islanddogtor

[islanddogtor]

16.10.2018 // Midterms are complete and grades are posted.

I survived my pathology, virology, clinical pathology, parasitology, and pharmacology II midterms. Wow! All A's except for pharmacology, which I got a B+ on. I have a low A in every class currently except for virology I have a high B. I'm very proud of my grades and everything I've learned so far this term, but it will be hard to hold onto those A's so there's still a lot of work to be done. We already have a parasitology quiz this Friday and we are working on some group cases for our physical diagnosis II course.

#vetblr #studyblr #vetstudent #midterms #vetschool

[islanddogtor]

12.09.2018 // Pharmacology II quiz in two days so I'm going into overdrive! One of my classmates made this lovely, concise document of all 105 drugs. Yes, you read that right. 105 drugs with specific mechanisms of action, species differences, and varying adverse effects. On a quiz.

I'm trying to stay positive though. Made myself a strawberry banana smoothie and I'm using my reusable straw, to save the environment obviously.

#vetblr #studyblr #vet student #vet school #drugs #pharmacology #smoothie

[islanddogtor]

09.08.2018 // The beginning of my extreme club involvement.

This weekend I got to participate in a wet lab through both the Large Animal club and the Theriogenology (repro) club. We went to the necropsy lab and 3 different professors showed us how to ultrasound reproductive tracks by using preserved specimen in a tub of water and how to insert an artificial inseminator through the cervix, which is actually pretty difficult, but I picked it up really quickly. We used models as well as a preserved specimen. I also had a scheduled shift at the small animal clinic through the emergency club, but literally nothing was going on so I used the 3 hours to work on my ethics paper instead. We also had our first quiz in virology and our first lab quiz for parasitology this past week. Both went okay, but I know I need to get into a better studying routine. The beginning of the term is always a little bit rocky.

#vetblr #studyblr #vet student #veterinarian #necropsy #theriogenology

[islanddogtor]

also i drew a dog…. 

[islanddogtor]

22.08.2018 // Started my second year of vet school on Monday. Everything has been kind of chaotic since getting back to the island. Problems with my house, problems with my car, and trying to figure out the best possible schedule. I've managed to work out every day this week and so far lecture hasn't been torture. Excited to get back to learning! My goal is to do another month of daily studying photos sometime this term and to use this blog to keep recording fun wet labs and events.

#vetblr #studyblr #vet student #vet school #islandlife

[islanddogtor]

[islanddogtor]

19.05.2018 // Finished finals over a week ago, but just now got up the motivation to write this post. I got another B+ this term, pharmacology, so that seems to be the theme and I'm okay with it. Having one class that I don't have to be perfect in really takes the pressure off. Even if that 4.0 looks like perfection, it's not what I need. Also, since it's 3 credits instead of 4 like Physio I I actually marginally improved my GPA.

Last week of finals I got to spend ~6 hours at the beach which was a perfect goodbye yo the beautiful island. I am now back home in the states and spending the summer with my boyfriend, interning at a zoo and volunteering at the humane society helping with surgeries. Hopefully this summer will rejuvenate me for term 3 in August!

#vetblr #studyblr #vet student #vet school #islandlife #travel #finals #summer break #veterinarian #zoo #humane society

[islanddogtor]

1.4.2018 // Leatherback Turtle Conservation aka the best experience I've had since coming to the island and starting vet school. I got to spend the night on the beach, relocating turtle eggs, tagging one of the turtles, and taking measurements and data. I cannot explain how amazing it felt to lie underneath the stars, hearing the waves crash on the beach one minute and the next minute be grabbing eggs right out from underneath a giant leatherback sea turtle. In case anyone is unfamiliar, they go into a sort of trance while they lay their eggs so they don't really notice we are there. We had to relocate the eggs because the beach is not very deep in some places so if the eggs are left where they are laid the tide will get into the nests and the eggs will suffocate. It feels great to help in their conservation and I'm just lucky to have the chance. Vet school is great y'all.

#vet school #vetblr #studyblr #vet student #veterinarian #wildlife conservation #leatherback sea turtles #turtles #beach #island life #grenada

[islanddogtor]

26.03.2018 // I haven't posted in a while, things got crazy. I survived midterms even though I got sick. Had a fever for five days straight so I'm very proud of my results.

Triumphed during midterms. Attended an immobilization lecture and wet lab where I got to shoot blow darts. Watched a blue planet episode at the brewery for exotics club and got to meet the Prime Minister of Grenada, Keith Mitchell.

This weekend we have a 4-day weekend because of Easter and I get to spend Friday night on Levera Beach to help with leatherback sea turtle nests! Then the following weekend I will be a part of the one health one medicine free clinic, with the large animal society. Lots of exciting things this term!

#vetblr #studyblr #vet student #vet school #veterinarian #grenada #one health #sea turtles

[islanddogtor]

Three variations of the red fox

[islanddogtor]

24.2.2018 // This past week was busy, but a ton of fun. Went to lunch lectures for IV catheters, exotic medicine, and bat zoonotic diseases. On Thursday, I got to practice placing an IV catheter for the first time ever! Unfortunately, I didn't have a lot of success. I hit the vein everytime, but wasn't able to advance properly. In my defense, I was practicing on the smallest dog possible, a little mini poodle mix. The lab was really beneficial though. I got to practice on models first, filled with koolaid. It's also nice to just get used to the proper technique and taping. This weekend is full of studying! So many bacteriology pathogens I don't know how I'll ever be able to remember them all! And our midterm is on Friday!! Can't believe midterms are coming so quickly. Trying to cram everything into my brain, but we'll see how it goes.

#vetblr #studyblr #vet student #vet school #veterinarian #DVM #iv catheter #bacteriology #medicine #pathogens

[islanddogtor]

18.2.2018 // This past week was busy, but next week will be busier. The motto of vet school. We had a pharmacology quiz on Monday that almost nobody did well on so that was stressful. Then Monday night was Valentine's movie night at the brewery, we watched 10 things I hate about you. Wednesday we had our first lab for radiology and we had a bunch of adoptable dogs come to the field for lunch so we could play with them. Then on Saturday I went to a fetotomy/dystocia wet lab. We had two model cows with calves and we learned the terminology for their positioning and how to properly pull the calf. The bridge to the simulation lab always makes me laugh. Such an interesting architectural choice. Next week I'm looking forward to a bunch of club meetings, lunch lectures, and even an IV catheter wet lab on Thursday!

#vetblr #studyblr #vet school #vet student #wet lab #dystocia #iv catheter #veterinarian

[islanddogtor]

9.2.2018 // This Wednesday was Grenadian Independence Day! I am so fortunate to call this rock my home and since we had the day off my roommates and I went to the beach and later we checked out Quarantine Point for sunset and took some awesome pictures.

Even with the day off, this week felt long. We had a bacteriology quiz on Monday and a physiology quiz today. I did well on both (yay) but now pharmacology is on Monday and I'm kind of worried. One of my friends pointed out that midterms are in exactly 3 weeks from today and it's crazy. How did that even happen? I'll be home before I even know it!

This week was pretty fun though! We are speeding through our goat cadavers in anatomy so that we can move on to donkeys in a few weeks. Lab for physical diagnosis this week unfortunately did not have live dogs, but we did have some fancy tech models of a dog and some humans that we were able to listen to respiratory and cardiovascular sounds on. I also went to a voluntary lecture on tiger conservation. It's a subject near and dear to my heart so I was thrilled to attend.

#vetblr #studyblr #vet student #vet school #Grenada #tigers #wildlife conservation #cadavers

[islanddogtor]

How to survive vet school placements!

So I’ve been on a lot of placements (or externships, as I know some of you call them) and I thought I’d share what I’ve learnt about how to not end up crying in a corner 3hrs in

1. Drink water. Like, loads of it. You will likely not feel all that thirsty, but you need to drink water. I quickly discovered that the reason I felt like sitting down and having a good cry some days was that I had not had enough water, and apparently that’s how my brain thought I should deal with said dehydration.

2. Ask questions. This is coming from someone who is remarkably bad at asking questions. Every single one of my school reports would somewhere include the comment “Lizzie is a good student, but should ask more questions”. I get that you don’t want to seem annoying, or like you don’t know anything, but here’s the thing: YOU (the student) ARE ALWAYS GOING TO BE THE LEAST KNOWLEDGEABLE PERSON IN THE CLINIC. THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO BECOME SLIGHTLY LESS CLUELESS. Asking questions shows whoever you’re working with that you are paying attention, thinking about what’s happening, and (above all) you are interested in what they are doing. It is the key to vets liking you. I’ve been trying to think of one question for each animal we see. It can be something complicated about the minutiae of the case, or it can be as simple as double checking what the vet used for sedation and why. That being said….

3. Never ever EVER question the vet in front of clients. Especially not with “why” questions. To you, “why are you using penicillin for this case?” sounds like you trying to understand how to choose antibiotics (a mysterious subject that I am still trying to grasp). To the client it sounds like you, currently at university and learning the most up to date information, cannot fathom why the vet would choose the drug they have. Questions are for after the client has left the consult room or once you are back in the vet’s truck.

4. Have some study to do in your bag. Not every day/week you are on placement will be the busiest, most interesting week at that clinic ever. There may be down time, and it’s best not to be playing phone games in said time. I am personally fond of having “The Small Animal Veterinary Nerdbook” (Sophia Yin) in my bag. Not only is it small and light, it is an easy to search reference book that covers HEAPS of topics. In my down time, I will look at the sections in this book relative to cases I’ve seen that day (recent cases gets you bonus points because it shows you’re looking deeper).

5. Be nice to nurses. This should be self explanatory but just in case - nurses are a wealth of knowledge (they do know more than you. Always) and if you are nice to them they will share this knowledge and help you thrive in the clinic. 

6. Be honest. You will always look dumber by claiming to know something than by admitting you do not. Nobody will thank you for pretending to know how to do something you have never done before, and you learn nothing if you say you understand a concept when you do not. You will get far more respect by admitting that you don’t know or can’t remember than by trying to seem smart.

7. Take the breaks you are offered. You don’t need to work until you drop. If someone says you can go take 10 mins for a coffee, take 10 mins. Sit down, drink some water, rest. Just because it seems like there will be plenty of time for that later does not necessarily mean there will be.

8. Say thank you. I always leave or send a thank you note at the end of a placement. It doesn’t have to be long or eloquent, just say thank you somehow. You should do it just because it’s polite, but also remember that clinics will probably be filling in evaluation forms about you, or you may want a letter of reference from them when applying for jobs etc. You’ll fare better if you say thank you.

In short: don’t be a dick, remember you are there to learn, and make sure you are feeding your body as well as your mind. And have fun!

[islanddogtor]

3.2.2018 // Learning about hemostasis and having fun with my new colored pens! You have to get excited about something on a Saturday night, even if you're a vet student.

#vetblr #studyblr #vet student #vet school #physiology #artsy #weekend

[islanddogtor]

3.2.2018 // Week 3 was a blast! Both of our foster kittens have homes picked out but we get to keep them for a little bit longer until they get their vaccines. Did pretty well on my anatomy quiz. Went to an orientation meeting to be able to volunteer with leatherback sea turtles for a night later on this term. Had a shift at the small animal clinic where I got to watch the vet remove a thorn from a dog's eye and I was able to come up with what medication we should send home with the owner. Had our third physical diagnosis lab (dermatology) and our first bacteriology lab.

#vetblr #studyblr #vet student #vet school #dermatology

[islanddogtor]

25.1.2018 // My roommates and I are fostering kittens!! The boy (right) is Mango and the girl (left) is Guava. They are feral so they are still warming up to us, but I just spend a good 30 minutes cuddled up on the couch with Mango so I'd say it's going pretty well. Almost done with week 2 and I've kept up with all of my daily reviewing, had two study groups, and joined 6 clubs! First quiz is on Monday so I've gotta work really hard this weekend because you can't ever know what to expect.

#vetblr #studyblr #vet student #vet school #foster #kittens