Surviving My First Anatomy Exam

We're in the middle of week 5 of veterinary School and I've just completed my first Anatomy Exam. It was the monster of all exams, the triathlon so to say. It was composed of a lecture exam, a practical lab exam, and a short answer/essay question lab exam portions. Many of you may wonder what a practical lab exam is. It is an exam with about 20-30 stations each with a lab specimen and question asking you to ID a particular part of that specimen. You have one minute at each station to identify the particular part of the specimen and have to write it down on your sheet (spelled correctly). I enjoy this type of exam even though you feel like you really have to know EVERYthing you learned and went over in the laboratory. This year, they also included two oral questions on the lab practical exam. I was nervous about these two questions since I would be required to perform and answer correctly to questions presented to me by our laboratory instructors. To my surprise, I answered them both correctly even though I had a little difficulty. I spent all weekend studying! I have yet to see my grades, but I felt that I at least passed, which is important. This exam focused on the bones of the Thoracic limb (forelimb) and the vertebral column, tendons and ligaments, as well as bone formation and breakdown. We focus mostly on the dog during laboratory, but always go over the major differences between the dog, cat, and the horse.

In addition to studying for my anatomy exam last weekend, I attended a lecture on equine dentistry put on by the equine medicine club on campus and presented by the AAEP (American Association of Equine Practitioners). It was very interesting to learn about the anatomy of a horse's mouth and the problems veterinarians often treat in regards to dentistry. One main idea that I took from it was that you better know what you are doing when you are working on a horse's mouth because you can easily cause more damage than help if you're not careful. We were also warned to be aware of people who are not veterinarians practicing equine dentistry. This makes sense to me since a non-veterinarian would have difficulty correctly sedating horses for treatment as well as treating horses for injuries caused by the dentist, such as accidentally cutting a major artery. I've had the opportunity to work with a non-veterinarian equine dentist and I thought he did a great job working with horse's mouths, however, he often heavily sedated horses, more than might really have been necessary.

Yesterday I went and saw Secretariat with Alex and my mom. It was a great movie and really put a spotlight on the racing industry and history. Altogether, Secretariat won 16 of his 21 career races, with three seconds and one third, for in-the-money finishes in 20 of 21 starts, and total earnings of $1,316,808. The movie made me think of Eight Bells, the young racehorse filly that died racing in the Kentucky Derby several years ago. She collapsed after placing second in the Derby, suffering compound fractures in both front legs resulting in immediate euthanasia. We will always remember her greatness and athleticism, and how great her heart was. I think it also posed a lot of question to the sport of horse racing and how the sport would continue to evolve in the future. 

As for now, I have a lot of studying to do as always. We have 8 exams between now and finals week (not including final exams). I think more frequent exams are helpful so that we do not have to remember so much material at a time, but it keeps you studying daily and on your toes. I've been considering getting a horse lately and know it is such a great market to buy right now, but I still consider my workload in veterinary school. It's definitely not that I can't afford to keep a horse, I don't know if I would have enough time for the horse. Maybe my third or fourth year I can finally have a horse. I realized today that it has been five years since I last owned a horse of my own. For now I love riding Tina (a Morgan mare) and Hobby (a Quarter Horse gelding). I am lucky to have such a great opportunity to continue riding without the commitment of owning a horse.