This was a short week and so it should not be as much of a surprise that another Friday is here, but it is.
I just took the Bingo's out and it's rather warmer today, no wind (yet) and not raining! Today is a longer than typical Friday (due to the shortened week), but it's a good schedule. I have two anatomy lectures (joints and cartilage, I believe) followed by an histology practical, then a two hour break. I will come home, take care of the pooches, grab a bite to eat and head back from 2-350pm to the dissection room for our second half of the skull practical. It's a dry lab, not a dissection (those start next week), but still a good time. Yesterday we looked at skulls of the dog, cat, horse, cow and pig. We did a lot of labeling and coloring. Today, should be a test of our knowledge....not graded.
So, off to get cleaned up and then start my Friday!
Hope everyone had a great one!
Over-N-Out
Showing posts with label practical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label practical. Show all posts
Friday, November 12, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
Week 7!
It's true, I am starting week 7 already. Craziness. Over halfway through the first semester. I have to say that I am absolutely loving vet school up to this point. Yes, there is a lot of material and yes, it is overwhelming at times, but even this stuff is interesting and it is supposed to only get better each year. I'm thoroughly enjoying being in an intensive learning environment again with not only intelligent classmates all around me, but at a phenomenal university. I have been so impressed with most of our lecturers up to this point and can really tell that they are dedicated to teaching us to be the best veterinarians we can be. The testing methods here are quite different and I'm sure I will completely wig out at some point down the road. In the US, it is common to be tested quite regularly throughout the semester, or at the very least have a midterm and final exam. Many of my counterparts in the US have anywhere from 1-4 exams a week! While I'm sure this is mayhem at times, it allows you to know where you stand pretty much at all times. Here, we have 3 major 'classes' that run the whole year. The one class, the Animal Body I, is split into 2 major sections. It actually covers many modules, that US universities would have as completely separate classes with their own exams throughout the year. This is called a 'block system'.
We, on the other hand, finish up the first section in February and only then do we have exams. Three days of them! We 'sit' exams here. They call it that because there is so much writing. It's basically one day of Short Answer essays, one day of Long essays and one day of Oral and Spots Examinations. Spot exams are common in say, anatomy, where there might be 20 pins stuck in different structures and the examiner points to one and asks you to identify it. Once you do, they can then follow up with questions about that bone, nerve, muscle, etc. We will then have the second section of Animal Body I that runs from February to the end of May and then exams again at the beginning of June. so, needless to say, there is a LOT of information to be covered on exams and it is a bit daunting. I think that has kept my stress level down for now, but it's likely to skyrocket in about January. I keep having to remind myself that the mass majority of folks get through this program, so it is doable.
I had a relaxing weekend and studied/revised my notes for most of it. I finally feel like the information is all coming together. The lectures seem a bit disjointed at first, but that's only because you have to start somewhere. Now, things are starting to build on one another and you can understand better why you had a lecture at a certain time. So, yes, I am ecstatic to be here and slowly but surely getting into my groove with studies and the culture.
This weekend's big event was turning back the clocks. No more daylight savings time here. This was so needed in the mornings, as it was still black out at 7am and now it is light and I can see what I'm doing when I take the dogs out. The downside, of course, is that it's now 335pm, overcast and drizzling and cars already have their headlamps on! It gets dark, dark by 430. This is not good. At all.
Last night was a wonderful surprise. I was out getting my laundry off the line (I took advantage of two absolutley stunningly sunny days) and my next door neighbor invited me over to their neighbor's back garden for a drink. It was lovely. They had a fire going outside and we all sat on the patio chatting away. Two very lovely couples and one little stinker...Suki. She's about 8 months (I think) and lives across the hall. She is a cute little chubby-cheeked girl. Totally adorable. Her mom, Becky, is stay-at-home mom and dad, Pete, is a photographer. Really sweet and welcoming couple. I'm lucky to have them next door.
I think that catches us up to today. This week is pretty long (except the usual Wed) because the following week we do not have classes Mon and Tuesday. Four day weekend! Yay. Tomorrow, I'm looking forward to doing the chick embryo practical. We delicately cut our way into an egg with a live embryo and put a solution on it that ceases the chick's life. We then prepare a slide to look at some embryologic structures we've been studying under the microscope. It's like a mini-surgery. It's the small things that get me excited these days. Then, Thursday is our practical at the dairy farm on milking! We get to finally see the milking parlour and experience a milking session. I understand we will be getting our hands dirty.
That's all for now. Time to crack open the books again, before my espresso wears off.
Over-N-Out
We, on the other hand, finish up the first section in February and only then do we have exams. Three days of them! We 'sit' exams here. They call it that because there is so much writing. It's basically one day of Short Answer essays, one day of Long essays and one day of Oral and Spots Examinations. Spot exams are common in say, anatomy, where there might be 20 pins stuck in different structures and the examiner points to one and asks you to identify it. Once you do, they can then follow up with questions about that bone, nerve, muscle, etc. We will then have the second section of Animal Body I that runs from February to the end of May and then exams again at the beginning of June. so, needless to say, there is a LOT of information to be covered on exams and it is a bit daunting. I think that has kept my stress level down for now, but it's likely to skyrocket in about January. I keep having to remind myself that the mass majority of folks get through this program, so it is doable.
I had a relaxing weekend and studied/revised my notes for most of it. I finally feel like the information is all coming together. The lectures seem a bit disjointed at first, but that's only because you have to start somewhere. Now, things are starting to build on one another and you can understand better why you had a lecture at a certain time. So, yes, I am ecstatic to be here and slowly but surely getting into my groove with studies and the culture.
This weekend's big event was turning back the clocks. No more daylight savings time here. This was so needed in the mornings, as it was still black out at 7am and now it is light and I can see what I'm doing when I take the dogs out. The downside, of course, is that it's now 335pm, overcast and drizzling and cars already have their headlamps on! It gets dark, dark by 430. This is not good. At all.
Last night was a wonderful surprise. I was out getting my laundry off the line (I took advantage of two absolutley stunningly sunny days) and my next door neighbor invited me over to their neighbor's back garden for a drink. It was lovely. They had a fire going outside and we all sat on the patio chatting away. Two very lovely couples and one little stinker...Suki. She's about 8 months (I think) and lives across the hall. She is a cute little chubby-cheeked girl. Totally adorable. Her mom, Becky, is stay-at-home mom and dad, Pete, is a photographer. Really sweet and welcoming couple. I'm lucky to have them next door.
I think that catches us up to today. This week is pretty long (except the usual Wed) because the following week we do not have classes Mon and Tuesday. Four day weekend! Yay. Tomorrow, I'm looking forward to doing the chick embryo practical. We delicately cut our way into an egg with a live embryo and put a solution on it that ceases the chick's life. We then prepare a slide to look at some embryologic structures we've been studying under the microscope. It's like a mini-surgery. It's the small things that get me excited these days. Then, Thursday is our practical at the dairy farm on milking! We get to finally see the milking parlour and experience a milking session. I understand we will be getting our hands dirty.
That's all for now. Time to crack open the books again, before my espresso wears off.
Over-N-Out
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Sheeps
Today was a good day. It started with our first lecture in Veterinary Public Health. I can honestly say that this part of the field does not do much for me, as crucial as it is, but the lecturer was really good. He was an Italian with a strong accent. I got such a kick out of how he basically added a vowel to the end of each word. Second lecture was a kicker - embryology again with a focus on cranial nerves. I'm enjoying this part of the course; it's challenging and interesting. It's so amazing to learn which type of cells each of our body parts are formed.
This afternoon, we got to play with sheep for our 3 hour practical out at Easter Bush farm. How much fun was that?? The vet school's 'shepherd', was a fantastic teacher. Sheep are flock animals, so once you get one going in a direction, they allllll follow. They do not like to be isoloated at all. We were taught how to catch them - get them bunched into a group in the corner of the pen preferably, pick out the one you want and get right up next to him. He should be in a position where he doesn't have any room to run either with fencing or other sheep surrounding him. Then, get your hand under his chin and lift up. Voila...you have control of a sheep. You use your whole body to get him against the corral so he can't easily escape. We were shown how to age a sheep up to about 2years, 9 months by looking at his teeth, how to sex him/her, how to condition score him (feeling lower back, and vertebral protubrances) to determine how his overall body condition is on a scale of 0-5. Zero is basically dead and 5 is a fatty, fat, fat. We learned how to 'flip' them. That's not really the correct term, but it's well known. It means to put them on their butt and have their back leaning up against your body. They really cannot move once you get them there and it's easy to look at their mouth, sex them and generally check out their underside. We also learned how to judge their weight....this is harder than it sounds. Different breeds not only have different fleece (making them look bigger or smaller), but also are shorter, stockier, leggier, etc, making it all more difficult. Plus, we have to do it in kilograms, which my mind does not easily think in yet. We also practiced 'worming' them orally with water. It was a very productive practical and I feel like just a few hours with these animals, I gained so much confidence in handling them. They can get quite skiddish if you don't do some techniques properly and can jump straight in the air out of nowhere. Lots of fun and informative.
I'm now enjoying the most favorite part of my day...spending quality time with my boys and having a cocktail. They must have been awake most of the day looking for me out the window because they are both now passed out on my desk while I type. Really good thing I bought a desk with a large surface area. They have no clue they are dogs sometimes.
Time for a little bite to eat then a bit of studying. I just cannot believe tomorrow is already Friday again! The weeks are just flying by.
Over-N-Out
This afternoon, we got to play with sheep for our 3 hour practical out at Easter Bush farm. How much fun was that?? The vet school's 'shepherd', was a fantastic teacher. Sheep are flock animals, so once you get one going in a direction, they allllll follow. They do not like to be isoloated at all. We were taught how to catch them - get them bunched into a group in the corner of the pen preferably, pick out the one you want and get right up next to him. He should be in a position where he doesn't have any room to run either with fencing or other sheep surrounding him. Then, get your hand under his chin and lift up. Voila...you have control of a sheep. You use your whole body to get him against the corral so he can't easily escape. We were shown how to age a sheep up to about 2years, 9 months by looking at his teeth, how to sex him/her, how to condition score him (feeling lower back, and vertebral protubrances) to determine how his overall body condition is on a scale of 0-5. Zero is basically dead and 5 is a fatty, fat, fat. We learned how to 'flip' them. That's not really the correct term, but it's well known. It means to put them on their butt and have their back leaning up against your body. They really cannot move once you get them there and it's easy to look at their mouth, sex them and generally check out their underside. We also learned how to judge their weight....this is harder than it sounds. Different breeds not only have different fleece (making them look bigger or smaller), but also are shorter, stockier, leggier, etc, making it all more difficult. Plus, we have to do it in kilograms, which my mind does not easily think in yet. We also practiced 'worming' them orally with water. It was a very productive practical and I feel like just a few hours with these animals, I gained so much confidence in handling them. They can get quite skiddish if you don't do some techniques properly and can jump straight in the air out of nowhere. Lots of fun and informative.
I'm now enjoying the most favorite part of my day...spending quality time with my boys and having a cocktail. They must have been awake most of the day looking for me out the window because they are both now passed out on my desk while I type. Really good thing I bought a desk with a large surface area. They have no clue they are dogs sometimes.
Time for a little bite to eat then a bit of studying. I just cannot believe tomorrow is already Friday again! The weeks are just flying by.
Over-N-Out
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