I truly cannot believe it. I am one week away from completing my first semester of veterinary school! It has been a lot of work and I'm looking forward to the 'break'. The exam system is completely different here, so it won't necessarily be a break complete from studying, but it will be devoid of any lectures, new projects, meetings and practicals. You see, my US counterparts are finished/finishing up their final exams for all of their first semester classes before they leave for Christmas break. We, on the other hand, do not have exams for our first semester classes until February! In the US, they have had tests weekly leading up to the finals, whereas we will have only been graded on a few lab projects prior to taking our exams. Sooooo, I will be studying my tail off during break. I will also be doing one week of EMS (Extra Mural Studies) for small mammals. I'm scheduled to do that Dec.20th - 24th.
My other major item to accomplish over break is finding and buying a car! I cannot wait to have my wings again. I really need at times to be able to load the Bingo Boyz in a vehicle and just go drive somewhere. I amlooking forward to all that a car will give me, other than the headache of owning a car here. They are not exactly vehicle-friendly in the UK. At all. I need it to keep my sanity, frankly, so it is worth every penny in tax, parking permits, inspections and petrol. As they say, 'Freedom is not free'.
My last week's schedule is light and I'm loving it. Here is what it entails:
Mon -
10-1050 Anatomy lecture - Trunk and Body wall
11-1130 Review with lab partner for Biosecurity Assessment
1210-1300 Meeting on intercalating a degree (getting a master's degree along with vet degree)
1400-1550 Anatomy dissection - Pharynx
Tues
10-1200 Anatomy dissection - The Body Wall
2-330pm Langhill Farm - Biosecurity Assessment
Wed
900-950 Lecture - Information Skills
1110-1300 Practical - Clinical Skills
7pm - Christmas dinner Catholic Student's Union
Thur
9-950 Lecture Sheep
10-1050 Lecture Pigs
1110-1200 Staff-Student Liaison mtg for Animal Health, Welfare and Food Safety
Fri
9-1050 Professional Studies - Ethics/Current Issues debate
1210-1300 Staff-Student Liaison mtg for Professional Studies
Overall, a very easy week considering what we have been doing. Most students are going home and leaving anywhere from Friday, Dec. 17th to the 20th. We are supposed to get an arctic storm towards the weekend again. I just pray all of my classmates can make it home safely and do not have any issues with transportation.
Sunday night and watching UFC fights, so I'm very happy. I also made a great decision tonight. It was between working out and going to mass. As much as I need to work out, I chose the latter and am so happy I did. A workout could not have given me that much satisfaction. Plus, we had a little Christmas get together afterwards and it was lovely. Someone made mulled wine. It was warm and delicious!
Over-N-Out
Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
And then, the buses stopped running
So, I know it's been snowing for about a week and I have yet to blog about it and show the pictures. Today, for the first time, all of the buses just stopped running! It was kind of strange because it started snowing a week ago Saturday and today's snow snuck up on us. It snowed a bit each day until this past weekend, when the sun actually came out to play for a bit. It was cold though. I really did not even know it was supposed to snow and then it started and didn't stop.
Interestingly, only 2 afternoon labs/practicals were cancelled. The first one was a dissection that we made up two days later and the second was a practical out at the farm. As I think I've mentioned, we are moving out to Easter Bush campus next year, as they are completing the project now. 3rd-5th year students are already out there in the older facilities. However, 1st and 2nd years are in the city at Summerhall. Easter Bush is a bit 'out in the country' and all of their classes were basically cancelled the entire week, whereas ours were 98% on.
Here are some pictures of my neighborhood. The first was taken just out of my flat door overlooking my front 'garden'.
This one is looking down my street towards the Meadows.
The snow removal system here is not the best, to say the least. I saw all of about 2 plows all week and the footpaths were essentially never cleared or shoveled. It's kind of strange, but the sidewalks are basically ice covered with packed snow. Which, once the packed snow gets even more packed, it becomes icy again. They use sand some, but this only creates brown slush about 6 inches thick, which is no good either. The side streets in my rather busy neighborhood did not see a plow. In all fairness, this weather is not typical here.
I was amazed we had virtually an uninterrupted schedule last week considering staff and students come from all over (even from around Easter Bush). I'm glad we don't have a ton of classes to make up because frankly there is no time, but I did feel badly for those having to commute, as I've heard some horror stories.
Our class did manage to decorate Summerhall for Christmas. Each year of classes has certain duties assigned to them, one being to decorate for Christmas. First year students always are responsible for this, as we are for putting on the Christmas party. A great job was done and many smiles were had in the dissection room, as the Christmas spirit was alive (but not kicking...yuck yuck yuck):
Speaking of Anatomy, we turned our Anatomy workbooks in today. Whew, that was a LOT of work. Basically, it's a record of all the dissections, a few histology labs and a few dry labs we've done up to this point. I took pictures of the end result of dissections, downloaded the pictures and labelled all structures that we could identify. It came out really good and I'm very proud of it. I could not have/would not have put this much effort into this project as a younger student. Many of my peers were up literally all night printing, labelling and putting on the finishing touches. That was me 20 years ago! I was on the ball and did not procrastinate for once and it came out beautifully. We have to do a Volume 2 and our first required entry is our histology lab we did today on the skin, so I'm going to get to work on it now so I can stay ahead of the game. My first volume was 79 pages if that tells you anything...
Oh, we had our first Clinical Skills Lab today. It was basic stuff, but I learned. We discussed items we would need for future clinical classes such as: clean lab coat (as opposed to using our nasty dissection room coat), digital thermometer, pen torch (light), notebook and pen, and stethoscope. We did the beginnings of how to do a physical assessment of a dog. We learned how to SOAP a dog. This acronym stands for Subjective (what you see ie. attitude, physical appearance), Objective (What you actually feel, ie Temp, Respiration, Heart Rate), Assessment (list of 'problems', what your 'assessment' is of the situation. Not a diagnosis) and a Plan (What are you going to do next. ie. order labs, send home, check 4hrs post op).
The session was given by an equine senior lecturer here who is a specialist in his field. I met him in NY at our reception last February, as he was a speaker on behalf of the Dick Vet. There was another speaker there, who concentrates on small animals, and together they were absolutely hysterical.
The introduction to clinical skills today was just that and mostly a group discussion. What was fabulous, was that he threw in some real clinical items and got us thinking as vets...already. Not that we know cow patties from horse dung, but he really drove home the point that in a few short years, after a massive learning curve, we WILL know these things. He also was apologetically adamant on driving home professionalism, what it means and how we are already in the profession. He emphasized what a small community vet med really is and gave advice that I felt was crucial. I hope my colleagues heard him. Very interactive and just what I needed today. I am also looking forward to working with him in the years to come, as I think his teaching style speaks to me very well.
Wow, I've had diarrhea of the digits tonight. I must get to work.
Over-N-Out
Interestingly, only 2 afternoon labs/practicals were cancelled. The first one was a dissection that we made up two days later and the second was a practical out at the farm. As I think I've mentioned, we are moving out to Easter Bush campus next year, as they are completing the project now. 3rd-5th year students are already out there in the older facilities. However, 1st and 2nd years are in the city at Summerhall. Easter Bush is a bit 'out in the country' and all of their classes were basically cancelled the entire week, whereas ours were 98% on.
Here are some pictures of my neighborhood. The first was taken just out of my flat door overlooking my front 'garden'.
This one is looking down my street towards the Meadows.
And, my walk to the vet school has been just beautiful:
Notice the pathway in the middle. Ok, it's snowing and covered up...I get it. But, it has remained this way for over a week and we have not had blizzards, just a few inches here or there.
Me and the Bingo Boyz' park, the Meadows, covered up:
I was amazed we had virtually an uninterrupted schedule last week considering staff and students come from all over (even from around Easter Bush). I'm glad we don't have a ton of classes to make up because frankly there is no time, but I did feel badly for those having to commute, as I've heard some horror stories.
Our class did manage to decorate Summerhall for Christmas. Each year of classes has certain duties assigned to them, one being to decorate for Christmas. First year students always are responsible for this, as we are for putting on the Christmas party. A great job was done and many smiles were had in the dissection room, as the Christmas spirit was alive (but not kicking...yuck yuck yuck):
Speaking of Anatomy, we turned our Anatomy workbooks in today. Whew, that was a LOT of work. Basically, it's a record of all the dissections, a few histology labs and a few dry labs we've done up to this point. I took pictures of the end result of dissections, downloaded the pictures and labelled all structures that we could identify. It came out really good and I'm very proud of it. I could not have/would not have put this much effort into this project as a younger student. Many of my peers were up literally all night printing, labelling and putting on the finishing touches. That was me 20 years ago! I was on the ball and did not procrastinate for once and it came out beautifully. We have to do a Volume 2 and our first required entry is our histology lab we did today on the skin, so I'm going to get to work on it now so I can stay ahead of the game. My first volume was 79 pages if that tells you anything...
Oh, we had our first Clinical Skills Lab today. It was basic stuff, but I learned. We discussed items we would need for future clinical classes such as: clean lab coat (as opposed to using our nasty dissection room coat), digital thermometer, pen torch (light), notebook and pen, and stethoscope. We did the beginnings of how to do a physical assessment of a dog. We learned how to SOAP a dog. This acronym stands for Subjective (what you see ie. attitude, physical appearance), Objective (What you actually feel, ie Temp, Respiration, Heart Rate), Assessment (list of 'problems', what your 'assessment' is of the situation. Not a diagnosis) and a Plan (What are you going to do next. ie. order labs, send home, check 4hrs post op).
The session was given by an equine senior lecturer here who is a specialist in his field. I met him in NY at our reception last February, as he was a speaker on behalf of the Dick Vet. There was another speaker there, who concentrates on small animals, and together they were absolutely hysterical.
The introduction to clinical skills today was just that and mostly a group discussion. What was fabulous, was that he threw in some real clinical items and got us thinking as vets...already. Not that we know cow patties from horse dung, but he really drove home the point that in a few short years, after a massive learning curve, we WILL know these things. He also was apologetically adamant on driving home professionalism, what it means and how we are already in the profession. He emphasized what a small community vet med really is and gave advice that I felt was crucial. I hope my colleagues heard him. Very interactive and just what I needed today. I am also looking forward to working with him in the years to come, as I think his teaching style speaks to me very well.
Wow, I've had diarrhea of the digits tonight. I must get to work.
Over-N-Out
Sunday, October 10, 2010
G-Night
I really want to post my pictures from Friday night, but I'm going to bed early instead. This is a very long week coming up and I still have a sore throat! The whole weekend was pretty typical Scotland weather - overcast, warm, then cold, windy, drizzling then not... It was fine with me because I really needed to not get distracted by the sunshine :-). I also got a ton of household items done - laundry, cleaned my flat thoroughly, moved furniture for the flooring guys, grocery shopped, went through my mail, paid bills, washed the Bingo Boyz and straightened up in general.
Inevitably, the Bingos got on my desk and sat on my books and work. I had just come back from the park with them (played soccer) and they had muddy paws. Harley jumped up on my desk. He can only do this because it butts up to my couch. They love to come say 'Hi' and just sit on my papers, computer, whatever is on my desk. Harley was tired so he came up and just plopped himself down to sleep, not without first leaving a muddy paw print on my computer. Eye yeye yeye.
As I mentioned, a long week ahead. I have 4 practicals this week. That means 4 of my days I end somewhere between 3 and 530 pm. Wednesday is always short and ends at noon for me. But, I have the flooring guys coming allllll day Tuesday and Wednesday to rip up the nasty carpet in both bedrooms and sand my wood floors. This is going to be fantastic, but takes some preparation with moving all furniture out of both bedrooms and then dealing with workers for two days. It will be worth it though!
Meeting more and more people...different students in other years of vet school and students in completely different programs. I love it. Another student and I are the only ones from our class who go to St. Albert's for mass...well, until tonite that is. Another mature student in her 30's showed up! Yay. She's been out of the church for 10 years and I think she will continue to come to ours. M is also staying here most of the holidays and told me tonite that she is hosting a Thanksgiving dinner at her flat on Saturday after our Thanksgiving! She's from the south and cooking some really yummy homemade grub - turkey, apple and pumpkin pies, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and onions....and, and, and....SO excited about this! We also discussed those of us 'left behind' for Christmas getting together several times, but certainly for midnight Mass. I'm thankful to have a small group of other US students to hang out with during these times. It should make it a little easier.
Our parish is offering free Spanish lessons starting next week....oh, how I wish I could take advantage of this. I just cannot spread myself too thin this first semester. Our first exam isn't until FEBRUARY...arrrghhhh....so, I will not have a clue how I'm doing until after then. Freakoid.
Oh, last bit....my neighbor across the hall (only 2 flats on each floor) invited me over for tea this afternoon. I was out back hanging up my laundry on the line (yes, even though I have a dryer I am addicted to fresh, wind-dried laundry) and she asked me over. I had such a nice chat with her. It was me, her 8 month old, Suki and the greyhound. Her husband, Pete, is away on business (he's a photographer) and her 15 year old daughter was off doing something. She gave me a tour of their flat. It's the exact same layout, but flipped. It's amazing how much smaller it looked because it is stuffed to the gills with furniture and stuff (like a piano in the hallway). They also use the boxroom that is my storage room as a nursery for baby. She does have a huge kitchen where I have some wasted space that serves as an eating area. That probably also attributes to it looking smaller since it's filled up and mine is fairly empty sans a table and small pull out couch. I will take full pics of my flat after the flooring is finished.
Ok, now it's not an early bedtime anymore and I need to go to bed.
Till next time.
Over-N-Out
Inevitably, the Bingos got on my desk and sat on my books and work. I had just come back from the park with them (played soccer) and they had muddy paws. Harley jumped up on my desk. He can only do this because it butts up to my couch. They love to come say 'Hi' and just sit on my papers, computer, whatever is on my desk. Harley was tired so he came up and just plopped himself down to sleep, not without first leaving a muddy paw print on my computer. Eye yeye yeye.
As I mentioned, a long week ahead. I have 4 practicals this week. That means 4 of my days I end somewhere between 3 and 530 pm. Wednesday is always short and ends at noon for me. But, I have the flooring guys coming allllll day Tuesday and Wednesday to rip up the nasty carpet in both bedrooms and sand my wood floors. This is going to be fantastic, but takes some preparation with moving all furniture out of both bedrooms and then dealing with workers for two days. It will be worth it though!
Meeting more and more people...different students in other years of vet school and students in completely different programs. I love it. Another student and I are the only ones from our class who go to St. Albert's for mass...well, until tonite that is. Another mature student in her 30's showed up! Yay. She's been out of the church for 10 years and I think she will continue to come to ours. M is also staying here most of the holidays and told me tonite that she is hosting a Thanksgiving dinner at her flat on Saturday after our Thanksgiving! She's from the south and cooking some really yummy homemade grub - turkey, apple and pumpkin pies, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and onions....and, and, and....SO excited about this! We also discussed those of us 'left behind' for Christmas getting together several times, but certainly for midnight Mass. I'm thankful to have a small group of other US students to hang out with during these times. It should make it a little easier.
Our parish is offering free Spanish lessons starting next week....oh, how I wish I could take advantage of this. I just cannot spread myself too thin this first semester. Our first exam isn't until FEBRUARY...arrrghhhh....so, I will not have a clue how I'm doing until after then. Freakoid.
Oh, last bit....my neighbor across the hall (only 2 flats on each floor) invited me over for tea this afternoon. I was out back hanging up my laundry on the line (yes, even though I have a dryer I am addicted to fresh, wind-dried laundry) and she asked me over. I had such a nice chat with her. It was me, her 8 month old, Suki and the greyhound. Her husband, Pete, is away on business (he's a photographer) and her 15 year old daughter was off doing something. She gave me a tour of their flat. It's the exact same layout, but flipped. It's amazing how much smaller it looked because it is stuffed to the gills with furniture and stuff (like a piano in the hallway). They also use the boxroom that is my storage room as a nursery for baby. She does have a huge kitchen where I have some wasted space that serves as an eating area. That probably also attributes to it looking smaller since it's filled up and mine is fairly empty sans a table and small pull out couch. I will take full pics of my flat after the flooring is finished.
Ok, now it's not an early bedtime anymore and I need to go to bed.
Till next time.
Over-N-Out
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)