Hi there; Birdie here!
Yes, I am writing this at 4 am. I'm currently at the Houston airport thanks to a 3 hour delay on my originally planned flight and no seats on my backup, so I'll have to miss at least the first hour of class tomorrow. I can't quite decide whether I'm lucky or not--that first hour is Intro to Vet Med, so it's not something I need to learn for an exam, but it is the one class where attendance is mandatory. Oh well, it's not like I'd planned to skip a different two sessions (we can miss two and still pass the pass/fail course).
The break was really nice. We read half of the first Percy Jackson book, and it turned into a family affair--my brother was somewhat reluctant at first, but my parents liked it so I read "to them" with him in the room for a chapter or two until he wanted to listen of his own accord. I also got to do some skiing for the first time in 8 years. My dad and I skied together, and one day we had a lesson, so I learned how to ski like an adult! Last time I took ski lessons I'm pretty sure they told me about pizza (wedge) and french fries (straight skis). At any rate, I took all of my turns with my skis pointed together, but I can do better now! I didn't get to go ice skating, since they were tearing up the rink for some reason yesterday when I left, but it was still a good trip. And I really liked playing and hanging out with my family instead of studying! Don't worry, I finished my neuro review questions before I started typing this. ;)
Since I have the time now and nothing better to do while I wait for my flight to be somewhat closer (it wasn't worth getting a hotel and trying to sleep since the full flight was at 11 and my next flight leaves at 7, which would mean leaving at 5 to get through security--throw in the trouble of finding a hotel and it comes up to Not Worth It), I thought I would write about the current Blog Topic of the Week. This week's suggestion: Your favorite thing about vet school.
There's a lot of things I don't like about vet school sometimes, but what I like best is when I remember exactly why I'm here. That means when I actually get to do things, which pretty much translates to wetlabs! Don't get me wrong, I do like doing the Spay Days and Dream Clinic, but I either feel a bit overwhelmed (at the Dream Clinic I'm the doctor, and I've never really been taught how to do a physical exam!) or like it's more tech work than vet work (I did a lot of surgery prep in my pre-vet experience). Club wetlabs are just the right amount of challenge, where I get to learn (be taught) actual hands-on stuff I'll use in practice (or at least on clinical rotations). I've done ultrasounds, "mass" aspirations and blood smears, and CSF taps. I'm actually keeping a spreadsheet of my experience...pre-vet habits, but it also helps to have it to look back to. Even the clin path wetlab I did last semester was awesome--I didn't know much, but the way it was taught, with the clinicians asking us questions...well, it would have made me feel more like a real doctor if I actually knew the answers to any of the questions. But still, it was real cases! Actually, clubs in general are pretty great. See: last week's surgery meeting, where a local practitioner talked about his work and showed videos of a couple of surgeries. In conclusion, the best parts of vet school are the parts that are more vet but still school, as they teach me how to properly do things I will one day do on my patients. :)
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