Y2S2 Week 5: End-of-Life Client Simulation, Pharmacology, and our Last Parasitology Lab!
Updated: Feb 9
This week started with a nice hot yoga session followed by a discussion on large animal gastrointestinal diseases. The main point of this discussion was to tie in the information that we had learned in past parasitology lectures as well as the information from the two lectures on clostridial diseases last week. Using real cases to apply previously learned concepts is a great way to cement knowledge! We then had a lecture on protozoa followed by a deeper dive into virology. That afternoon we had another individual and team assessment activity. This activity assessed our knowledge of the previous week’s immunology concepts.
That evening, I had the opportunity to get in a quick run with Churro before heading to the undergraduate campus for the KLOHC course. This week, we had the privilege of having Dr. Kristen Jankowski explain the foundation of Access to Care and how it influences different aspects of veterinary medicine.
Tuesday morning began with a quick whirl around the neighborhood with Churro, followed by our second quiz of the block. We then transitioned into two lectures on protozoa. That afternoon, we had our last client simulation of the year. This scenario was centered around end-of-life discussions, which are not the easiest conversations to have. The small animal students were presented with one of two situations: a dog that was just struck by a car and is now paralyzed in the hind limbs or a cat in advanced-stage renal failure. The actors had a variety of responses, including grief, anger, confusion, or disbelief and many expressed a combination of all of them. In the situation, we were expected to empathetically walk the client through the scenario, explaining the medical aspect of the condition and then help them determine where they wanted to go from there. These options included hospice care or euthanasia. I ended up getting the dog scenario and, in the end, my client elected humane euthanasia. These sessions are concluded with feedback from the “client” along with a mentor and a group of your peers. While these client simulations are not always the most comfortable activity, I am grateful that UC Davis prioritizes this in our curriculum since it is an unavoidable aspect of veterinary medicine. As a side note, it is impressive how invested these actors are, the emotions that they express are as close as you can get to the real thing.
Tuesday evening, I had the opportunity to do some anatomy/physiology tutoring for an awesome Cal Poly student. Working with students is something that I absolutely love and the fact that I get to do this frequently is such a privilege! The rest of the evening consisted of some studying and cuddle time with Churro.
Wednesday morning started with a quick run with Churro followed by a hot yoga class. We then had an immunology lecture followed by another lecture on protozoa. We finished off the morning talking about antimicrobial pharmacology. During lunch, the VBMA club had a nice session with Dr. Loonam discussing corporate and practice ownership. It was interesting to learn his perspective on corporate and see that although there is a huge corporate influence in the world of veterinary medicine, owning a practice is still doable and can be a great option. He also made sure that we were aware of the benefits associated with working in a corporate setting and how it can be a way to provide a platform to build off.
The rest of Wednesday included a parasite lab. This was the last parasite lab of our curriculum which is wild to think about! Since this was the last parasitology lab, it was comprehensive and tied in a lot of material from previous blocks. The rest of Wednesday was spent studying and spending time with Churro.
Thursday morning started with an 8-mile run with Churro, we finished just in time for him to play with his friends and avoid the rain. The lecture schedule for the day started with immunology and then transitioned into a deeper dive into antimicrobial pharmacology. That afternoon we had a lab centered around bacterial staining. We were given 5 cases and had multiple stations set up with real samples to try to identify the organisms on the slide. This was a practical way to put the last two weeks’ lecture material to use. Thursday evening, I had the opportunity to attend the SVVMA board meeting. It is always fun to meet up with the local veterinarians and hear their thoughts on the things that are happening within the realm of veterinary medicine.
Friday morning started off with a quick run with Churro followed by a hot yoga session. We then had another immunology lecture on immunological memory followed by two lectures on vaccines. The first lecture laid the foundation by talking about how vaccines can be made and how they impact the immune system while the final lecture of the morning had a more clinical spin and focused on the vaccines that are relevant to veterinary medicine.
That afternoon we had an awesome parasitology discussion; this was a follow-up session from the lab that was earlier this week. We went through the case studies and reviewed some material we have covered in our lecture sessions. The last session of the day was an information session focusing on our comprehensive Y2 exam. This exam is a way for the school to assess our knowledge / clinical skills and determine if we are ready to move into the third year of curriculum and then the clinical year. It was nice to go over the format and learn more about what to expect on the exam! The rest of the afternoon was spent studying and hanging out with Churro.
Saturday morning started with a nice 8 miler with Churro followed by a hot yoga session. I then spent some time reviewing lectures and preparing for the upcoming exam. That afternoon I took Churro to the Arboretum and he had a blast exploring all of the new scents. Sunday started off with another run with Churro followed by church. The rest of the afternoon was spent meeting with our AVMA team and finalizing some details for the Symposium along with some studying.
Quote of the week: "Maybe they love gardening to quiet their mind" - Dr. Jeroen Saeij after explaining some data that suggested people infected with toxoplasma gondii are more likely to have schizophrenia but then emphasizing that the gardening could have caused the toxoplasmosis and that they were already schizophrenic prior to this infection
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