Anxiety

Welp, it’s 1am right now. I have been working on trying to go to bed at a decent time (in bed by 10pm, try to be asleep by 11pm) because they brain can soak up more information if it has had the time to properly sort and store info at night. So why am I up at 1am then you ask? Well, let me tell you about this little thing called anxiety. In general, I am a pretty anxious person but usually I can ignore it or distract myself. However, I have been having a lot of strong anxiety since I started vet school and it makes the time right before bed awful. I just lay in bed trying to even think about what material I had learned that day and I just draw a blank. I spend all day in class or in lab and then I get home and review everything and I can’t even recall what I did. Cue stomach drop and the beginning of a mind race. Does this mean I am studying wrong, am I not studying enough, what can I do to have more time to study in the day, did I read all of the important e-mails that I needed to read, will I be able to pass any of my exams, can I even pass my classes, is vet school right for me, should I even be in vet school, what happens if I fail out, what if, can I, will I, should I… It sucks. I know rationally that I am fine. I mean, heck, it’s only been a week and the quiz Friday is barely worth anything in the long run. But man is there a lot of material that we cover. Today, alone, I spent most of it studying at home and about 4 hours in the anatomy lab studying and catching up on the dissection. Yesterday I probably spent about 6 hours studying, Friday was a short day in which we were done with classes at 12 but I stayed until 3 in lab.

It sure does sound like I am studying enough doesn’t it? I don’t feel like I am getting any quality studying done though, it feels like I have just been preparing to study. Tonight my anxiety caused me to completely get out of bed, pull out my bone box, and go over all of the little processes, fossas, foveas, borders, cavities, articulations, blah blah blah of the forelimb and then I pulled out my chart I made of the muscles with their origins, insertions, and actions. I got maybe 4 muscles in and realized that I needed to stop as it wasn’t making me feel any better. So much for trying to be in bed by 10pm, now I am wide awake with a busy day ahead of me (7am till probably 8pm and then studying).

I’ve considered talking to somebody about my anxiety before but it has never been something that I couldn’t handle. It’s always been something that has helped motivate me to do better. I hoping after my quiz on Friday my brain will finally realize that I am actually doing okay. Ideally, hopefully, I am only this anxious just because I don’t know what is expected out of me academically.

Honestly, I wasn’t going to post anything about this but this is supposed to be a blog about my adventures in vet school and this is definitely an adventure. Plus, I am pretty sure that many vet students have been in the same boat. I already feel better about everything after having typed it out.

So I am just going to leave you with a little tid-bit of what I have learned today:

The trapezius originates at the mid-dorsal raphe and the supraspinous ligaments, it inserts at the spine of the scapula, and it contracts to raise the scapula and move it’s ventral angle cranially to advance the forelimb.

Wildlife Medical Clinic

I wanted to write about this yesterday but I had gotten the second shot of the pre-exposure rabies vaccine and the company the health center buys them from changed something in it and my body was not happy. As soon as I had a chance to relax after my 12 hour day my body just started aching really bad, my skin got really warm, my sinuses blocked, and I was just exhausted. It was pretty awful, can’t wait to get my next one in 2 weeks.

Anyways, the responsibilities of being on a team include 1 weekly team meeting, 1 orphan feeding shift, 1 pager shift and 2 treatment shifts. The weekly team meetings are used for discussing what we are currently doing (i.e what patients we have, what we have done with them, how they are progressing, etc), learn about new treatments or techniques that we don’t know how to do, pretty much anything pertinent about wildlife medicine. The orphan feeding shift is just like it says, we go in to feed the orphans. The pager shift is essentially an on-call shift, we have to come in to triage new patients (meaning we do a quick over view to determine what treatments they need and what damage there is). Finally, there is the treatment shifts where we have to have treatments done sometimes before 10am and after 4pm. Treatment shifts are basically when we go in, give any medications, evaluate the progress of the situation, feed, clean, etc.

Right now my team is in charge of a baby blue jay with a broken tibiotarsus bone and four orphaned bunnies. For the blue jay we have to give him antibiotics and pain reliever orally, which I learned that the esophagus of a bird is on the right side since there is an ‘R’ in bird and it is on the left side in mammals since there is an ‘L’ in mammals. Super scientific huh? We also gave him subcutaneous fluids and vitamin B complex that is given in the inguinal flap which is a insanely tiny piece of skin where the limb meets the trunk of the body (almost like the webbing between fingers but bird size). The little guy was fed pea-sized portions of puppy chow and a jar lid of finch seed and berries.

We only have to tube feed the orphaned bunnies with the amount of milk replacer that was determined by stomach size, do a general over look on how they are doing (if they look healthy, bloated, blah blah blah), and stimulate them to urinate/defecate. For tube feeding you have to be careful that you don’t aspirate them or perforate their esophagus, kind of worrisome haha.

That’s really all I have to say on this for now. Fortunately I CAN take photos at the Wildlife Medical Center as it is good for publicity, unfortunately I can’t take photos with any of my classes.

Back to studying for my palpation lab tomorrow of the forelimb on a live horse (feeling the muscles through the skin)!

2 Days Down

This afternoon I completed my second day of vet school. I had planned on updating after my first day of vet school but I was exhausted. Monday was a 12 hour day, 7am – 7pm and then I ended up studying until 11pm. My classes yesturday were Histology lecture and then a 2 hour lab, anatomy lecture and a 2 hour lab, a one hour ZooMed elective, and the introductory information session for joining the Wildlife Medical Clinic. I really enjoy the ZooMed elective as it is discussion based and the class essentially works through real-life cases. We are given the signalment (breed, sex, age…), history, and presenting complaint. From that, we ask the professor for any background information (such as what is it fed, how often is it’s habitat cleaned, what is it cleaned with, etc) and he provides the answers. Then we determine what to do for physical exam and diagnostics. Finally, from all that information, we figure out the diagnosis and learn about the treatment. It really is a lot of fun (Bonus: there are no exams!). But the day wasn’t just work, I took an hour off to play Destiny on the ps4 with my man (over the internet as we are now officially a long distance couple) which was a good/relaxing way to end the day.

Today was a much shorter day but possibly more exhausting. Started class at 8am, finished at 12, had Wildlife rounds til 1. The problem was that it was 2 hours of neurobiology lecture and 2 hours of biochemistry all in the same room. So I sat on my bum for 5 hours without moving. I’m definitely going to have to brush up on my biochemistry, although I recognize a lot of the information so far so that’s good!

I think some other day I will dedicate a post just to what my role in the Wildlife Medical Clinic is after I get some more experience with it.

OH! My ‘big sib’ decorated a clipboard for me and baked me chocolate chip cookies! Pictures will ensue!

(Last name blurred out for privacy purposes)

Anyways, enough procrastinating. It may have been a short class day but I still have some studying to do!

Update: Oh I forgot to tell you about my anatomy lab! We are in groups of 8 and each group gets 2 dogs and either a horse or cow. My group as 1 male and 1 female 65lb dog and a horse while the group across from me has a cow! Pretty exciting!

And Then There Were 3

Wow so, big shocker, the bar crawl thing definitely isn’t my scene. I decided to be a designated driver so I could go to the bar crawl and socialize but not have to drink. I actually ended up making a little bit of money doing this (even though I was offering free rides) but the trade off was very loud and crowded bars. My bar scene has more of a small-time billiards feel. But at least I can say I went..so there’s that.

In other news, my school does a big sib/little sib program that pairs first years with second years to help guide them through the ups and downs of vet school . My sib put together a potluck with some other bigs/littles and it was fantastic. There was probably about 12 of us there and some awesome food. It gave us the opportunity to talk to the second years more freely and get to know each other much better. My big sib even gave me scalpel blades and a lab coat!

I’m also starting to realize that I am going to have even less free time between classes, studying, and extracurriculars. Since I’m not sure what I want to specialize in I am going to try to dip my toe into a few different pools to see what I like which means joining different clubs, searching for out of class opportunities, and taking multiple different classes. Also, just to expand on my core class, Structure and Function, I’ll be studying things such as gross anatomy, histology, physiology, neuroanatomy, endocrinology, etc. Pretty much everything that shows how everything should look if it is an healthy animal.

I’ve recently heard of the term ‘imposter syndrome’ which is a phenomenon in which people are unable to internalize their accomplishments and despite external evidence of their competence, they remain convinced that they are frauds and do not deserve the success they have achieved. Which I think is what I have been feeling recently about getting into vet school and, apparently, it is a very common feeling amongst first years. Anyways, there are only 3 days left until classes start and I already have some modules to do, readings, and videos to watch.

Until next time!

Ice Breakers

The first day of orientation was officially marked by a day of team building ice breakers. Usually I venomously despise icebreakers but if I am being honest today was really fun. Plus there was free food, t-shirts, and water bottles (the college student trifecta). I definitely feel a lot better about my prospects of making friends. Before I was worried that maybe I wouldn’t be comfortable communicating with other students because they all just seemed so much smarter than me that I didn’t want to look like a dolt around them.  Rationally I knew that this wasn’t something that I should worry about but fears/worries aren’t always rational thoughts. Anyways, the day wasn’t entirely about ice-breakers, we also had some really helpful discussions with our team leaders (a.k.a students from other years). The school doesn’t really tell first year students much about what to expect about the year so it was nice to get together with some of the 2nd years and talk about everything candidly. Pretty much the only thing that I have to do for school over the next two days is get my picture taken for my hospital ID badge and the class composite picture. Socially I have the bar-crawl thing (yikes, I am kind of regretting saying that I will go to this but it will be good for me) and the lil-big sib potluck. After that is 2 days of orientation lectures which I am both excited for and dreading.

One week until the first day of classes

Leading Up To Vet School

Let me start this post off with a great suggestion for anyone thinking about pursuing veterinary medicine. The student doctor network is an amazing site that has a forum specifically for pre-veterinary students. I really can’t say enough good things about this forum. You can access this site here. 

So I really wanted to make a post that discusses my road to vet school, not so much on how I decided to go to vet school but what I did to prepare for vet school. At my college of choice, I graduated cum laude (3.6 gpa) with a major in Zoology (pre-veterinarian specialization) and a minor in Chemistry and Animal science. I also obtained a certificate in companion animal nutrition and completed a degree in the University Honors Program. I wasn’t too involved with extracurriculars as I had full course loads as well as jobs but I occasionally attended the pre-veterinarian club and the zoology club. I also sat on a leadership conference executive board as the coordinator of fundraising. It is always a good idea to try to get experiences outside of your career choice because it shows admissions that you are a well-rounded individual and it can show that you have important skills that will help you in veterinary medicine (communication skills, finance skills, managing skills, etc).

For privacy purposes I didn’t include any names.

1. Small Animal Experience: Total 60 hours
   1. Animal shelter: 50 hours volunteering (maintenance, cleanliness, stimulation, feeding, watering, medicating).
   2. Animal shelter: 10 hours volunteering
2. Small Animal Veterinary Experience: Total 1,086 hours
   1. Animal Rescue- 260 hours veterinary assistant intern (assist in low cost vaccination clinics, basic health care of shelter animals, wellness exams, medications, cleanliness, inventory, and various medical tests)
   2. Low-cost Vet Clinic- 65 hours intern (observations, cleaning, blood work, testing, vaccinations, spay/neuters)
   3. Animal clinic- 60 hours intern (assists surgeries, medicating, feeding, cleanliness, and assisting with appointments)
   4. Animal Hospital- 34 hours shadowing
   5. Animal Hospital- 667 hours paid (kennel duties, receptionist, vet assistant duties)
3. Large Animal Experience: Total 773 hours
   1. Pastured meat production- 773 hours paid intern (managing and maintaining beef cattle, swine, chickens, geese, sheep, goats, and horses [not for meat obviously])
4. Large Animal Veterinary Experience: Total 20 hours
   1. Farm Call Vet- 20 hours shadowed (cattle pregnancy tests, cow c-section, and horse teeth floating, shoeing, prepuce cleaning)
5. Research: Total 548 hours
   1. Mammals- 160 hours paid (research assistant for field and lab work)
   2. Parasitology- 60 hours volunteer and 328 hours paid (conducting my own research and presenting at conferences)
6. Wildlife Experience: Total 30 hours
   1. Rescue and Rehabilitation- 30 hours volunteering (maintaining enclosure, feeding, watering, basic medical care)

Total experience hours claimed at time of applying: 2,517

I included any scholarships, dean’s list, academic honors, a research article in the process of being published, and GRE scores of 150/151. I also included my highschool jobs as a Dietary Aid at a Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and as a computer technician at my family’s business. Other things I claimed from high school were academic awards, attendance at HOBY, attendance at County Youth Forum, and any positions that I held in my clubs.

I am sure I am forgetting some things but I really just wanted to get across the fact that an ideal applicant has a wide-variety of experiences both in the veterinary field and out. Things that hurt my chances of getting into some schools were my GRE scores and my low number of large animal veterinary hours but it did not significantly hurt my chances.

Peek Into The Future: Schedule 1st Semester

Hey guys,

I thought it would be fun for you guys to see what classes I am taking this semester and what my schedule looks like!

For the first 8 weeks I am in a classroom

Structure and Function Lecture 8am-4pm MF, 9am-4pm Wed, 8am-12pm/1-3pm Tues, and 8am-12pm Thurs

Lunch from 12-1pm MWTF

Structure and Function Lab  2-4pm MWF and 10-12pm Tues and Thurs.

ZooMed: What’s Your Diagnosis 5-6pm MW

The Next 8 Weeks I am in the teaching hospital for clinical practice! Woohoo!

Finally

I finally found a roommate after showing the house a ton. Decreasing the rent was the perfect solution to get more potential roommates to come a view the house. So far it seems like a good match but we will see. I am just glad that the search is over and that I don’t have to stress about it anymore.

Count Down:

Man leaving: 5 Days =(

Orientation: 12 Days

Classes: 19 Days