Saturday, January 21, 2006
Ahh. . . three weeks into the semester already, and one exam and six online quizzes down.
I didn’t blog much last semester because a) I always felt I should have been using my time to study or work (even though blogging a little each day doesn't really take any more time than my daily staring at the wall) and b) I would always think of something to blog when I was away from my computer, then just didn't feel like blogging once I actaully got to computer (a reason to get a Blackberry? Nope--I'm just not that hard-core) and c) Since this is a "veterinary student" blog, I wanted to blog more about school but just didn't feel the motivation. There's only so many ways to say "I'm exhausted" and "My arm is so frickin sore from being in a rectum all afternoon." In fact, you could say both in one sentence: "I'm pooped!"
Also, I had a lot of gripes, and I didn't feel like griping too much on the blog.
But, to
briefly sum up a few of my gripes:
--I wish we started surgery lab earlier in the curriculum so we could get to actual medical procedures beyond the spay and castration.
--I think we'd benefit from some more clinical experience in school. We cram it all into the last year, but other curricula at other vet schools spread it out over two years, giving stuff a chance to soak in.
--I wish the education of veterinary students was a priority of the veterinary school and teaching hospital. Yes, we had some wonderful professors last semester that totally love teaching and put their students first, but I don't feel that's the overall priority of the school and hospital. I think just a general lack of faculty and staff or efficient management that's the problem, even though the individual professors and some of the residents really love teaching.
--Since we're three weeks into the semester already, it would be nice to know our class schedule.
--We need a cardiology professor. Or I can wish big and hope we someday have a cardiology department? Cardiology is kind of an important part of medicine.
--Ditto for radiology. According to the syallabus, the class is to be split in half (into groups of 50) and each group gets two hours of lab time each week. Instead, we're going to be smooshed into one big group of 100 and are given only one hour of lab instruction a week. So our time is getting cut in half by cutting the time, and then the resident's attention is cut in half by giving her twice as many students to deal with in that hour. And believe me, our class has a lot of questions to ask--any beginners in radiology would. That poor resident is so busy seeing patient cases that our education is yet again being short-changed. Radiology is kind of an important diagnostic tool, and interpreting this information is kind of an important skill for any doctor. It would be nice to learn this stuff thoroughly.
. . . and so on.
Well, my gripes done, at least I really enjoy radiology (despite the lack of lab instruction) and the surgery lectures and most classes (except Swine). We have online quizzes for both large and small animal surgery lectures, which really helps direct my studying. I think our professors are wonderful this semester, as they were last semester.
Coming soon: third year, second semester curriculum
Imagination is more important than knowledge --Albert Einstein
. . .especially when you're a clueless vet student looking at poor projections of radiographs in SAC 80. --Me
