Under The Sea

I had an amazing time on our dive on Friday afternoon.  We went to two dive sites and ended up seeing a 8 foot nurse shark, several Tarpin, spotted rays, two turtles, lion fish, star coral, tons of Dori fish!, and other types of fish and coral.  One of my friends videoed part of our adventures, check it out here. 

Me!

 Lots of bubbles!

Bringing VT under the sea

All of us swimming

 

Lots of fish

 

Lion fish

Turtle

 8 foot Nurse shark

 

Another pic of the shark hiding

I hung out at Shipwreck on Sunday to get some sun and beach time in before finals.

On Monday, I helped mediate the birds in the aviary because one of the birds died of a respiratory infection.  They aren't sure what caused the respiratory infection, but a possible pathogen could be Chlamydia psittaci which has zoonotic potential.  The necropsy on the birds was inconclusive, so until they get the results of the tests, precautionary measures have to be taken.  We have to wear gloves and respirators, and medicate all the birds.  We should know the results in about two weeks, so hopefully it's nothing.
FACT OF THE DAY: Estrogen deficiency affects bone with IL-6 and IL-11 by decreasing bone mass.  This is why osteoporosis starts after women hit menopause. (Pathology)

There was a free dinner webnair on Tuesday for VPI insurance that I went to and I picked up another cute little kitten for PAWS!
FACT OF THE DAY: Neorickettsia (Ehrilichia) risticii causes an acute diarrheic illness of equids.  It's an agent of Potomac horse fever which as the name says, can be found mostly along the Potomac River. (Bacteriology)

Wednesday was a hard day because I found out more of my friends are transferring.  It just makes me homesick and I have 3 more weeks until home!  However, my day did get better with a night dive!  I was very excited, but very nervous as well!  I mean we were about to go 50 feet under the water in pitch black with only flashlights and our gear! We had glowsticks that we put on a certain place so we would know who our buddy was, so we wouldn't lose them.  It was so amazing though and I cannot wait to do another one!  We saw so many things including about 8 turtles (some were huge and came right up to us!), several octopus, crabs, lobsters, blowfish (one was giant!), star coral, fire coral, as well as several different types of coral and fish.  There was also an underwater volcanic rock that we rocked.  At one point we all kneeled in a circle, turned off our flashlights and waved our hands around.  This enabled all of the plankton that was swimming around us to light up!  It was so cool!  I wish we could have gotten some pictures of our whole experience, but I don't know how they would have turned out.
FACT OF THE DAY:  There is about 15 ways to fracture a bone based on location and distribution (transverse, oblique, spiral, chip, slab, saucer, avulsion, simple, comminuted, displaced, multiple, green stick, stress, Salter-Harris fractures, closed, and open).  (Pathology)

Thursday was a pretty lazy day, since my ears were still bothering me from the dive, but I did get a lot of studying in that night.
FACT OF THE DAY:  There is such a thing as homosexual animals.  (Bacteriology).

Friday is volleyball and relaxation time!
FACT OF THE DAY:  The proper wording for a "heart attack" in an animal is cardiopulmonary failure. (Virology)

This weekend will probably just be spent studying for finals....yay fun...not

One month to go

We had a very successful adoption day with three dogs and three cats adopted!  I just hope we can keep that streak up next semester!  On Saturday night, a group of us went to see Despicable Me 2.

I registered for 4th semester on Monday!  So exciting!
FACT OF THE DAY: The most common cause of inappropriate urinating/defecating in cats is the dirty liter box and not because they are "mad at you". (Animal Behavior)

There was a talk at lunch about how to become a board certified surgeon.  I'm not really interested in being a surgeon, but I'm in the surgery club and there was free food.  What they served

FACT OF THE DAY: Foxes, coyotes, jackals, wolves, and certain rodents are the most suceptible animals to Rabies.  Dogs, sheep, goats, horses, and nonhuman primates are moderately susceptible.  Birds are not susceptibility due to their high body temperature. (Virology)

Wednesday was a busy day that started off with monsters invading the RUSVM Student Union! In support of the Josh project, blue semester (4th semester) won and had the teachers dressed as members of the Monster Mash crew. Mad Scientist, Bride of Frankenstein, Frankenstein, Wolfman, and the Mummy.  In the picture below from left to right is Dr. Reich (my old physio teacher), Dr. Castillo, Dr. Lizzagiana (my current pharm teacher), Dr. Soto (my current bact teacher), and blue semester class rep Andrew in place of Dr. Verma.   Here's a video.

At lunch there was a avian talk from Dr. Thomas Tully from LSU where pizza was provided and he did another talk at 5pm about exotic case presentations where dinner was provided.  It was then back to studying!!
FACT OF THE DAY: The campus cats are getting braver by the day and enjoy playing with backpacks, stealing your food, and trying to catch fish in the indoor aquarium.

 

 

 

I had my Bact exam on Thursday and another avian talk at lunch.  I'm glad that was the last midterm of the semester because I'm feeling burnt out and I still have finals to study for.....:sigh:
 FACT OF THE DAY:  Picornaviridae is the virus that causes Foot and Mouth Disease, which actually has a very low (less than 5%) mortality.  It's a big deal because it causes such a large economic impact. (Virology)

TGIF!  I'm celebrating a friend's birthday by going on an afternoon dive with her, but I will probably be missing volleyball. 
FACT OF THE DAY: Puppies and German Shepherds are more susceptible to Ehrilichia canis. (Bacteriology)

This weekend will be spent  preparing for finals and relaxing at Palm Gardens pool all day Saturday.

Protests, Murders, Storms, Earthquakes, and Exams...oh my!

Over the weekend we got an email from the school telling us that due to the increasing political rallies that have been going on we need to stay in for the next 12 hours; we found out a man was stabbed at one of the bars we usually hang out at; a tropical storm might be headed our way.....oh the fun of St Kitts....
SK News

Oh wait and don't forget about the earthquake we had on Monday morning.  We had our second Path exam which was ridiculously tricky.
FACT OF THE DAY:  In order to do a Rabies test, you want to take a sample from pons and medulla of the brain.  (Pathology)

Tuesday was a gorgeous day full of nothing but studying!  However, the storm did hit us around 3pm and lasted a whole 20mins.  I think we will be hit with on and off rain and high winds.
FACT OF THE DAY:  Edrophonium is used for the diagnosis (not treatment) between Myasthenia Gravis and cholingeric crisis in dogs and cats.  When you give Neostigmine, then Edrophonium and you have a increased muscle paralysis/weakness, then you have Myasthenia Gravis.  If you have a decreased muscle paralysis/weakness, then you have a cholingeric crisis. This is considered a tensile test.  (Pharmacology)

Wednesday was our Pharm exam, which hopefully went well. I took a break from studying the rest of the day and went to dinner at Spratnet's with some friends.
 FACT OF THE DAY: Lyme Borreliosis, caused by the Borrelia bacteria, begins in a skin lesion and spreads by erythema migrans, which basically just looks like a rash.  Ringworm would be a good differential diagnosis.  (Bacteriology)  However, according to our teacher "Strangles rhymes with glanders"

On Thursday, we had an intro to suture in clinical skills! You really don't realize how much technique is involved until you actually start doing it. We started to feel like doctors because we are finally doing something that we will be using later on! 
 FACT OF THE DAY:  Kennel cough can be caused by Canine Parainfluenza Virus 2, Bordetella bronchiseptica, and Mycoplasma cynos. (Virology)

We had our path review on Friday as well as path class at 1pm  (we usually have it at 11am).  Then I had volleyball at 5pm.
 FACT OF THE DAY: A bull (male cow) is considered "old" at 5 years old.  (Bacteriology)

This weekend in PAWS' last adoption day, and we have been doing really well with cats, so hopefully we can get some adopted!  I will also be studying for my upcoming Bact exam on Thursday.

Vet quote
Stuff Vet Students Say

6 weeks left

This past weekend my semester had beer Olympics in order to get to know some more people in our semester.

I went to a bonfire on Banana Bay on Saturday night; unfortunately the next day, my lungs weren't too happy with me and I've been coughing since.

I can't believe it's July....the days take forever here, but the weeks go by so fast (if that makes any sense).  We have already past the middle of the semester point and there is still so much to do before the end!  It's definitely going to be a busy next couple of weeks.  Also, in order to make this month more exciting, I am going to include an interesting fact that I learned that day.  This way you can learn something with me and see that I am actually "studying like hell in paradise."  It will be related mostly to school, but if I find something interesting about the island or science in general, I will probably include it.  The weekend's facts will be on the following post.

So, I had aviary manger "training" on Monday.  Basically we just went to hear the talk that the current manager does so we can be ready to give the talk next semester. 
FACT OF THE DAY: Feline herpesvirus 1 causes abortions, even though the virus does not get into the bloodstream (viremia).  It is thought to be due to the effects of the respiratory disease (which Feline herpesvirus 1 causes) rather than direct effect of the virus on the fetus. (Virology)

On Tuesday, I wasn't coughing as much, but I was congested, which isn't good because being congested makes me tired and I have too much that needs to be done to be tired!  We had double pharm today.  This week is full of pharm lectures since we didn't have any last week.  Up to this point we have had only a lecture and a half worth of material for next week's exam.  All of the material for the exam is presented this week...talk about cramming...
FACT OF THE DAY:  Nude Mice don't have "normal" T cells, so we can do experiements by putting human tumors in them because they won't develop an immune response.(Pathology)

Wednesday = FOUR hours of pharm = exhaustion.  We did get our exam and class schedule for next semester though, so that's motivation for studying.
FACT OF THE DAY: Phenylpropanolamine (aka Proin - which we used in practice) acts by enhancing the urethra closure by activating Alpha1 receptors and/or releasing nonrepinephrine in the bladder neck and urethra in order to help treat urinary incontinence, which is common in spayed female dogs. (Pharmacology)

Happy 4th of July!  I wish I could be at home on the lake with my family, but a cookout at a friend's place and some neighbor's fireworks will have to do!
FACT OF THE DAY: Porcine Parvovirus (PPV) is a major cause of SMEDI (stillbirth, mummification, embryonic death, and infertility. (Virology)

On Friday, I'm taking a small break to play volleyball, but then it's back to the books!
FACT OF THE DAY: An overgrowth of granulation tissue is called "Proud Flesh" and it's commonly seen in the distal (lower) limbs of horses. (Pathology)

This is yet another weekend of doing nothing but studying for Path on Monday and Pharm on Wednesday!