3 weeks down, forever to go…..

So that first week – the one where they let us play with horses and cows while lulling us into a false sense of security – ended. And then the other shoe fell.

Physiology? Light-speed. Radiology? Light-speed. Anatomy? Faster-than-light. Everyone gives you the “drinking from the fire hose” analogy, but I guess you don’t really understand until you’re trying to take sips and the water keeps banging your head against the wall behind you. It’s like we were test driving a Porsche around the parking lot for the first week, and then suddenly jumped to a no-speed-limit highway.

I had a couple (dim) light bulb moments last week. The first was “Oh my, I’m 3/16ths of the way through my first semester of vet school, and I’m pretty sure I don’t actually know anything yet except how to tie a few knots.” That wasn’t a glorious-feeling moment. The second was “I can barely remember what classes I’m already taking, and a few of them haven’t even started yet.” (That would be 4 of them, to be exact. I counted, later.) To give you a bit of an idea; we have four quizzes in our first-semester radiology class, plus a final. They’re pretty flexible – you have about a week to take them once they’re available and you can do it on your computer whenever you want – but the first one opens this Wednesday. We’ve had, I think, two radiology lectures so far. We have two more before Wednesday, but it’s basically four classes and then a test. Radiology is easily the class I look forward to the most, just because I think non-invasive imaging in general is a really awesome technology and it excites me. But it feels frightening to be taking a test after only a couple classes.

So vet school is a bit like frenetically treading water in the middle of some rushing rapids. You stay afloat, the river takes you basically where you need to go, and you just do your best to avoid drowning and getting smashed against the rocks.

As stinky as anatomy lab is, you get used to it, and it’s awfully cool to be able to take apart a dog and cat and see exactly how it all works. My appreciation for what’s going on underneath the skin has leapt forward. One of my (living) dogs doesn’t particularly like it so much because she’s tired of me trying to separate out the muscles in her limbs, but … you know … she gets a free massage out of the deal. I don’t know where the university gets their carcasses, but part of me wishes I could thank the former owners for donating them; it’s an invaluable experience. In our program we share one carcass per three people, and each group of three people is grouped into a row of two other groups of three. Each row has three animals, a male dog, female dog, and cat. Every week you switch tables within your row, so each group works on each animal as we progress through the carcasses. In an ideal world, I’d have an animal all to myself – I’ve found I learn really well on the days I dissect and not so well on the days my partners do – but there’s just not enough room for that.

Physiological chemistry – biochemistry – is baffling. The lectures seem a bit like a Jackson Pollock art: all complex, confusing, colors and lines and shapes with some supposed connection. But it’s far more than anyone could realistically memorize, and it’s not clear how deep to go with the material. So that one’s a bit of a puzzler. It’s a bit disappointing, because it’s actually really interesting material, but you’re left with the conclusion that you just have to skim off the top layer, grasp the basic concepts, and keep moving.

We’re also working through Histology, Animal Populations, Clinical Skills (final exam is Wednesday for the lecture and next Monday for the practical portion!), Foundations of Interprofessional Communication and Collaboration (where we go meet with dental, human medical, nursing, and other programs in some sort of effort to promote interprofessional efforts), Professional Development, a few classes I’ve forgotten, and then – oh yeah – those four that haven’t started.

Phew. Back to studying. I’ve got anatomy to learn.

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