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!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Lab Animal Medicine
We had the first meeting of the Lab Animal Medicine club today. And I'm very excited about the prospect of working with lab animals!
There are so many different kinds of things you could end up doing in lab animal medicine-- from governing type work (writing Good Laboratory Practices, GLPs) to taking care of animals used in reasearch to doing your own research projects. Also, it's a field that is in desperate need of new recruits (meaning that there's lots of available positions!) and it's in the top 2 most highly paid veterinary positions (starting salary is somewhere around $100,000!)
The downside? A 2-3 year residency then taking boards. (However, the residency does defer your student loans and pay enough to live on...)
So, this seems like a really great possibility! Now I just need to figure out what it takes to be competetive for lab animal medicine residencies!
Also, next weekend I'm going to an Wildlife Orphanage in San Antonio to watch a panther declaw and tour their facilities with the AAFP (American Association of Feline Practitioners). I'm pretty excited!
There are so many different kinds of things you could end up doing in lab animal medicine-- from governing type work (writing Good Laboratory Practices, GLPs) to taking care of animals used in reasearch to doing your own research projects. Also, it's a field that is in desperate need of new recruits (meaning that there's lots of available positions!) and it's in the top 2 most highly paid veterinary positions (starting salary is somewhere around $100,000!)
The downside? A 2-3 year residency then taking boards. (However, the residency does defer your student loans and pay enough to live on...)
So, this seems like a really great possibility! Now I just need to figure out what it takes to be competetive for lab animal medicine residencies!
Also, next weekend I'm going to an Wildlife Orphanage in San Antonio to watch a panther declaw and tour their facilities with the AAFP (American Association of Feline Practitioners). I'm pretty excited!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Veinipuncture
Today we did a "blood and plasma" lab in physiology lab.
Our (remarkably patient) lab dog, Winkler, got blood drawn with a syringe in two veins (once each in the right cephalic and right saphenous veins... essentially, the major vein of the front leg and back leg.) And, we tried (about 5 times) to place a catheter.
I got to draw the cephalic vein blood... and, I hit the vein on my first try! I was very proud of myself. Actually drawing the blood was harder, though, because while I have the one handed motion down for a 3cc syringe, the 12cc syringe provides A LOT more tension. I ended up having to use 2 hands.
We never did get the catheter inserted properly. Poor Winkler was really patient with us, though!
Our (remarkably patient) lab dog, Winkler, got blood drawn with a syringe in two veins (once each in the right cephalic and right saphenous veins... essentially, the major vein of the front leg and back leg.) And, we tried (about 5 times) to place a catheter.
I got to draw the cephalic vein blood... and, I hit the vein on my first try! I was very proud of myself. Actually drawing the blood was harder, though, because while I have the one handed motion down for a 3cc syringe, the 12cc syringe provides A LOT more tension. I ended up having to use 2 hands.
We never did get the catheter inserted properly. Poor Winkler was really patient with us, though!
Monday, August 25, 2008
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!
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!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Funny/Interesting Things Professors Say #1
Anatomy:
"Veterinarians are highly trained, well educated problem solvers."
"Even though it is a dead animal course, we're going to evaluate you on some live animal stuff!"
"I said 'do do,' I'm sorry."
"Some of us are lumpers, some of us are splitters. I'm a lumper."
Physiology:
"The day before you graduate is the smartest day of your life. The day after you graduate is the dumbest year of your life."
"If you're bored with physiology, then study anatomy..."
"Excerise. It's a really good idea. Sleep. You have to. Play. But not too hard or too often."
"Is it a gorilla glue bond?"
Physiology lab:
"So, if you have a 1% dirt solution, you have 1 g dirt per 100 mL solution."
Histology/Clinical Correlates/Professional Development:
Uhm. I didn't write anything down, so it would seem they haven't said anything that struck me at the time as particularly funny!
"Veterinarians are highly trained, well educated problem solvers."
"Even though it is a dead animal course, we're going to evaluate you on some live animal stuff!"
"I said 'do do,' I'm sorry."
"Some of us are lumpers, some of us are splitters. I'm a lumper."
Physiology:
"The day before you graduate is the smartest day of your life. The day after you graduate is the dumbest year of your life."
"If you're bored with physiology, then study anatomy..."
"Excerise. It's a really good idea. Sleep. You have to. Play. But not too hard or too often."
"Is it a gorilla glue bond?"
Physiology lab:
"So, if you have a 1% dirt solution, you have 1 g dirt per 100 mL solution."
Histology/Clinical Correlates/Professional Development:
Uhm. I didn't write anything down, so it would seem they haven't said anything that struck me at the time as particularly funny!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
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.)
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.)
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
What We DON'T Know
Quite frequently when I read science textbooks I'm struck by what an incredible volume of knowledge we have accumulated about a wide array of topics.
But, almost as frequently, I'm struck by how much we DON'T know. (And also by how much we think we know, but then find out we were wrong about.)
Right now I'm reading pretty general information about bones-- such as how to classify bones by shape (which is more touchy-feely than classifying them by location)-- and I come across this statement:
"The exact constitution of the crystal lattice is still under study, [...]"
And it is just incredible to me that we know so many things about the bones, and their structure and their function and their histology, but we're missing something so fundamental as the constitution of the crystal lattice.
(Also, apparently, if you soak a dog fibula in hydrochloric acid for a day, you can then tie it in a knot.)
But, almost as frequently, I'm struck by how much we DON'T know. (And also by how much we think we know, but then find out we were wrong about.)
Right now I'm reading pretty general information about bones-- such as how to classify bones by shape (which is more touchy-feely than classifying them by location)-- and I come across this statement:
"The exact constitution of the crystal lattice is still under study, [...]"
And it is just incredible to me that we know so many things about the bones, and their structure and their function and their histology, but we're missing something so fundamental as the constitution of the crystal lattice.
(Also, apparently, if you soak a dog fibula in hydrochloric acid for a day, you can then tie it in a knot.)
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