Monthly Archives: May 2011

Two years down, two years to go! After four semesters of numerous sleepless nights, countless hours in the labs, and more fast food than a human being should consume, we are finally upperclassmen! The summertime transition from 2VM to 3VM is an interesting one. Due to the 12-month curriculum for 4VM clinical rotations, this is the last, "free" summer many of us will ever have as students. Some students find enjoyment in sharpening the knowledge we've acquired over the past couple of years in the classroom, and look forward to applying it in a clinical or laboratory setting throughout our break. On the other hand, some of my classmates cringe at the fact of doing anything vet school related during our last summer of freedom! Either way, we are all ecstatic to begin our year of comprehensive medicine courses and electives! After a miserable week of six finals in five days, I packed up and made my way to San Antonio, TX to begin a 10-week internsh... (Read More)

Waking up this morning, I planned on using my time and space this week to discuss the joys of summer.  How I have been out of school for a week and was beginning to remember what it was like to wake up rested in the morning.  Or what it was like to have a normal weekend filled with pool outings, Terminator movie marathons, and grilling.  Then I saw the shuttle launch. Just like every young American boy, I traversed all the usual childhood career fantasies.  When I was really young, I was all about being a firefighter.  I collected firemen equipment magazines, watched recruits at the local fire school, and even had a fireman helmet.  The next fantasy was to be a veterinarian.  I worked on an equine embryo transfer project with my local veterinarian that produced a gorgeous little black filly.  I was hooked on being a vet…..but that didn't last long. Then came the astronaut phase where I read about the great... (Read More)

For the past month, wildfires have been racing through north and west Texas, leaving a wide swath of death and destruction behind them.  Over a million acres of pasture, hundreds of cattle, and scores of homes have already been lost, and the main wildfire 'season' - caused by an extremely dry spring - has just begun. But what exactly does that have to do with the vet school?  In any emergency, the first concern is always the preservation of human life.  However, with each disaster more and more people are asking what can be done for their animals.  In the vast Texas plains, the situation can be incredibly difficult - ranches are spread over hundreds of acres, so it's hard to know exactly where all the herds are at any given time, much less be able to move entire herds of lumbering cattle ahead of the racing flames.  Cities face their own problems of transportation and safety as they have to evacuate thousands of people a... (Read More)