Third year electives
Winter break went by way too quickly! I’ve only been in classes for two weeks, and I already feel super behind.
The first two years of veterinary school were similar to undergrad: you take certain classes for an entire semester, and then you have a final at the end. In third year, you have some core/mandatory classes with everyone in your class. These include small animal medicine, practice management, radiology, and correlates. Then you have electives. The core classes go though the entire semester, but the electives are only four weeks long. As a result, your schedule changes every four weeks. It’s nice because you take these mini one-hour courses and then move on to new ones within a month. The downside is that you never can really get into the normal rhythm of school. I guess it’s helpful that they’re getting us used to change, because in fourth year, we switch rotations every two weeks.
This block I am in quite a few electives: echocardiogram, small animal nutrition, dentistry, and emergency medicine. Even though my schedule is busy, I’m loving each of my electives. In echocardiogram we learn more about ultrasounding the heart—something we barely covered in the core small animal medicine course—and we get to actually scan patients with the echocardiogram. I really love the hands-on aspect. In dentistry, we get to clean and extract teeth. Having this experience will be great for when I’m in my dentistry elective fourth year because I’ll have some background in the subject. Nutrition isn’t hands-on, but I really enjoy learning about it because it’s something that interests me in both human and veterinary medicine—and many of the things we learn are applicable to ourselves and how we should be eating. I also enjoy it because I’m the Hill’s Student Representative, so I’m the liaison between Hill’s Pet Food and the college. In this position, I assist faculty and students by providing information about Hill’s products, so I’m glad that I will now have a better background in nutrition relating to my job.
Well, I better get back to studying on this Sunday afternoon, so I can get ready for my busy week ahead.