Y2S1 Week 9: Lung patterns, Pathology, Chickens and Sturgeons

We are officially half-way done with the semester and time is definitely not slowing down anytime soon!

This week began with another cardiorespiratory exam followed by an anatomy lab. This anatomy lab was set up in a station format with five stations each lasting 12 minutes. Each station had a different focus, or species, and we had a list of things to identify related to the respiratory tract. We primarily focused on the equine and bovine species, and had the opportunity to dive into the major differences between these species. After the lab was over, I got to spend some time with Churro before heading back to campus to teach the undergraduate course! This week we focused on the important aspects of a physical exam along with directional terminology. This lecture is an important foundation for everything else that we are going to be covering this quarter, so Ari and I made sure to keep things interesting to help cement the concepts.

Tuesday started off with an awesome hot yoga session followed by two lectures on pulmonary mechanics. We then transitioned into a fun lecture on the comparative cardiorespiratory anatomy of the avian species and primarily focused on the chicken. This was an interesting lecture because most of our curriculum does not include much information on the avian species. These animals are fairly unique since they do not have a diaphragm and have complete tracheal rings so it is important to learn about these differences and how it can impact them on a clinical level. We then had a lecture on pulmonary defense mechanisms followed by a discussion on pulmonary mechanics. The purpose of this discussion was to help solidify the material from the earlier lectures and clear up any confusion. The rest of the afternoon was spent with Churro, and I was also able to get a lot of meal prepping done!

Wednesday morning started off with a nice 6 mile run with Churro followed by a lecture on lower airway imaging. As soon as this lecture ended we moved into a case-based discussion on the same topic. This was a nice way to quickly apply the information that we had just learned to real cases. The main objective of each case was to identify the primary pulmonary pattern and then give a list of differentials. The main pulmonary patterns that we discussed were interstitial, bronchial, alveolar, vascular, and nodular. Each of these have their own distinct characteristics but to add a little excitement, life never plays completely by the rules so you often have more than one pattern happening at the same time. Having Dr. Brust walk us through the cases was extremely beneficial and helped clear up some of the fuzzier aspects from the earlier lecture.

Wednesday afternoon consisted of a discussion on oxygen delivery which also tied in some acid-base analysis. It is fun to see how these concepts overlap from different blocks and can be used to assess various aspects of an animal’s physiology. After the discussion I was able to spend some quality time with Churro and review some lectures.

Thursday started out with a hot yoga session followed by a slew of pathology lectures. We began by learning about the basic classifications of pneumonia and understanding the characteristic signs of bronchopneumonia versus interstitial pneumonia. Bronchopneumonia affects the airways and causes consolidation of the cranioventral lung (in quadrupeds) while interstitial pneumonia affects the alveolus and causes an overall “puffed up” appearance of the lung. Bronchopneumonia affects ventilation capacity whereas interstitial pneumonia affects gas exchange. Long story short, both types of pneumonia are not good news for the host. After we all had a fairly decent understanding of pneumonia, we had two subsequent lectures, one specifically on small animal pneumonia and one on large animal. These lectures were great ways to apply our new understanding of pneumonia and learn how it may manifest in different species along with the organisms that can kick start this disease process.

Thursday afternoon included a discussion section that combined some of the concepts from the cardiology portion of the block, with some newer material regarding the lungs. There were three case-studies and we had the ability to work through them as a group and discuss our findings which helped the information stick. After the discussion I had the opportunity to tune into a webinar and learn about some orthopedic braces for dogs.

Friday morning started out with a nice swim session. We then had an anatomy lecture followed by a comparative respiratory disease lecture where we had a chance to learn even more about pneumonia along with other diseases that can impact the respiratory system across different species. Friday afternoon we had an awesome comparative anatomy lab. We had the ability to do two necropsies, one on a chicken and one on a sturgeon. It was fascinating to explore both animals and learn about the respiratory anatomy since it is much different than a typical mammal. The rest of Friday consisted of a nice long walk with Churro followed by some studying.

Saturday morning started off with a four miler with Churro followed by Steve’s Inferno Hot Pilates class. This class was a little extra spicy because Steve brought out the bands. These little things can go around your thighs, ankles, arms, and probably any other body part to light your muscles on fire. After Pilates I reviewed some of the pathology lectures in preparation for our upcoming final exam. Churro and I got a nice walk in during the afternoon and I got some things done around the house. The rest of the afternoon was spent studying and meal prepping for the week. Sunday consisted of a sunny 6 mile run with Churro followed by some studying for the upcoming cardiorespiratory final exam.

Quote of the week: "You guys are in vet school so you have committed your career to learning about the exceptions" -Dr. Woolard