Oh my....it's been pretty darn busy since starting up the semester a week and a half ago. Last week was absolutely brutal. Talk about being forced into getting back on track with a schedule...sheeesh! I could simply not get enough sleep. I had 3 dissections and volunteered out at the farm last week, making for some very loooong days. I went out Friday night to celebrate a friend's birthday and it all came to a head this weekend. I slept and slept and slept and slept. And slept some more. Me and the Bingos were professional couch potatoes and I felt no shame. The weather was perfect for it though...typical Scotland with overcast skies and periods of rain (really drizzle here). Sooo sleepy.
Last week was good, just super long days. We started our dog, cat and equine lectures..yay. Like I said, we also did 3 dissections - two of the thorax and began the abdomen. They went very well. A classmate and I volunteered to help out at the sheep farm one afternoon scanning ewes. It was open to all years and about 12 of us showed up. They were scanning (ultra sounding) for pregnancy. We had to go through about 400 ewes (female sheeps). Our job, as students, was to move the sheep from pen to pen, get them up the chute and into the crush for the technician, put a dot of paint on their wool according to how many babes they were carrying and to do anything else that was needed. The norm for an ewe is twins, as she has two teats to milk her babes. We did not mark these. We marked for singles, triplets, quads (had one) and empty (not pregnant). There were very, very few empties. These gals are fertile! You mark them for how many lambs they are carrying so they can feed them appropriately. Also, at lambing time, you would want to take a lamb from the mother of triplets and put it with a single, so everyone gets milk. Ewes will kill lambs that are not theirs, so you have to disguise it in bodily fluid from the mother or one of her lambs. A little disguise, if you will.
In addition to getting more handling skills under our belts, we also got to observe the screen showing the ultrasound. It was a challenge for me in the beginning to even have a clue what any of the blobs of grey meant. Or even what blob I was supposed to be looking at. Eventually, I had convinced myself that I could see something, but honestly was not sure at all. Occasionally, he would point them out and show us where the head was, followed by a body and where the other lambs were hiding in that black hole of a uterus. That is when I KNEW I was getting it!! I could actually pick them out before he told us sometimes...amazing. We learned that he scans about 120,000 ewes a season at about 50-55 pence (cents in USD) per scan. Wow. Lambing season here for the most part right around Easter. We get a month off at Easter time to go lambing on farms as part of our requirement for our extramural studies. That should be great fun and everyone looks forward to it.
This week has been just as busy through today. Another dissection on Monday, followed by a Pig practical today. We had to go almost an hour out of town to an agricultural college since we do not have pigs at our school. And, I think I know why.....whew......do they stinkola. There were only 15 of us in our group and then we got split into two smaller ones. My group went to see the sows and piglets first. The welfare regulations here are actually better than in the US for the piggies. Once the sows are ready to farrow (give birth), they are moved to small stalls that only allow the sow to stand up and lie down. There is extra space on either side of her, but this if for the piglets and she is cannot really move around. This is because it is common for the sows to inadvertently crush piglets. There is also a box in the front of the pen the piggies can go into that has heat lamps and is kept very, very warm. We saw a sow in labor and she had just delivered her first baby. It is not uncommon for them to have 8-13 piglets. They are kept in these stalls until the piggies are weaned at 28 days. We got to vaccinate several groups of piglets, which was fun. Oh, did they ever squeal like babies as you held them for whoever was injecting......SQUEEEEEE....right in the ole ear.
We also got to play with older pigs who were being 'finished off'. This means they fatten em up for slaughter. This is where the stench factor was thousandfold compared to the sows and piglets. They are all housed indoor and it's warm, humid and unbelievably odorous. We were taught how to move the pigs around with a board that is about 3' x 3'. We had to shuffle them from their pen on to a scale. They are crafty big things and will run you over if you are in the way and they decide to go somewhere. The 'Baconers' are over 90kg and ready to become bacon. We had a couple of them in our group.
All in all, a very good start back. Exams are looming in on us and we are all feeling the pressure. I can't talk about it without getting the shakes.
Tomorrow is a short day, thank goodness. I'm finished at 11am and will love it.
Both of the Bingos are snoring, which I absolutely adore. It means they are happy campers and sound asleep. Time to wake em up and head to sleep myself.
Over-N-Out
Showing posts with label dissection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dissection. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
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
Monday, November 15, 2010
Grrrrrr......Not Again!
Yep, pretty sure I did it again. It was all for a good cause, I really NEEDED the exercise. I had a long break from soccer for various reasons, but mainly because it is a haul to get to where most practices are held and by the time I walk/run there, my feet are absolute toast. My feet are hanging on by threads these days. So, I got an email that there was a practice on Sunday in the park right near my flat...Yay. It had rained all morning, so it was nice and muddy. I played better than expected considering my absence and felt great. It was such good soup for my soul.
Well, it was very messy and slippery, so many of us fell and were muddy messes by the end. We were playing 4 v 4 without a real goalkeeper. Well, my goalie instincts kicked in a few times and I found myself deflecting balls. One particular time I actually went down to block a shot and felt an sudden 'ouch' in my left wrist. I thought, 'that probably wasn't good' and kept playing. A few hours after I got home and the adrenalin was gone, I realized what I had most likely done.....re-fractured my wrist! Yeah, I'm fairly certain of it. If I were a horse and my wrists were my feet, I would surely be euthanized! The bone I've now broken in both wrists is the same one - the scaphoid, or navicular bone. Yep, even coincides with a bone in the horse's foot. Go figure.
So, I found my splint with thumb spica in my closet and put it on. My ortho surgeon from VA actually told me to bring it here..thank goodness. During lunch, I called my GP here to set up an appointment this week, figuring I'd have to go there and then to an orthopaedic. Nope. Just proceed straight to the ER. Huh? Seriously? I have to go sit in an ER to get an xray? Oh brother, this should be good. I'm really stacked up with vet school this week, but have a half day Wednesday. I may go either Tuesday after dinner, knowing I have an 'easy' day on Wed, or I may go Wed afternoon, which is more likely. I detest this. I will write all about my first experience with socialized medicine after the fact. Wish me luck!
In other exciting news, we did our first dissection of the dog today! Just part of the head. We do a lot of dissections on the dog cadaver. Today, we took off the skin to reveal the muscles of facial expression. It was quite a delicate little dissection. The muscles lie just under the skin, so you have to be ever so careful not to cut too deep and to not peel the muscles off with the skin. Plus, we had a greyhound and they have thin skin anyway. Tomorrow, we continue with the head and investigate the course and distribution of the superficial nerves of the head. We will also look at superficial lymph nodes, major superficial blood vessels and some glands. We have to keep record of all of our work, so we take lots of pictures. We have to eventually assemble a workbook with either drawings and/or pictures from our labs all labelled. It will be a lot of work, but a great source for revision and to assist us once we get into surgeries.
Basically, I'm living the dream and loving it!
Time to wrap it up for tonight and prepare my goods for tomorrow.
GO SKINS!!!! Monday night football tonight and it will be recorded and waiting for me tomorrow!
Over-N-Out
Well, it was very messy and slippery, so many of us fell and were muddy messes by the end. We were playing 4 v 4 without a real goalkeeper. Well, my goalie instincts kicked in a few times and I found myself deflecting balls. One particular time I actually went down to block a shot and felt an sudden 'ouch' in my left wrist. I thought, 'that probably wasn't good' and kept playing. A few hours after I got home and the adrenalin was gone, I realized what I had most likely done.....re-fractured my wrist! Yeah, I'm fairly certain of it. If I were a horse and my wrists were my feet, I would surely be euthanized! The bone I've now broken in both wrists is the same one - the scaphoid, or navicular bone. Yep, even coincides with a bone in the horse's foot. Go figure.
So, I found my splint with thumb spica in my closet and put it on. My ortho surgeon from VA actually told me to bring it here..thank goodness. During lunch, I called my GP here to set up an appointment this week, figuring I'd have to go there and then to an orthopaedic. Nope. Just proceed straight to the ER. Huh? Seriously? I have to go sit in an ER to get an xray? Oh brother, this should be good. I'm really stacked up with vet school this week, but have a half day Wednesday. I may go either Tuesday after dinner, knowing I have an 'easy' day on Wed, or I may go Wed afternoon, which is more likely. I detest this. I will write all about my first experience with socialized medicine after the fact. Wish me luck!
In other exciting news, we did our first dissection of the dog today! Just part of the head. We do a lot of dissections on the dog cadaver. Today, we took off the skin to reveal the muscles of facial expression. It was quite a delicate little dissection. The muscles lie just under the skin, so you have to be ever so careful not to cut too deep and to not peel the muscles off with the skin. Plus, we had a greyhound and they have thin skin anyway. Tomorrow, we continue with the head and investigate the course and distribution of the superficial nerves of the head. We will also look at superficial lymph nodes, major superficial blood vessels and some glands. We have to keep record of all of our work, so we take lots of pictures. We have to eventually assemble a workbook with either drawings and/or pictures from our labs all labelled. It will be a lot of work, but a great source for revision and to assist us once we get into surgeries.
Basically, I'm living the dream and loving it!
Time to wrap it up for tonight and prepare my goods for tomorrow.
GO SKINS!!!! Monday night football tonight and it will be recorded and waiting for me tomorrow!
Over-N-Out
Monday, October 18, 2010
Sorry, little bunny foo foo
Tomorrow, we finally cut! Dissection of the rabbit...yes! Not sure why we are tackling the rabbit and how it relates to our current lectures, but I don't care, I'm cutting away. Hand me the scalpel. I am pretty sure we can take picutures, so be prepared.
I am finally feeling a bit better. I had a nasty sore throat, congested thing going on for about 9 days. Still have a tinge of the sore throat, but felt good enough to cancel my *free* doctor's appointment today. I have to finish up quite a bit before tomorrow, which is a jam-packed day, so I'll say goodnight.
Good Night :)
I am finally feeling a bit better. I had a nasty sore throat, congested thing going on for about 9 days. Still have a tinge of the sore throat, but felt good enough to cancel my *free* doctor's appointment today. I have to finish up quite a bit before tomorrow, which is a jam-packed day, so I'll say goodnight.
Good Night :)
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