Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I have finally finished a continuous year of veterinary school at the University of Missouri. Whoo-hoo! Since we have two years of clinical work, instead of just one like many of the other vet schools, our classes are in session until the end of June. That means that at this point I have finished one block as a second year vet student (VM-2). This also means that I am now on summer break!

My parents came from SC to visit for the 4th of July, and they helped move me into my aunt and uncle's house in Kansas City. I'll be staying with them for the summer, so I don't have to commute from Columbia. I've been to KC a few times before, but it is a HUGE city and I have no clue about getting around on my own. It doesn't help that most of the highways are under construction and parts of them are blocked off. Thank goodness for Tommy, my TomTom.

I have also started my new job for the summer. I am working four days a week at a veterinary hospital/clinic. So far I have spent most of my time doing online training; it's been really informative, but it takes forever to get through. I have done some hands-on training, but there is much more of that to come. The staff is very nice and really makes an effort to help me learn. My mentor is super friendly, and we both seem to want the same things for this experience, so hopefully things continue smoothly. It's been an interesting experience already. I did a good amount of shadowing before I entered vet school, but those were all different situations. I was usually paired with the doctor, rather than being matched with a group of people. Being connected with the hospital staff as a whole has really allowed me to learn much more from the team, because they all know I am there to learn, and I am interested in just about everything. Another difference is that most of those vets I have previously shadowed owned their clinics, so they were generally the final say and chose how things were set up and run. This hospital is corporately owned, which creates a whole new dynamic.

What I really like about the job is the opportunity to connect the things I have learned in the classroom with their real world practices and uses. It's also helping me to connect themes and ideas from different classes. Already, I have identified bacteria and recognized antimicrobials that I learned about in bacteriology. I've also heard some of the same terminology thrown around that I learned in my clinical pathology course. My favorite experience so far has been correctly diagnosing a sick guinea pig with bacterial pneumonia (First Diagnosis = Success!). Once I have my license to practice, I really think I'd like to deal with small animals and pocket pets*.

Well, those are the big changes that have happened so far. For the small stuff: I went to my first rugby tournament on Saturday (as a spectator of course). Rugby is actually kind of awesome; though this was a 7S tournament and not a 15S, so the guys were complaining that it's not "real" rugby. Whatever, boys; I liked it. Maybe there will be more of these games in my future.

That's life for me now. The changes have been good as of yet, and I hope they stay that way. Hopefully, the universe has positive things planned for me, and I look forward to seeing what those things are.

*Pocket pets: small mammals that are commonly used as pets. They include hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, and sugar gliders, as well as many other species.