Let us Ambulate.

Ambulatory is amazing. It makes me fall in love with veterinary medicine all over again.

The ambulatory rotation consists of 5 students, one clinician, and in our case, one resident, who all pile into one extended cab truck for 10 fun-filled days on the road. The service is responsible for pre-made appointments, from lameness evaluations and joint injections, to stallion castrations and routine herd healthcare. Ambulatory is also responsible for any afterhours emergency farm calls within 35 miles of the veterinary school. Each weekday, the students on the rotation are responsible for one primary job. The positions include Primary Care (doctor), Recorder (responsible for medical records), Pharmacy (responsible for any meds used), Equipment (head technician), and Orderly (low man on the totem pole/ general "go-fer"). Each student is also responsible for being "on-call" for after-hours emergencies on weekday nights and weekends. All in all, I think everyone will have had either 8 or 9 on-call shifts throughout the entire two week rotation.

We had some wonderful experiences with our cases, met some incredible clients, and were pretty much spoiled by our clinicians and residents (thanks for all the late mornings, brownies and long lunches!).

We saw life, death, lameness and soundness. There were horses, cattle, goats, farm dogs, barn cats, donkeys, miniatures of all sorts (including Zebus!), and even a Tarpan. Bonus points if you can tell me what that is.

There are too many stories to tell all in one sitting, from funny to fabulous, sweet to scary. So, instead, I’ve decided to share with y'all a few pearls of wisdom gained during our many road trips through rural Lee (and surrounding) County, as well as some pics I snapped along the way. *All patient photos were taken and posted with the permission of the clients. J

 Chinese Firedrills may be required at 8 am. Practice these as necessary.

 Emasculators: Always position them nut-to-nut.

Good fences make great neighbors…and keep your dog at your own house!

 Pedestals are for falling off of.

 

On dealing with crazy first-calf-heifers: Drop the lead rope, turn into a ball, and when possible, do a sweet cartwheel-vaulting-combo over the fence.

Everyone should experience a double cheeseburger from the gas station X-press Café on Shelton Mill Rd & Hwy 280.

 Everyone should also experience the fried food extravaganza that is Ezell’s Catfish Cabin on S. College St.

 And in keeping with “greasy-food-on-the-go” theme…

Life is a party! And then you throw up.

One more day of fresh air (and then a weekend of emergency backup duty) before I head into the small animal hospital for Neurology. It's a good thing I'm taking Ambulatory twice - I'm definitely going to miss this.

War Eagle,

Jess



Diagnostic Pathology -- what a lovely way to start!

While poor Jess was thrown into a UVIS (Auburn's dreaded computer system) and Critical Care (stressful rotation) at the same time, I was easing into clinics with a mostly lecture-based rotation. But no worries - unlike most of our classes, these lectures are extremely interactive. In fact, even if you get the answer wrong sometimes, the professors appreciate participation and avoiding those long periods of silence. They just want you to try! 

Diagnostic Path begins at 8am each morning in either Clin Path (near ICU) or in the Bacteriology Lab in Greene Hall. Depending on who you have as your Clin Path instructor, you may be told on the first day to be comfortable and wear jeans everyday. Some of us came in jeans every day, and no one cared. So, you will have about 3 hours of Clin Path cases, microscope time, and bloodwork analysis every morning, followed by an hour of Microbiology. And trust me, Dr. Hathcock is a genius of Micro - she will quickly figure out how much you know and teach right above that level. She asked questions on how to treat various bacterial and fungal infections. Basically, start with Clavamox every time.

In the afternoons, you have necropsy. Four out of the ten days, you will have a quiz and meet in upstairs Greene (down the plant hallway-bridge and to your right). If there are no necropsies that day, you still have to stay on campus until three... We just sun-bathed on the front stairs of Greene for an hour and a half if we had nothing... :) If you do have a necropsy, get your clothes (cover-alls, socks, shirt, shorts) from Greene Annex, pile in a car, and go to State Dx Lab. Be sure to write your necropsy report as soon as your finished. They will tell you that the reports aren't due until the next afternoon, but it only takes a few minutes if all of you work as a team to type it in Histo Lab.

Half of the rotation group will be "on-call" for each weekend, which means you ask the clinician on duty what they prefer... Weisman asked us to meet at 8am on Sat/Sun, and if there were no necropsies, we went home. Sartin does the same, but you meet at 7am instead.

What you need:
Clin Path book (talk to classmates about who will bring this - you don't need 7 copies daily)
Large notepad (great review for Boards, so you will want to take notes)
Pens
Snacks/drinks (you get a 10-min break every hour in Clin Path, and they are fine with eating in that room)
Sunscreen ;)
Necropsy provides all clothes you will need

I think that was it. Fantastic time. Great review. No UVIS. Four quizzes that are mostly short-answer, but all Sartin expects is for you to write something. No way to predict what she'll ask (i.e., the quiz subject may say "hemolymphatic," but the quiz questions may be about musculoskeletal). Not a big deal though. :)

Next --> Internal Medicine!
Kristin

VEGAS! Venetian. Jess almost went with me, so I will include occasional pictures of my trip just for her... ;)

Good Things to Know BEFORE Day 1

The orange screen – If you need to use the internet in any of the hospital computers, double click the big “Log-Off” button on the desktop. Sign back in under your personal id and password. It takes forever, but eventually you’ll be brought back to the main desk top, only this time with an orange background. You can now surf the web, but keep it clean. They’re watching you. If you leave it inactive for 10 minutes it will log you off automatically and you’ll lose whatever you were doing. Always log out or some lucky person will be able to print documents on your dime.

QATS – Pronounced like “quats.” I didn’t know what the heck it was on day one, but if I’d paid more attention during one of our critical care lectures prior to clinics I would have. QATS = Quantitative Assessment TestS. Why they don’t put the U in there to make it spell the way it’s said, I don’t know. QATS include: PCV, TS, Lactate, and Blood Glucose. You can typically run QATS on a small amount of blood – 0.5 to 1.0 ml is more than enough to run these (and you should have some left over in case something gets messed up).

Getting in the building – Make sure your key cards work in the appropriate doors before you need them to. Running around the entire complex of the Small Animal Hospital, Greene Hall, and Overton construction at 5 am really sucks. If your card does not work, see the lovely ladies in the Dean’s office in Greene Hall.

Stickers – If you’re the primary student on a case, put a sticker from their folder in your handy-dandy notebook. If you’re like me, you find it hard to remember number sequences. The sticker has the case number, animal’s name, and client info (like phone numbers) all nice, neat and ready to use when you’re on the go.

Technicians – These folks are AMAZING. Be nice to them and don’t be afraid to ask them for help, or to show you how to do something. Be mindful, though, if they are already busy with something else. Also, help them out if they need a hand with something and you’re free at the moment. It’s all about the team work.

Doctors – Ask your clinician how they expect you to write your medical record. Many have different preferences and knowing what they are looking for can save you a lot of time.

Friends - Be sweet to each other. At some point, we’ll all be in a bind. Luckily for me, I have one of the greatest friends around who was sweet enough to let my dogs out when I was stuck at the hospital for more than 12 hours at a time, AND leave banana bread in my mailbox when I had no time to grab food. Thanks, Kristin!!! J

Common sense – If you break something, tell someone and see if they can help you fix it. If you spill something or make a mess, clean it up. If you aren’t sure about something, ask! Don’t borrow things without asking, and don’t take things that don’t belong to you.

Things to have on hand (for any rotation) – Stethoscope, pens, highlighter, pen light, bandage scissors, hemostats, sticky notes, your handy-dandy notebook, and flash-drive. Make sure you know your VIN account info in case you need to look something up. Having a copy of Plumb’s hanging around is useful, too.

Clinician questions – If a clinician tries to quiz you about something and you don’t know the answer, look it up. Then be sure to grab that clinician as soon as (s)he is free to go over this info, that way (s)he knows that you actually followed through with it. They will NOT seek you out for the answers (they already know them), but not bringing it up with them can be reflected in your grade.

Clay paws – If your patient passes away, you can make a baked clay paw print for it’s family. Not everyone is comfortable with this, so use your best judgment. Just ask someone in ICU or Tumor’s Corner where the materials are and how to make one if it is ever needed.

Pet food – As a 4^th year student, you get a free bag of food from Hill’s once a month. Don’t everyone go at once and wipe the store out, please.

Drug Dosages – Work on learning these prior to clinics if you can. You’ll be a rock-star from day one. (Unfortunately, I did NOT do this.)

These are some of the big things I gleaned from my first rotation; I hope some of you find them useful!

I'm loving my current rotation so far. We're outside most of the day and I actually got a little sunburned yesterday. Now I’m off for a big day of being the “orderly” on the ambulatory truck. Watch out, Lee County.

War Eagle,

Jess

Clay Paws

And….fail. So, apparently it is a lot harder to update on certain rotations than others!

Surprisingly, I thoroughly enjoyed small animal critical care. I’d honestly been dreading the rotation as it’s known for long hours, stressful situations, and the inevitable for some of these little creatures – death. What I found instead was long hours, stressful situations, death, AND life, compassion, dedication, and some amazing rotation-mates, technicians, and doctors who made the mental, physical, and emotional demands easier to handle.

Critical care is a lot of statistics and luck – some of my rotation-mates had several patients go home happy and healthy. Others discharged patients to go home and spend their final days with their families. Unfortunately, I was one of those students who (through no fault of her own) was not able to send very many live patients home with their families. It was easier in some cases - where euthanasia was elected in the best interest of the animal, and much harder in others - when the loss of a patient was out of our control.

I certainly did a lot of praying for the people affected by the conditions and/or losses of their dear pets.

I’m running out of time at the moment, but I promise I’ll post another, more up-beat article soon – with little pointers on surviving clinics for the underclassmen who might be reading this.

Off to ambulatory!

War Eagle,

Jess

Kristin's attempt at a succinct introduction

Hello, and WELCOME!

If you’re not already tired of reading our initial, still-excited-about-having-a-blog, first day of posts, then I will share with you a little bit of my history.

*Married to a witty law school student (who is number 3 in his class!!) named Brad.

*Have a 12-year old Parson Russell Terrier named “Napoleon” who has gone from the showring in his younger years to napping/hiding toys now.

*Have (i.e., pay for) a 23-year old chestnut TB/QH named “Fundy” who has gone from H/J and show-jumper to pasture ornament.

*How I came to vet school in Alabama:

Grew up in GA/FL/AL à Auburn for undergrad à Auburn for vet school

It was AU that changed my life. While majoring in Microbiology/Pre-Vet, I met Brad during his first senior year, and he proposed a year and a half later while we were riding horses on the beaches of Costa Rica (I LOVE telling that part!). We got married a year after vet school began, so Jess and I got to know each other very well due to wedding planning comparisons.

*How I met my co-blogger:

Jess and I met the first day of orientation when I asked about her engagement ring and wedding plans, and by chance, we both liked to sit 3^rd row and center on the first day of class. It was during our first week that our city was under a tornado watch, so those who prefer to live in a mobile manner were asked to go to a classmate’s stationary dwelling for safety. Jess came over and boom – instant friends. J

*I will go ahead and admit it early – I’m not someone who keeps a diary, logs onto facebook daily, or even sits down to read a book if I have an hour for ‘leisure time’… so, my posts will most likely be few, and those I post will be short. My goal with this blog is to give you guys an idea of what we get to see and do every day, so due to confidentiality laws, please contact me if you want to read about specific cases. Sorry that we can’t post them on a public forum like this one.

*To family and a few friends: thank you. You know how much I appreciate the encouragement and meals that it took to get to this point. Love you all.

Enjoy our blog, and War Eagle!

Kristin

Jess - The First of Many (Hopefully...)

Jess here!

Thanks again for taking the time to read our thoughts and catch up with what’s going on in our lives. If you can’t already tell, we’re super excited to be starting clinics. To all my friends and family reading, Love you! (This next part will be a little boring though…) And to those who may not know me very well, here’s a brief history:

·         25 year old, intact female, Caucasian/brunette – previously blonde.

·         Hx of residence in Panama, New Jersey, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Georgia, and Alabama. Suspected dermal allergies associated with moving.

·         Current diet of coffee, candy, cookies, meat, cheese, almonds, Cracklin’ Oat Bran, Chick-fil-A, and variety of fruits & vegetables. But mostly cookies.  Recommend counseling on appropriate nutritional management for current life stage.

·         Regular exercise including running and mild weight lifting, currently to the musical stylings of one Justin Bieber.  

·         Pt is UTD on rabies and tetanus vaccinations as of 2/17/2011.

·         Currently shares home with husband, a 29 year old, intact male, Caucasian/brunette/ginger-beard.  Husband works in Atlanta as a project manager for a roofing company and is an avid hunter of any and all wild & winged creatures.

·         Other residents of Pt’s home include:

-   5 year old, spayed female, HuskyXBorder Collie – “Coach Suggs”

-   4 year old, intact male, Labrador Retriever – “The Deacon”

-   10 month old, castrated male, terrier mix – “Patrick Swayze”

-   3 year old, spayed female, DSH – “Ninny”

-   3 year old, castrated male, DSH – “Muggins”

So…how on earth did I end up here in Alabama, legally rolling trees, inappropriately conjoining pronouns and studying dirty things, like the various qualities of dog poop and how to palpate the reproductive tract of a cow?

Well, once upon a time, in a frozen land called “New Hampshire,” I participated in animal sciences at my high school. This was much to the dismay of my guidance counselor, who thought I’d be better served by AP US History during my last block of the day instead of Animal Production. Boy, was he wrong. And not to sound ungrateful, but I’m glad that I didn’t listen to his guidance or his counseling. Granted, he was correct in that I would not get into my first choice college. (Touché, Mr. Seraichick.) But in retrospect, if I had been accepted, I would have never moved to the southeast, studied in Atlanta where I met the love of my life, or discovered my calling for veterinary medicine and Auburn University. God works in mysterious and wonderful ways.

During my stint in Atlanta I was a premed student by day and a waitress by night. It was by the end of my third year that I realized I didn’t want to lay a finger on any human body part, much less in one.  I was, however, much more comfortable with the idea of going shoulder deep into the rectum of a cow. And it was at that moment that a pre-vet student was born.

My husband and I met through mutual friends (insert shout out to Wilkes and Whitney here à Woot woot!) and we started dating during my last year in the city. Despite the distance, we stayed together when I moved to my parents’ country home in Alabama post-graduation. I took the year off of school to get my veterinary work experience together and begin the application process. I applied to only one program– Auburn University’s. I was certain I wouldn’t get in the first time around and didn’t want to waste a bunch of money on applications to other schools. In the mean time I worked at a local mixed-animal practice for about nine months. In April of 2008 I got my acceptance letter in the mail, and a week later, Mike proposed!

Mike & I have been married almost 2 years now, and he is very understanding about the time and money that my schooling currently demands. He usually spends his weekends here with me on campus and his weekday nights closer to his job in Atlanta. Unless he’s on vacation slaying birds – in which case you might find him in the swamplands, rice fields and marshes of Arkansas, Missouri, Alabama, and Georgia, among other places.

My ultimate goal is to work in a rural mixed-animal practice, meaning I’d like to work with both large animals and small animals somewhere out in the country. For those of you not familiar with these specifications: large animals are your basic large domestic species that include animals like horses, cattle, swine, and small ruminants (goats & sheep). Small animals are your typical domestic house pets, like dogs, cats, rabbits, etc. I love the variety that mixed practice has to offer and can’t wait until I’m working in a job where I can see and learn something new every day! I’ve toyed with the notion of pursuing a residency and certification in theriogenology (mammalian reproduction), but for now I think private practice is where I’ll end up in a year or so. Not exactly sure where yet, as far as location is concerned, but certainly somewhere rural enough to support a healthy large animal case load.

Now, armed with my new white coat and a sweet Littmann stethoscope, my first rotation in the clinic is Small Animal Critical Care – nothing like throwing the baby in the water to sink or swim, right? Here’s to the doggy-paddle. Wish me luck!

War Eagle!

Jess

Welcome!

Hi, everyone, and welcome to our humble little blog! We decided to throw this little corner of cyberspace together for a few reasons, but our main goal for these posts is to keep our friends and family up to date with what we’re doing during our last year in veterinary school. As third year students in our school’s program, we’re about to be thrust from the warm womb of our cushioned classroom chairs (where we’ve pretty much sat Monday through Friday, 8 to 4-ish, since August 2008) into the chaos that is “clinics.”

Another reason for this blog is to let some of our underclassmen peers get a feel for what we’re going through, and what they can expect in their years to come on the clinic floor. Also, for those out there who may be interested in veterinary medicine or applying to veterinary school, we hope that this will shed some light on this amazing profession that we are both truly blessed to be a part of!

To say the least, we’re very excited to be starting our clinical instruction – ready to finally get our hands on some real patients and use the knowledge that’s been poured into us over the last three years. Our current understanding of how the next year will proceed is this:

We’ll both be required to complete 25 two-week rotations from March to March. Each rotation will have around 3 other students (give or take a couple), who will all work together sharing the duties of that particular area of the hospital. Both of our schedules contain a certain number of core rotations, as well as some elective rotations in our specific areas of interest. This is one reason why we’ve decided to write this blog as a team. While we’re required to learn the principles of both large and small animal medicine at the vet school, Kristin’s electives will reflect her goals of working in the field of small animal medicine & surgery (with dogs, cats and maybe some exotics), while Jess’s will show her goals of going into rural mixed-animal practice (with both large and small animals).

Each student also has two weeks of vacation and the opportunity to take a two-week externship to another clinic or veterinary school. For example, Kristin is taking an externship at a specialty referral hospital [in NYC], in which she’ll be observing/participating in small animal orthopedic surgery. Jess will be taking an externship at a dairy practice [in CA] where she’ll accompany veterinarians in the field performing dairy herd checks and farm calls.

Along with our clinical rotations, we were both hired as student residents here at the teaching hospital. Kristin will be responsible for taking calls and managing emergency patients after-hours at the small animal emergency care service, while Jess will be doing the same for patients at the large animal clinic. This is a unique student opportunity at our veterinary school and will provide us with invaluable life experience when it comes to managing and triaging emergency cases in the future.

After the completion of our 25 clinical rotations, we’ll be required to participate in an 8 week preceptorship. Basically, we’ll be working at a clinic for two months under the mentorship of other licensed veterinarians and gaining clinical experience outside of the teaching hospital environment. Neither of us has decided where we’ll be doing our preceptorship yet, but we’ll keep you informed when we finally figure it out.

One final thought to leave you all with on this first posting – we could not be here today without the grace of God, the love and support of our families and friends, or the education & opportunities that Auburn has bestowed upon us. For all this, we are so thankful! We hope that you enjoy reading our posts – we’ll do our best to update as often as we can! Feel free to drop us a line or ask any questions, we’d love to hear from you.

With love (and a tremendous amount of excitement about this next year),

K&J