S2 Week 16: Necropsy Lab, Center for Integrative Animal Medicine, and Churro's Rescue Anniversary!

We are officially down to the final three weeks of the semester!

This week started off with our first GI exam of the block. It was awesome to see just how much we had learned in the past two weeks and put that knowledge to the test! After the exam was over, we had a little break before the afternoon lectures. That afternoon we had a discussion centered around glycolysis and glycogen metabolism and tied it together with some clinical cases. We then ended the day with a lecture on how to perform a basic abdominal ultrasound. The ultrasound lecture was super helpful because oftentimes ultrasound interpretation can be confusing so breaking it down and going through a whole scan step-by-step was great. The evening concluded with another shadowing session for the undergraduate Knight’s Landing course followed by a walk with Churro.

Tuesday began with a run with Churro followed by a swim session! I then met up with my small-group and we worked through another case-based learning activity. This case was used to tie in some of our prior knowledge while adding in some ultrasound practice and pharmacology. It was based on a “yellow cat” with clinical symptoms indicating liver dysfunction. I then joined up with the SAVMA Symposium planning team and we met with some students that were interested in being a part of some of the symposium committees. It was super exciting to see the enthusiasm surrounding this event and I am confident that everyone is doing to do an amazing job in their respective committees! We then had a meeting with a facilities manager and are getting close to finalizing all of our locations for the event! That afternoon ended with a long walk with Churro followed by some lecture review!

Wednesday started off with a hot yoga session followed by a lecture on lipids and lipid metabolism. We then transitioned into our necropsy lab which was an incredible learning experience! We were split up into groups of four and were then assigned an animal that was either a cat or dog. My team was assigned a mid-sized dog and we were accompanied by Dr. April Choi, one of our wonderful boarded pathologists. Dr. Choi guided us through the whole necropsy procedure and explained all of the significant findings. During the necropsy we were all assigned a “surgical task” to perform, and these tasks were based on things that we had recently learned about in the past lectures. My task was a cholecystectomy which basically means that I got to remove the gallbladder. Working closely with a pathologist while doing this necropsy was such a great opportunity and it truly helped cement all of the anatomy, physiology, and pathology that we had been learning about in the previous lectures. We had a little extra time at the end of the necropsy so Dr. Choi went over some additional anatomical structures, that we have not yet covered in class. She also gave us some tips on how to remember their important physiological roles. Necropsy labs can be challenging by nature, but I am so grateful that these owners donated their animals so that we could use them to advance our learning. Going into this lab knowing that it is a privilege to perform a necropsy on someone’s beloved animal and by learning as much as possible is a way that we can pay respect to the animal and their owner.

Wednesday afternoon began with some additional lectures on the anatomy, physiology, and pathology of the pancreas. Prior to these lectures I had little knowledge on the pancreas, so it was awesome to learn about its importance in normal body functioning. The rest of the afternoon was spent taking Churro on a long walk followed by a Sacramento Valley Veterinary Medical Association meeting. These meetings are always interesting and involve the discussion of current trends in the veterinary world.

Thursday started off with a nice run with Churro followed by a lecture on lipid transport and fatty acid oxidation. I then had a few hours to review the lectures from the earlier part of the week. That afternoon I got in a nice swim with some friends and then attended a lecture on the clinicopathologic evaluation of pancreatic disease. This lecture helped tie together the other pancreases lectures and allow us to get an idea of what pancreatic disease could look like on a biochemistry panel and what other testing modalities are commonly used to diagnose pancreatic diseases.

That afternoon I had the incredible opportunity of shadowing Dr. Madeline Yamate at her integrative veterinary clinic. Dr. Yamate is a UC Davis SVM graduate and also earned her MBA from Northwestern. She is certified in veterinary acupuncture, Chinese herbs, food therapy, spinal manipulative therapy, and is also a certified tui-na and traditional Chinese veterinary medicine practitioner. To top all that off, she is also the current president of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Foundation! All that being said, just being given the opportunity to shadow and learn her was amazing. That afternoon I was able to observe four appointments that included acupuncture and chiropractic treatment. Dr. Yamate’s clinic was unlike anything that I had ever seen before. There were no metal tables, it smelled amazing, and some of the animals were so relaxed they were basically falling asleep during their treatments. A majority of my past veterinary experience has been in Western medicine, so this experience was eye-opening. The clients and their animals seemed to be “at home” in the clinic and they were all invested in the care of their animals. Dr. Yamate explained everything that she was doing and made sure the owners were always on the same page. The appointments were also longer than the traditional vet visit that usually only last 15-30 minutes. These animals were receiving treatments that required more time and each patient was assessed as a whole instead of just having a single presenting complaint addressed. This level of connection between a veterinarian, the client, and patient is something that I have not seen before, and it was awesome to observe! I plan on incorporating integrative modalities into the way that I practice veterinary medicine, so it was awesome to see the collaboration between western and traditional Chinese veterinary medicine in action.

Friday started off with a hot yoga session followed by a lecture on gluconeogenesis. That afternoon we had a lab that focused on oral and maxillofacial anatomy. This lab was separated into different stations lead by specialists and was a great way to dive into the anatomy in a deeper way. Friday also happened to be the three-year anniversary of Churro’s adoption, so we celebrated the afternoon by getting a burger patty as a treat. This was Churro’s first time at In-and-Out so of course I had to get him a hat and make him wear it while he ate his patty. The rest of the night was spent reviewing lectures and hanging out with Churro.

Saturday started off with a fun run with Churro followed by a hot yoga session. I then got some things done around the house and did some radiology review. That evening, I attended the VBMA banquet and got to play some trivia with friends. VBMA is a club that helps educate students on different aspects of practice ownership as well as a different veterinary bills, and veterinary business strategies. I love learning about different opportunities in veterinary medicine and VBMA has been a huge asset in that process!

Sunday started out with a run with Churro followed by some additional radiology review and organization for the week ahead. The rest of the day was spent reviewing old lectures and relaxing with Churro.

Quote of the week: “There are two types of radiographs that Dr. Johnson lets me interpret, one is a GDV (gastric dilation-volvulus) and the other is a bullet.” – Dr. Pesavento