Week One

Vet school has begun! I've relocated successfully, wrangled a dog intent on killing herself via consumption of foreign objects (two surgeries later, she's doing much better) and have officially begun my first year. We've had the first of all of our classes except Radiology, and so far, so good. Mostly, the professors have started us gently, so the sheer mass of Stuff To Know hasn't really kicked in, yet. But it will, and soon, and that will be something.

Today, we got our dissection teams and canine cadavers in Gross Anatomy, so we all learned what spending two hours in a formalin-thick space does for one's personal aroma. Despite changing out of scrubs and shoes at the end of the lab period, we were all still "wafting" as we headed out to lunch. I though eating outside would have sufficiently aired me out, but when I got back home and took a shower, as soon as the water hit my hair there was a sudden miasma of formalin in the air. So, possibly, that may just be what I smell like, on and off, for the next nine-ish months.

Obligatory Introduction

Hello to anyone and everyone reading this blog (probably, it's only me). I am a non-traditional student getting ready to begin school at The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in August of 2014. I have no idea what I'm getting myself into, but I thought it might be worthwhile to try and document the process (try being the operative word).

Here are a several things I currently believe about animals and veterinary science. They're statements I'll reassess at the end of each year to see how the experience of learning how to practice veterinary medicine affects them.

• Holistic approaches to animal health and illnesses can be as or more effective than traditional approaches, especially when dealing with chronic conditions.

• Vaccinations are important, but it's also important to titer test and not booster vaccines unnecessarily.

• Commercial diets and an excess of various chemicals greatly contribute to the pet issues of obesity, autoimmune diseases and diabetes.

• Factory farms, in general, do not treat their animals with dignity, compassion or respect, and the tight quarters, dirty conditions and general overcrowding, require routine administration of antibiotics which, in turn, contributes to the increase of drug-resistant strains of bacteria.

• I want to work primarily with small animals either as an integrative vet, a veterinary behaviorist or a shelter vet.

• Among all animals, horses have the most smackable butts.

And, that's pretty much it for now. Updates will probably come pretty sporadically, but I'll try my best!

P.S. The name of this blog comes from a professor at one of the veterinary colleges at which I interviewed. He noted that a DVM is licensed to provide medical care to every species on the planet... but one.