SOAP

The excitement from last week involving a student in my semester:  In The News: Ross Student Shot At By Officer

I briefly stopped by Mr Ross this past weekend to support my class and friends (Bryan you were amazing); we ended up placing 3rd! However it simply wasn't the same without my pinks there.  Miss you guys!

 

 

 

The 6th semesters put all of the 7th's names on a heart around our seating section. Dr. Shearer is looking pretty fantastic to me!

This time of the year's weather has always been my favorite and this semester is no exception.  It's been pouring rain on and off everyday so it cools everything off.  It feels absolutely magnificent outside.
The rainy Monday started off some actual clinical work with my Clinical Pathology rotation.  I definitely needed to review how to interrupt bloodwork since it has been a few semesters.  Even though our presentation isn't for a few more week, my grand round's group met with one of our professors. Our topic is avian fluid therapy, which is a fairly broad topic, so we asked her to help us find a fun case to on raptors and rehabilitation to liven up the category. Of course I'm thrilled since that's my area of interest!

We dove into some bovine palpation for Theriogenology starting on Tuesday!  The videos that we have to watch beforehand were pretty hysterical.  I felt like I was watching an educational video from the 70's, and the angle they shot at, as if you were in the pelvis looking out, was highly entertaining.  Although I couldn't delineate what structures I was suppose to be palpating, I was entertained by the actual experience of some more hands on time with the animals.  My large animal surgery/SOAP group (Whom I'm pleased to work with - Yay Christine and Amanda!) met to start working on a cost analysis project for anesthesia that is due in a few weeks. There is no such existence of procrastination this semester, although, I did take a study break and go see a movie Tuesday night.

We got our SOAPing/surgery donkey and sheep on Wednesday! Let me clarify that SOAPing is a verb to describe a physical exam on these animals; I won't actually be giving them a bath. It is an acronym for the report write up for the physical exam findings in the patient's medical record.

         S = Subjective

                    (Patient is BAR/QAR - bright, alert, responsive or quiet, alert,
                     responsive)

         O = Objective

                    (Heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature, and the number
                     of rumen contractions)

         A = Assessment

                   (Interpret findings.  Come up with list of differential diagnoses.)

         P = Plan

                   (What you will do next, such as "continue to monitor overall
                     health daily" if there are no open problems)  

We have to SOAP these animals every morning for the entire semester before classes.  When we start doing our surgeries on these animals, then we might have to SOAP twice a day. My SOAP group came up with a schedule so that someone can have the morning/weekend off since not all of us need to be there.  Every semester I would walk past the paddocks, where the donkeys are located, with the 7th semesters working on them, and just dream of the day when I would finally be in their shoes.  It is an incredibly grateful feeling being on the other side of that fence.

There was a scuba club meeting Thursday at lunch that I attended in hopes that I can get at least two dives in this semester. I still remember when I first signed up for my scuba certification, petrified but excited adrenaline coursing through me.  Now, I eagerly paid my membership dues wondering when my next dive will be after I leave this island.
This weekend I should know where I am going for clinics! I will also be preparing for my busy upcoming week, especially for my first surgery!  It still sounds so unbelievable saying/writing that.

I took this picture (and yes, it is me) to portray the emotion when the veil is lifted and your eyes are reopened.  Remember to follow the light of your one true nature.

Laura's Visit

Yay Laura is here!
She flew in on Saturday and we went out to eat at the Marriott and then went to the beginning of the semester party at Shipwreck.

On Sunday, I took her out to Reggae for a beach day and dinner at Marriot for pizza.

Monday, we went to port, Carballe Batik and ate at Neville's.

We went around the island to Nivarva, Brimstone, and Ottley's Planation on Tuesday.  We then checked out semeseter olympics on the strip for volleyball.  It was an intense competition but black semester (6th - my new semester) came out on top, then pink (7th), then blue (1st).  The new blue definitely gave the upper semesters are a run for their money.

On Wednesday, we were tired from the night before, so we had a beach day at Shipwreck and did some snorkeling.  We dropped by field day (semester Olympics event) and black ended up winning overall.

We did some ziplining and had dinner at Shiggity Shack to see the fire man on Thursday.

Beach day on Friday, football, and the official beginning of the semester party.

Saturday was the craziness of Mr Ross and pink's very own Ross won!

Thank you so much for visiting Laura!  I hope you had as amazing of a time that I had and didn't get island fever! For anyone else wanting to visit, now is the time!  Reasons to Visit St Kitts

Mr Ross/Beachfest

Mr Ross was very entertaining and luckily didn't get rained out this time!  Even though my semester didn't place, we still had a ton of fun with all the skits.  Check out the videos below and look for me!

Best Fight Scene:

Boy Band:

Vet Malpractice:

Here is the boy band from Blue semester (no I'm not in this one):

Beachfest was a lively time as always and luckily the weather held out for us so we could get a little sun.

Blue semester (7th) found out their clinical placements this past weekend!  I'm incredibly excited for them, especially my longest friend here, Jess, who got into where she wanted (Texas A&M)! She has worked her butt off and is a huge inspiration for me. I'm proud of all of them for working so hard.  Even to those who didn't get where they want, it's only for a year and you are still going to get an amazing education!  I am going to miss seeing each and every one of you! This is blue semester's flag:

My roommate left this week which is incredibly upsetting and frustrating. I will miss having her around and having someone to gossip with and help keep me grounded.  I know this process is incredibly overwhelming for her and all I can tell her or anyone else going through what she is going through,  is to keep your head up and you don't have to have everything figured out right now.  I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason.  I can only imagine the many emotions that you are experiencing, but I do know that this isn't the end, it's just a step to making you a stronger and an even better you.  I'm happy I was able to have dinner with her Monday night.  It's hard to find a roommate this late in the semester, so I will probably be leaving alone, luckily not moving, for the rest of the semester.  Next semester my landlord might not let me live alone, so I might have to either move or find a roommate for my last few months.
The same night my roommate left, I attended a goodbye dinner (sigh) for another friend of mine.  I already miss having her here.

I had a bandaging lab on Tuesday.  I have bandaged limbs before, so this lab was more of a review but it was still exciting to work with the dogs.

The majority of the week I will be locked in the library studying for my blocks next Monday.  In 6th semester instead of having exams from different classes on different days throughout the semester, all of our exams for every class are on the same day in a two hour period.  So there is less questions, but it forces you to stay on top of all of your classes at once.  Luckily, I still find the material pretty interesting, so hopefully it won't be too drudging to study.

This weekend there is a Woof for Wellness fundraiser for Josh Project and SAFE. There are several types of dance/workout classes that will be taking place and I was asked to teach a belly dance class.  So that will be my two hour study break.

On another note, I've gotten emails from people who have been reading my blog and they are inspired by it.  I'm grateful to hear things like that!  I appreciate all my readers whether you are reading for fun or reading to gain information about vet school or St Kitts, or just to see what adventures I've been up to.  Thank you for keeping me writing which helps keep my sanity!

Rain

Unfortunately, Mr Ross was canceled last Saturday due to the rain.  We were back stage about to go on when they called it.  Luckily, it was rescheduled for this Friday, so we will try this again!

I was afraid that our cat trip was going to be canceled as well since there were looming clouds that morning, but luckily the weather turned out to be ok and we had a great time.  It's crazy to think that cat trip might be one of my last ones.

This week it was catch up time with the little studying I did last week.
I had a cadavor lab on Wednesday where we practiced placing drains and suturing actual skin.  That night a few of us went to dinner at Sprats.
On Thursday, the 6th semesters were all invited to take the PAVE exam.  The PAVE is what the students here use to have to take before they were able to practice in the States.  They wanted us to take it as a practice for the NAVLE exam.  So we were in the exam center from 7:45 - 1:30pm.  I had to do a video of myself showing the proper technique to enter an isolation stall for LAM on Friday.

I was pleasantly surprised that I got paid for  the research work that I did last semester.  Unfortunately, I don't know how much research work I will be able to help with this semester though.  It was definitely a great opportunity and experience and I have Dr. Ketzis to thank for that.

This weekend is beachfest, if we hopefully don't get rained out!

Mr Ross

Check out this video from Mr RUSVM that a VIP put together:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGWRws6_UJE

Mr Ross

Saturday was an extremely busy day starting with chicken research at 7am until 9am, then adoption day from 9am until 1pm (we found homes for 4 dogs and 6 cats!), then I had to go back to help count lice at 1:45pm and again at 3:45.  I cleaned my car in between the two counting lice times.  Then came home to get dressed for Mr Ross that night.  Usually 7th semester wins Mr Ross, but my semester (Pink) won this time!  Opening Act

Up early again on Sunday for more lice counting on the chickens, but I did get a long nap in afterwards.  I did a few things around the apartment and then it was off to Shipwreck!

So as one research project ends, another one begins.  The whipworm research that I was doing last semester is being continued into this semester, so we had a meeting at lunch about what else needs to be done this semester.  That evening, I brought another cat into the PAWS program, so I went to pick him up and give him to the new foster.  As part of our Epi class, we had to do a few online quizzes for the Initial Accreditation Training certification (for USDA) and I finished that.

I had to weigh some spray bottles for the chicken research Tuesday morning.  There was also the first scuba club meeting that night.  Yay for some more dives! (if I'm somehow able to find the time).

On Wednesday we didn't start until 1pm, so I ran some errands in the morning and did some studying.
Kelli found this song, that totally describes St Kitts life outside of, you know, the whole school thing:
Kenny Chesney - When I See This Bar

I had my VTH shadowing this morning which was fun and made me miss working at a clinic.  We saw a dog with a degloving injury, two routine vaccine exams, and a dog who might have gotten into ant bites and whose face was all abscessed and sloughing.  The first surgery club meeting was at lunch and that night I had a friend's goodbye dinner at Bombay.

Today, I have my Canine Physical exam, which was pretty much just a review.  There is an avian club meeting at lunch and tonight I'm going out for another friend's goodbye dinner at Ritual's sushi.  I really do hate this time of the semester when people start leaving.  :(

This weekend is Beachfest (yay for showing off some more new swimsuits I bought over break and getting some sun) and of course studying because I already have a quiz and mini-blocks next week!

Long week

This weekend was full of drinks at Fat Tuesday, dinner at Rock Lobster, losing $4 at the casino, laying poolside, and Mr. Ross.  Here's a few videos from Mr. Ross: 

Opening Act 

Puppets - 3rd semester

Reich/Bogdog - 3rd semester 

Also I got feathers put into my hair this weekend:

Long week this week!
Monday was a long day with an AAV meeting at lunch and I was in classes until 6pm with only a break from 9 to 12pm.  I worked on  my lab animal paper during that time and went to the gym.  I then had a Skype date that night with Bethany!  My plan this semester is to try to get through the American Film Institute's list of top 100 movies and maybe the New York Times' list of best seller books!  How's that for checking off some of my bucket list!  I just got through Easy Rider....very interesting....hmm what's next......?
Tuesday was another long day with a VBMA meeting at lunch.  I got my certificate for VMBA that I earned two semesters ago.

Yet again, another long day on Wednesday with a PAWS meeting at lunch and an officer meeting at 6pm.  I felt really sick that night, so I ended up going to bed early.
On Thursday, I caught up on work from yesterday and finished my lab animal paper.  It was also the last day of the lab animal class.  There was a scuba meeting at 5:30pm and a Bovine club dinner 6pm.
Finally Friday! I signed up to start playing volleyball on Fridays and we had our first game today.  Casey's "goodbye for now"dinner was then at Rituals Sushi. Yum!
Saturday is Beachfest, so I will be soaking up the sun and perhaps some drinks that day and then Sunday is the first PAWS adoption day!  Cross your fingers that some cats find forever homes!

What Human Doctors Can Learn From Vets

Busy Busy Busy

Saturday was Mr Ross, which is always a fun time.  There were some pretty good acts.  Here's a little taste:

Sunday we had a surprise party for Kelli at Banana Bay, which was a nice little getaway for the afternoon, but then it was back to studying.
All this week we don't have Physio, so we are able to sleep in a bit since class starts at 9am.  I then had a cat that I needed to go pick up from a local in order to bring it into the PAWS program.  The medical coordinator looked at it and we set up an appointment for him to see the vet tomorrow, so hopefully he tests ok!  There was also a huge wildfire right outside of campus and the smoke reached our apartment which was pretty bad.  We did get some frozen yogurt for a study break, which was very good!  I can't remember the last time I had any!
On Tuesday we didn't have class until 11am, so it was a nice day to catch up on some sleep and get some more studying in.  We then had class from 3-5pm, so it was still catch up on studying time.  Hokie (what I named the new foster cat) did great, so I was able to place him in a foster home, so hopefully he will do ok there!  Here's his pic:

Thursday was a long day...It went from 9am to 7:30pm.  I had two tutor sessions, one for Physio and one for Anatomy.  Is it the weekend yet??
Friday we had our first Anatomy quiz of the semester.  That night it was two friend's birthday parties at Spice Mill.
Saturday is Beachfest and I will probably be going because I have a feeling it's the only beach time I will get this semester.

2% over!

2% of vet school is finished!  (Each week is pretty much another 1%)
This past weekend...I got my car all fixed up so it's almost as good as new!  I studied the rest of the day Saturday until Mr. RUSVM.  Gerardo, the guy who represented 1st semester did amazing!  Here is my favorite video of him and watch the very end for the shout out to me (very sweet):  Belly dance Blue semester

Sunday consisted of studying and going to the lab with my anatomy group to practice with the cadavers.  We already have an exam's worth of material and it's the first week.  We are suppose to know the names of all the parts of the bone and muscles of the shoulder to the fingers, including joints and ligaments.  We also are suppose to know where on the bone the muscle attached and what the action of it is.  Our test isn't even until the beginning of next month, so it's just going to keep piling on....welcome to vet school.  Later on Sunday, I was able to Skype my family for Mother's Day.
On Tuesday is one of our long days because we have Intro to Vet Med for 3 hours in the afternoon.  I also had the first VBMA meeting of the semester.  Hopefully I can finish my certificate this semester!  I have been going to the gym in the afternoons, so much for getting use to waking up early last semester.  Being off campus, it just makes more sense to go after class even though that's when it's the most crowded.
Wednesday I started to feel more overwhelmed with the amount of work that we are given.  I still feel like I'm on top of it all, but especially with anatomy, I feel like it's not enough and I should be doing more.  This afternoon we had two hours of Physio and then a optional Biochem review.  The biochem review was basically just reviewing the material that we were taught last semester in Physio, but I figured the review would be good anyway.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it to the gym because of it though.  After the review, a few of us went to the lab to review some more anatomy.
I don't have micro lab on Thursdays, so after anatomy lab I have a three hour (including lunch) break where I studied anatomy more.  At lunch, we had our first Josh project meeting and two TA sessions for Physio and Micro that afternoon.
Yay Friday! Friday is my free day from studying!  I have dinner plans tonight at Rock Lobster and then possibly Beachfest on Saturday depending on how ahead I feel with my studying.  Sunday there are several TA sessions and I will probably go to the anatomy lab while I'm on campus.  Busy, busy, busy!

Here is a cute picture of our campus "pets".  Whenever I sit at the Student Union, this cat is on my lap looking for food.  He is too funny!