to go straight... The thing about animals is they run AWAY from pain, not towards it.
It was just... really sad.
Today, I went to the Auction Barn for Correlates class. It was... horrifying, and kind of scary. I mean, I know they're trying to find the best/safest/most humane way to quickly move a lot of animals... but... still.
We were sitting in the back watching the cow/bull auction. And, it was just painful to watch them shock the cow up for bid multiple times. I understand that the buyers need to be able to see all sides of the animal (to look for things like bad eyes/limbs/teats/whatever)... but, it's sad to see an animal run into the chute looking terrified then see it get shocked 4 or 5 times to keep it spinning.
Then, in the back, it was even worse! There was 1 guy that I really couldn't tell what he was shocking the cows for, except maybe for fun. They were trying to get them into the chute kind of single file, but he was paying attention to this set of them that were in the back (pointing the wrong direction) and he'd shock their butts. This does not make them turn around... it just makes them try harder to go straight... The thing about animals is they run AWAY from pain, not towards it.
It was just... really sad.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Do I Always Have to Go First?
The first day of classes went very well. My professors all seem very nice and very good. I'm sure that I'm going to be learning a lot!
Many of the classes are set up so that we're all doing pretty much the same thing at the same time... except for Physiology. There is a project (worth 6% of the total grade) where we are given an actual clinical case that we have to write up a differential diagnosis for. We then have to meet with a clinician to present and talk about our work, then write a (really short) paper about it before giving a presentation in class. There will be 5 cases throughout the semester, with 4 groups assigned to each. Each case will be assigned on a Friday and then presented to the class on the following Friday.
My case is going to be given to me on August 29. Yes, next Friday! I don't think we'll have learned enough by then to make a good diagnosis! I mean, I know he isn't expecting as much depth from us as the last groups of the year, but I think it would be more educational to get to do one of the later cases... Oh well, it will be nice to get it done early!
After coming to terms with that, I get home and read my e-mail... and I have an e-mail from our Clinical Correlates professor (to me and 8 other students, most of whom are in my faculty mentor group) saying that we get the (dubious) joy of starting Animal Husbandry rotations in Clinical Correlates TOMORROW! Yes, tomorrow. I will have to spend a week taking care of a horse. This includes feeding it before 8AM and again before 3PM. (Before 8AM isn't so hard, just get to school early... but before 3PM again could be hard... I have class solidly from 8AM-5PM...) I will also be learning all of the things you have to do to do a physical exam on a horse.
Well, at least I didn't get stuck with the ostrich!
Many of the classes are set up so that we're all doing pretty much the same thing at the same time... except for Physiology. There is a project (worth 6% of the total grade) where we are given an actual clinical case that we have to write up a differential diagnosis for. We then have to meet with a clinician to present and talk about our work, then write a (really short) paper about it before giving a presentation in class. There will be 5 cases throughout the semester, with 4 groups assigned to each. Each case will be assigned on a Friday and then presented to the class on the following Friday.
My case is going to be given to me on August 29. Yes, next Friday! I don't think we'll have learned enough by then to make a good diagnosis! I mean, I know he isn't expecting as much depth from us as the last groups of the year, but I think it would be more educational to get to do one of the later cases... Oh well, it will be nice to get it done early!
After coming to terms with that, I get home and read my e-mail... and I have an e-mail from our Clinical Correlates professor (to me and 8 other students, most of whom are in my faculty mentor group) saying that we get the (dubious) joy of starting Animal Husbandry rotations in Clinical Correlates TOMORROW! Yes, tomorrow. I will have to spend a week taking care of a horse. This includes feeding it before 8AM and again before 3PM. (Before 8AM isn't so hard, just get to school early... but before 3PM again could be hard... I have class solidly from 8AM-5PM...) I will also be learning all of the things you have to do to do a physical exam on a horse.
Well, at least I didn't get stuck with the ostrich!
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