Phase 3!

Hiiii!

Well I'm ~48 class hours into third year and I'm still alive! Third year?! That sounds craaaazy to be saying out loud. Today there was a phase 2 to phase 1 info lunch talk and I was like "I'm not in either of those". Eek! The end is in sight!

Anyway, brief overview of my past week - I'm living in the same apartment this year so moving back in was quick and easy. It was (and is) super weird not having Daisy here - on one hand I can take advantage of not getting up early and missing lunch talks, but the cons definitely outweigh the pro s and I'm dying for another dog. Not gonna lie, I've been hardcore stalking greyhound rescues because they are the perfect dog for a lazy person like me...but I think I need to wait until the craziness of 4th year is at least mostly finished.

Like come on....I need

We got right back into the swing of things with 8:30 - 5:30 class all last week. I may have worked 40h weeks during the summer, but being mentally tired is a whole different thing (fellow students, you get me). It's ok though, coffee and naps will get me though :)

Each year the program gets more and more clinical and I love it. We have an entire course on medicine and surgery of dogs and cats (and one for horses and another for food animal - damn!) in addition to our surgical exercises course and I'm looking forward to feeling more and more "vet-ty" as the year goes on :)

This year's courses

I'm in the process of finalizing an externship for the summer and already have a list of to-dos for this weekend (aka notes I was too tired to make last week). Hot dates with the library coming right up!

My actual desktop sticky note...it keeps growing

Overall, we've heard multiple times this week that third year is a lot of work but also a lot of fun, and that balance is basically what I strive for all the time :) let's do this!!

Summer Update: Ups and Downs

Hi! I thought I'd sneak in a little update while I have a day off and no plans :) That's a rare situation nowadays!

I'll get the sad part over with first: my summer began with me having to say goodbye to my little Daisy. She fought hard against kidney failure for a year and really didn't show many signs until I got home from school this summer. She had zero appetite (unheard of for her) and we did some bloodwork and her kidney values were almost double what they were 2 months prior. She was also showing some signs of heart disease, she was recently diagnosed with a murmur and it got worse very quickly. She lost a lot of weight and was just not herself. When Matt came over and she didn't run to him and then she refused a McDonald's cheeseburger, I knew I was making the right decision to end her pain. I'm really glad that I was able to be in London for all of this - the clinic I'm working at this summer is also the place Daisy has gone for vet care for most of her life, so I felt comfortable with everything and my co workers were beyond understanding (shout out to them!). Once we sedated her it was the most relaxed I had seen her look in weeks, and the whole thing was very peaceful. 

Had to bug her with one final photo shoot on her last day :) Miss you baby!

Apart from that, I've been working non-stop and learning a lot - although I'm just an assistant, being immersed in the vet clinic for 40h a week has taught me so much. I'm getting better at reading radiographs, gotten the chance to practice blood draws, and have seen some pretty cool procedures and diseases. Getting referred to as "our future veterinarian" also feels pretty damn good! I'm definitely glad I chose this as my summer job and it has helped keep my mind off of my sadness. It has also made me so thankful to be a part of a field where we have the ability to relieve animals' suffering. Euthanasias are always tough to experience but when it is truly time, then it is the best thing we can do for them.

Like the nerd I am though, I'm ready to go back to school! Someone at work asked me where I'd rather be, and I said school. Sure I'm loving the $$$ aspect of working, but I'm soo used to being in class that I don't know what to do with myself when I'm not! I know 3rd year is going to be a ton of work but I'm super excited to get back into the swing of things and learn even more.

I have a month of work left and then 2 weeks off before I head back to Guelph. This summer has flown by! I'll talk to you all at some point before I get back into school mode. Thanks for reading! :)

Halfway there :)

Short recap of the last week:

- finished my last exam (best feeling!)
- packed up my apartment (always takes way longer than I anticipate - how does one person accumulate so much crap??)
- toga party (the first time all year that we've been able to go to a party and not feel guilty because we have a test coming up)
- came back to London
- slept forever
- got all my marks back and officially passed phase 2!

Work starts Monday and I'm ready to gain more clinical experience and put some of the stuff we've learned this year to the test :)

Yay summer!!

Faves :)

4 more days!

Hey everyone!

Like I said in my last post, nothing has been going on lately beside non-stop studying. Since then, I have survived:

- One written Surgery final
- One simulated client interview
- Three Principles of Disease finals back to back, 3 days in a row (finishing one exam and then having to study the same material only to find all the mistakes you made that morning is not the most fun, but yay to the monster Phase 2 course being done!)
- One Health Management final
- One Theriogenology (reproduction) final

And we only have Anesthesia & Pharmacology (which is one course) to go!

We have fewer finals than we did in first year, but the amount of material tested this year is massive and all of them are worth so much. Today's was Therio and it was worth 70%! So even if you go into the final with a good mark, it doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. Intimidating for sure, especially since our brains are beginning to wear out.

I took a mental break this weekend though; the weather has been gorgeous and Matt came down to take Daisy back to London for me. We got to hang out for a bit and we took a nice long trail walk - it was nice to finally get some sun! I'm feeling like less of a vampire/troll/hermit and ready to get this last exam over with so I can celebrate, head home and recover for a week before starting work.

Almost 50% of a DVM!
Bye for now :)

March Craziness

I'm getting pretty crappy at updating, huh?? This month has been crazy!

Since my last post, I: 

- Checked off another 5 tests off of my to-do list (Monday morning 8:00 am tests are now done for the year!) 

- Went to the beach party, complete with real sand :)

- Got artsy at Play with Clay, a local store where you can either make your own clay piece or make your own, paint it, and then pick it up when it's been baked. I made a cupcake jewelery holder and I want to go back ASAP because it was so fun and relaxing! I was really into art when I was younger and it helped spark that feeling again. Good stress relief :)

- Got super excited about classes finally ending!

- Got a mix of scared + excited - we've had a few talks about how 4th year works and how we already need to start thinking about our plans for externships, rotations, and the national vet licensing exam (NAVLE). Crazy that we are already at that point! Time is flying :)

We have our surgery written final on Monday, and then the rest of our finals don't start until April 7 so Daisy and I are going home on Monday. I figured I'd take advantage of the free food (thanks mom and dad) and give Daisy the company of my family for a bit. I plan on going to the library (at my undergrad, bringing back memories of all the hours I spent there while trying to get good marks to apply to vet school) to get some good studying in before our 8 finals begin.

Cannot believe the end of 2nd year is already coming up! That's all for now :)

The home stretch!

Today is March 1st and I can't believe how fast this year has gone!
Last week we did our first "spay" on our DASIEs (fake surgery models). It was our last lab of the surgery course and a great way to practice our skills on a fake patient before the time comes when we have to do the real thing! 

Looking professional ;)

We also had an intro lecture about the surgery course in third year, and got to pick out surgery groups. So excited to have even more hands on time next year; this year's surgery course was definitely my favourite course so far. 

Yesterday we had a bacteriology exam and then our Clinical Medicine final OSCE. We had one last year as well, but this year involved full physical exams on large and small animals + neurology + medical record and problem lists + radiology. Needless to say, it was a busy weekend of studying and although our lab section had to be the first group to do the OSCE (other groups don't go until Friday), I'm glad I got it out of the way. I think it went well and was a good boost of confidence; sometimes I don't realize how much I have learned until the time comes to put my skills to the test :)

This week is a normal week of class, there's a frat party on Friday that matt is going to accompany me to, but unfortunately we also have 2 tests on Monday. Next thing you know, it'll be April! Time flies.
Bye for now :)

The fastest week ever

Hey everyone! Just thought I'd post a quick reading week recap before I get into what's going on in school.
I went home with a list of stuff I needed to do, and accomplished maybe 2 things? Hahah but it was a much needed week of sleep, friends and family, and Matt's family's new puppy :)
Since daisy is almost 11, I had forgotten just how much work puppies are. The biting, the scratching, the peeing everywhere, the nonstop energy.. It made me second guess my future great dane puppy! But little Sofia is the cutest and it was even cuter seeing matt interact with her and how quickly they've bonded (I have zero maternal instinct in terms of human babies, but puppies are another story). We went to petsmart and I got her a pink identification tag so she's all blinged out now :) 

Look at those paws - she's going to be a big girl!

Not sure who is cuter ;)

My best friend and I went back to visit our favourite high school teacher and gave his Biology class a lecture on life after high school - my friend is in chiropractic school so we have had similar journeys with different outcomes. It made me feel old but also so accomplished; it's crazy that it's been 7 years since I was in grade 12! I think we intimidated them a little but it was also appreciated since high school students don't get nearly as much information as they should about how university works. 

Otherwise most of the week was just spent relaxing which was very necessary since school is back in full swing now. I'll save that info for the next post :)

We got a huge snowstorm but that didn't stop this one from wanting to go for walks :)

Catching up with my lovely friends :)