In the thick of it

Hope everyone is still out there, I know I have left you all hanging for awhile. Everything has kind of molded into one big blob after my last posting during the white coat ceremony. My brain has been taken hostage by anatomy, physiology, nutrition and histology and they are very stubborn. As I try to think about what I have done over the past few weeks since the white coat all I can think about is how tension affects the force of muscle contraction, what an arteriole vs. vein looks like under a microscope, and if I bombed or passed my anatomy quiz.

Well that;s something new actually... we had one of our first real exams/quizzes last week in anatomy. It was a lab practical consisting of 50 questions both identification and general knowledge. I actually finished feeling very confident but then as he reviewed the answers the feeling started to fade. You have to be very specific with your answers and one misstep costs you points. We will see how that one goes. Practicals do help ingrain the information in your head because you read it on paper and see it in the lab. Hmmm what else what else....Our physiology teacher has not returned from Germany so for now we are in a physio limbo. We have double lectures in histology (it is very hard to stay away) and once our physio teacher returns we will switch to double physio. Just another example of how you have to go with the flow here.

A few hallmates and I have been looking at various houses and apartments to get an idea of where we want to live and how much we are willing to stretch our budgets. Some of the houses are absolutely amazing with views of the various beaches/bays and huge vaulted ceilings. Unfortunately these are just too far out of our price range so the search continues. Luckily we do have reserved on campus housing in a suite so that is something to fall back on.

Last weekend I participated in a horse handling lab where we learned how to halter, walk on a lead, and handle horses for exams. They are intimidating creatures but I feel better interacting with them after this lab. I don;t think we will be interacting with horses until next semester or later however.

Saturday a group of the girls went to Morne Rouge (BBC as the locals call it) beach for a few hours to get away from campus. This beach is nestled in a cove and the waters are very calm. You can walk pretty far out before It is also much quieter than Grand Anse beach. We "tried" to get some studying in but I probably absorbed very little of what I was reading. I did absorb plenty of sun however, got slightly sunburnt.

 Sunday I had my first shift at the small animal clinic just off campus. The shift last from 8-12 and there were only 4 animals in the hospital. It was a quiet morning. We got there and took TPR (temp, heart rate, respiration) measurements on all the dogs and gave them whatever medicine was necessary. They also got food and a small morning walk. The Dr. on shift was great and took the time to explain what he was doing, why he was doing it and asked us questions to get us involved. 2 of the dogs needed bandage changes, one needed an exam because it had hookworms, and the last dog required a catheter and upon reviewing radiographs and palpation it was surmised the dog had prostate cancer. Unfortunately there is not much that can be done for that except radiation and chemotherapy because vital structures pass through the prostate making it hard to resect the entire thing. After our shift a friend and I decided to splurge a little and go grab lunch at a restaurant on the beach called umbrellas. They have delicious burgers and since the both of us had been craving a true burger we went on over. I polished off a huge burger, basket of fries and a beer....now thats what I call a good afternoon. Everything in between has been a mix of studying, writing papers, procrastinating, working out (I've started practicing with the women's club team) and eating....I guess some sleep in there too. Next week we have a ton of assignments and tests so this week I need to crack down.

Well I hope everyone back home is enjoying the snow. I have no concept of snow or winter weather anymore and its a strange sight seeing everyone in sweaters and hats. Hope everyone is doing well. Miss each and every one of you

Until next time

White Coat Ceremony

The white coat ceremony is a tradition in medical programs. It's your initiation into the profession and a chance for all the current veterinarians to welcome you into the prestigious community. Usually it occurs before you start classes but ours was delayed a bit, we already had a week or so of classes.

We walked into the auditorium greeted by friends, family, faculty, alumni and other special guests. We heard speeches from an alumnus, a senator from Grenada, the Chancellor, Dean of the school of vet med, and the president of the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association. All of their speeches really seemed to come from the heart and you could feel the sense of community, not just from the veterinary profession but the island as well. We are considered Grenadians now and I am 100% happy with my decision to come to this beautiful place.
Finally it was time to step up to the stage and receive our white coats. We were called up 5 people at a time and were "coated" by one of the special guests. I was coated by an alumnus from the university who returned just for this special occasion. It was a great moment for me as he welcomed me into the profession and said he looked forward to working with me. At the end of the ceremony we all stood and took the oath, finalizing our initiation. A reception was held outside where we had the chance to celebrate with our classmates and interact with our professors. Then it was back to studying....surprised? For anyone who missed the ceremony and would like to see it the link is as follows: http://www.sgu.edu/news-events/wcc-live-vet.html)

The Girls (Emily, Brianna, Celene, Me, Courtney)

Vet School Family (Emily, Me, Brianna, Sam, Celene, Julie)

The Studying Continues...and Continues...and Continues

Short post this week as not too much has happened. But the first full week of classes have finished and we all felt every hour pass slowly. I have never had to study so consistently for so long, every single day. But this is what it takes to be a doctor right? We also had our first anatomy quiz of the semester. Of course we all were freaking out...how hard will it be....do I need to know all the spinal plexuses....what about the chambers of the eye....do the biceps brachii or the supraspinatus muscles attach to the supraglenoid fossa? It was an overwhelming amount of material, and I still don't think I know it all but our teachers philosophy is flood us with info the first few weeks and then for the rest of the term we just repeat it over an over. You cant just memorize for the test anymore, you really have to know it. In the end the quiz was not as terrible as we were expected. Eye opening to the amount of info we still have to learn but not the end of the world like we all thought.  After a long day of class we like to head out to the point of campus and watch the sunset. Grenada has amazing sunsets, I could spend all day sitting out there watching the waves and the sun.

This week also included many of the general meetings for the various clubs on campus. I went to a few different meetings and have ultimately landed on the Student Emergency and Critical Care Society (SVECCS) and the Large Animal Society (LAS). LAS is pretty self explanatory, you get to work with and learn about large animals. SVECCS works in conjunction with the small animal clinic here on the island and we all have a chance to take various 4 hour shifts at the clinic. Its a good chance to get clinical experience and see a variety of cases. Pets are definitely not placed on the same pedestal here as they are in the states so its interesting to see another way of life.
It is also parents week here on campus so many of the students have family coming on island. All the medical programs also have their white coat ceremonies so parents are here to see their sons or daughters ushered into their various professions. Our white coat ceremony is not slated until Monday and I will include the web link where anyone who wishes can watch a live stream of the event. Today for a little study break some hallmates and I ventured over to Grand Anse beach where a sailing regatta was going on. There was music, food vendors and of course tons of sailboats. We hit the tail end so didnt get to see the full production but it was still a great study break. After the beach we hit up the grocery store for our weekly supplies and headed back to campus to, you guessed it....study. Tomorrow brings the super bowl and while we dont have TV on campus the various bars are showing it. Not quite the spectacle as in the states but itll again be a nice study break.
(WHITE COAT VIDEO LINK http://www.sgu.edu/news-events/wcc-live-vet.html)