Scrape, Tape & Smear!

It’s been a while since we last posted, and trust me, a lot has happened…

Uno – Neurology is finished.

Dos – Large Animal Anesthesia has come and gone! (My rotation mates took some fab photos and I will post some with their permission asap.)

Tres – Small Animal Dermatology is where I am currently at in my rotation schedule.

Cuatro – Alabama has suffered a tremendous amount of damage by the recent tornados. Our hearts are with the people and communities who have lost so much. We are so blessed that Auburn and our homes were spared!

Cinco – de Mayo! I couldn’t resist. Kristin & I celebrated a day late on the 6^th with husbands, friends, cheap Mexican food and margaritas, Ole!

(…And meanwhile, back at the Large Animal Clinic and deep in the throes of lameness, colic, and septic foals, Kristin is battling her way through the Equine Clinics block = 3 rotations = 6 weeks! She has some excellent stories to tell and a wonderful new side-kick to boot.)

Large Animal Anesthesia:

Very exciting when something goes to surgery. There is a lot to do in a short period of time, but it’s all routine and gets easier the more you do it. Memorize those triple drips, do the assigned readings, and listen up during topic rounds/class discussions. There is a test at the end of the rotation, so pay attention! Glen and Miss Stephanie are wonderful and definitely know their stuff, so learn from them. Also, be prepared to be on-call for emergency surgeries 7 out of the 14 nights you have on this rotation.  Always have 1-2 pairs of clean scrubs on hand for surgeries, a stethoscope, a pen, a calculator and a watch. (Or if you're that super cool, you might have a calculator that IS a watch...)

Small Animal Dermatology:

Whoa. This rotation has been the fantastic break that everyone has cracked it up to be! The hours are great, our technician Missy does so MUCH to help us out, there are no emergency/after-hours responsibilities, and we get to do fun things like cytologies and IDATs! Brush up on your differentials, vocab, and common treatments and you’ll be golden. Missy puts a letter in your mailbox the week before you start with a lot of this info – don’t be like me and find out about it on the first day of the rotation! J

Up Next:

Small Animal Internal Medicine. And all the SOAPing I’ll ever need in a lifetime – or so I hear. If you need me you can probably find me in a copy of Ettinger – somewhere in the index between the letters F, M, & L.

War Eagle,

Jess