Hi Everyone!
It’s been a wild and busy few month for myself and my fellow 4th years at the Dick Vet, finishing up our exotics and farm animal online lectures/ practicals, studying for written and practical exams, and also trying to balance our lives outside of vet school!
This week was particularly special, as it marked our last week of lectures and practicals before final year rotations. Here is a little summary of this past mixed and memorable week:
– We started off the week with guest lecturers who taught us the legislations relating to animal welfare and the importance of animal welfare in practice.
– We had our final equine practical on orthopedics, where we got to practice a variety of clinical skills, including correctly placing a radiograph to examine a horse’s limbs, analyzing common conditions affecting horse limbs and feet on radiograph images, assessing lameness on a trotting live horse, and palpating limbs on a live horse as part of a lameness exam.
– We also had some virtual clinical case lectures with our exotics’ professors, where we went over cases seen in in birds, reptiles and small mammals in practice.
– This week, I’ve also prepared for our exotics and farm animal OSPRE practical exams from home, with the help of my plushy bunny and some creative thinking (ie. using pillows and a blanket to mimic a sheep!)
– Finally, we had our last on-campus practical day on basic life support (BSL) and completed an assessment for our Basic BSL certification. This day was particularly special as during a normal year (ie. pre-Covid) , the last day on campus for 4th year students is an “animal onesie” day, where students and professors dress up in animal outfits to celebrate the final lectures before final year. As we don’t have live classes this year, and we cannot congregate with our whole year, my practical group decided to keep this tradition alive and wear our onesies for our last practical on campus. I was dressed in my monkey outfit (see image), and despite how warm I was, I was still able to learn and successfully complete my BSL certification. Have you ever seen a monkey doing CPR on a dog mannequin? I certainly have not, and this was a first for me!
I cannot believe how fast time has passed! As I look back on my vet school experience so far, I can really see myself today as a different person to who I was when I began my veterinary journey. I have grown and learnt so much over the past years, in the veterinary medical field of course, but also about my own strengths and talents that I didn’t know I had.
As a final note to all my fellow Dick Vet 4th years: Congrats on making it this far, we are one step closer to final year and becoming the doctors we’ve always dreamed of!!
– Alex
