Tuesday, September 14, 2004

 

Second Year, First Semester
DVM Curriculum

General Pathology:

It's all about what can wrong in the body. As the book puts it, most disease states are not caused by new, abnormal processes but by normal processes falling out of balance. Makes sense, and instead of learning a bunch of new stuff, we're reveiwing what we already know about normal physiology and looking at it from a new angle.

I think this is going to be my favorite class.

Except for the fact that much of pathology deals with necropsies (animal autopsies) so we have to look at a lot of dead, gross, gelatinous, gooey, pus-filled things. (note that the word pus does not have an adjective form involving the letter "y"--although I've seen it written on medical records, and it just doesn't look right. I believe purulent is the correct term.)

Professor: Dr. Matthew Wallig (see previous post)
Text: Mechanisms of Disease: A Texbook of Comparative General Pathology by David Slauson and Barry Cooper

Pharmacology:

All about drugs and how the body uses them. A little bit of physics and math. The veterinary version is much more complicated than the human medicine version (when isn't it?) since there are so many differences between species--differences in how their bodies process and eliminate drugs--i.e. what can save a dog's life can kill a horse or a cat, etc.

Professor: Dr. Tomas Martin-Jimenez
Text: Class notes by Dr. Martin-Jimenez

Parasitology:

If you get grossed out easily, don't ask a vet student about parasitology. It involves a lot of bugs, worms, blood and poo. The first day of class we watch a delightful doumentary call "Eaten Alive." Really fun stuff.

Professor: Dr. Allen J. Paul
Text: Class notes by Dr. Paul, and I use a handy parasitology reference book from the library. Nothing better than free books.

Bacteriology and Mycology:

Self-explanatory. Mycology pertains to fungi, especially infectious ones. A lot of lab time with this course--I coughed on a Petri dish last week and found four different bacterial colnies the next day!

Professor:Dr. Lois Hoyer and Dr. Mark S. Kuhlenschmidt
Text: Notes by the professors, and more reference books from the library.

Epidemiology:

Basically, applied statistics. Lots of 2 by 2 diagrams, graphs and tables. Epidemiology is defined a myriad of ways, but my favortie definition is succint: "the study of health and disease in populations."

Professor: Dr. Ronald Smith
Text: Veterinary Clinical Epidemiology, the definitve text, of course, written by our very own Dr. Smith

Jurisprudence:

All the stuff we need to know in case we get sued. Or want to sue. Or have employer/employee problems, or other business disputes. Obviously very crucial and useful information. We read a lot of cases and memorize a lot of terms.

Professor: Margaret Grosso Rossman (from the law school)
Text: Notes by the professor and court cases


I'm slacking off and skipping out on electives this semester, since I accrued 5 hours of elective credit over the summer with a GIS course and my research, but some good ones are being offered:

Bereavement Issues: Taught by the new social worker, or "client couselor specialist," Cheryl Weber, from the small animals clinic. She has experience in human hospice, and this course adresses ways vets can talk to pet owners in times of grief or distress.

Environmental Toxicology: An information-dense (so I've heard from a classmate) course that focuses on the effects of bad chemicals in the environment, with a focus on animal health. Taught by my mentor, Dr. Val Beasley.

Urban and Shelter Medicine: I was going to register for this course, but when I heard it was mostly guest speakers I opted to forego the hour credit and just go to hear the speakers. That way, I don't feel guilty when I don't go.

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