Ice Skating, Quite Possibly The Worst Skates I Have EVER Worn...

Went Ice Skating yesterday with a big group from class. Was very random as well. I had just finished class and there were a bunch of students out in the front of the school. They asked if I wanted to go (I was just heading to the library to study, so this sounded a little more appealing). So, I decided to go and take a break from studying for once. It was about a 20 min bus ride out of the city centre. When we got there, we paid for the admission and put our skates on. These skates were the most uncomfortable skates I have every worn. There were no mens hockey skates, only the classic figure skates. My ankles hurt so much after the first hour. Two hours later, it was unbearable. My knees, ankles and heels hurt so bad. We called it quits after 2 hours. It was a lot of fun though, I even took a video on my iPhone but it ended up being way too nauseating for people to watch. Well, off I go to study. I am doing the facial muscles and nerves tonight, woohoo! Really need to work on the nerves and muscles for the Head and Vertebral Column, oh, and ligaments as well. Yikes, already approaching week #4 and I get to go to Langhill farm tomorrow to learn about Farm Economics. For some reason, I have a feeling that this is going to be a boring lecture. Bring on the Anatomy, what's with this Economical stuff? It's not like the Economy is important or anything...Actually, it is good that they are doing this because I have learned so much about how things are done here versus in the US.

I also have some advice for people looking to go to veterinary school or experience that you all can pass on to people that you know are interested. Get as much experience as you can! I cannot tell you how much it has helped me during school and how far ahead I am already. Thanks to all of Bill's nifty stifle drawings on towels in exam rooms, I have perfected my stifle drawings (but on paper, not towels). I know this is just the beginning introductory material and that it will get much more difficult later, but the experience over the last 5 years has helped tremendously! Well, I should be going now, my anatomy book awaits me!

Military Tattoo: Amazing!

Wow, I guess I have been slacking on new posts. Well, with the amount of Anatomy that I have been studying, it is quite hard to post every single day (plus, what is there to write about every day other than the fact that I am studying Anatomy?). The weekend has approached and I am very thankful for that. Gives me time to study up what we have discussed over the past week in lecture. We finished the forelimb and hindlimb lectures and have moved on to the axial skeleton. The head has got to be one of the most difficult areas to study because of all the facial nerves, etc. Needless to say, I will be studying that the most this weekend.

I finally purchased a Macbook Pro and an iPhone (best purchase I have ever made!), oh, and also a wireless printer. I also purchased my dissection kit and a few Anatomy/Physiology books. Also, currently living in a box on top of my TV is my new dog. I rented a box of canine bones for 20 pounds. So, I am not sure how many of you know, but there is an event going on right now called The Edinburgh Military Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle. Basically, Edinburgh invites certain countries every year to participate in this event. So Ashley (girl from class) had two free tickets that she acquired when she was back in Pennsylvania from this guy who goes to the event every year. Unfortunately for him (fortunately for us) he was unable to go this year and he gave the two tickets to Ashley. So Ashley and I went to the 10:30pm Tattoo last night and it was absolutely amazing. For every new group that came out, there was a new theme projected onto the main castle. So for the Samoans, the castle turned into a jungle and for the RAF, the castle turned into a sky with fighter jets in the foreground. There were these drummers called "Top Secret Drummers" that were from Switzerland. These guys that were playing were absolutely phenomenal! I also felt like I was in China, there was a group from China that performed some type of festival that they do in China every year to stimulate a good harvest year. Check the videos below. Well, I need to study straight away. I hope everyone is doing well!

I'm Getting A New Dog Tomorrow!

Well, tomorrow I will be getting a new dog! I haven't decided a name yet and don't know what type of dog it is going to be. The dog even comes with a shoebox to store it in! Yep, I'm getting a couple of shoe boxes full of dog bones to study some good 'ol anatomy. Today was the hind limb, was fairly simple since I have been staring at hind limbs in surgery for so long. Anatomy was a piece of cake for the hind limb this morning. I actually new quite a bit of musculature already as well (semimembranosus, semitendonosus, superficial gluteal, middle gluteal, biceps femorus) thanks Bill! I am taking a break from anatomy right now, need about a half hour or so and will go back to it. Don't have to be at class until 10am tomorrow! Get to sleep an extra hour and then we are finished at 1pm, just in time to run home and study some more (or hang out in the dissection lab).

Today, I went over to the Georges Square Library that is part of The University of Edinburgh. You have to have a student ID to get in. It was the nicest library I have EVER been in! There were these small glass gates that opened when you swiped the student card through. Once I was through, there was this massive lobby and then 6 floors of books above. The study areas are massive! There are tables just about everywhere and it is nice and QUIET, which is very important. I am still waiting for the bank to clear the loan check and I am getting quite frustrated with this wait time. I deposited it on Thursday and it still has not cleared. I was hoping that it would clear a little early like back home. It takes 4 days to clear a check and they count the day you deposit it as Day 0. So I deposited it on Thursday, Friday was day 1, Saturday and Sunday do not count, tomorrow will be day 4. So I am HOPING that it clears by tomorrow. I have so much I need to buy for school yet (books, printer, computer, binders, etc.).

The weather was nice today with a few minutes of rain and then the sun was out quite a bit. I was studying a little bit ago and I happened to glance up at my bedroom window. Situated at the top of the window frame was this black dot (about 15mm in size). So I walked over to it to see what it was. As I got closer, I knew that it was a snail shell. It was stuck to the frame when I went to go pull it off. I guess snails purposely stick themselves to things when it is dry out and create a thin membrane of mucous that dries up. Then, when it rains, it moistens that mucous up and they know they can start crawling again (at least that is my theory). I put it on my desk and he crawled quite the distance before I picked him up and placed him outside the window (yes, I was bored at the time and needed a break from studying). Anyway, I should be going so I can study some more. Hope everyone is well!

Neoplastic Growth (Is This Redundant?).

So, I was talking with my Histology professor after she had discussed a little bit about the different types of cells, etc. We were shown a slide of a cancerous region on a tissue sample and she began talking about different terms used. Neoplasia is a term commonly used to refer to cancerous growth. However, I just learned that I had been using this term incorrectly over the past couple of years. Neoplasia essentially means "new growth", so when someone writes in a chart as a possible diagnosis for a growth "Neoplastic growth", technically they are being redundant. It is like saying "new growth growth". So it would be better to just say "neoplasm"? Hmm, interesting learning about all of these terms. Anyway, I went to the theatre yesterday and saw "The Ugly Truth". Yeah, I know, chick flick. Oh, and what tops this whole movie experience off is that I went with about 9 girls. The movie was actually quite funny. I had sushi today at a place in the city center. Was DEFINITELY not as good as the sushi back in AZ. It will do for now though. I am really looking forward to good sushi when I come back for Christmas though. I will probably study as much anatomy as I can tonight and some Histology as well. Will be going to dinner at the college dorms tonight with some friends. They have really good food and it is free! Woohoo! Well, technically you have to live there, but I just say I am a vet student and they let me in. Will hopefully have my loan check cleared by Tuesday or Wednesday and I can buy my Macbook Pro laptop and an iPhone. I did some research last night on the different iPhone apps for vet school and there are quite a bit. We start the lecture on cattle tomorrow and will be heading out to Langhill Farm this week to discuss farm economics and learn handling of cows. As long as the cow does not decide to kick me, I will be happy. I also found a new sport that is absolute madness! It is called Hurling and it is an Irish sport. There are several Irish students in our class and they were at a place today watching the semi-finals of Hurling. It is like a cross between Lacrosse, Baseball, Soccer, and even some Golf! It is the fastest field sport in the world next to Ice Hockey. It is one of the fastest, most intense sports I have watched. Well, heading to dinner shortly, so better get going so I can study a little and eat. Hope everyone is doing well!

MANY New Words to Learn

Histology introduction started today, thanks for the book Lisa, it is definitely coming in handy. Today was just the basics, so learning about the different tissue types, epithelial cell types, etc. I think I need to start bringing head phones to the dissection room though, there was this group of students and this one girl had the most obnoxious laugh. Needless to say, it definitely was not the ideal conditions for studying anatomy unfortunately. Once they left, it was much better. It is amazing how much more you retain when you enjoy something. I ran over the forelimb muscles once or twice and had them all memorized. The cool thing is, it is not just memorized, I know them. It is quite fun analyzing why a muscle is named the way it is. If you know your Latin, then you can pretty much figure out what the different names mean. Words like Extensor Carpi Radialis and Flexor Carpi Ulnaris make sense, however, words such as Facies Serrata and Teres Tuberosity are a little more difficult to analyze. It would be nice to have my own dissected specimen so that I could study from it all of the time rather than waiting for the school to put the samples out for us to study from. Oh, and once I get my Anatomy books, that will help quite a bit as well.

Weather was absolutely rubbish today and is still raining as I type. I will be running in the morning with a friend and then will be studying the rest of the day. Will probably be studying all this weekend, and I actually don't mind it. Hope everyone is doing well!

Word of the Day: Facies Serrata

So started basic Anatomy today. Was fairly easy. We are starting with the forelimb and working our way around the appendicular skeleton first. The axial will begin next week I believe. We start Histology tomorrow, so should be quite fun. It was funny watching all of the students today. Many of them have no knowledge and no experience and are already freaking out about the exam that is in 6 weeks. I have a feeling that I will be locking myself in the dissection room until late at night for quite some time. I am slowly working my way to the muscle aspect of anatomy. There is quite a bit to know, but as time goes on and more lectures pass, I am sure I will learn it all. I wish I had my bobcat skeleton with me here so that I could study from it. I do have PLENTY of radiographs that I copied onto disks, so those are also helpful. Hope everyone is having a great week!

Enough With the Introductory Stuff Already, When Do I Start Dissecting?

Today we all got on a bus to the Easter Bush campus and had official tours of the facilities. I had an official tour a couple weeks back and I actually was able to see more on that tour than this one. The doctor that toured us around was one of the people that were in San Francisco at the reception. So it was nice to know the tour guide. We then had lunch with quite a bit of the staff and I had a great talk with one of the doctors. We then went back downstairs to finish up with a lecture on the history of the Dick Vet. Quite interesting, and funny to watch all of the other students dozing off during the presentation. After that, Rachel, Erica and I walked up the Royal Mile and then down to the Fringe tent. We bought tickets for the Janeane Garofalo show at 20:30, so that should be fun. I get out early tomorrow, so I will have the rest of the day to study! Woohoo! Need to review some Biochemistry stuff. Oh, and I will probably buy my books tomorrow. I figured that since we will be starting anatomy this week, I will probably need to have my own anatomy book. Hope everyone is enjoying the scorching heat, I am having a great time in the lovely Scottish weather of 65 degrees and sunny. I will try and send some of this beautiful weather back home!