Horses

I think this may become a common complaint over the course of this semester, but...

Horses are SO WEIRD.

There are so many things about their anatomy that seem like design flaws. And then, the horse people had to go and give everything weird names.

For an example of a design flaw, their eustacian tube (between the middle ear and the mouth... so, like if a kid has tubes in their ears, it's keeping this open) dilates out and makes this huge pouch along the back of their head. If they get an ear infection, this pouch tends to get infected and fill with pus... and can lead to significant nerve damage, because there are lots of important nerves there. And, nobody has any good reason for this pouch to exist.

As to weird names... They call what amounts to our wrist the knee. And they have fetlocks and pasterns and coffin joints.

Also, they basically walk on the tip of their middle finger.

Crazy beasts!

Grades

Grades are mostly in (at least in the unofficial grade display online) and I did pretty darn well, if I do say so myself.

Physiology (6 hours): A
Anatomy (4 hours): B
Histology (4 hours): A
Immunology (2 hours): A
Clinical Correlates (1 hour): A
Professional Development (1 hour): A

Vet School Jokes # 3

Caroline and I have composed another song, because the first one went over so well! (We sang it to the whole class and won a contest with it for a $50 prize we split between the 2 of us!)

This one takes a little more slurring/creative liberty, and wasn't quite as popular. Oh well, sequels never are.

The 12 Nerves of Cranial

1:
On the first day of classes
Doc Hoffman gave to me
One olfactory.

2:
On the second day of classes
Doc Hoffman gave to me
Optic, to see!
And one olfactory.

3:
On the third day of classes
Doc Hoffman gave to me
Oculomotor
Optic, to see!
And one olfactory

4:
On the fourth day of classes
Doc Hoffman gave to me
Fourth, trochlear
Oculomotor
Optic, to see!
And one olfactory

5:
On the fifth day of classes
Doc Hoffman gave to me
TRI-GEM-IN-AL!
Fourth, trochlear
Oculomotor
Optic, to see!
And one olfactory

6:
On the sixth day of classes
Doc Hoffman gave to me
Abducens abducing!
TRI-GEM-IN-AL!
Fourth, trochlear
Oculomotor
Optic, to see!
And one olfactory

7:
On the seventh day of classes
Doc Hoffman gave to me
Facial nerve as motor!
Abducens abducing!
TRI-GEM-IN-AL!
Fourth, trochlear
Oculomotor
Optic, to see!
And one olfactory

8:
On the eighth day of classes
Doc Hoffman gave to me
Vestibulocochl’r
Facial nerve as motor!
Abducens abducing!
TRI-GEM-IN-AL!
Fourth, trochlear
Oculomotor
Optic, to see!
And one olfactory

9:
On the ninth day of classes
Doc Hoffman gave to me
Glossopharyng’l
Vestibulocochl’r
Facial nerve as motor!
Abducens abducing!
TRI-GEM-IN-AL!
Fourth, trochlear
Oculomotor
Optic, to see!
And one olfactory

10:
On the tenth day of classes
Doc Hoffman gave to me
Vagus a-wandering
Glossopharyng’l
Vestibulocochl’r
Facial nerve as motor!
Abducens abducing!
TRI-GEM-IN-AL!
Fourth, trochlear
Oculomotor
Optic, to see!
And one olfactory

11:
On the eleventh day of classes
Doc Hoffman gave to me
Accessory, who cares?
Vagus a-wandering
Glossopharyng’l
Vestibulocochl’r
Facial nerve as motor!
Abducens abducing!
TRI-GEM-IN-AL!
Fourth, trochlear
Oculomotor
Optic, to see!
And one olfactory

12:
On the twelfth day of classes
Doc Hoffman gave to me
Hypoglossal, tongue
Accessory, who cares?
Vagus a-wandering
Glossopharyng’l
Vestibulocochl’r
Facial nerve as motor!
Abducens abducing!
TRI-GEM-IN-AL!
Fourth, trochlear
Oculomotor
Optic, to see!
And one olfactory!!!!

Long Absence

Sorry about disappearing off the face of the blog-o-sphere.

The end of the semester rush caught me up. It's been crazy busy with end of semester exams and social activities... and, now, brought to you by people who seem to hate students: FINALS!

I have a final every day this week, except Friday:
Monday: 9 - 11 AM: Physiology
Tuesday: 8 - 10 AM: Immunology
Wednesday: 1 - 5 PM: Anatomy
Thursday: 8 AM - noon: Histology

Anatomy Terms

Sometimes the words we end up using in Anatomy bother me.

Some of them are not descriptive, which bugs me. For example, the accessory pancreatic duct in the dog is the primary route by which pancreatic secretions reach the jejunum. The pancreatic duct may not even be present. (That varies from dog to dog.)

Some of them are overly descriptive. For example, the perforating branch of metatarsal II. This would make sense if there were other branches that perforated the foot... but, there's only the one artery. Too much information!

Then, we just use some of the same words over and over and over. For example, there are 3 (!) zygomatic processes in the skull. The zygomatic process of the maxillary bone, the zygomatic process of the temporal bone (both of which join the zygomatic bone to form the zygomatic arch) and the zygomatic process of the frontal bone (which points off the frontal bone toward the zygomatic arch... which has a frontal process of the zygomatic bone.)

Anyway, I think the terminology is ridiculous sometimes!

Vet School Jokes #2

So, there is this structure in the abdomen that rhymes with Supercalifragilisticexpialidocius (the celiacomesenteric ganglion and plexus.) Today during our study time, Caroline and I were singing the Mary Poppins song, but with mostly the real lyrics (except replacing the ganglion and plexus.) It was pretty hilarious... but, even better... Caroline and I have composed a better version!


Celiacomesenteric ganglion and plexus

Um diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay
Um diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay
Celiacomesenteric ganglion and plexus!
Found near major arteries and other things that vex us.
You’d better know just where its found
Cuz’ likely they will test us,
Celiacomesenteric ganglion and plexus!

Um diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay
Um diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay
Looking in the abdomen
can make you very sad
The tangle of the vessel s and the nerves can get quite bad
But finding the aorta sure will help you stay on track
And if you find this structure you will surely get the knack!

Oh, Celiacomesenteric ganglion and plexus!
Found near major arteries and other things that vex us.
You’d better know just where its found
Cuz’ likely they will test us,
Celiacomesenteric ganglion and plexus!

Um diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay
Um diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay
So when you’re taking the exam
And you get all confused
Remember all the very weird mnemonics that you used.
Don’t breathe the formaldehyde and try to find the answer,
And don’t forget to wash your hands or else you might get cancer!

Celiacomesenteric ganglion and plexus!

Anatomy Reaction

Well, I am continuing to react to Anatomy lab.

Monday I got through without any ill effects. I was super, super careful about not touching anything, though.

Today, I must have been more lax. Near the end of lab, I ended up with the right side of my face, my right ear, and a bit of my neck turning bright, bright red and itchy and a little bumpy/hive-y. I washed it off and used the anti-histamine cream again... but, it's just really embarassing and kind of scary.

I do not want to keep doing this. I need to find out what, exactly, I'm reacting to and if there's any way to avoid coming into contact with it. Because, you know, I have tons of spare time to be spending doing that!

Osteosarcoma

My cadaver in anatomy this week was euthanized probably relatively shortly before dying of cancer.

When we started to open the thoracic cavity today we found a little growth on the bone of the 7th or 8th right rib. As we opened the cavity further, we found another small growth and then an enormous (2-3 inches across, in a 40 or so pound dog) growth on his right 1st rib. We showed it to Dr. Hoffman, who was very impressed, and then told us that this was probably the dog with a tumor on his thoracic limb (it was!)

So, the poor little guy (who was probably only about 8 months old) had a primary tumor on his antebrachium (forearm) that metastisized to several locations in his thoracic cavity... and we think we can feel a tumor or two on his liver through the diaphragm. Too bad we aren't opening the abdominal cavity this week!

First round of exams!

Next week will be my first round of exams. All of them are "minor" exams (meaning they weigh less than "regular" exams, and may be shorter, but have the same level of difficulty as all future exams will have.)

I must admit to a fair bit of nervousness. Though, actually, I'm feeling pretty good right now. I did well on the Histology practice exam. I'm very comfortable with Immunology (thanks to Dr. Hillis at Baylor!) Anatomy I'm a little worried about, but I just need to keep going over and over and over the muscles and I'll be ok. Physiology doesn't actually happen til the 8th, and I have no idea what to expect from it.

Wish me luck!

Professionalism #1

One of the things they're really stressing to us is that we're "professionals" now and that means we have different standards of behavior than we did in undergrad.

One (of the many) things about professionalism that our professors are stressing is punctuality. We heard about it at orientation. It is written into every one of our syllabi. DO NOT BE LATE. Don't do it. (With one exception. Dr. Landis is willing to make a few minute allowances on the 8AM histology lecture for unforseen circumstances like car trouble or your cat threw up all over the floor and you had to clean it up before you left.)

Dr. Hoffman, the anatomy professor, takes punctuality so seriously that he says that if you are going to be late, do not come to class. Stay in the hall. Talk to him later and he'll catch you up. If you walk in the door late, the whole class will have to take a pop quiz.

Well, someone decided to test him today. And we had a pop quiz (luckily, it wasn't hard because we haven't learned much.) We were all glaring daggers at the girl who came in late. I'm still peeved about it.

Be professional! Or at least make sure that your problems and your bad planning don't negatively impact the rest of us!

Anatomy Lab Couldn't Stay Injury Free Forever!

Dr. Hoffman was so impressed that we got through the first day with sharps without any accidents... but, apparently that was just to lull him into a false sense of security!

One of my classmates went to the hospital today. (Well, really, 2 did... one got hurt and one of his lab partners drove him to the hospital.)

Apparently, he was transecting a muscle and his hand slipped... and he gouged himself in the other hand. Dr. Hoffman said that he "has good tendon function" but he needed to go get sutures. It really freaked the poor kid out. He was fine going over to the sink, but he started throwing up when he actually looked at it. (I probably would too... it's very different when it's your own body.) Hopefully he'll be the only injury this year! (And, hopefully his hand is really ok! They're so delicate! You really don't want to go cutting stuff in your hands... you can do permanent damage really fast.)

Cadaver day!

Today was our first day in anatomy lab actually doing work with the cadavers.

It's really interesting, though, also kind of gross. I noticed at the end of the lab session that I had a glob of dog fat in my bangs. It was really quite unpleasant. But, I took it out with a paper towel and went on with my day! (And showered immediately upon arriving at home.)

I am slowly getting a handle on the osteology (bones), arthrology (joints) and musculature (muscles) of the thoracic limb (the front leg.)

My interesting factoid from today is that what we commonly refer to as "the arm" (you know, shoulder to finger tips) is not actually "the arm." The brachi, the region between your shoulder and your elbow, is scientifically defined as your "arm."

Oh, and another one... domestic animals don't have collar bones! Dogs and cats have a vestigial clavicle, but it isn't even ossified. Horses and cows don't have a clavicle at all.

Bone Box!

I keep getting some of the coolest tools... especially for anatomy.

I have a giant necropsy knife for large animal anatomy next semester (oooo, exciting!)

Then, today in lab, we were issued a bone box! And it's exactly what it sounds like. It's a red toolbox full of small animal bones. I have a (broken) skull, a scapula, 2 mandibles, a full vertebral column, some ribs, a humerus, radius and ulna, a femur, tibia and fibula, a front paw and a back paw. It's really neat!