Week 5 of 13

This week wasn't as busy as others have been. Monday was as long as ever!

On Tuesday, I had all the normal practicals, and then a farm trip for Obstetrics and Reproduction. We were doing rectal exams on cows going for slaughter, to feel the anatomical structures. It was much harder than in the bulls, and in the heifers we'd done it in before. Because these cows had had calves, their uteruses were larger and further in than cows. They were also really tall - I was on my tiptoes, using my whole arm, and I couldn't physically reach some parts. As interesting as this was, it was pretty sad - all the cows we were practicing on were destined to the slaughterhouse in the next few days. All of them had some pretty obvious welfare failures, but some of them maybe just weren't producing enough. I know it's how it goes, but it was sad to hear that it didn't matter what we did to them because they were going to be slaughtered anyway. I just think a bit of decency and respect goes a long way. 

When the trip finished, I was supposed to have a practical in metabolic disorders, but it was really late and I'd already missed part of it. I'd already emailed the professor saying that I was going to miss it. A bit annoying, because I heard from someone that it was a really good practical. I only have so many hours, and I can't do everything. Oh, also on Tuesday morning we dissected a herbivorous fish. Pretty cool!

On Wednesday, I'd signed up to do my 10 hours in the Clinic of Horses. Because there are so many of us, we were allowed to start this semester, instead of next semester. I've barely been able to get into the other clinics, so when I saw a gap for this one, I snapped it up. I've not really enjoyed being around horses before, but I really enjoyed my time at the clinic! We came in at 8am, did TPRs on the horses, cleaned their hooves, and gave them their medication. I got to take blood from a horse - very cool, easier than doing it on a cow, and much more forceful than I expected. I also gave a horse some aspirin PO (into the mouth). He needed 25 tablets, so they were crushed up, mixed with water and put into a big syringe - he got an apple after as a treat. Later in the evening, I came back at 6pm for the evening TPR, walk and medications. One horse needed a bandage change, which was interesting. Lots of stuff to consider with horses, like protecting the tendons. Of course, you think about this with small animals too, but horses are much more prone to complications. The vet that we were working with showed us loads of X-rays and had some powerpoints about previous cases, so he talked us through those too. It was much more enjoyable than I was expecting, I'd heard that it was a bit boring, but I think we had a good teacher and some interesting cases. 

Me looking a bit awkward next to a horse!

Thursday was another fully online day, Food Hygiene and Diseases of Ruminants. I didn't have anything on Friday until 1315, and I finished the week with a few hours of pathological anatomy. 

Throughout the week, I'd been emailing anyone I can think of to get access to the university clinic database. Finally, on Friday morning I got a reply. I spent a good 2 hours trying to figure out how to filter the data I wanted, and by the time I figured it out, I had to go to class. 

On Saturday, I went back to the library and spent a good few hours collecting data. I came home, did some revision on internal diseases for the credit test on Monday, and did my ankis. Tomorrow, I'm going to meet a friend and we're going to study for pathanat. The teacher told us about the practical exam and while it doesn't sound terrible, it doesn't sound easy at all!