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Refreshing My Passion

I feel this is the best year ever!

My classes this semester have been beyond phenomenal as I have more hands-on experience from our designated labs. We have a surgery lab this semester which teaches us how to perform a proper sterile technique to prevent any form of contamination with the imaginary patient.

We are given SynDavers, which are synthetic surgery models that have realistic looking organs and vessels. These models allow us to practice suturing, taking biopsies of the organs, and removing foreign objects that were supposedly swallowed by the patient.

This is our first class where we learn the sterile surgeon skills for our practices, and are taught by veterinary specialists who work at the A&M hospitals next door.

Besides surgery, we also have radiology and this class solely focuses on how we can read and diagnose the pet’s problem by identifying them on x-rays. To me, it’s like a puzzle where I look at an image and see what is abnormal or not. We are given a brief history of the animal but otherwise we don’t have any test results to explain what isn’t right with our patient.

I appreciate this approach because it gives me a blank canvas to work with and I’m not blinded by my own ideas. With this method, I learn how a normal bone looks like compared to a bone with a small fracture. I can see the detail, or lack of detail, of vessels in the chest and determine if there’s fluid or air in the lungs.

From two images, I can create a story behind what I see and determine what form of treatment is best for these animals.

Experiencing these two classes reminds me why I wanted to come to this school and to this program. I truly appreciate the brilliant specialists who teach us, along with the vast amount of hands-on experience I get to be involved in!

Moving into Surgery, Externships

It seems as though the further I get into veterinary school, the faster the semesters seem to fly by.  

As I am writing this post, it is week eight of my second semester as a second-year veterinary student.  It seems like just yesterday that it was week one. 

Probably the most exciting thing about this semester has been starting surgery.  We have our “Introduction to Surgery” course this semester, and it has been such a great experience.  

Even the simple things, like learning how to wrap our surgery gowns and instruments and how to get scrubbed and gowned for surgery, have been exciting for me. So far this semester, we have already practiced a liver biopsy and an abdominal exploratory.  

One of the coolest things about introductory surgery is the extremely realistic models we get to use to practice procedures on. Each model even has its own pump system that simulates blood flow and bleeding.  

I think that practicing on these realistic models is a great way to gain confidence before having real patients put in front of us; the things we are practicing and learning in our clinical skills and surgery courses are going to make us much more confident when it comes time to perform real procedures.  

I definitely feel like I leave every semester of veterinary school more and more confident and prepared to help my future patients.  

Right now, I am focused on going into equine medicine after I graduate, and so in the midst of studying, I am also arranging summer externships.  

I can say that I am truly lucky to have such an amazing group of professors who have been willing to meet with me outside of class to help me establish connections with clinics that I want to extern at.  

I am excited to take what I have learned this semester, and past semesters, and apply it during my externships!

Making an Impact

Coming into my fourth semester as an undergraduate student here at Texas A&M, lots of things are changing!

This semester, I became a junior (in my sophomore year; early graduation here I come!), so I have my eyes on that Aggie bling soon.

As of this semester, I actually have a tour shift in my job as an ambassador, meaning that I get the opportunity to lead more tours and show alumni, prospective students, and visitors the beautiful College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences here at Texas A&M.

Being able to meet such a diverse pool of people is such a rewarding aspect of my job!

My favorite types of tours are those given to high schoolers. I find it easy to communicate with younger students and I connect a little more easily with them. We can always laugh and have a good time.

I love the thought that one day, my words may bring them to be one of our newest, loudest, and proudest Aggies!

I also got some exciting news this month.

Last May, I traveled to Australia for a vacation, and we went to Bondi Beach. While there, my mom and I just happened to notice a poster advertising an opportunity to model in a photoshoot empowering women.

On a whim, I decided that it would be such an amazing opportunity, and we took a couple of hours out of our vacation to do it. Those photos are being put into a book called “This Is Me,” which comes out next month in Australia.

As a promotion for the book, Marie Claire magazine AU chose 12 photos out of hundreds to be in their editorial and they picked mine!

My photo and words get to be shown to people all across Australia and the United States, and I can’t help but be so delighted about the way I can help other people through my story.