So another semester down, and suprisingly survived! Marks from my exams are in and I have passed with decent marks. It is tough to feel proud of yourself when you get an 80 on a test and it is still below the class average. In vet school you need to readjust how you think about your marks. In undergrad, I was really dissappointed if I was below the average. I liked to at least keep up, if not, then be in the top half. Now, I am in a room full of A-type over achievers with amazing study skills and motivation. That is why we are here after all! So I had to sit myself down and accept that I did well on all my exams (especially my 100% in respiratory histology!!! :D) and even though I am in the bottom half of my class, I am working hard and getting the marks I deserve. I am, after all, also having a fantastic time being involved in social and class events! Can't win them all. Ha!
So the Anatomy bell ringer was a doozy. 60 stations (plus 5 rest stations with candy!) and a minute at each station. The questions were not simple structure questions (Ex. Name the nerve with the pin in it.) But function and indirect structure (ex. What nerve innervates the muscle with the pin in it. And Ex. That does this structure secrete?) So I got frazzled by a couple but they did not build off of each other so if you screwed up one question, you got to ignore it and move to the next one.
We also had our first, not-for-marks, client simulated interview. Simple 15 min with Pause, Rewind, and feedback at the end. I am not nervous about these interviews. I value my ability to talk easily with people and I find it easy to build up relationships and listen to their concerns. I did however, talk to much at the poor actress that I had. She was pretending to be a 'slow', underpriveledged woman who just moved out of her parents house and bought a puppy. My mile a minute questions and over-enthusiastic responses were not taken well. I definately pick up on that in the interview and tried to speak softer and slower and not laugh and smile too much, but by that point I was almost done the interview... So for next time, I should really start slower and work up if I get an enthusiastic response... not the other way around. I am very grateful that we got a chance to practice because our taped interview, in front of our peers and professor, and for marks, is later in January. It was nice to get a chance to practice.
Holidays are being spent working at the Large Animal reception desk part time, getting my mandatory Primary Health Care center volunteer shifts done, and volunteering with the birds of prey (there is a lot of work to do because everyone is home for the holidays!). As well as working on some class assignments, cleaning my room and the house, and dog sitting for my room mate. Only two weeks off, and it is flying by. But I got some great presents and got to spend quality time with the family so I am happy!
Happy holidays everyone! Oh yah, and I am now 1/8th of a vet! :)
Tuesday 27 December 2011
Monday 28 November 2011
Just another midterm monday...
Yes. Yes. Monday midterms = The WORST. It totally kills the buzz for the weekend... Alas, 6 down and 5 more to go. Today was Health Management which I was very excited for. Here I was thinking, "Finally! A subject I am good at!" For heaven's sake, I have already taken HM in undergrad, read all the notes, practiced with the old midterms... it should have been a breeze. But what I wrote today was NOTHING even close to that. I am hoping that I used my most educated logic and guessing skills and will make it out okay. I am really not quite sure what made the test so hard. There was a LOT of vague behaviour and general HM stuff; no real focus of the species specific industries (which we spent 20 of the 30 lectures on!!). Either way, I was not the most upset; there were some girls who came out in angry tears because they felt so unfairly tested and went STRAIGHT to the program co-ordinator. :S Bell curve?!?
Challenge Cup (an OVC only Hockey tournament with Prof teams) is under way. As for the Stags, we are not doing so well thus far. Coed team lost 6-0 (to the Scalpelbladers!) and the Women lost 3-0. We did however get our jerseys... Makes us look super spiffy! And like an actual team.
One of our upcoming midterms is my Clin Med Small Animal Exam. This is a practical exam with just the student, the examiner, and a hound dog. We have to talk through and perform a general physical exam; head to tail. This shouldn't be too hard. I plan on just talking about what I should see, what I am looking for, and what I actually see (slash feel!). Will be tough without my thermometer since it broke in Oct, but I'll find someone's to borrow.
Christmas party at the Frat this weekend. First year girls are traditionally the decorators, but since there is a shortage of second year girls, I will be helping them cook. the first year boys "liberate" a christmas tree and the second year boys clean up. And we all drink. Haha! Speaking of parties, our Stag Bar Night was a great success. We had 163 people attend and made almost $600; half for our class, half for a children's charity. We also have Pet Pictures with Santa this weekend too! Can't wait to see all the pets come out and get all snuggley with Santa! Should be adorable! I plan on taking Soc in so we have a good holiday picture together! he will hate every minute of it, but I don't really care! Haha! He'll be safe, no worries!
If I have time this week I'll give you a synopsis of the CCM which we are learning in AVM. It is kind of straight forward but definitely takes some practice to perfect. I have to practice this break because we jump into our client simulated interviews in Jan. :)
Challenge Cup (an OVC only Hockey tournament with Prof teams) is under way. As for the Stags, we are not doing so well thus far. Coed team lost 6-0 (to the Scalpelbladers!) and the Women lost 3-0. We did however get our jerseys... Makes us look super spiffy! And like an actual team.
One of our upcoming midterms is my Clin Med Small Animal Exam. This is a practical exam with just the student, the examiner, and a hound dog. We have to talk through and perform a general physical exam; head to tail. This shouldn't be too hard. I plan on just talking about what I should see, what I am looking for, and what I actually see (slash feel!). Will be tough without my thermometer since it broke in Oct, but I'll find someone's to borrow.
Christmas party at the Frat this weekend. First year girls are traditionally the decorators, but since there is a shortage of second year girls, I will be helping them cook. the first year boys "liberate" a christmas tree and the second year boys clean up. And we all drink. Haha! Speaking of parties, our Stag Bar Night was a great success. We had 163 people attend and made almost $600; half for our class, half for a children's charity. We also have Pet Pictures with Santa this weekend too! Can't wait to see all the pets come out and get all snuggley with Santa! Should be adorable! I plan on taking Soc in so we have a good holiday picture together! he will hate every minute of it, but I don't really care! Haha! He'll be safe, no worries!
If I have time this week I'll give you a synopsis of the CCM which we are learning in AVM. It is kind of straight forward but definitely takes some practice to perfect. I have to practice this break because we jump into our client simulated interviews in Jan. :)
Wednesday 9 November 2011
More fun words.
Prehension = To bring food to the mouth (we use our hands and forks, cows use their lips and tongues!)
Mastication = Chewing food
Deglutition = Swallowing a bolus of food
Zygapophyses = Articulation between cervical vertebrae
Tachycardia = Fast heart rate
Brachycardia = Slow heart rate
Halitosis = Bad breath
Blepharospasm = Squinting (eyes)
Eructation = Burping
Cirrhosis = Chronic Liver Disease
Atelectasis = Collapsed Lung
Mastication = Chewing food
Deglutition = Swallowing a bolus of food
Zygapophyses = Articulation between cervical vertebrae
Tachycardia = Fast heart rate
Brachycardia = Slow heart rate
Halitosis = Bad breath
Blepharospasm = Squinting (eyes)
Eructation = Burping
Cirrhosis = Chronic Liver Disease
Atelectasis = Collapsed Lung
Wednesday 2 November 2011
Rumen with a View!
So today we had our digestive physiology lab where we got to explore the rumen of a live cow. There is a small herd of ~15 cows on the UofG campus that are fistulated (have rubber windows in their sides). these are surgically implanted and seriously do not effect the cow in any major way. They are teaching animals that allow students to get a better understanding of the muscular and digestive capabilities of a rumen. The rumen is so big and strong that they don't feel anything really, we do be more sensitive around the esophageal opening because boluses are continually coming in and we don't want to create back flow. One of our guys has such long arms that he was able to reach into the reticulum and retrieve the hardware magnet so the prof could clean it off for her!!! (Magnets are fed to the cows to prevent Hardware disease. They catch stray metal that may have been ingested and prevents it from puncturing the wall of the reticulum and puncturing the heart!) A very cool opportunity for us!
 |
| Rectal palpation glove on and to the shoulder!! I am short so I had to get on my tippy-toes! |
 |
| This is not manure.... yet! This was the digesta we had to clear from her stomach so we could feel something! this was about half of the fill, and of course we put it back!!! |
Movember
Wow. So busy!
Grand Council:
A hot hot mess. SO MUCH FUN!! However, just a mess of alcohol and destruction! The Betas did a fantastic job of hosting. What a beautiful city and campus.... and frat house! Until the Deltas showed up. We have a reputation that did not tarnish this year of causing as much trouble as possible... so we did that. hhaha. We had a "Toga" party n which we dressed in Gonzo gear, Gonzo Olympics (which was held in a field with a keg of beer in it!!!), Fancy dinner and guest speakers, a hilighter rave (so we went in all black), and then toured campus and the local waterfalls!! Unfortunately, Cornell would not allow me to take pictures in the building... but I have some of the campus!
Halloween:
We had the OTS Haunted House, the Frat Halloween party, and Trick-or-Eat.
Haunted house was fun, not as many people as I thought there'd be, but we really pulled out all the stops!!! My team were an autopsy room, dissecting "cadavers" which jumped to life.
Frat party got wild quick... ended up getting spilt up by the police... :( but a great time anyway!! Plus we just moved to a different house to continue the party anyway! hahaha
And if you are unfamiliar with TrickorEat go to http://www.trickoreat.ca/. Our OVC team had 26 members!! We ended up completing 5 routes!!! So proud of my classmates!!!
Midterm Update:
Well I got a great mark on my clin med midterm. That made me feel good! Then I got my histo mark... 58%. WHICH IS A PASS!!!! :D I know this is a poor mark, but 1/3 the class failed AND all the upper years said it is more common than not to fail this first histo test. My goal was to pass and I did!! :) I wrote Neurophysiology on Monday so no mark yet. I feel that because I spent the weekend doing Halloween stuff, I really did not study as hard as I know I should have... so bad K, but what can you do... work harderfor the next one!!! Anatomy Viva Voce Friday! Need to study lots more!!
Movember:
Officially started!!!! I have a Movember page so please support me in my goal to raise money to fight against Prostate cancer!!! http://mosista.co/kmarinac
Grand Council:
A hot hot mess. SO MUCH FUN!! However, just a mess of alcohol and destruction! The Betas did a fantastic job of hosting. What a beautiful city and campus.... and frat house! Until the Deltas showed up. We have a reputation that did not tarnish this year of causing as much trouble as possible... so we did that. hhaha. We had a "Toga" party n which we dressed in Gonzo gear, Gonzo Olympics (which was held in a field with a keg of beer in it!!!), Fancy dinner and guest speakers, a hilighter rave (so we went in all black), and then toured campus and the local waterfalls!! Unfortunately, Cornell would not allow me to take pictures in the building... but I have some of the campus!
Halloween:
We had the OTS Haunted House, the Frat Halloween party, and Trick-or-Eat.
Haunted house was fun, not as many people as I thought there'd be, but we really pulled out all the stops!!! My team were an autopsy room, dissecting "cadavers" which jumped to life.
 |
| Look at all the donated food!!! |
Well I got a great mark on my clin med midterm. That made me feel good! Then I got my histo mark... 58%. WHICH IS A PASS!!!! :D I know this is a poor mark, but 1/3 the class failed AND all the upper years said it is more common than not to fail this first histo test. My goal was to pass and I did!! :) I wrote Neurophysiology on Monday so no mark yet. I feel that because I spent the weekend doing Halloween stuff, I really did not study as hard as I know I should have... so bad K, but what can you do... work harderfor the next one!!! Anatomy Viva Voce Friday! Need to study lots more!!
Officially started!!!! I have a Movember page so please support me in my goal to raise money to fight against Prostate cancer!!! http://mosista.co/kmarinac
Wednesday 19 October 2011
October Showers
Rain, rain, go away! Seriously! Gloomy days are just very difficult to cope with...
So I found another SWEET blog The Weird Veterinary World (http://www.drdolen.com/). Dr Dolen has some amazing cases posted in there as well as very cool pictures!
Also, I had my first midterm on Monday in Clin Med I. It went very well, lots of basic husbandry questions as well as terms and definitions. Stuf like:
"What is a female cattle called that has not yet had a calf?"
Answer: Heifer
"What is the near-side of the horse?"
Answer: Left side
"What lympnh node can be palpated on HEALTHY animals?"
Answer: Submandibular
"What knot do you use when you need to lengthen a lead?"
Answer: Reef knot
"What part of the 'hay' contains the most fibre?"
Answer: Stem
Blah, blah, blah... Everyone feels like they over studied. Hopefully marks come up soon.
Histology quiz (worth 10%) is coming up soon... next Monday in fact. And just my luck, this weekend is my trip to Cornell University in Ithica, New York for the Veterinary Fraternity Grand Council 2011. :( Which means I have until Friday to study because I intend on being very drunk this weekend! Especially because I am legal to drink in the States! And also free keg beer!!
So what is histo.... well, the study of cells and tissues basically. It is cell bio on drugs... lots of purple, pink, blue, and black stained slides of every cell type from every organ... and the differences between species! Fun times. This test will be stains, epithelium, glands, muscles, nerves, and connective tissue.
End histology lesson.
There we are. Hopefully I will have pictures of the Cornell Veterinary School's campus to post for you later. If I don't lose too many neurons this weekend!!!
So I found another SWEET blog The Weird Veterinary World (http://www.drdolen.com/). Dr Dolen has some amazing cases posted in there as well as very cool pictures!
Also, I had my first midterm on Monday in Clin Med I. It went very well, lots of basic husbandry questions as well as terms and definitions. Stuf like:
"What is a female cattle called that has not yet had a calf?"
Answer: Heifer
"What is the near-side of the horse?"
Answer: Left side
"What lympnh node can be palpated on HEALTHY animals?"
Answer: Submandibular
"What knot do you use when you need to lengthen a lead?"
Answer: Reef knot
"What part of the 'hay' contains the most fibre?"
Answer: Stem
Blah, blah, blah... Everyone feels like they over studied. Hopefully marks come up soon.
Histology quiz (worth 10%) is coming up soon... next Monday in fact. And just my luck, this weekend is my trip to Cornell University in Ithica, New York for the Veterinary Fraternity Grand Council 2011. :( Which means I have until Friday to study because I intend on being very drunk this weekend! Especially because I am legal to drink in the States! And also free keg beer!!
So what is histo.... well, the study of cells and tissues basically. It is cell bio on drugs... lots of purple, pink, blue, and black stained slides of every cell type from every organ... and the differences between species! Fun times. This test will be stains, epithelium, glands, muscles, nerves, and connective tissue.
 |
| Portion of the small intestine's villi. Note the simple columnar epithelial cells. The blue (basophilic) ovals are the parallel and polar nuclei of each columnar cells. The bright pink (eosinophilic) outline is called the brush/striated border and consists of microvilli. The small clear spots are mucous producing goblet cells. |
 |
| This is a picture of a simple coiled tubular gland. It's actually an apocrine sweat gland of a dog. Simple cuboidal epithelial cells surround the gland's lumen. |
 |
| Striated muscle cells. You can see the dark lines and light lines interchange. Between the dark or Z lines is a sarcomere. A sarcomere is the contractile unit in the muscle. It contracts because of a Calcium dependant reaction between actin and myosin filaments. |
There we are. Hopefully I will have pictures of the Cornell Veterinary School's campus to post for you later. If I don't lose too many neurons this weekend!!!
Friday 14 October 2011
And the fun continues....
Here we are the short week after Thanksgiving... and it feels like the longest week yet. Maybe the mash potatoe hangover but these days have been dragging on... and not in a fun way. Lectures 8:30 - 5:30 everyday.... 6 hours of neuro lecture in 48 hours... let's just say there has not been a sufficient amount of studying occuring.
Ok, so my tiredness may also be due to me shadowing this week. Every first year has to do a week of shadowing a fourth year student during their clinical rotation for both small animal and large animal in order to pass clinical medicine. Ok maybe not pass, but failure to complete these weeks equals failure of the class. So I am on large animal medicine... only one case in but still have to show up at 7 am and 7 pm to do treatments and physicals. Our horse is just allergies causing swollen conjunctivitis, but still gotta be there until it goes home. It is fun, don't get me wrong. I like the opportunity to be in the clinic, watching and practicing, but I wish there was more to do then just rectal temperatures and applying eye meds on one horse... Then it would feel like less of bother... also I hate 7am.
I have a couple fun words that I have learned that make me smile. It justifies why I love medicine so much!
BORBORGYMI - gurgling gastrointestinal sounds
PETECHIA - small blood spots on mucous membranes (pet-tiki-ah)
IDIOSYNCRATIC - sorry ma'am, after $2,000 of diagnostics, I have no effing idea wghat is wrong with your cat!
ILIOCOLIOCECAL JUNCTION - where the ilium, colon, and cecum join
More will come to me... I am tired.
My forst midterm is on Monday at 8:30 am in Clin Med. Wish me luck!
Ok, so my tiredness may also be due to me shadowing this week. Every first year has to do a week of shadowing a fourth year student during their clinical rotation for both small animal and large animal in order to pass clinical medicine. Ok maybe not pass, but failure to complete these weeks equals failure of the class. So I am on large animal medicine... only one case in but still have to show up at 7 am and 7 pm to do treatments and physicals. Our horse is just allergies causing swollen conjunctivitis, but still gotta be there until it goes home. It is fun, don't get me wrong. I like the opportunity to be in the clinic, watching and practicing, but I wish there was more to do then just rectal temperatures and applying eye meds on one horse... Then it would feel like less of bother... also I hate 7am.
I have a couple fun words that I have learned that make me smile. It justifies why I love medicine so much!
BORBORGYMI - gurgling gastrointestinal sounds
PETECHIA - small blood spots on mucous membranes (pet-tiki-ah)
IDIOSYNCRATIC - sorry ma'am, after $2,000 of diagnostics, I have no effing idea wghat is wrong with your cat!
ILIOCOLIOCECAL JUNCTION - where the ilium, colon, and cecum join
More will come to me... I am tired.
My forst midterm is on Monday at 8:30 am in Clin Med. Wish me luck!
Wednesday 5 October 2011
Viva Voce
Hello from life on the inside. Here we are 5 1/2 weeks into vet school. I have exciting news; I passed my first viva voce in Anatomy!!! Yay! I also survived my first online quiz about Swine Production, but that is less of a feat. A viva voce is a live, group oral exam with your dissection and the prof. At first this sonds awesome, "What?! Group?! That means someone else will be able to get all the answers!! w00t!! No studying!!" False. Black Bear. (Shout out to my fellow D. K. Shrute fans!) This is a terrifying test in which you all must study very hard for and still may not figure out the answers. Sorry, but that is what you have to look forward to... It is a very cool dynamic though; your group gets to discuss things and have a chance to change your answers. Also it is Pass, Fail, or Outstanding (1/3, 2/3, or 3/3, you get 0 for not showing up), So we passed. We stumbled on the alternative name for the Prescapular Lymph node (Superficial cervical lymph node) and some of the cervical muscles (How could I forget the Scalaneus!). We did however, rock the shit out of the heart. Papillary muscles, chordae tendinae, mitral valve, paraconal interventricular groove, etc. Also the branching of the left subclavian artery (Canada, Denmark, Venezuala, Spain International Airlines in ruminants and Vancouver, Calgary, Saskatchewan Intranational Airline for the small animals).
In other news, the Social Committee has a lot of fun stuff in the works. We want to run a Dog Wash, Pet Pictures with Santa, and a Bachelor Auction to raise money for our classes graduation and fourth year play. Then we are organizing an OVC Trick or Eat team for charity. Finally or just social events will be a ski/snowboard trip to either Mount Tremblant or Blue Mountain, Stags take over the Palace (a night club in Guelph) with the mechanical banana, Friends and Family day at the OVC, and a Spring Fling. SO MUCH ORGANIZING!! I love it. I am the poster girl, so I get to design all of our posters. Let me show you some examples:
And on that I will have to leave you. It is late and I have my Live Animal Landmarks lab tomorrow at 8:30 am... I have been finding these early mornings tough so I should try to get some sleep... I wish I could have a caffeine IV drip.... that would be nice...
 |
| My notes from Anatomy for the branching of the Left Subclavian Artery. |
 |
| More notes for the anatomy of the heart. |
Monday 26 September 2011
Halloween Costume
okay, I know it's early but I went with my housemate to Value Village today and may have spent 53$ on stuff for my Halloween costume... all I am missing is the hat!
My housemates and I are going as Alice in Wonderland characters. I am the Mad Hatter, we have an Alice, White Rabbit, Chesire cat, and the Queen of Hearts. We are making our costumes, making it a more human version of each. I was the only one super gonghoe to go today but everyone's juices got flowing once we were in the store. Obviously make-up, hair, and the infamous hat are still to come but I thought I'd give a sneak peek. This is also the first time I used my new webcam to take pictures... it's actually not horrible quality.
Yay!
My housemates and I are going as Alice in Wonderland characters. I am the Mad Hatter, we have an Alice, White Rabbit, Chesire cat, and the Queen of Hearts. We are making our costumes, making it a more human version of each. I was the only one super gonghoe to go today but everyone's juices got flowing once we were in the store. Obviously make-up, hair, and the infamous hat are still to come but I thought I'd give a sneak peek. This is also the first time I used my new webcam to take pictures... it's actually not horrible quality.
 |
| AMAZING SHOES!!!!! |
 |
| AMAZING VEST!!!!! with the gloves in the pocket! |
 |
| Couldn't say no to the tie! |
 |
| Mad Hatter <3 |
Sunday 25 September 2011
Dear Lord, it's Week 4 already!!
Time is flying... I wish it would slow down because these have been the best three weeks of my life by far!!! I want to savour them...
Professional Welcoming Ceremony:
Fantastic morning of a whole bunch of veterinary organization representatives and our Dean telling us how awesome we are and welcoming us officially into the veterinary profession. The moment I walked up on the stage and they gave me my lab coat and stethescope made it all seem real. WOW! I can't even believe I made it here. <3
Had lots of family and friends wandering around, mothers crying, people hugging, absolutely EVERYONE smiling!!! Such a great feeling! I was lucky enough to have my parents and aunt come to support me. They have helped me get here so I was glad they got to see me up there! OVC also had it's 150th Anniversery Fall Fair afterwards full of games and activities. Way to go OVC for being the oldest vet school in North America!!!
Anything But Clothes Party at OTS:
So we had a pub crawl that was an ABC theme. If you don't know, the rule is to dress in things that are not traditionally used as clothing. We all looked great! Not everyone from my class came, just those in the frat. Everyone was really creative, and managed to look hot in platis bags, beer boxes, shower curtains, duct tape, vet wrap, twister mats, envelopes, post it notes... you name it we were wearing it!! We played some sweet games. In one we had to 'Suck-and-Blow' a card down the line of people on your team, then run to a pitcher of beer full of straws and chug the pitcher dry!! Another was we had 60 cc syringes and the team had to line up and one by one get 60 cc's of beer shot into their mouth... first team to empty their pitcher doing this wins! hahaha SO MUCH FUN!! messy... but fun!
Here's some creative costumes:
Hockey:
Played my first game with our team tonight. The Co-ed 2015 Stags vs. 2014 Elephants. We lost 4-3 but man was it close! We played very well together considering that 1/3 of us (including our goalie) had never played hockey before! So much fun. And what a work out! We play a regular intramural season within the University of Guelph, then we do an OVC Challenge Cup in the Winter Semester!!! Last year a very dedicated prof (and a player on the OVC Prof team) learned how to WELD so that he could make us a 'Stanley Cup'. It is engraved with ALL of the winning teams from 1932, which was the first year they had a Challenge Cup tournament. It looks AMAZING!!!! I hope that we can get good and have a chance at winning this year! It would be an honour to get the Stags up there!
Speaking of the Scarlet Stags... We chose a mascot!
Can't wait for our merch to come out!!!!
School:
Ok, I guess there has been some school in between all of our tomfoolery! We started our dissections in Anatomy last week. Dog, Cat, Sheep, Calf, and Horse. The small animals can lie on the table, but the large animals have to be hanged from the ceiling.... which makes dissecting difficult. There is also other species' prosected and on display, but our prof and TAs do those. The OVC has quite an osteology museum, which is not only impressive, but makes comparative learning very easy. The department even has their own BUG BOX (a box of flesh eating bugs to clean of skeletons)!!!! We got to see an Orka skull almost cleaned completely... have to be careful none escapse when you lift the lid though! Histology is actually not so bad... yet. I know I will feel VERRRY differently about that soon enough. We have motored through epithelium, glands, nervous tissue, and muscle tissue... Labs are, well, boring... but he goes over every cell type and slide very thoroughly so if you pay attention, it makes studying MUCH easier. For physiology we are still on Neuro... and plan to be there until the end of October. In Clinical Medicine, we have ALREADY finished our Small Animal lectures and are now on our Large Animal ones. We have learned the theory behind history taking, building a problem list, a close and far physical examination, and a differential diagnosis (which obviously we won't be good at til we are in fourth year) so in our labs in a couple weeks we will start practicing on the teaching animals, doing TPRs (Temp - Pulse - Resp Rate), checking eyes, ears, nose, mouth, feeling joints and lymph nodes... blah blah blah. You all know what I mean. Health Management is boring because we are on Epidemiology... which I have taken. And the notes are EXACTLY THE SAME!! Very tempting to not go, but I am trying to be a good student... no promises. No Biochem or Genetics yet. Art of Veterinary Medicine (AVM) is again, boring. We are doing animal welfare, which again I have taken, and again the notes are very similar, so again trying to stay motivated and go to class.
Now we also hae some mandatory stuff outside of class that we have to do; Teaching Animal Enrichment (TAE), Primary Healthcare Center (PHC) shifts, and 4th Year Shadowing. Now I have not done any of this yet, so once I do I will fill you in on the details. Unfortunately we were told that their is a STRICT no camera in the hospital rule, so no pics of actual cases, but I will try to do my best and get what I can.
So until next time my furry little friends!!!! Hope you all are enjoying the Winter shows coming Back! Big Bang Theory, Grey's Anatomy, Community, Revenge, New Girl, PanAm, How I Met your Mother, and The Office!!!! w00t. I totally study....
Professional Welcoming Ceremony:
Fantastic morning of a whole bunch of veterinary organization representatives and our Dean telling us how awesome we are and welcoming us officially into the veterinary profession. The moment I walked up on the stage and they gave me my lab coat and stethescope made it all seem real. WOW! I can't even believe I made it here. <3
 |
| Being piped in by a Scottish Bag Piper in Alphabetical order! Everyone dressed up nicely, very weird to see the people I party so hard with can actually clean up! Hahaha. Everyone looked fantastic! |
 |
| All Official!!! |
Anything But Clothes Party at OTS:
So we had a pub crawl that was an ABC theme. If you don't know, the rule is to dress in things that are not traditionally used as clothing. We all looked great! Not everyone from my class came, just those in the frat. Everyone was really creative, and managed to look hot in platis bags, beer boxes, shower curtains, duct tape, vet wrap, twister mats, envelopes, post it notes... you name it we were wearing it!! We played some sweet games. In one we had to 'Suck-and-Blow' a card down the line of people on your team, then run to a pitcher of beer full of straws and chug the pitcher dry!! Another was we had 60 cc syringes and the team had to line up and one by one get 60 cc's of beer shot into their mouth... first team to empty their pitcher doing this wins! hahaha SO MUCH FUN!! messy... but fun!
Here's some creative costumes:
 |
| Duct Tape Tuxedo and our American classmates in Canadian Flags!! |
 |
| Matching 'Simpsons' Sleeping bags!!! |
 |
| Horse feed bags! (Leave it to the vet's to think of that!!) |
 |
| My friend in a sexy Biohazard bag!! And I in some scarves and hats that I sewed together. The strap is a tensor bandage! |
Played my first game with our team tonight. The Co-ed 2015 Stags vs. 2014 Elephants. We lost 4-3 but man was it close! We played very well together considering that 1/3 of us (including our goalie) had never played hockey before! So much fun. And what a work out! We play a regular intramural season within the University of Guelph, then we do an OVC Challenge Cup in the Winter Semester!!! Last year a very dedicated prof (and a player on the OVC Prof team) learned how to WELD so that he could make us a 'Stanley Cup'. It is engraved with ALL of the winning teams from 1932, which was the first year they had a Challenge Cup tournament. It looks AMAZING!!!! I hope that we can get good and have a chance at winning this year! It would be an honour to get the Stags up there!
Speaking of the Scarlet Stags... We chose a mascot!
 |
| OVC 2015 Scarlet Stags |
School:
Ok, I guess there has been some school in between all of our tomfoolery! We started our dissections in Anatomy last week. Dog, Cat, Sheep, Calf, and Horse. The small animals can lie on the table, but the large animals have to be hanged from the ceiling.... which makes dissecting difficult. There is also other species' prosected and on display, but our prof and TAs do those. The OVC has quite an osteology museum, which is not only impressive, but makes comparative learning very easy. The department even has their own BUG BOX (a box of flesh eating bugs to clean of skeletons)!!!! We got to see an Orka skull almost cleaned completely... have to be careful none escapse when you lift the lid though! Histology is actually not so bad... yet. I know I will feel VERRRY differently about that soon enough. We have motored through epithelium, glands, nervous tissue, and muscle tissue... Labs are, well, boring... but he goes over every cell type and slide very thoroughly so if you pay attention, it makes studying MUCH easier. For physiology we are still on Neuro... and plan to be there until the end of October. In Clinical Medicine, we have ALREADY finished our Small Animal lectures and are now on our Large Animal ones. We have learned the theory behind history taking, building a problem list, a close and far physical examination, and a differential diagnosis (which obviously we won't be good at til we are in fourth year) so in our labs in a couple weeks we will start practicing on the teaching animals, doing TPRs (Temp - Pulse - Resp Rate), checking eyes, ears, nose, mouth, feeling joints and lymph nodes... blah blah blah. You all know what I mean. Health Management is boring because we are on Epidemiology... which I have taken. And the notes are EXACTLY THE SAME!! Very tempting to not go, but I am trying to be a good student... no promises. No Biochem or Genetics yet. Art of Veterinary Medicine (AVM) is again, boring. We are doing animal welfare, which again I have taken, and again the notes are very similar, so again trying to stay motivated and go to class.
Now we also hae some mandatory stuff outside of class that we have to do; Teaching Animal Enrichment (TAE), Primary Healthcare Center (PHC) shifts, and 4th Year Shadowing. Now I have not done any of this yet, so once I do I will fill you in on the details. Unfortunately we were told that their is a STRICT no camera in the hospital rule, so no pics of actual cases, but I will try to do my best and get what I can.
So until next time my furry little friends!!!! Hope you all are enjoying the Winter shows coming Back! Big Bang Theory, Grey's Anatomy, Community, Revenge, New Girl, PanAm, How I Met your Mother, and The Office!!!! w00t. I totally study....
Friday 16 September 2011
Feeling a bit tired this... aft...
Ok so definately had a BLAST partying with the OTS members last night. We had a "rewards" night full of free booze because we pledged on Tuesday. SO MUCH FUN!! But I am hurting today... I went to my AM Anatomy Lab but I am skipping Epidemiology... Lab was good because it was just osteology so no formaldehyde... thank god!
One more event tonight, CVSA Cornroast, then I am taking a break from partying for a while!!!
Haha who am I kidding!!!
One more event tonight, CVSA Cornroast, then I am taking a break from partying for a while!!!
Haha who am I kidding!!!
Monday 12 September 2011
One Week In... And I am Still Alive!!!
HELLO! Omg... what a week!
I have been having a blast so far but we are kept nice and busy the first couple of weeks with LOTS of organizing and extra-curricular stuff. Doesn't help that my birthday was this weekend so we had those celebrations to organize too! Let me walk you through what has been happening so far...
Day One:
We got name tags and found out who was going to be in our practice groups. Lots of awkward, nervous, excited energy in the room! It definately took a couple hours for us all to settle in and start to get to know each other. Class introductions and free lunch! We all went out for beers that night to relax and form friend groups. We had our class picture taken too!
Week One:
So lots of Department Heads, and Deans spoke at us. We learned the DVM curriculum, necessary protective wear orders, had a class-wdie pizza and trivia lunch, had a Frat Welcoming BBQ, did group bonding excersises, worked through our Myers-Briggs types, voted on a mascot (WE CHOSE SCARLET STAGS!!!), had an open hockey game to learn how to play hockey, went out as a class to the local Country bar, toured the campus, blah blah blah. Orientation was fun but I was glad to start moving into lectures by Thursday. We started out easy; professor intros, exam weights, course objectives. All easy stuff. Actually, the only difficult part of these two days was figuring out who I was going to sit with. We all just met so a seating pattern was tough. What ended the week off perfectly was the Frat's Pub Crawl on Friday night, themed Anything But Clothes. What a great way to REALLY get to know your classmates! We had so much fun and everyone made such creative costumes!
So what else does September have in store?
TONS. I have so much going on already:
- Coed Hockey team
- Candidate for Class President
- Volunteer for Wild Ontario
- Frat Pledge and Rewards night
- Ruminant Field Services sign up
- Rabies Titre Clinic
- Professional Welcoming Ceremony
- My Cousin's Baby Shower
- A shit load of classes and labs
- CVSA Cornroast
- Teaching Animal Orientation
- Lab coat and Coverall Distrubution
- A new boy that I have no time to go on dates with :( haha
So you can see that I will be kept very occupied. Hopefully this will teach me to be well organized or else I will spiral into a crazy pit of death... I do have more pictures, but I can't find my camera cord so you all have to wait! Wish me good luck in tomorrow's class predident elections and in my OTS frat pledge night!!!
I have been having a blast so far but we are kept nice and busy the first couple of weeks with LOTS of organizing and extra-curricular stuff. Doesn't help that my birthday was this weekend so we had those celebrations to organize too! Let me walk you through what has been happening so far...
Day One:
We got name tags and found out who was going to be in our practice groups. Lots of awkward, nervous, excited energy in the room! It definately took a couple hours for us all to settle in and start to get to know each other. Class introductions and free lunch! We all went out for beers that night to relax and form friend groups. We had our class picture taken too!
Class of 2015!!!
Week One:
So lots of Department Heads, and Deans spoke at us. We learned the DVM curriculum, necessary protective wear orders, had a class-wdie pizza and trivia lunch, had a Frat Welcoming BBQ, did group bonding excersises, worked through our Myers-Briggs types, voted on a mascot (WE CHOSE SCARLET STAGS!!!), had an open hockey game to learn how to play hockey, went out as a class to the local Country bar, toured the campus, blah blah blah. Orientation was fun but I was glad to start moving into lectures by Thursday. We started out easy; professor intros, exam weights, course objectives. All easy stuff. Actually, the only difficult part of these two days was figuring out who I was going to sit with. We all just met so a seating pattern was tough. What ended the week off perfectly was the Frat's Pub Crawl on Friday night, themed Anything But Clothes. What a great way to REALLY get to know your classmates! We had so much fun and everyone made such creative costumes!
So what else does September have in store?
TONS. I have so much going on already:
- Coed Hockey team
- Candidate for Class President
- Volunteer for Wild Ontario
- Frat Pledge and Rewards night
- Ruminant Field Services sign up
- Rabies Titre Clinic
- Professional Welcoming Ceremony
- My Cousin's Baby Shower
- A shit load of classes and labs
- CVSA Cornroast
- Teaching Animal Orientation
- Lab coat and Coverall Distrubution
- A new boy that I have no time to go on dates with :( haha
So you can see that I will be kept very occupied. Hopefully this will teach me to be well organized or else I will spiral into a crazy pit of death... I do have more pictures, but I can't find my camera cord so you all have to wait! Wish me good luck in tomorrow's class predident elections and in my OTS frat pledge night!!!
Sunday 4 September 2011
Day Before The Big Day
I start vet school TOMORROW!!!
And of course, inspite of my best efforts, nothing is organized. I moved back to Guelph last night, and of course, forgot stuff at home... Now my parents have to figure out when to bring it all to me because I do not have a car here... I have one day to get it all together.
I found out I am in Group 6 (Section B) which means I have 8 new best friends! Haha our group just gets to share lab specimens and for group projects, we all have to work together. Its just a way to organize us because not every person can have a calf, horse head, dog, cat, and sheeep to disect to themselves. Also there is only so much space in the histology lab room. Even so, what I have heard from upper years is that there is a sense of commradery between the groups, you end up becoming good friends which is great when you have 113 new class mates to meet. I am meeting them tonight at a pub, all of which was organized by our phase 2 mentors. These mentors will be helping us through the first week of school, and what is cool is I know them. I have a feeling we are going to have a great frosh week!!!
Classes don't start until Thursday, but they have jam packed our first three days with talks and fun activities. I will fill you all in later about the details. There is a OTS BBQ and party this week!! Frat parties always rule! Our first time on the ice for hockey is also on Thursday. I have all of my equipment and practiced at the free skate this weekend so I can't wait to start playing hockey. The season doesn't start yet, but we have organized some shinny to practice getting the team sorted out and positions organized. I want to play left wing because it is a position where you have low responsibility but if you are in the right place during a play, you can be very useful.
I hope to get some pictures up of our orientation so please stay tuned.
And of course, inspite of my best efforts, nothing is organized. I moved back to Guelph last night, and of course, forgot stuff at home... Now my parents have to figure out when to bring it all to me because I do not have a car here... I have one day to get it all together.
I found out I am in Group 6 (Section B) which means I have 8 new best friends! Haha our group just gets to share lab specimens and for group projects, we all have to work together. Its just a way to organize us because not every person can have a calf, horse head, dog, cat, and sheeep to disect to themselves. Also there is only so much space in the histology lab room. Even so, what I have heard from upper years is that there is a sense of commradery between the groups, you end up becoming good friends which is great when you have 113 new class mates to meet. I am meeting them tonight at a pub, all of which was organized by our phase 2 mentors. These mentors will be helping us through the first week of school, and what is cool is I know them. I have a feeling we are going to have a great frosh week!!!
Classes don't start until Thursday, but they have jam packed our first three days with talks and fun activities. I will fill you all in later about the details. There is a OTS BBQ and party this week!! Frat parties always rule! Our first time on the ice for hockey is also on Thursday. I have all of my equipment and practiced at the free skate this weekend so I can't wait to start playing hockey. The season doesn't start yet, but we have organized some shinny to practice getting the team sorted out and positions organized. I want to play left wing because it is a position where you have low responsibility but if you are in the right place during a play, you can be very useful.
I hope to get some pictures up of our orientation so please stay tuned.
Thursday 25 August 2011
As August Draws to a Close...
10 MORE DAYS!!!!
I am beside myself with excitement. Can't wait to move into the next chapter of my life. These next four years will be a rollercoaster of emotions, but hopefully I will survive. It'll be when I realize I am am in way over my head, that I was born to do vet med, and when I'll finally start feeling like an adult. Cause let's be serious... 21 is so young!
So what have I been doing to get ready? Not much actually. Until orientation, I really don't have enough information to truly be ready. Either way, I have my school supplies ready. I bought a nice expensive agenda so I don't have to use the free one that the school gives us. It's gotten me through undergrad but I think it's time for something a little more intense.
Thus far, we have completed all of our online surveys (just about personality types, demographics, expectations, and experience) and our schedule has been posted. Here is an example week for all of you that are morning people (us night owls will be cringing!):
Yay!
We have been sent our invitations for the Professional Welcoming Ceremony, each student gets 4 and one needs to be a vet mentor that helped us get into vet school. I plan on inviting my two mentor vets and my parents. Very exciting. We have also been sent our Social Orientation calendar. Looks like a couple BBQs, a corn roast, Fraternity (QTS) pledge night and rewards night, and some open 'just for fun' hockey games. I am going to play hockey for the women's team... I have never played before, but neither will most of the team so it's okay! I also intend on pleding to the Frat. I have some upper year friends that pledged last year and had a blast. The Frat puts on HECTIC parties..... so good. I got into the beach party last year as a guest and it was buc. Sand, bikinis, and keg beer... need I say more? Hahaha! They also do some community work and study sessions run by upper years, and alcohol is free for the year so it'll be worth it for sure.
All that is left is to figure out who will be in our practice groups (12 groups of ~10 students) and to have the orientation page be updated with our orientation schedule. I know that it is only 10 days away and I should just be patient but I CAN'T!!! I want to know NOW!! haha hopefully Mon or Tues.
I also wanted to props a couple of songs that I have recently fallen in love with.
Mumford and Sons - The Cave
Tokyo Police Club - Favourite Colour
The Sheepdogs - I Don't Know
AWOLNATION - Sail
sooooo gooooood.... :)
I am beside myself with excitement. Can't wait to move into the next chapter of my life. These next four years will be a rollercoaster of emotions, but hopefully I will survive. It'll be when I realize I am am in way over my head, that I was born to do vet med, and when I'll finally start feeling like an adult. Cause let's be serious... 21 is so young!
So what have I been doing to get ready? Not much actually. Until orientation, I really don't have enough information to truly be ready. Either way, I have my school supplies ready. I bought a nice expensive agenda so I don't have to use the free one that the school gives us. It's gotten me through undergrad but I think it's time for something a little more intense.
Thus far, we have completed all of our online surveys (just about personality types, demographics, expectations, and experience) and our schedule has been posted. Here is an example week for all of you that are morning people (us night owls will be cringing!):
We have been sent our invitations for the Professional Welcoming Ceremony, each student gets 4 and one needs to be a vet mentor that helped us get into vet school. I plan on inviting my two mentor vets and my parents. Very exciting. We have also been sent our Social Orientation calendar. Looks like a couple BBQs, a corn roast, Fraternity (QTS) pledge night and rewards night, and some open 'just for fun' hockey games. I am going to play hockey for the women's team... I have never played before, but neither will most of the team so it's okay! I also intend on pleding to the Frat. I have some upper year friends that pledged last year and had a blast. The Frat puts on HECTIC parties..... so good. I got into the beach party last year as a guest and it was buc. Sand, bikinis, and keg beer... need I say more? Hahaha! They also do some community work and study sessions run by upper years, and alcohol is free for the year so it'll be worth it for sure.
All that is left is to figure out who will be in our practice groups (12 groups of ~10 students) and to have the orientation page be updated with our orientation schedule. I know that it is only 10 days away and I should just be patient but I CAN'T!!! I want to know NOW!! haha hopefully Mon or Tues.
I also wanted to props a couple of songs that I have recently fallen in love with.
Mumford and Sons - The Cave
Tokyo Police Club - Favourite Colour
The Sheepdogs - I Don't Know
AWOLNATION - Sail
sooooo gooooood.... :)
Recipes For a Vegetarian Student with NO TIME!!!
I have found a couple recipes that I like online that make enough servings the you can freeze a bunch of meal allotments. They are vegetarian but I am sure you could add meat if you wanted. I have to sing the praises of allrecipes.com because it is a great way to get ideas for meals and all recipes are rated by the community. Everyone is amateur and there are lots of pictures!
This one takes time to prepare but I made 12 patties so now I can freeze them and have them through out the semester! Saves money too!
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-of-everything-veggie-burgers/detail.aspx
Breakfast Burritos
Prep Time:
Ready In:
Great for early mornings!!
Yummy snack food for studying...
Prep Time:
Cook Time:
Ready In:
Best of Everything Veggie Burgers
Prep Time:
25 Min
Cook Time:
16 Min
Ready In:
41 Min
25 Min
16 Min
41 Min
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
- 1 cup water
- 2 (16 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 green bell pepper, halved and seeded
- 1 onion, quartered
- 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled
- 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs, or as needed
Directions
- Bring the brown rice and water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the rice is tender, and the liquid has been absorbed, 45 to 50 minutes.
- Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat. Lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. Mash black beans in a large bowl with a fork until thick and pasty; set aside.
- Place the bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor/magic bullet, and chop finely. Stir the bell pepper mixture into the mashed black beans. Place the brown rice and mozzarella cheese in the food processor, and process until combined. Stir the mixture into the black beans.
- Whisk together the eggs, chili powder, cumin, garlic salt, and hot sauce. Stir the egg mixture into the black bean mixture. Stir in the bread crumbs, adding additional bread crumbs as needed until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide into patties.
- Place patties onto wax paper and wrap wax paper in aluminum foil. Freeze each patty seperately!
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-of-everything-veggie-burgers/detail.aspx
Breakfast Burritos
Prep Time:
20 Min
Ready In:
20 Min
Ingredients
- 12 eggs, lightly beaten
- salt and pepper to taste
- 10 (8 inch) flour tortillas
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
Directions
- Cook eggs, salt, and pepper, in a skillet and stir over medium heat until the eggs are completely set.
- Spoon about 1/4 cup of egg mixture down the center of each tortilla; sprinkle with cheese and onions. Fold bottom and sides of tortilla over filling. Wrap each in waxed paper and aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 1 month.
- To use frozen burritos: Remove foil. Place waxed paper-wrapped burritos on a microwave-safe plate. Microwave at 60% power for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes or until heated through. Let stand for 20 seconds.
Great for early mornings!!
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/breakfast-burritos-2/detail.aspx
Kale Chips
Prep Time:
15 Min
Cook Time:
35 Min
Ready In:
50 Min
Ingredients
- 1 bunch kale
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
- 1 pinch sea salt, to taste
Kale Chips
Prep Time:
15 Min
Cook Time:
35 Min
Ready In:
50 Min
Directions
- Preheat an oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
- Cut away inner ribs from each kale leaf and discard; tear the leaves into pieces of uniform size. (I made my pieces about the size of a small potato chip.) Wash torn kale pieces and spin dry in a salad spinner or dry with paper towels until they're very dry.
- Put the kale pieces into a large resealable bag (or use a bowl if you don't mind getting your hands oily). Add about half the olive oil; seal and squeeze the bag so the oil gets distributed evenly on the kale pieces. Add the remaining oil and squeeze the bag more, until all kale pieces are evenly coated with oil and slightly 'massaged.' Sprinkle the vinegar over the kale leaves, reseal the bag, and shake to spread the vinegar evenly over the leaves. Spread the leaves evenly onto a baking sheet.
- Roast in the preheated oven until mostly crisp, about 35 minutes. Season with salt and serve immediately.
Yummy snack food for studying...
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/kale-chips/detail.aspx
Vegetarian Kale Soup
Prep Time:
25 Min
Cook Time:
30 Min
Ready In:
55 Min
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
- 1 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves chopped
- 8 cups water
- 6 cubes vegetable bouillon (such as Knorr)
- 1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 6 white potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 2 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans (drained if desired)
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot; cook the onion and garlic until soft. Stir in the kale and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Stir in the water, vegetable bouillon, tomatoes, potatoes, beans, Italian seasoning, and parsley. Simmer soup on medium heat for 25 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
I add barley or lentils to this and freeze servings in tupper ware if I make more than a couple days worth.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
- 1 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves chopped
- 8 cups water
- 6 cubes vegetable bouillon (such as Knorr)
- 1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 6 white potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 2 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans (drained if desired)
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
- Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot; cook the onion and garlic until soft. Stir in the kale and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Stir in the water, vegetable bouillon, tomatoes, potatoes, beans, Italian seasoning, and parsley. Simmer soup on medium heat for 25 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Wednesday 17 August 2011
Undergraduate Courses and Choices
I was accepted to the Animal Biology Bachelor of Honours Science at the University of Guelph, which is a four year degree that is pretty restricted as far as acceptable courses.
First Year
Fall Semester 1
PSYC*1200 Psycology - Dynamics of Behaviour
PHYS*1020 Introductory Physics
MATH*1080 Elements of Calculus I
CHEM*1040 General Chemistry I
BIOL*1030 Biology I
Winter Semester 2
STAT*2040 Statistics I (needed and used for vet school - Statistics)
PHYS*1070 Intro Physics for Life Sciences
CIS*1000 DE Intro to Computer Applications
CHEM*1050 General Chemistry II
BIOL*1040 Biology II
Pretty basic stuff... I had to do "baby" physics because I didn't take physics in high school. DE = Distance Education.
Second Year
Fall Semester 3
PHYS*1080 Physics for Life Sciences
PHIL*2030 Philosophy of Medicine
MBG*2000 Introductory Genetics
BIOC*2580 Introductory Biochemistry
AGR*2350 Animal Production Systems & Industry
Winter Semester 4
NUTR*3210 Fundamentals of Nutrition
MBG*2020 Introductory Molecular Biology
BIOL*2210 Introductory Cell Biology
ARTH*2280 Modern Architecture (used for vet school - Social Science)
ANSC*2340 Structure and Function of Farm Animals
This year was the toughest. These marks are so important... unfortunately I had a tough time keeping up and did pretty poorly so I had to start to look for equivalent courses for the prereqs.
Third Year
Fall Semester 5
POPM*3240 Epidemiology (restricted elective)
PATH*3610 DE Principles of Disease (restricted elective)
BIOM*3010 Comparative Mammalian Anatomy (restricted elective)
ANSC*3120 Animal Nutrition
ANSC*3080 Agricultural Animal Physiology
Winter Semester 6
PATH*3040 Principles of Parasitology (restricted elective)
MBG*3060 Quantitative Genetics (used for vet school - Genetics)
BIOC*3560 Structure & Function in Biochemistry (used for vet school - Biochemistry)
ANSC*3300 Animal Reproduction
ANSC*3210 Animal Care & Welfare (used for vet school - Humanities)
This was the fun year. We started getting into more detail and the labs were much more informative. The profs like these courses so end up being much more efficient educators. Even the projects are fun; so much application that you stop hating school and actually start to enjoy yourself. This year was much better as far as marks go and it gave me a chance to replace some of those crappy second year marks. I highly recommend Parasitiology and Anatomy, even though they were tough there were fantastic experience, especially to prep for vet school.
Fourth Year
Fall Semester 7
ZOO*2100 Developmental Biology (used for vet school - Cell Biology)
POPM*4230 Animal Health (restricted elective)
ANSC*4700 Research in Animal Biology I (used for vet school - Biology)
ANSC*4560 Pet Nutrition (used for vet school - Biology)
ANSC*4020 Genetics of Companion Animals
Winter Semester 8
BIOC*4580 Membrane Biochemistry (restricted elective)
ANSC*4710 Research in Animal Biology II (restricted elective)
ANSC*4490 Applied Endocrinology (restricted elective)
ANSC*4350 Experiments in Animal Biology (restricted elective)
ANSC*4100 Appl Env Physio/Animal Housing (restricted elective)
WS8 was tough because I was appling to the OVC and mentally I was done. I am very happy that I took the research course but the experiments class was silly to take at the same time. It should've been either or, not both at the same time.
Obviously I stayed in a more sciencey theme... there was alittle room to expand but I am so terrible at social sciences so I played to my strengths. MARKS ARE KEY!! Get good marks, don't mess around. That doesn't mean you can't have fun! Just makke smart decisions! :)
First Year
Fall Semester 1
PSYC*1200 Psycology - Dynamics of Behaviour
PHYS*1020 Introductory Physics
MATH*1080 Elements of Calculus I
CHEM*1040 General Chemistry I
BIOL*1030 Biology I
Winter Semester 2
STAT*2040 Statistics I (needed and used for vet school - Statistics)
PHYS*1070 Intro Physics for Life Sciences
CIS*1000 DE Intro to Computer Applications
CHEM*1050 General Chemistry II
BIOL*1040 Biology II
Pretty basic stuff... I had to do "baby" physics because I didn't take physics in high school. DE = Distance Education.
Second Year
Fall Semester 3
PHYS*1080 Physics for Life Sciences
PHIL*2030 Philosophy of Medicine
MBG*2000 Introductory Genetics
BIOC*2580 Introductory Biochemistry
AGR*2350 Animal Production Systems & Industry
Winter Semester 4
NUTR*3210 Fundamentals of Nutrition
MBG*2020 Introductory Molecular Biology
BIOL*2210 Introductory Cell Biology
ARTH*2280 Modern Architecture (used for vet school - Social Science)
ANSC*2340 Structure and Function of Farm Animals
This year was the toughest. These marks are so important... unfortunately I had a tough time keeping up and did pretty poorly so I had to start to look for equivalent courses for the prereqs.
Third Year
Fall Semester 5
POPM*3240 Epidemiology (restricted elective)
PATH*3610 DE Principles of Disease (restricted elective)
BIOM*3010 Comparative Mammalian Anatomy (restricted elective)
ANSC*3120 Animal Nutrition
ANSC*3080 Agricultural Animal Physiology
Winter Semester 6
PATH*3040 Principles of Parasitology (restricted elective)
MBG*3060 Quantitative Genetics (used for vet school - Genetics)
BIOC*3560 Structure & Function in Biochemistry (used for vet school - Biochemistry)
ANSC*3300 Animal Reproduction
ANSC*3210 Animal Care & Welfare (used for vet school - Humanities)
This was the fun year. We started getting into more detail and the labs were much more informative. The profs like these courses so end up being much more efficient educators. Even the projects are fun; so much application that you stop hating school and actually start to enjoy yourself. This year was much better as far as marks go and it gave me a chance to replace some of those crappy second year marks. I highly recommend Parasitiology and Anatomy, even though they were tough there were fantastic experience, especially to prep for vet school.
Fourth Year
Fall Semester 7
ZOO*2100 Developmental Biology (used for vet school - Cell Biology)
POPM*4230 Animal Health (restricted elective)
ANSC*4700 Research in Animal Biology I (used for vet school - Biology)
ANSC*4560 Pet Nutrition (used for vet school - Biology)
ANSC*4020 Genetics of Companion Animals
Winter Semester 8
BIOC*4580 Membrane Biochemistry (restricted elective)
ANSC*4710 Research in Animal Biology II (restricted elective)
ANSC*4490 Applied Endocrinology (restricted elective)
ANSC*4350 Experiments in Animal Biology (restricted elective)
ANSC*4100 Appl Env Physio/Animal Housing (restricted elective)
WS8 was tough because I was appling to the OVC and mentally I was done. I am very happy that I took the research course but the experiments class was silly to take at the same time. It should've been either or, not both at the same time.
Obviously I stayed in a more sciencey theme... there was alittle room to expand but I am so terrible at social sciences so I played to my strengths. MARKS ARE KEY!! Get good marks, don't mess around. That doesn't mean you can't have fun! Just makke smart decisions! :)
Wednesday 10 August 2011
A Little Bit About Me!
Okay so I have all most completed my list so I can take a moment to talk a bit about me and what is going on around here.
So my name is Kay and was an Animal Biology major in the University of Guelph Bachelor of Honours Science program. Now I am an OVC student (class of 2015)!!! I am a pectarian (no chicken, beef, or pork) and my favourite food is Vegetable Pad Thai. I am a Virgo and am born in the year of the Snake, not that it means anything but the Zodiak is kind of fun. My favourite animals are Turkey Vultures, laying hens, labrador retrievers, and thoroughbreds! Let me show you!
So my name is Kay and was an Animal Biology major in the University of Guelph Bachelor of Honours Science program. Now I am an OVC student (class of 2015)!!! I am a pectarian (no chicken, beef, or pork) and my favourite food is Vegetable Pad Thai. I am a Virgo and am born in the year of the Snake, not that it means anything but the Zodiak is kind of fun. My favourite animals are Turkey Vultures, laying hens, labrador retrievers, and thoroughbreds! Let me show you!
Socrates the One Winged Turkey Vulture
Me with My Research Hens(s)
My Black Lab/Golden Retriever Jesse (13 yrs old)
Me falling off my old horse Trigger. Hahaha!
Us actually jumping!!!
I am currently working at a small animal clinic which provides great experience in vet medicine, but I really want to work in a mixed practice one day. My dream is to have my house, horses, and clinic all on the same giant property and be so happy! haha.
Right now I have a leopard gecko named Steven Leopold and a snow corn snake named Princess Snow White that stay with me while I'm at school. Jesse lives at home with my parents and our new kitten Pippa Mewington (currently 6 weeks old).
Pippa Mewington
Steven Leopold
Not actually Snow White, but here species!!! She is not albino but does lack pigment.
I am very much looking forward to orientation on Sept 5th and the Proffesional Welcoming ceremony on Sept 17th. There will definately be pics of campus and our class so stay tuned for that. They haven't given us too much info about orientation yet but we are completing some online surveys to give them more demographic info so they can assign us all into one of 12 practice groups. These groups are pretty much your family through phases 1, 2, and 3 so I can't wait to meet them and get straight to the socializing! haha I definately am a party animal (no pun intended!) so I intend on joining Omega Tau Sigma, our professional veterinary fraternity for some bad keg beer and good times! There is lots of social stuff to do in vet school, especially first semester, so I'm sure my class will get a good chance to bond very quickly. I have housemates and upper phase friends so I have already gotten a glimpse of what vet school will be like and how I want to experience it so I am very lucky. Hopefully I won't be caught off guard by too much, other than work load!
Okay, so that is a tid bit. I guess more to come later. Need to get some rest for work tomorrow!
Canadian Vet Schools and The Application Process to the OVC
In Canada there are four vet schools (to the 28 in the USA!). However they are semi-segregated for the areas that they are in, giving applicants from that area a much higher priority over others. Not to say it is impossible, but definately not worth the time, money, and effort. So OVC is for Ontarians; this province has hands down the most people and cities so it is a highly competitive school and is one of the highest ranked in North America. There is one in the Atlantic provinces in PEI, one in the Western provinces in Alberta,and one bilingual one in Quebec. They all require completion of the MCAT (the GRE for American applicants), but the course requirements are different.
For the OVC they look at your last two semester averages, your MCAT score, and your 8 prerequisite courses. For more details visit Acceptable Undergrad Courses but essentially they include:
Biological Sciences - 1.5 credits (with recommended emphasis on animal biology; one course must be a cell biology)
Genetics - 0.5 credits
Biochemistry - 0.5 credits
Statistics - 0.5 credits (requires a Calculus prerequisite to take the Statistics course)
Humanities/Social Sciences - 1.0 credits
***Note: these prereqs are VERY different from every other vet school!!! Alberta AND Atlantic want Organic Chemistry and English!!! Make sure you organise your schedule accordingly or you might have to take extra semesters!
These marks are the first things that the acceptance committee looks at. From these the top 200 applicants are offered interviews. The interview process changed formats in 2010 to a Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format. I will explain this later but it is the greatest interview system ever!!! Your score from your interview, reference letters, and your Background Information Form (BIF) will all be taken into consideration to rank the top 100 students who are then accepted into the OVC! Okay so that is everything in a nut shell but lets break it down some more.
You must have an MCAT score by Jan 1st of your application year (ex. mine was due Jan 1st, 2011 for Sept. 5, 2011 start date, class of 2015) They stop offering MCAT sits in September so you need to get it done between May and Sept. The AAMC website will wxplain how to release your scores BUT YOU ALSO NEED TO PRINT OFF AND FAX YOUR SCORES TO THE REGISTRAR'S OFFICE BEFORE JAN 1ST AS WELL!!!! This is something they don't explain well on the website and can cost you the whole application. Your two previous semester averages get forwarded if you do your undergrad at Guelph, if not, I believe you have to send in an official transcript from your University (which can take up to a week and costs $10).
The BIF form is available in Jan/Feb of your application year and is due Mar 1st by 4 pm. Yes this means you don't have much time to fill it out ESPECIALLY if you are mailing it in. My suggestion; fill out the old one so you can organize what you want to say early and when the updated form comes out you can easily copy and paste. Another fun fact; you cannot save the new form so either don't close the form/computer or PRINT!!! They really don't mean to be difficult but all this is just a time waster that you don't need to deal with if you know about it. On the BIF form is space to fill in your personal info, prereq grades, vet experience, animal experience, and extra-curriculars. Take time to choose the order you put them in and what you want in the description. Make sure you show how awesome and diverse you are! On here is also the two essay questions. PLEASE START WRITING YOUR ESSAYS THE PREVIOUS OCTOBER!!! They take forever to write and you will probably do them multiple times. The two questions roughly worded as such: "Why do you want to be a vet?" and "What do you plan on contributing to the field of vet medicine?" Again a great place to show your uniqueness as well as have 200 words to prove to them you are ready to commit and worth being admitted. Have LOTS of people (not other applicants) look over it and take some of their comments into consideration (profs, neighbours, coaches, bosses, family, friends, etc.) but don't forget it has to be true to you, not someone else. Some of the pages need to be printed multiple times so pay attention and read every page carefully! ANY mistake will cause them to throw out your application (including spelling!).
References come from three people with at least two being practicing veterinarians. So maybe a vets you worked or volunteered for as your first two but take time to consider your third. If you have strong relationships with three seperate vets from three seperate clinics, then use them, but not everyone does. Consider a coach, faculty advisor of a project, program co-ordinator of a volunteer group, a professor, or a boss that you have a close personal connection too. You want people who know how hard working, respectable, and passionate you are; people that are willing to vouche for you and who truly believe you will be a great vet. I personaly used the program co-ordinator of my volunteer group Wild Ontario (educational birds of prey) because she knew that I always worked hard and cared deeply for the animals and our cause. The letters should be back in your hot little hands by end of Jan/early Feb so ask people in Nov/Dec. They need to be sealed with a signature and put into your application envelope.
In the first 7 semesters, focus on getting good grades and good experience. Grades are REALLY important so do everything you can to get as high as you can. Talk to profs as much as possible. They can give you advice and proof read projects/essays if you keep them in the loop (and don't procrastinate!!). They are great (and expensive) resources that also can provide moral support (and definately come in handy if you want to do a fourth year thesis project or a masters!).
Sorry international applicants, I really don't know much about your process but it is pretty much the same. It should be on the website or you can contact the OVC admissions representative via email. She is very helpful!
For the OVC they look at your last two semester averages, your MCAT score, and your 8 prerequisite courses. For more details visit Acceptable Undergrad Courses but essentially they include:
Biological Sciences - 1.5 credits (with recommended emphasis on animal biology; one course must be a cell biology)
Genetics - 0.5 credits
Biochemistry - 0.5 credits
Statistics - 0.5 credits (requires a Calculus prerequisite to take the Statistics course)
Humanities/Social Sciences - 1.0 credits
***Note: these prereqs are VERY different from every other vet school!!! Alberta AND Atlantic want Organic Chemistry and English!!! Make sure you organise your schedule accordingly or you might have to take extra semesters!
These marks are the first things that the acceptance committee looks at. From these the top 200 applicants are offered interviews. The interview process changed formats in 2010 to a Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format. I will explain this later but it is the greatest interview system ever!!! Your score from your interview, reference letters, and your Background Information Form (BIF) will all be taken into consideration to rank the top 100 students who are then accepted into the OVC! Okay so that is everything in a nut shell but lets break it down some more.
You must have an MCAT score by Jan 1st of your application year (ex. mine was due Jan 1st, 2011 for Sept. 5, 2011 start date, class of 2015) They stop offering MCAT sits in September so you need to get it done between May and Sept. The AAMC website will wxplain how to release your scores BUT YOU ALSO NEED TO PRINT OFF AND FAX YOUR SCORES TO THE REGISTRAR'S OFFICE BEFORE JAN 1ST AS WELL!!!! This is something they don't explain well on the website and can cost you the whole application. Your two previous semester averages get forwarded if you do your undergrad at Guelph, if not, I believe you have to send in an official transcript from your University (which can take up to a week and costs $10).
The BIF form is available in Jan/Feb of your application year and is due Mar 1st by 4 pm. Yes this means you don't have much time to fill it out ESPECIALLY if you are mailing it in. My suggestion; fill out the old one so you can organize what you want to say early and when the updated form comes out you can easily copy and paste. Another fun fact; you cannot save the new form so either don't close the form/computer or PRINT!!! They really don't mean to be difficult but all this is just a time waster that you don't need to deal with if you know about it. On the BIF form is space to fill in your personal info, prereq grades, vet experience, animal experience, and extra-curriculars. Take time to choose the order you put them in and what you want in the description. Make sure you show how awesome and diverse you are! On here is also the two essay questions. PLEASE START WRITING YOUR ESSAYS THE PREVIOUS OCTOBER!!! They take forever to write and you will probably do them multiple times. The two questions roughly worded as such: "Why do you want to be a vet?" and "What do you plan on contributing to the field of vet medicine?" Again a great place to show your uniqueness as well as have 200 words to prove to them you are ready to commit and worth being admitted. Have LOTS of people (not other applicants) look over it and take some of their comments into consideration (profs, neighbours, coaches, bosses, family, friends, etc.) but don't forget it has to be true to you, not someone else. Some of the pages need to be printed multiple times so pay attention and read every page carefully! ANY mistake will cause them to throw out your application (including spelling!).
References come from three people with at least two being practicing veterinarians. So maybe a vets you worked or volunteered for as your first two but take time to consider your third. If you have strong relationships with three seperate vets from three seperate clinics, then use them, but not everyone does. Consider a coach, faculty advisor of a project, program co-ordinator of a volunteer group, a professor, or a boss that you have a close personal connection too. You want people who know how hard working, respectable, and passionate you are; people that are willing to vouche for you and who truly believe you will be a great vet. I personaly used the program co-ordinator of my volunteer group Wild Ontario (educational birds of prey) because she knew that I always worked hard and cared deeply for the animals and our cause. The letters should be back in your hot little hands by end of Jan/early Feb so ask people in Nov/Dec. They need to be sealed with a signature and put into your application envelope.
In the first 7 semesters, focus on getting good grades and good experience. Grades are REALLY important so do everything you can to get as high as you can. Talk to profs as much as possible. They can give you advice and proof read projects/essays if you keep them in the loop (and don't procrastinate!!). They are great (and expensive) resources that also can provide moral support (and definately come in handy if you want to do a fourth year thesis project or a masters!).
Sorry international applicants, I really don't know much about your process but it is pretty much the same. It should be on the website or you can contact the OVC admissions representative via email. She is very helpful!
Sunday 7 August 2011
Be Prepared!!!!!!!
I have aquired most of the things on the "need to have for first year" list posted on the OVC librry, most of which I got through the veterinary supply company through work. Much cheaper then buy it from the university bookstore. So thermometer = check, pen light = check, medium latex gloves = check... I also picked out my lab coat size (M) and stethascope colour (Green) that are donated to the class from the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association (OVMA), the College of Veterinarians of Ontario (CVO) and the OVC Alumni Association. They get our names and class year engraved/embroidered on them which is very cool! Thank you! I am also starting to organize books and supplies, trying to be prepared for the up coming year.
All this organizing of school supplies is getting me so riled up! I am chomping at the bit to get started and be on my way to becoming a licensed DVM. I realize that the workload is ginormous and that my horrible procrastination will need to be dealt with however I would much rather struggle with vet medicine then another year of undergrad ANY DAY. Some of my friends in upper years are telling me to relax and enjoy what little summer I have left, but I am not happy at my job and I am living back at home for the summer so I am getting very tired of summer. Can't we just skip the rest of August?
All this organizing of school supplies is getting me so riled up! I am chomping at the bit to get started and be on my way to becoming a licensed DVM. I realize that the workload is ginormous and that my horrible procrastination will need to be dealt with however I would much rather struggle with vet medicine then another year of undergrad ANY DAY. Some of my friends in upper years are telling me to relax and enjoy what little summer I have left, but I am not happy at my job and I am living back at home for the summer so I am getting very tired of summer. Can't we just skip the rest of August?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)