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A Vet Story
Stories, tales and general rambling of a Vet Student at the Royal Veterinary College, London who took the long route to get there.
Alison. 22. RVC 3rd Year, ex G+T.
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23:01 |
A long over due update
I'm useless and procrastination brings me back to blogging again.
Since my post in July last year I have completed all my rotations ending in February 2014. I'm happy to say I passed everything with a minimum of a pass and had all round good feedback! So after anaesthesia, I had my first research block which wasn't very productive and the less said about that the better! After research was Equine Surgery - one week of soft tissue surgery and one week of orthopaedic surgery. Really interesting two weeks for me as I like horses and I saw surgeries I would never have seen anywhere else. Then came small animal medicine - which I wasn't looking forward to but I did end up really enjoying it. I had an awful vein two weeks, could not get blood to save my life. Until the last day when I managed a blood sample, then the dog bit the nurse assisting. I felt awful. Anyway despite the practical skills hiccup I was highly commended for my written work and organisation. The clinicians were lovely - and still remembered my name months later so at least I made an impression! Next I had some tracking rotations. Oncology which was busy but really interesting. Managed to get veins that week so all was good and had some really good students with me which is always a bonus! Critical care came next which was helping out in the intensive care unit for a week. Really learnt a lot about the amount of care required for very poorly patients. Perfected a lot of skills and got on very well with the team on ICU with my first emergency medicine experience! After some EMS my next rotation was Farm, which I was apprehensive about. I really enjoyed it. The staff were brilliant and the week in kent was very useful! Did a lot of routine fertility work and whilst back at Hawkshead did a goat castrate, goat tail amputation and continued care for alpacas and a sheep with a broken leg! Unfortunately group issues really over shadowed farm and the following rotations. After farm was small animal surgery - again a week of soft tissue and a week of orthopaedics. I worked myself to the bone for these two weeks due to the group issues and was very stressed by the end of it but I think I coped the best out of the group. Thankfully my feedback reflected my hard work. I saw lots of interesting things such a oncology surgeries, boas surgeries and fracture repairs. After surgery I had more EMS at Bull & Alexander which is always great! Then came my final track - Neurology which was split over the Christmas break. I was again apprehensive about this but need not have been. It was brilliant, and improved my skills massively in neurological examinations. After neuro, I then moved on to radiology. First small animal then large animal. Was very good to put my knowledge to the test and I got a lot out of both weeks. A particular highlight was practicing equine x rays:  Anyway. Then came dermatology and I was definitely on the countdown to finishing and was ready to finish. Derm was great, very relaxed and very practical seeing useful things for first opinion practice such as atopic dermatitis, demodecosis and malassezia infections. Then came my final rotation which I was dreading... Emergency Night Shifts. I did manage to stay awake thank god but I was exhausted and eating tea at 2am was strange. I perfected my catheter skills and response to emergencies. Had some really applicable things like anaemic cats, seizuring dogs, acute kidney failure dogs, perineal hernia and prolapsed bladder and a cat with ATE. I did really enjoy it but was so tired and was very glad to head home for four weeks of EMS. I did two weeks equine at Ledston and 2 weeks farm at Bishopton. In total a great month which grew my confidence massively! Then I had my second research block which I did finally complete my project albeit with a little stress surrounding it which couldn't be avoided due to personal circumstances. Before Easter came my osce exam which was ok but I had one disaster station which ruined the day for me and left me very nervous. Post Rotational taught tracking was after Easter and I got all my first choices - Equine Soft Tissue Surgery which included lots of practical aspects castrations, dentals, endoscopy, sinus surgery. Equine orthopaedics was more theory based but got to do equine acupuncture as well as lameness exams. Next was ethics and welfare which was a lot of discussions! Then Equine diagnostics which I missed most of due to interviews. I had my oral defence today which was surprisingly good, a nice chat about my project really! Onto interviews I've had three and have been offered a mixed practice job in North Yorkshire :) that's all I'll say for now but let's hope I pass my exams! Better get to bed and crack on with revision tomorrow! 0 comments |
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11:07 |
7 months later...
Rotations. How can I describe them? Manic?
So far I've done: PMVPH: two weeks in Wales looking at population medicine. I remember a lot of cows and a lot of cold days. Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital: loved this, made me feel a real vet and I got to do my first proper surgeries and visited DogsTrust and RSPCA. Pathology: post mortems of the animals that come through the pathology service at the RVC. Equine Medicine: caring for in patients in the RVC Equine Hospital Equine Out of Hours: similar to medicine but on the dreaded night shift 6pm-8am dealing with emergencies as well as general care Equine Ambulatory: an optional rotation I picked for tracking. Two weeks with the equine first opinion practice on the road around Hertfordshire. Bristol Abattoir: 3 days at Bristol University vet school abattoir which was surprisingly fun. Also got an afternoon out to Weston-Super-Mare. Anaesthesia: working with the QMH anaesthesia team, preparing protocols for anaesthesia, induction and monitoring during anaesthetics. Hard work but quite rewarding. And that's it so far. I start EMS at the PDSA in Bradford tomorrow for two weeks then I'm on my first research block for four weeks. And then back to the QMH for small animal medicine in September! 0 comments |
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00:30 |
Festive Happiness
Sorry I've been neglecting my blog again. It's easy to forget when you're so busy learning.
This term has been full of ups and downs again, as ever. But I've enjoyed my last term of formal veterinary teaching I guess but I absolutely hated exams. So stressful and at times I thought I was losing it - the point where I started dreaming about ethics lectures I knew I needed a break. Exams were over a prolonged period which made it worse I think. We had four exams in total. Before exams started we had a practice osce which consisted of 26 stations of 5 minutes where we had a task to do at each one. It varied from suturing to lab skills to communication skills. It took about 4 hours to do... Very tiring but it's purpose was to get us used to the format before finals in 2014. We don't find out our feedback until January which will be interesting as some stations were ropey for me. First exam we had a pre-release of information for a question from the professional studies strand and thankfully for me we got ethics. It was discussing the ethics of corporate practice in relation to the Panorama programme from 2010 on the veterinary industry. I enjoyed this as I love a bit of controversy. It's nice to have an active debate I think. Then we had three unseen questions - one data and two clinical problem solving. Data was on pig rearing which I sort of was grasping at straws for most of it. Clinical problems was a cat that was screaming hyperthyroidism but with other confusing clinical signs and a horse with forelimb lameness. After this exam finished we were released further information on the two clinical problem solving questions - we got a blood test and a video of a lameness trot up which was of pretty poor quality. We then spent the weekend researching this information (and generally over thinking it!) and sat a further exam on the Monday on these questions. In which we all released we were over thinking things - we were convinced there was hindlimb lameness as well as forelimb lameness but in the exam they only wanted us to grade it! Oops! We then had a week off to revise for the dreaded mcq/emq combination (similar to third year but on the same day this year) as usual they can go either way really! I felt they went awfully, as usual. So after they were done I did my best speed packing and drove to my Grandma's to spend the night there before doing the long drive back up north. I also stopped off to see my sister in Sheffield on the way which was surprisingly pleasant. I was so glad to be home and had two days of relaxing where I got my hair cut finally (gone back to shoulder length) and went Christmas shopping. By Friday morning I was a nervous wreck for results at 3pm. I swear I nearly fainted as at 3pm I could not get on results, the intranet kept crashing and everyone else was on Facebook updating their statuses with results. Most tense 9 minutes of my life! Anyway thankfully I passed, so I can assume I got lucky again lol. Or I actually know something underneath my thick skull. I don't know my breakdown yet that will be released next week but all I know is its between 50-65%. Which to some may seem a rubbish mark but 50% is hard in vet school and I'm happy with a pass! So now I'm at home relaxing and getting festive. For the first time in 6 years I'm not working (sadly due to the demise of Comet over recent weeks) so I'm having a good rest and getting ready for rotations. This time last year I remember thinking it was ages away but it's gone so quick. If rotations go so quick I'll be a vet in no time. Scary. 0 comments |
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10:10 |
Time flies
It appears I've forgotten how to update! Life has been busy I guess.
So surprisingly I passed my exams first time! No one was more shocked than me. After all the stresses I had about them? I've just finished ten weeks of EMS and I'm still a surgery virgin! This really bothers me as everyone else has done so much andim completely inexperienced. Doesn't help my first rotation is at Beaumont where we do bitch spays. Ugh I'll be a bag of nerves before that. I've got a few days left at home then back down south to move into the new flat on campus... I'll be glad to have my own bathroom again! 0 comments |
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10:38 |
Ups and Downs
First for the downs...
I've lost my part time job. From two weeks time, which means finances are going to be very very tight from now on. I may have to give up some of my luxuries e.g. nice food and sharing Teddy. I'm having a crisis with regards to lack of knowledge as in three weeks I'll be on my first EMS placement, and I can no longer pull the oh but I have no clinical skills card. I have to know stuff. The northern line on the tube is shut when I want to use it. This makes me angry as I have to get the bus which means I am liable to miss my train home this afternoon. Now for the ups... I am going home this afternoon to see my doggies, yay! Much needed. Monday is halfway dinner, which means, drumroll please... I am half way through the BVetMed course. (If you're not counting the fact I've done a degree already and I've been at the RVC for a year and a half that is - counting that I'd be well over half way now!). Should be a good night, we get a posh dinner and afterparty at Sway in Holborn, Central London. Had a worrying moment when I thought I wouldn't fit in my dress last night... still need to buy nail varnish and find my black cardigan. I'm getting my hair done on Monday as soon as I'm back from home so I should look somewhat presentable! And this is being played... for 'oh we're halfway there, oooh oh we're living on a prayer, take my hand and we'll make it I swear...' 0 comments |
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12:45 |
Neglected
I've been lazy and not updated, sorry to the 4 people who read this!
The last couple of weeks have been the type where I don't want to do anything apart from eat and sleep when I get in from uni. Think it's probably as I haven't done anything exciting this week. Did equine clinical club rounds this week. It was quite interesting, saw two cases. - 16.2hh 12yr gelding, previous history of violent outbursts in his stable, stamping his feet and tensing his neck. Had been getting so bad, clients vet had to sedate him frequently. He was in for a CT scan and a CSF tap. Found Cholesterol Granuloma on CT. Presents as a mass in the ventricles. Thought possibly to cause pressure build up of CSF until cannot drain (causing pain hence outbursts) until it drains again. CSF tap to assess for inflammatory cells.  - Friesian stallion, pulls funeral hearses. Came in with an impaction on the right side, as opposed to the normal left. Nasal discharge and reflux. Aspiration of reflux causing pneumonia within 12 hours of admission. Ultrasound revealed considerable consolidated of left and right lung. Started on antibiotics... metranidazole, penicillin and one beginning with an e that isn't licensed in horses in the cascade. Aggressive approach as horses from client had previously died from pneumonia suddenly. Started to recover, re-ultrasound, considilation clearing up, much better. GI problems also cleared. Preparing him to be discharged, changed to doxycycline as oral form, easier to maintain. Spiked a fever. Put back on metranidazole and penicllin. Recovered. Taken off, spiked again. Repeat by 10 days, finally stopped spiking and was discharged. Own vet to take blood end of next week, if fibrinogen and saa down antibiotics can be stopped. Anyway, that was a load of vet waffle. I'm at work at the moment, bored. I've got a viewing later which is always great, especially when people don't turn up! 0 comments |
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13:30 |
Reflection
Yesterday was 3 years since my friend and colleague Joe Wilson died in a car crash between Spofforth and Wetherby. 3 others died in the crash, 2 of his friends and a man travelling in the other direction. 2 more friends survived (they were in the back seat). They were on their way to play football. I still remember the phone call I got, being told to sit down. I was shell shocked for about 2 hours, then I went and got a train to Harrogate...
Anyway you may be wondering why this has anything to do with my 'vet story'. Well I worked with Joe for 3 years, knew him a bit longer than that, but he always knew I wanted to be a vet, at the time he died I was contemplating whether to go full on with getting work experience so I could apply for vet school the coming September. I was still undecided... put my degree at risk to do extra work for something I may not be good enough for? Was it worth it? Would I ever find the money? Our last conversation was one that will stick with me, between me washing his shirt in the canteen at work and making cups of tea, he told me 'If being a vet is what you have always wanted to do, then you should go for it, you'll find the money somehow. It'll be worth it.' I have a lot to thank you for Joseph Andrew Wilson, not just being my friend and being there for me through the hard times, but for your wise advice! I'm just sad I can't be there to say thank you for telling me that back then. So last night was a bit of a morose one, just thinking about things and how fast time has gone. It seems a lifetime since that conversation, but it really has gone quickly. And look where I am now? At vet school, like he said... I found a way. 0 comments |