Today was third semester's first midterm in Bacteriology. I spent about a week reviewing the Powerpoints and then yesterday went back over them and took handwritten notes on the really important bits . We got our grades back within 3 hours (because Dr. Wang is wonderful) and I got a 100%! Yeah, I'd say this semester is already going much better than last semester. Although, my Pharmacology midterm is on Monday and I'm scared to death of it.
But for BacT this means that I could completely skip the lab final and get a 64% on the lecture final and still pass the class. Not that I plan on doing any of that, but it's comforting to know that if I do really poorly on one of my other upcoming exams (*cough* Pharm! *cough*) and have to sacrifice study time during finals for one class in order to make up those points, I can safely do so.
A Ross vet student blog.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Hi, new Rossies!
A reader in the incoming January class of 2012 informed me that someone linked to my blog on your Facebook page. Things are kind of insane right now with midterms starting this Friday, but if you have any questions please feel free to email me or friend me on Facebook and I'll get to them as soon as I have a moment.
If you're looking to get an idea of what your orientation experience will be like, definitely hit the archives and check out some of the earlier entries in January 2011.
If you're looking to get an idea of what your orientation experience will be like, definitely hit the archives and check out some of the earlier entries in January 2011.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
More homeopathic nonsense.
Okay, so this has absolutely nothing to do with veterinary medicine.
The other day I saw an ad pop up on Facebook for a homeopathic birth control pill. I snickered, felt a smidge of concern for the women who would fall for it and wind up pregnant and moved on. Then a few days later a friend of mine giggled during class and angled her laptop so that I could see it. The following image was displayed:
I laughed thinking, "Hooray, someone else gets how ridiculous the concept of homeopathy is!" But no. The image is making fun of the "real human fetus" aspect.
I've blogged about homeopathy before but just as a brief recap, here is what homeopathy is:
- Step 1: Take an ingredient that causes the symptoms you want to treat.
- Step 2: Dilute the fuck out of it.
- Step 3: Cured!
So as ridiculous as it sounds, within the context of how homeopathy is proposed to work, preventing a fetus by taking a pill made out of a fetus actually makes sense. The fact that it flies in the face of objective reality, however, is the problem.
People, the lulz here isn't that you're supposed to take a pill made out of dead babies. Okay... Yeah, maybe it is, a little bit. But the real lulz/headdesk point here is that people are going to take a homeopathic birth control pill. I could achieve the same effect by only taking the week four sugar pills in my own oral contraceptive pack. Seriously, the shit doesn't work. As evidenced even by the very claims on the package.
- "Up to 100% effective." You mean it could be anywhere from 0-100% effective? Remember to read carefully, boys and girls!
- "When used in conjunction with a condom." This is like those miracle diet pills that claim to cause you to lose 20 lbs in just four weeks when used in conjunction with a healthy diet and exercise. You'll actually lose weight because of your diet and activity level, but you'll attribute it to their product.
*ETA: Emerging evidence suggests that this is a Poe. While that's somewhat relieving, and hey, all bloggers fall for one eventually, I guarantee you homeopathic birth control exists somewhere. Actually, we know it does, only it goes under the pseudonym "pull and pray."
The other day I saw an ad pop up on Facebook for a homeopathic birth control pill. I snickered, felt a smidge of concern for the women who would fall for it and wind up pregnant and moved on. Then a few days later a friend of mine giggled during class and angled her laptop so that I could see it. The following image was displayed:
I laughed thinking, "Hooray, someone else gets how ridiculous the concept of homeopathy is!" But no. The image is making fun of the "real human fetus" aspect.
I've blogged about homeopathy before but just as a brief recap, here is what homeopathy is:
- Step 1: Take an ingredient that causes the symptoms you want to treat.
- Step 2: Dilute the fuck out of it.
- Step 3: Cured!
So as ridiculous as it sounds, within the context of how homeopathy is proposed to work, preventing a fetus by taking a pill made out of a fetus actually makes sense. The fact that it flies in the face of objective reality, however, is the problem.
People, the lulz here isn't that you're supposed to take a pill made out of dead babies. Okay... Yeah, maybe it is, a little bit. But the real lulz/headdesk point here is that people are going to take a homeopathic birth control pill. I could achieve the same effect by only taking the week four sugar pills in my own oral contraceptive pack. Seriously, the shit doesn't work. As evidenced even by the very claims on the package.
- "Up to 100% effective." You mean it could be anywhere from 0-100% effective? Remember to read carefully, boys and girls!
- "When used in conjunction with a condom." This is like those miracle diet pills that claim to cause you to lose 20 lbs in just four weeks when used in conjunction with a healthy diet and exercise. You'll actually lose weight because of your diet and activity level, but you'll attribute it to their product.
*ETA: Emerging evidence suggests that this is a Poe. While that's somewhat relieving, and hey, all bloggers fall for one eventually, I guarantee you homeopathic birth control exists somewhere. Actually, we know it does, only it goes under the pseudonym "pull and pray."
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Settling in.
Sorry for the lack of updates, but honestly vet school is kind of boring. You go to class, you come home, eat, study, sleep, repeat. My days aren't exactly thrilling. But I do have a few updates to share.
- The new apartment is great. My relationship with my landlord is fantastic, and in fact I'm going to her birthday party later this evening. My location is so amazingly quiet and serene. The other day the sun was setting and turned the ocean in front of my property bright pink. It was so incredibly beautiful and I had another of those moments where I just stop and wonder at how lucky I am to have this experience.
- I've mentioned before that my orientation group/roommate situation wasn't ideal. With the exception of one person, there was no real animosity or drama, we simply just didn't find much relatable in one another. Too different. It took me about 1 1/2 semesters before I found people that I really clicked with. At the end of semester 2 I had found my support group, my Ross family. It's helped tremendously dealing with the stress of third semester.
- I finished up my dive certification this semester! I am officially open water scuba certified!
- Cookie didn't get adopted during the first adoption event, so I am still fostering her. Come on! Who wouldn't want this in their life?
- School is going okay. This semester is another tough one, largely because we've only got the two exams in each class. Midterms are two weeks away and my crack down intense study time began Thursday with a tutor session for Pharmacology. Today I had two TA sessions, one for Bacteriology and one for Virology. My other class is Pathology, which doesn't have a TA or a tutor because it doesn't really need one. Pharmacology is the only class that is scaring me right now because the professor is kind of terrible. His powerpoints are all just bullet points with no exposition but his lectures don't really expand on them very much, but he will expect you to know details that he doesn't provide you. Luckily the details he wants are provided in another class he teaches in Vet Prep, so as long as you can get ahold of those notes you should be okay. My advice for any future Rossies reading this is to get yourself a tutor for Pharm and find the Vet Prep notes.
- My husband, Don, is arriving on Oct. 17th! He'll be here for a week and a half and I am so excited!
- The new apartment is great. My relationship with my landlord is fantastic, and in fact I'm going to her birthday party later this evening. My location is so amazingly quiet and serene. The other day the sun was setting and turned the ocean in front of my property bright pink. It was so incredibly beautiful and I had another of those moments where I just stop and wonder at how lucky I am to have this experience.
- I've mentioned before that my orientation group/roommate situation wasn't ideal. With the exception of one person, there was no real animosity or drama, we simply just didn't find much relatable in one another. Too different. It took me about 1 1/2 semesters before I found people that I really clicked with. At the end of semester 2 I had found my support group, my Ross family. It's helped tremendously dealing with the stress of third semester.
- I finished up my dive certification this semester! I am officially open water scuba certified!
- Cookie didn't get adopted during the first adoption event, so I am still fostering her. Come on! Who wouldn't want this in their life?
- School is going okay. This semester is another tough one, largely because we've only got the two exams in each class. Midterms are two weeks away and my crack down intense study time began Thursday with a tutor session for Pharmacology. Today I had two TA sessions, one for Bacteriology and one for Virology. My other class is Pathology, which doesn't have a TA or a tutor because it doesn't really need one. Pharmacology is the only class that is scaring me right now because the professor is kind of terrible. His powerpoints are all just bullet points with no exposition but his lectures don't really expand on them very much, but he will expect you to know details that he doesn't provide you. Luckily the details he wants are provided in another class he teaches in Vet Prep, so as long as you can get ahold of those notes you should be okay. My advice for any future Rossies reading this is to get yourself a tutor for Pharm and find the Vet Prep notes.
- My husband, Don, is arriving on Oct. 17th! He'll be here for a week and a half and I am so excited!
Monday, September 19, 2011
A cookie monster.
Everyone, meet Cookie, my new foster kitten. She was picked up by the feral cat spay/neuter-release program and deemed too tame to re-release. They surgically remove part of the left ear while they're under anesthesia to tag cats that have already been altered so they don't cut open an animal unnecessarily. I think it's adorable because it fits her name; she looks like someone's taken a bite out of her.
She's cute on a stick and one of the most demanding, cuddly cats I've ever known.
She's cute on a stick and one of the most demanding, cuddly cats I've ever known.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
New apartment!
All done unpacking and decorating! Time for photos!
I love my apartment, yes I do!
 |
| All things I've dove for or found on the beach. Ditto for the pic below. |
I love my apartment, yes I do!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Semester break numero dos!
My family came down to visit for the first week of break. I got to see my momma, my grandma, my aunt and my cousin (who is preggers with another cousin). It was great to show them around my island and take them to some of my favorite restaurants. I even had a few new experiences - tried sugar cane for the first time and got to see a lot of things on our island tour that I didn't get to the first time I did it back in January.
I'm also all moved in to my new apartment. I love it. I more than love it. I am so happy and at peace here. It's my space and my things and quiet, so quiet. No passive aggressive roommates, no ill-behaved dogs jumping all over me anytime I so much as leave my room for a glass of water. Nothing but birds, Coqui frogs, waves pounding the beach and the occasional monkey scuffle. In other words, heaven on earth.
Anyway. Pictures!
I'm also all moved in to my new apartment. I love it. I more than love it. I am so happy and at peace here. It's my space and my things and quiet, so quiet. No passive aggressive roommates, no ill-behaved dogs jumping all over me anytime I so much as leave my room for a glass of water. Nothing but birds, Coqui frogs, waves pounding the beach and the occasional monkey scuffle. In other words, heaven on earth.
Anyway. Pictures!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)