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Y2S2 Week 2: Derm Final and a Weekend in SLO

Writer's picture: Izzy PulidoIzzy Pulido

Just like that dermatology is over and we are now headed into the longest block of the semester; immunology and infectious diseases!

 

Monday started off with a nice hot yoga session followed by a lecture on epidermal and dermal response to injury. We then had a two-hour lecture block on the clinic-pathologic correlation between lesions. This helped us utilize the information from the first lecture of the day, which was all microscopic anatomy, and then understand what it would look like on a patient. It is sometimes hard to realize how things “match up” so having the histology and gross images together was a great way to help bridge that gap. That afternoon consisted of two lectures, one on ticks and mites and the other on lice, fleas, and flies. While these are common “bugs” that we hear about all the time, it was interesting to dive deeper and understand their lifecycle and how they can transmit diseases to our patients, and sometimes even ourselves.

 

The rest of the afternoon consisted of some playtime with Churro, a meeting with our Symposium event planning team, and the undergraduate class. This week Dr. McCobb was a guest lecturer and gave a fantastic introductory talk on the history of “access to care” and how it can relate to animal welfare.

 

Tuesday morning started off with a chilly, but beautiful, 6 miler with Churro followed by some playtime on the field with his friends. It is so funny to see him perk up as we are finishing our run, and he sees all his buddies on the field playing around. As soon as I release his leash he bounds over and joins in the chaos acting as if he hadn't just finish an hour run.

 

Tuesday morning, we also got to practice a plethora of skin diagnostic tests such as skin scrapes, tape cytologies, punch biopsies, ear cytologies, otoscopic exams, and hair shaft analysis. We had three hours to cycle through the interactive stations and test our dermatology knowledge. It was great to have some hands-on learning experiences, especially with the punch biopsy station where we had the opportunity to practice closing the biopsy site. The rest of the afternoon consisted of three lectures, one on the therapeutics in dermatology antibiotics, another on hypersensitivity and autoimmune diseases, and the last lecture was on corticosteroids. I enjoy pharmacology so these lectures were exciting and brought in the treatment/management of skin diseases. 

 

That afternoon the SAVMA Symposium team had a committee meeting which was a nice way to touch base with everyone and see how everyone is feeling two months away from the event! Everyone has been working incredibly hard to make this event a success and it is going to be amazing to see it come together soon! I then spent some time with Churro and studied the rest of the night.

 

Wednesday morning started off with a quick run with Churro followed by a hot yoga session. The rest of the day was packed full of parasitology! We had a two-hour lab/activity session with lots of creepy crawly specimens. We were primarily focusing on ticks, mites, fleas, lice, and flies since those are the common contributors to skin irritation and disease transmission. It was nice to learn about the several types of ticks and the diseases that they can transmit. I then had a two-hour break before the next session and had the opportunity to meet up with my friend Jaimie. We had lunch at the arboretum and then went on a nature walk. It was nice connecting with and hearing about all the amazing things that she is doing in her life! She is currently a fourth-year vet student and is interviewing for internships! That afternoon we had a group discussion regarding these parasites and dove deeper into some clinical application scenarios. To finish off the day the SAVMA Symposium team met up with our AVMA advisors to discuss our progress. It is wild that we only have two more months of meetings before the event! Churro then had some time with his buddy, Clover, and I spent the rest of the night studying.

 

Morning Swim Session

Thursday started off with a quick run with Churro followed by hot yoga and a nice swim. We then transitioned into a group discussion that involved matching a histology lesion/description with a gross lesion. This was a fantastic way to study the material while tying in all the topics that we had learned over the past two weeks! That afternoon we played “dermatojeopardy” which was a dermatology themed jeopardy game that our block leaders had created to help us review the material. This was a fun way to test our knowledge and prepare for the upcoming exam! The rest of the afternoon was spent playing with Churro and studying for the final.

 

Friday morning began with a quick whirl around the block followed by our dermatology final. This was a crazy short block but within those two weeks we learned a lot and it was fun to learn from people who genuinely love the skin! After the exam, I packed up and made a quick pitstop at Madeline's clinic before making my way down to San Luis Obispo. I got into SLO by early evening and Churro got to run around with his buddies Remi and Daisy!

Post-run pic
Post-run pic

Saturday morning began with a 15.5 mile run with Churro. This was the longest run he has ever done, and he absolutely nailed it! We ran around Cal Poly and got to run a lot of the trails that we used to do when I was in undergrad. The weather was beautiful, and it was nice to push our limits and run for such a long time! Churro and I took a quick pitstop at the beach to cool off and then I met up with Tasha for lunch. It was awesome connecting and hearing about all the amazing things that she is working on. She is also extremely passionate about her health and wellness, so it is always a blast to get into the weeds on different topics. After lunch I spent some time studying acupuncture and then Churro and I did another beach trip to watch the sunset. The nearest beach to Davis is about two hours away so when I am this close to the ocean, we maximize our time! That evening, I had dinner with Jenn and her kiddos and then studied some more acupuncture.

Ocean time!
Ocean time!

Sunday morning started out with a nice bike ride to Pismo followed by a pitstop for breakfast and a dog treat. After I spent some time studying acupuncture, Churro and I headed out to Avila Barn. We spent time walking around the farm animal area and worked on limiting his reactivity around different types of livestock. He did surprisingly well and as a reward we headed to the beach. He ran his little brain out and made a ton of new friends! I then took a quick cold plunge in the ocean before heading back to Jenn’s house. That evening, I had the opportunity to have dinner in Morro Bay with Dr. Spray. As many of you know, Dr. Spray has been an influential part of my journey, and I have the upmost admiration for her. It was wonderful spending time together over dinner and watching the beautiful sunset on the water. The rest of the night was spent hanging out with Jenn and studying some acupuncture. Every time I am in SLO I am reminded of just how fortunate I am to have a place to stay and wonderful people to see. Jenn always welcomes Churro and I in like family and I could not be more grateful to have her in my life.

Spray ♡
Spray ♡

 

Quote of the week: “These have bitten me before and I wanted to punch a toddler – very painful.” -Dr. Grace VanHoy *as she lectured about Stomoxys which is a blood feeding fly

 


Tired Pups!
Tired Pups!

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