Week 11: VEG, Equine Acupuncture and a Dogstume Contest!
Week 11 was a wild week packed full of all things blood! We started off the week with five lectures covering hematology and immunology. During lunch we had an interesting lunch talk from Boehringer Ingelheim on the effects of their cardiac drug, Pimobendan.
Pimobendan is a positive inotropic drug with vasodilatative properties meaning that it increases myocardial contractility (heart beats harder) and the blood vessels are wider (dilated). In short, this takes some of the pressure off of the heart and allows it to beat easier! If you are interested in learning more, you can click here!
Tuesday started off with a fun lab comparing the morphology of different blood cells. This was a fun way to apply what we learned in lecture and allowed us to practice using the microsocpes and correctly identifying different cell types. The Veterinary Emergency Group (VEG) gave a presentation during lunch and gave us some insight on the life of an ER vet. It was interesting to hear about VEG’s policy with the clients. Unlike most veterinary hospitals, VEG allows the owners to be / see their pet throughout the whole process. They even have beds that the owners can sleep on if they want to spend the night with their pet in the hospital. I had originally thought that this may be frustrating for the technicians and veterinarians, especially if there is a very overbearing owner, but it apparently made the process more streamline. The owner is able to quickly communicate with the vets and techs about their animal and their needs without having to go through the whole game of phone tag. The rest of the afternoon consisted of cat and dog physical examinations and Spanish! That evening VEG hosted a case study night at Ruhstaller's and walked through some of their clinical cases.
Wednesday was packed full of more lectures and a bone marrow lab! The lectures focused on erythropoiesis and leukocytes which directly translated into our lab. During lunch I attended a talk from an integrative medicine veterinarian and she walked thorough some of her cases and talked to us about how integrative medicine can supplement western medicine and help improve our patient’s quality of life!
Thursday started out with some lectures focused on anemia and then continued with a lab on red blood cell morphology. It was exciting to see the progress from Monday and have the ability to identify more of the cells! The rest of the afternoon concluded with some lectures on the innate immune system.
Friday started off with a lecture on neutrophils followed by a case-based lab with a few different anemic patients. Our goal was to determine the cause of the anemia based on the blood work and clinical presentation. This was my favorite lab of the week because it brought all of the information together and was a direct reflection of how the material we are learning now will be applicable in the future! It is sometimes hard to remember the big picture when you are studying the microdetails of every pathway so stepping back and seeing the clinical relevance was exciting! The afternoon finished off with another lecture and a team-based learning session. During this session we took a short quiz and then retook the quiz as a group to discuss the questions and fill in any holes in our knowledge. We then transitioned into a case that was based on the quiz information. This activity made sure that we were all on the same page and felt confident about the innate immune system! That evening Canine Medicine Club hosted a Dogstume Contest! The Dean sponsored a dinner with some other festivities to celebrate Halloween and give students a few hours to relax and enjoy the company of each other without being in a classroom setting.
Saturday started off with a run with Churro and then I went to Happee Horse ranch were Dr. Linda Lauper taught us about the benefits of traditional Chinese medicine in horses. We learned about the science of acupuncture and then after a lecture, we went out to the pasture and practiced on her horses. We first practiced doing body scans and feeling/finding the major acupuncture points. This was a good way to make sure that we understood the energy flow in the horse’s body and gave us a guide as to where to stick the needles. All of her horses did amazing and did not mind getting some additional acupuncture treatment. This was a great way to see another side of veterinary medicine and I am excited to continue to explore this path!
Sunday was spent studying and hanging out with Churro!
Quote of a week: “Now, if you’ve got this in the blood, big fat cocc…..big fat rods, big fat rods, cocci, cocci bacillus.” -Dr. Vernau
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