Diary of a Dick Vet

My exam is done, which is such a relief. For the week leading up to the event, I usually alternate between confidence and begging for just a few more days, until about 24 hours before, when I resign myself to destiny. This time, unfortunately, I spent just about every minute up to the exam trying to cram a bit more info (cf. knowledge) into my head, wishing I could just give up and spend the evening before the exam knitting. In hindsight, the tangle of thought I attempted to sort on that last day probably resulted in approxiamtely nothing, but I suppose it kept my conscious clean.

It’s nice to be out of my study-funk, although the aftermath is fairly brutal. Whereas other students tell me that their flat is never as clean as it is during exam week, I tend to live in the library from 10am to 11pm at night, so when I come home, I dump my notes on the desk and my throw my clothes on the floor and go to bed. Thus I have a disaster zone to organize; I have so much to do, it’s easier to just do nothing at all. But I want the flat to be clean before I head off to the States for five weeks, for the first half of my summer break.

Ah yes, summer. I have a few weeks of EMS scheduled at home with what looks like a really nice small animal clinic with lots of gadgets, a trip to Oregon for a Shakespeare Festival and a weekend in Yosemite, plus hopefully loads of time to browse the local yarn shops. I am bringing about 1400m of yarn with me to knit a cardigan, and hopefully I’ll make space for some more on the way back! Sadly, yarn is much cheaper in the US than in the UK, and while I love supporting independent dyers and British-based yarn companies, I can’t knit entire sweaters in Rowan or Debbie Bliss. Well, I could, but I could then afford to knit about one sweat a year…yep, it’s cheap US yarn for me. Looking forward to it!

I’ll try to remember to update about my EMS experience. I’m hoping I’ll get to try out some of the simpler surgeries and see some interesting cases, and add more check-marks to my list of procedures to accomplish before final year. Happy summer, everyone!

I have an ‘assessment’ on food health and safety tomorrow (causing me to skip my knitting group tonight, boo!) I’m not particularly jazzed about the topic, which makes studying even more tedious.

Veterinarians play a crucial role in providing safe animal products for the consumer, acting as an early notification system for disease outbreaks and preventing sick animals from entering the food chain. Farm animal vets frequently work in close association with local health authorities, and slaughterhouses require veterinarians on-site to identify diseased animals and to assess any obvious disruptions in carcass quality. However, within the world of vet school, which is mostly populated by students interested solely in small animal medicine, the role of the vet and public health safety is a terribly unpopular subject. Students who express actual interest in the topic usually meet raised eyebrows from their peers. It’s certainly a very unglamorous department, although obviously vital component of our education. Unfortunately, the great expense of employing veterinarians by health agencies means there is a general movement toward non-vets taking on more and more of the work, possibly to the disadvantage of the animals involved.

I do find food health safety moderately interesting, not at the level of creating ‘control’ strategies for meat processing, but in basic surveillance of emerging disease trends by the compilation of data from a network of veterinarians. Unfortunately, nowadays the majority of food-borne disease agents in meat do not actually cause sickness in the carrier animal, meaning the veterinarian is unable to identify them on the farm. Food inspection and proper processing and storage are the most successful methods of identifying unsafe animal products. Still, veterinarians prevent those diseases that infect animals and humans from crossing the line to the consumer. Safe meat, dairy, and eggs: brought to you in part by veterinarians!

I’ll be glad when I finish my exam tomorrow, because my cat and dog course is nearing a close, and that exam will demand a lot of attention. The assessment tomorrow is worth only a fraction of my overall grade for the class, which runs throughout every year in school except for final year, so there is more wiggle room for a less-than-passing score. Still, I don’t want to plunge my running total in the gutter and not be able to climb out!

The other reason I’ll be glad to finish this exam? Since reading so much about food safety over the past few days, I’ve become more concerned than usual about whether or not my own food is safe! I can’t wait to stop reading about outbreaks from seemingly safe food. It just takes a few bugs in the right environment….

Today was my day off. I leave on Monday, so I decided to stay close and explore the area a bit before I leave for good. It was a bright, sunny day, and the ice from the past days and the snow from this morning had melted by the afternoon. Although the ground was wet it was mostly still frozen, so footing was good for a small hike.

The roads nearby are narrow and twist sharply, so it seemed a bad idea to risk a car speeding around a bend and potentially hitting me. But I wanted to get out and about, so I walked about 5 minutes down the road to a public footpath that led me away from cars. True to English form, this footpath was really a slightly worn stretch of soil that ran alongside a field. There were hoof prints and old tire tracks, but it wasn’t a path in the sense that I expected.

View from the road

On the footpath

A reminder that, even though I was walking through the country, the city wasn't far away

It turned out that the area I was in was called ‘Hodgehole Dingle.’ Just like my trip to the Highlands in September, I couldn’t help but remark at how different the UK and the US can be. Most days I feel like the world is small and the similarities between countries far outnumber the differences. However, in the Highlands I saw a shabby wooden sign with only the word ‘Castle’ on it and laughed how it seemed like a perfectly normal thing to encounter. Here, in England, I laughed again that there was a spot called ‘Hodgehole Dingle’ and it was somehow not bizarre. And really, it is normal, but a reminder that I am in some place foreign from my home.

Silliness aside, I kept walking until I reached the suburbs and made a few turns until I came across a large public park. I had walked from the country, to the city, and back into a bit of (artificial) country again. With the blue skies and silver clouds I was awestruck by the scenery and sat to watch the dogs run around and the trees rustle.

The park

The town

The gates to the kennel close at 5pm and I didn’t want to get locked out, so I started to head back. The sun was beginning to set, and everything I had seen previously suddenly looked a bit different.

The field, again

I sat and listened to the grasses rustle. Another day in God's Country, I say.

Like I said, I’m nearly done with my placement here. I’m debating whether or not I want to post pictures of the kennels and cattery; it seems like perhaps an invasion of privacy, but I also figure a few pictures of some dogs and cats won’t hurt anybody. Anyway, I’d like to post a wrap-up of my experience. Until then, back to cold days and poop buckets!

It’s tradition at the Dick Vet for first year students to decorate Summerhall’s entry for Christmas. Because I’m a GEP and not a true 1st year I didn’t get to participate, but I still get to enjoy how festive the place looks on my way to the library to study.

The Christmas tree. Those boxes are empty, of course.

The main staircase. Close enough to Harry Potter, eh?

A festive chain on your way out of Summerhall

I was reading a bit of All Creatures Great And Small this morning over breakfast (mmm, pancakes!) and James Herriot was describing the various muscles and blood vessels he was cutting through and around in the neck of a cow on his way to opening a postpharyngeal oesophageal cyst, and I knew what he was talking about! Well, mostly. It reminded me that I needed to study even more, but it also reminded me of why I’m studying vet med in the first place - so I can poke at cow necks, of course.

Back at my old university, I was part of an online community for students. Every time around finals, it was tradition to post pictures of your study space. Maybe it’s the busybody in me, but I always liked seeing how other people study. I took a few pictures of my desk, covered in notes, so your inner busybody can enjoy.

This picture is pretty unusual, because there is no mug full of tea or cup of water to be seen. I always have at least one (usually both) on my desk at all times.

It seems I get most of studying done if I move my laptop away from me. That way I can keep my music on, but I can't quickly pop my ethernet cable in to look something up on the internet - which always seems to lead to about 30 minutes of browsing time. Such a time waster! Also, if you were interested in my deoderant brand of choice, now you know!

I just need to get through my notes on glucagon and I am done with endocrinology. I wish I had time to go over it a third time before the exam. I am starting to feel pressure, which ain’t good for my brain. Also, why did the university schedule a 3-hour tutorial the Friday before an exam?! No rest for the weary.

I have been in ‘exam mode’ for the past few days, and I am already burned out. In a way, it’s good that I’m studying until I get a headache, because even though the headache forces me to stop, at least I know I studied as much as I physically can. Then I go to bed early (11pm!) and sleep in (8am!) and although I still want to crawl into my bed and curl up and disappear, at least I have enough energy to haul my butt to my desk and pick over some notes. There’s just no motivation there.

It’s also an expensive time of the semester. Because I get my best studying done at the University’s library which is a 20 minute walk, I basically have to buy all my meals. I eat cheaply, and hopefully healthily, but I still feel like I am burning through cash. I think that may just be the effect of the Holiday season in the first place.

Anyway, I need to get moving. I need to send a package off, then go start my tea-induced caffeince high and learn about endocrinology. My brain is fried just thinking about it.