So this is a tad late following completion of my last examination. On Friday we had our last examination of the dog and cat clinical course and it sure does feel great to have 4 months of Summer ahead of me and getting to work at the clinic for a much longer period than the last time. This time around, I will have my very first clinical case to work up! Yeah, that's right, my own dog Brownie will be the guinea pig for a clinical work up for Cushing's disease, which I feel he may have based on his clinical signs. So, once I am back in AZ, I plan on getting that done straight away.
Going back to Friday, the day of the final exam, I spent the remainder of the day walking around Edinburgh and taking some photos since it was so nice out. On Sunday I decided to take a train to North Berwick and go hiking along the coastline. I started out on the main beach in North Berwick near the Scottish Seabird Center and walked 11.4 miles (according to mapmyrun.com) along the coast and back into town. I tried to make it to Tantallon Castle but the last entry was at 5pm and I arrived at 5.04pm and the closed sign had been put up on the door. Oh well, I got amazing views of Bass Rock and there are beaches along the coast that I walked along that were secluded with no one but myself. I've uploaded some new photos of the beaches for you all to see so go check them out in the Picassa web albums link on the side.
Also, while in North Berwick, I have NEVER been exposed to such extreme wind!!! I mean, as I was walking along the beach, the wind was blowing from behind (luckily) and the wind was blowing the sand so hard that it actually hurt when it hit my hand! It was like I was being sand blasted! I took several photos to show you what I mean about the sand being blown about. On the way back into town, it was about 5-6 miles going into the wind which made it extremely difficult to walk. I got blown around quite a bit, especially when I was walking on the beach on boulders, the wind was blowing so hard that it would knock me off balance. Needless to say, it was nice once I was back on the train and heading back to Edinburgh. Yesterday I went for a hike with my buddy to prepare for our big hike at the end of Summer. I had a free bag that someone was lending to me from class and when I got outside with it I went to adjust the strap and it just fell off! So, we had to take the bags back to his flat and just go hiking without the rucksacks. I went down to the shopping centre later because there was a big clearance sale on rucksacks and I got a new one for £29 originally marked at £99. So I saved quite a bit!
I am now packed and ready to leave for AZ tomorrow. My flight is at 9am, so I need to leave the flat around 6am. So I better finish cleaning the flat and drying my laundry. I'll see everyone very soon!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
First Exam Over!
At approximately 11.30am today, I walked out of the exam hall in relief. I had finally finished the statistics exam and was glad to be out of there! It seemed like the day would never get here. I was not enjoying studying for the exam, as the material is boring and I know that I will never utilize statistics in my Veterinary career. Hmmm, let's see, the 95% confidence interval for cryptorchid dogs being at an increased risk for testicular neoplasia is ummmmm.......yeeaaahhhh, I don't think I will be worrying about that so much. I'll leave the research and statistics to the researchers and statisticians! I am now studying for the dog and cat clinical examination. In this exam, we are supposedly given case presentations and are supposed to walk the examiner through what our differentials would be, diagnostic plan and treatment plan. This is the material that I really enjoy, so let's hope that the questions are relevant to the material that I have been studying! I've got until Friday to study for that exam, so all is good with the study schedule and I am right on schedule.
On another note, what's this about Arnold Schwarzenegger fathering kids with multiple women? I saw this on the news the other day and was shocked. Apparently he has a 13 yr old boy with his former house maid! Apparently Arnold's wife was showering the maid with gifts and congratulating her on her pregnancy and she didn't even realize that Arnold was the father of that baby! Can you imagine how mortified she must be?
I am also anxiously watching that Grimsvotn volcanic eruption in Iceland and apparently all flights in Scotland have been cancelled as well as in Londonderry, Newcastle and other areas. Flights are supposed to be back up by Wednesday. Hopefully the wind blows it somewhere else so that I can leave on June 1st! They say that the volcanic eruption is decreasing in intensity, but who knows, another volcanic eruption may occur. What a nightmare, why did Iceland all of a sudden decide to cause flight problems two years in a row??? It seems like all of the world's natural disasters decided to show up all at once and wreak havoc on everyone in the last couple of years! Would you not agree? So, I am definitely going to keep an eye out on the status of this volcano and hopefully my flight will be departing on time next Wednesday! Wish me luck on my next exam and I will talk to you all soon and see some of you very soon!
On another note, what's this about Arnold Schwarzenegger fathering kids with multiple women? I saw this on the news the other day and was shocked. Apparently he has a 13 yr old boy with his former house maid! Apparently Arnold's wife was showering the maid with gifts and congratulating her on her pregnancy and she didn't even realize that Arnold was the father of that baby! Can you imagine how mortified she must be?
I am also anxiously watching that Grimsvotn volcanic eruption in Iceland and apparently all flights in Scotland have been cancelled as well as in Londonderry, Newcastle and other areas. Flights are supposed to be back up by Wednesday. Hopefully the wind blows it somewhere else so that I can leave on June 1st! They say that the volcanic eruption is decreasing in intensity, but who knows, another volcanic eruption may occur. What a nightmare, why did Iceland all of a sudden decide to cause flight problems two years in a row??? It seems like all of the world's natural disasters decided to show up all at once and wreak havoc on everyone in the last couple of years! Would you not agree? So, I am definitely going to keep an eye out on the status of this volcano and hopefully my flight will be departing on time next Wednesday! Wish me luck on my next exam and I will talk to you all soon and see some of you very soon!
Monday, May 16, 2011
Exams in 1 week and then Summer!
This entire next week is going to be a review week for the upcoming examinations. On Monday, we have our statistics exam (not looking forward to that!) and then on Thursday we have our dog and cat clinical exam. The dog and cat exam is going to be based solely on clinical cases where we are presented with a case and we must provide our differentials, diagnostic tests and treatment plans. I'm actually looking forward to taking the clinical exam because I think it's fun to try and establish a diagnosis. A lot of the material we have been learning in lectures all pertain to the years I've worked at the clinic. A lot of the surgeries that we must know for the exam, I don't really need to study for since I've seen so many of them, including orthopedic surgeries! I'm really hoping that there will be an orthopedic question on the exam. I finished studying today, I've got a set schedule I am following and it seems to be working quite well.
On another note, I added lots of photos to my picasa web album, so go and check out all of the new photos. I've started training for my hike at the end of the summer and have been running 2 miles every morning. The first day I ran 2 miles I felt like my lungs were on fire! My body was not impressed with me running that distance. Now, I can pretty much run the full 2 miles at a steady pace. At the end of my run, there is a hill called Blackford Hill. I am at the midway point before I turn back and hopefully I will be able to reach the top by the end of the week. I literally role out of bed in the morning and get my running gear on and head out the door. When I am back home, I plan on running Pinnacle Peak mountain and running to the clinic as well to help train. Maybe the intense heat will help me get in shape even more! I'll have to make sure I am carrying 5 gallons of water on my back though if I plan on running to the clinic in 100 degrees! Not sure if that will pan out, I may just fix up my bike and cycle to the clinic (at least once or twice to see if I can actually handle it!).
Well, I must go and finish nerding. I have to go over what I did today one more time and then I will call it quits for the night. Hope everyone is doing well and can't wait to see you all very soon!
On another note, I added lots of photos to my picasa web album, so go and check out all of the new photos. I've started training for my hike at the end of the summer and have been running 2 miles every morning. The first day I ran 2 miles I felt like my lungs were on fire! My body was not impressed with me running that distance. Now, I can pretty much run the full 2 miles at a steady pace. At the end of my run, there is a hill called Blackford Hill. I am at the midway point before I turn back and hopefully I will be able to reach the top by the end of the week. I literally role out of bed in the morning and get my running gear on and head out the door. When I am back home, I plan on running Pinnacle Peak mountain and running to the clinic as well to help train. Maybe the intense heat will help me get in shape even more! I'll have to make sure I am carrying 5 gallons of water on my back though if I plan on running to the clinic in 100 degrees! Not sure if that will pan out, I may just fix up my bike and cycle to the clinic (at least once or twice to see if I can actually handle it!).
Well, I must go and finish nerding. I have to go over what I did today one more time and then I will call it quits for the night. Hope everyone is doing well and can't wait to see you all very soon!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Busy! Busy! Busy!
Well, it's been a while since my last post, and for good reason! I've been busy studying for these upcoming exams. We finished our neurology and respiratory lectures and are now working on our surgery lectures. Our exam is in a couple of weeks, so I have one week left of lectures, one week of revision and then exams! Then I come back home! I've been trying to study for the statistics portion of the exam and I can definitely tell you that I would never make a good statistician! Wow do you have to be crazy to take statistics up as a career! I'm working on the practice work given to us and hoping that they will use similar problems. The new building is semi-open. Students are only allowed in the canteen, which is big and very open. The atmosphere is so much nicer to study in than the original canteen. I've been planning a hiking trip for the past few days for the summer time. My buddy Ollie and I are going to take a train to Bridge of Orchy, take the West Highland Way to Fort William (that is the trail where they filmed Braveheart), take a train from Fort William to Inverness and then begin the 90 mile journey to Smoo Cave and the very Northwestern tip of Scotland. Once we reach the Northwestern most point, we will then begin to make our way to Thurso, which is to the East. From Thurso, we will take a train to Edinburgh, which will be about 8 hours. The entire trip will take about 7-8 days and we will be camping in the Scottish Highlands. How awesome is that! This is something I've wanted to do ever since my first ever trip to Scotland. This is something I feel I must do while I am here and at least take advantage of my location. If I don't do it now, it will be much more difficult to accomplish later. We are going to be walking about 120 miles total and averaging 25 miles per day, so it will be a challenge and I will be training all Summer for it. I'll keep everyone posted on that, but there won't be any updates until it gets closer to the time, which will be on September 17th at 6am.
I have two lectures tomorrow until 11am and then I am done for the day. I will be studying statistics all weekend long so that I have it in my head. I don't want to have to resit this statistics exam! No one should! I can't wait until my exams are over and I am back home and get to work some quality hours at the clinic. After my Summer in AZ, I am then going to spend the other half in Canada! I'll work at the same clinic I did as this last break and maybe they will let me do a spay or neuter? They let me extract two feline carnassials the last time! Who knows what they will let me do this time around! I will be there for about 3 weeks so maybe they will let me do some orthopedic surgeries on my own??? Hey, I've seen so many TTAs being done that I could probably walk myself through the procedure. I know how to make all the radiographic measurements, now its just a matter of getting into surgery and attempting my first one! Some how, I doubt if a TTA will be my first solo procedure...but then again, who knows!
Well, I will try and update the photos soon, I've just been so busy. I will try this weekend. I hope everyone is having a good end of the week and I will talk to you all later!
I have two lectures tomorrow until 11am and then I am done for the day. I will be studying statistics all weekend long so that I have it in my head. I don't want to have to resit this statistics exam! No one should! I can't wait until my exams are over and I am back home and get to work some quality hours at the clinic. After my Summer in AZ, I am then going to spend the other half in Canada! I'll work at the same clinic I did as this last break and maybe they will let me do a spay or neuter? They let me extract two feline carnassials the last time! Who knows what they will let me do this time around! I will be there for about 3 weeks so maybe they will let me do some orthopedic surgeries on my own??? Hey, I've seen so many TTAs being done that I could probably walk myself through the procedure. I know how to make all the radiographic measurements, now its just a matter of getting into surgery and attempting my first one! Some how, I doubt if a TTA will be my first solo procedure...but then again, who knows!
Well, I will try and update the photos soon, I've just been so busy. I will try this weekend. I hope everyone is having a good end of the week and I will talk to you all later!
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