Surgical High

For most of us, phase three is the first time we have been allowed to participate in surgery. Some individuals are fortunate enough to have had mentors that allowed them to handle the scalpel, but most, including myself, have been patient observers, craving the opportunity.

At the OVC, we are lucky to be able to perform spays and neuters on local humane society animals. It is a nice symbiotic relationship: we get to work on our surgical skills under supervision while local humane society animals get one step closer to adoption. Win-win!

So why is surgery so enticing? It is a clinical skill that really makes you feel like a veterinarian. It is the ability to make your hands do something useful to make an animal’s life better. Its a more hands-on venture, and gives a very different sense of accomplishment and satisfaction from medicine. It takes persistence, steady hands, discipline, knowledge, and confidence; all qualities that we strive to have as practitioners.

I have now entered into the world of solo surgery. I did the whole procedure, cutting to closing, by myself, with the help of my peers and supervising profs. It felt liberating and terrifying. The first time I had to digitally separate the suspensory ligament I was convinced that I would break something important and blood would go gushing everywhere. But it didn’t. It did exactly what it was supposed to do, rip neatly and allow me to see the ovary. When the suture broke and I dropped my pedicle, I was sure my prof was going to yell and fail me on the spot. She didn’t. She simply reached in, clamped it, and handed it back to me to finish. I had put so much pressure on myself that I felt defeated, but after a post-op discussion I realized that not only was the rest of my surgery well done for a rookie, that I had been handed a valuable teaching moment, one I will not soon forget.

As I proceed in my career I look forward to more surgery. I can’t wait to get better, and faster, and be able to manage with smaller incisions. I also look forward to trying large animal surgery. C-sections, LDAs, torsions, and colics, oh my!

Surgery is definitely a very interesting and fulfilling thing to do. It comes with its own set of challenges and complications, but with persistence, confidence and great support, it is yet another powerful tool in the quest to provide the best care for our patients. 

I want to say a big "Thank you!" to the OVC Junior surgery clinicians and techs, and thank you to my little kitty for being such an awesome patient! This experience definitely has whet my appetite for surgery and I can't wait for more!

Kay

Comic Time!

Wow! I got my juices flowing kids! Another comic for you! Hopefully you find it amusing!

Stress relief

SO my newest comic was inspired by my life. Stretched too thin and trying too hard I had allowed my self to make some mistakes in my professional and personal life. Unacceptable.

I just needed to step back and appreciate the little things in life. Appreciate those people that raise me higher, and ignore those trying to bring me down.

And yes these "people" may also be furry!

:) Keep on keeping on!

Challenge Cup update

Highlights from recent games:

On March 7th, the Caracals squared off against the Elephants in a fierce game, with the Caracals ahead 3-0 at the end of the first period. The Elephants fought their way back with 2 goals, but were tusk was unable to best tooth and claw as the Caracals scored on an empty net to secure their win with a final score of 4-2. 

On March 14th, the Stags took on the Elephants in what proved to be a much heated game. The Elephants scored first but the Stags soon caught up, scoring 2 goals to take the lead. The Elephants fought to regain control and with a couple of mad dashes across the ice, took back the game with a final score of 4-3. Both goaltenders had some amazing saves, and both teams roused much cheering from their fans and mascots.

Differences: 3

So the one I have for you tonight needs a bit of introduction.

I was walking one cold morning this semester from the parking lot into class. There were two people walking in front of me; one a prof and one a student. It was hilarious the small talk that this prof decided to delve into...

I guess he was referring to hurricaine and tsunamis... and the fact that we don't normally have parasite control in effect in the winter months... Not sure but it made me smile!


Please enjoy this silly comic and let me know if you have an idea for one!

Kay<3

Equine Medicine: The ups, downs, and all arounds.

By Jeremy Shaba, OVC 2015

A career in equine medicine has always been something I have had my eye on. From a young age, I caught the horse bug. Learning how to ride at YMCA Camp Nissokone in the summers was where it all started. I pretty much grew up at camp in northern Michigan and eventually ended up becoming the ranch director for a few summers. I did my undergrad at Michigan State University where I majored in animal science. I had a ton of great experience there and owe a lot of my passion and drive for veterinary medicine to a few great mentors I had during my time there. All that’s in the past now and I have an exciting future ahead. The real question is where will I end up? I certainly don’t know and I think a lot of vet students interested in equine medicine have no idea where they will end up either. I thought I would talk about a few of the options and paths that people can take if they are interested in working exclusively with horses.

I think the most important part of any vet students education is getting out and shadowing in private practices during their 4 years in vet school. There are only so many things we can learn in the confines of our school walls and we have a unique opportunity while we are students to go out to as many practices as we can and observe and learn as much as possible.  

20 years ago it was very uncommon for graduating veterinary students to do an internship after they graduated. Most students were hired into a market that was booming with growth and success. Today, that’s not the case and there are a couple camps of thought as to why internships have become so popular. Some say that the lack of jobs available has resulted in new graduates looking to put off finding a job for another year. Others say that new graduates are not confident in their ability to do well on their own and therefore seek the shelter of an internship. The final camp of thought is that an internship should be required- that you don’t learn enough in school and even under good mentorship there is a lot to be gained from a good internship program. Whatever the reason may be, internships are becoming extremely popular and are considered the norm for an aspiring young graduate eager to pursue a career in equine medicine.

Performing X-rays on a horse's leg

One option for graduates interested in equine is to specialize. Most residencies usually require completion of an internship in order to apply. The two most common residencies that are equine focused are medicine and surgery. You get a mix of species in other residencies like ophthalmology, dermatology, anesthesia, and radiology but if you think you want do exclusively horses, most people go with medicine or surgery. Residencies for medicine and surgery are typically 3 years long and usually accompany some sort of graduate coursework and research. The majority of residencies are at universities but there are a few select larger equine referral centers that train residents.

If you don’t think specializing is for you, the next most common thing is to become an ambulatory practitioner. You will get to see a plethora of things and I think the best part is watching your patients grow throughout the year. A big focus of the ambulatory practitioner is preventative health. Vaccines, deworming, and floating teeth usually bring a veterinarian to a farm annually which allows a great opportunity to build a relationship with the farms in your area.

There are definitely pros and cons to each path and not every path is for everyone. That’s why we all get to choose our own! Besides the career paths I mentioned above there are also smaller sectors like research, industry, and government which all have their own pros and cons as well.

People often ask me where I want to end up and I haven’t really decided yet. I can see myself very happy doing a lot of the things I mentioned above. I am in no hurry and am trying to take in everything I can while I am in this great position as a student. The best advice I can give to aspiring students interested in a career in equine medicine is to get out and see as much as you can. Visit as many practices as you can, ride with as many vets as you can, and chat with your mentors about what you are interested in and see what advice they have for you.

That’s all for now. I hope you enjoy the ups, downs, and all-arounds of equine medicine as much as I do.

-Jeremy Shaba

Challenge Cup!

Challenge Cup is back and as intense as ever!

4 classes, 8 teams, 1 cup.

Who's gonna win?

Will the Phoenixes take it again?

Will the Elephants trumpet their glory?

Will the Stags stampede to victory?

Or will the Caracals claw their way to the top?

Stay tuned....

Difference: 2

New comic.

I got his idea from studying for bacteriology.

The funny thing is that vet kids normally love puppies, but we do physicals on them, looking in the ears, feeling the abdomen, checking the nails and teeth, it is like we are looking for something to be wrong!

We do love puppies, but here is something funny. I hope you enjoy!

The difference between Vet students an Regular people...

As always, I encourage ideas and comments! Please let me know what you think!

Coffee House review is in the works, and will be coming soon!

Love, Kaykay<3

Difference between Regular Girls and Vet Students:1

So I heard some people joking about this the other day and it inspired me to come up with a segment called Regular Girls vs. Vet Student Girls.

Here is my first one! PLEASE give me feed back! I would also love to here ideas for future segments!

Kay

Bacteria, Viruses, and Parasites! Oh My!

So what do Fleas, Salmonella, and Influenza all have in common?

Vet students have to know them all. Actually, not just know them; eat, sleep, and breathe the pathogenic processes and and host factors associated with over 300 organisms in all of our domesticated species. And that is just 3 months of material!

Drowning in information.

But for all the complaining that we do; the whining and bitching and crying and ( for some of us ) drinking, there is no where else we'd rather be. :)

KNOW ALL THE DIARRHEA!!!!!

Just a mini rant from a burnt out student. On to the next one.

Kay

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! We'll see you in the New Year!

An end to the 150th celebrations

Greetings, all!

The Ontario Veterinary College has, over the past year, celebrated its 150^th anniversary with a range of events- from public outreach, to global symposiums, special alumni events and more. On Saturday, Nov 3^rd, we concluded these celebrations with a night of spectacular performances by students, staff and friends of the OVC community.

We opened the night with the ghost of OVC past- Dr Andrew Smith, our founder- played by our own Dr. Conlon. He reminisced about his days and how things have changed. As he left the podium, we moved to a video excerpt from the 125^th anniversary, showing a song sung by Dr. Trevor Lloyd Jones, the first dean of the OVC.

We began the night’s performances with David Archibald. The son of two OVC grads, he was brought up on and around the OVC, and later went on to record and perform music, producing the first recordings for Avril Lavigne, performing on Sesame Street and running songwriting workshops across Ontario. He brought with him memories of old OVC cheers and fondly recalled the Vet vs Aggie rivalry that reigned in his childhood.

“I’, an Aggie, I’m an Aggie, I’m an Aggie, I regret. But I have to be an Aggie, cause I couldn’t be a vet!”

He went on to entertain us with songs he had written specifically for this event, about Dr. Frank Schofield, clogging ship leaks with horse manure, and even a song about Rinderpest (a viral disease of cattle)- the latter sung with his daughter. His songs and stories certainly struck a chord with the audience, which was filled with many OVC alumni and his catchy tunes had everyone joining in the choruses.

“RINDERPEST!!!”

Christian McFarlane and Evan Bell of the Class of 2015 performed next, with songs from The Eagles, Death Cab For Cutie, and finally an OVC parody of the Bare-naked Ladies’ song, “If I had a Million Dollars”, which had the room chuckling all the way through.

I may be quoting, “If I had a Million dollars, I’d buy you a fur coat, but not a real fur coat, my classmates would kill me!” or “I’d buy you some art, like a Picaso or a Yamishiro!” for years to come!

They were followed by a duet by Jennifer Beehler, from the Dept of Clinical Studies- who performed with Andrew Taylor.

Next, the Class of 2014 serenaded us with some Scottish and Irish music from Shari McGuirl and Rob Berger- accompanied by Highland dancing by Erin Hayes, which got the entire audience clapping and tapping their feet to the tune. It’s refreshing to see some traditional music played and danced to by some traditionally Scottish and Irish girls! They were then joined by their classmates, Ryan Appleby, Whitney Degroot and Erin Philips, and their performed a couple of songs, including one they had written about a dog they had practiced surgery on, Baby. Only in vet school!

After all the musical performances, a video was played, highlighting some of the various events held in celebration of the 150 years of the vet school- everything from the new Challenge Cup to the Global Development Symposium and the various veterinary guests that have graced the halls of the OVC over the past year. The video was followed by closing remarks from the Dean of the College, Dr Elizabeth Stone, who reflected on how far we’ve come and how resilient the college and the profession is.

The night concluded with a reception for the guests, where there were fine desserts and refreshments. In promotion of an upcoming book celebrating this milestone in the College’s history, a photo-slideshow showed pictures from 1862 to the present day, reflecting the various facets of the college through its many transformations.

Filled with performances from our very own, the event was a nice, intimate gathering of members of the extended OVC community, and served to highlight how we are more than just a College that is 150 years old. We are a community that shares a sense of pride and a history of 150 years, with many more to come.

As a student, watching these proceedings, there was a mix of emotions. First, feeling guilty that I should’ve been studying ;)   Second, pride in our profession, and in our classmates, and our school. And third, happiness. We get to be a part of this. We are a part of something so big, so diverse, and so rich in history.

Jointly written by 

Vishal Murthy and Kay Marinac

All images owned by and obtained from the Ontario Veterinary College

Euchre Tournament

Monday October 22nd marked our first Scarlet Stag fundraiser of phase two - a 32 team euchre tournament. We had a cash prize of $50 with the rest of the proceeds going back to our class. This money helps us pay for class events, our fourth year play, and our grad/prom.

As the organizer of an event, one is always nervous that there will be a lack of interest, no one will think it is a good idea, or that it won't be fun. I, too, had these doubts as I spent two weeks with my fellow SoCo members trying to firm up details and advertise. However, I was ecstatic when we filled all 32 team spots in two days. Team names got creative with some including "Tricks are for Kids", "Spayed", "No Ace, No Face, No Problem!", "Troy and Abed Playing Euchre", "Bauer Power", "Eucharyotes", "Table Talkers", and many more.

The night of the event we had an eight group round robin (4 teams per group) and were into some intense 9-9 games or mind blowing 10-1 games! It was great to see members from each phase out, some friends/housemates, significant others, and even a prof out in support!

Our finals match was against a Caracal team called the "Trumper Thumpers" and a Stag team called "Eucharyotes". It was 8-8 when the Trumpers took the final 2 point trick to win.

I had an amazing time, we raised $120 for our class, and I received lots of positive feedback from participants. I am happy to say the event was a huge success! We will definitely be doing another next semester! Thank you so much to all my SoCo's for your help!

Bright and Early!

The eager attitude of the 2016 class was evident before Orientation had even begun. You could tell that they were nervous to begin their new journey but excited as well. The response we received to the “Meet and Greet” event we held at Shakespeare’s was awesome – tons of people were there willing to meet new people (some even sang karaoke!). Then, bright and early on Monday morning, those same eager faces were there to meet us even before registration began. We had to tell some of the students to come back in 15 minutes because we were not ready to receive them. Throughout the entire orientation process they seemed very receptive and ready to take in whatever information was thrown at them. They loved hearing any advice that we (the Orientation Chairs) or their group mentors had to give them, hoping to soak up all the knowledge they could.

Then came the mascot vote…

Even before that dreaded Wednesday morning, mascot ideas and drawings had been all over Facebook and it seemed like they had their mascot already picked before vet school had even started. When we showed up to what we thought was going to be a relatively easy process (much like ours the year before), boy, were we wrong! It took five of us to control the energy in the room. Between three orientation chairs and our class co-presidents, we gave instruction after instruction (most falling on deaf ears), counted many, MANY votes, and even had to resort to the “heads down on the desk” routine that many kindergarten teachers have used for generations. After all was said and done and the dust had settled, they came out the Cobalt Caracals! A mascot that will bring their class great pride, and will now be the brunt of many jokes, much like the Stag was a year ago. I’m sure the upper years have already begun thinking of ways to tease the new class at hockey games and during class challenges.

Team building exercises made for a particularly hilarious Wednesday afternoon. The 2016 class loved playing telephone charades and “satellites” and were eager to be silly, acting out stories chosen by some of their phase one professors who agreed to help out with orientation activities.

The 2016 class seemed very enthusiastic about hockey, and that was evident with the huge turnout at the “Hockey Game Social” on Thursday. The new class came out in strong numbers, sporting their new class colour, to see the Scarlet Stags and Emerald Elephants play to an exciting 4-4 tie. There was constant cheering throughout the game and tons of support shown for both teams. After the game, everyone was invited to go upstairs to Gryph’s sports lounge where many ‘Caracals’ expressed interest in lacing on skates and giving hockey a try- even if they had never played before.

If the first week is any indication of their time at the Ontario Veterinary College, I’m sure there will be some fun years ahead with the Cobalt Caracals as colleagues!

Welcome again to you all!

Christian, Kelly, and Kyle

Orientation Chairs, Class of 2015

(Pictures courtesy of Dana Lemoine)

Stags are back!

There was quite a buzz the first day back to class as good friends reconnected, shared stories from their summer and prepared to dive head first back into school. Some of us were excited to be returning to the classroom, while others were questioning (not for the first time) why exactly they had chosen this for themselves. I think for everyone, though, the anticipation for the upcoming school year was running high.

In a conversation I had with one of the faculty members during the first years’ orientation, I told him, “In some ways it feels like it was ages ago that I was in that seat, and in others it feels like it was just yesterday.” Thinking back on the past year, I am astounded by the sheer magnitude of what we have experienced. A number of us packed up our belongings and moved to a new town (or even a new country!). We became members of a profession. We embarked on a journey that we’d been working so hard to get to for so many years. We met over 100 new people, many of whom would become good friends. We took in over 600 hours of class time. We got hands-on experience with species some us had never touched before. We learned to play new sports. We joined clubs and got involved. We volunteered. We studied. We doubted ourselves a lot. We struggled through difficult exams.  We tried out our amateur auscultation and palpation techniques on our pets at home just to feel like real vets. We partied, laughed, and played. 

No wonder it feels like September 2011 was so long ago.

Sitting through the introductory lectures to our courses for this year, the instructors are not subtle in their warnings about staying on top of the material. Our return to “school life” has been sudden and immediate – we’ve had no choice but to dive in head first. The stakes are higher this year and it’s daunting. But as I look back at the past year and see the mountain we’ve just traversed, I don’t feel quite so unsure and worried about what lies ahead now as I did last September as a brand new vet student. It will be difficult, for sure, and we may suffer long, arduous days…but I’m willing to bet that 2015 will be upon us faster than we expect. 

I, for one, am excited to see what’s in store!

-Dana Lemoine
OVC 2015

Summer 2012

It starts when you wake up at 6:15 AM to head off to work and you notice that the sun is not blazing through your window. In fact it is just starting to rise. Darn. Summer is coming to a close.

All good things come to an end, but it also means that Fall Semester is approaching. These last couple weeks of August also will be the last for some of our Stag friends at work. Whether we were working hard in the halls of OVC, appointment rooms of local clinics, serving hungry customers, or even hauling equipment around out in the heat; as of September 4th at 8:30 AM, the Stags will be entering Phase 2.

I wanted to take a moment to give a shout out to the employers of the world that take on summer students. It is amazing that for 4 months you accept us into your businesses and let us work. The experience (and cash!) that we gain from you is invaluable. It is always nerve wracking in February when we are calling every clinic in the area or emailing research professors, praying for a chance to prove ourselves and help reduce the massive debt following us since undergrad. I personally have been in the large animal wards of the OVC this summer, improving my clinical skills and practicing my AVM and Clin Med techniques. Its been a long 4 months, but I am so grateful for the opportunity.

And to all of the students out there; studies are approaching, whether you are looking forward to it or it is coming all too soon! Think of the fourth year Pheonixes, already tarsus deep in clinical rotations! We have POD and Anesthesia/Pharmacology to look forward to! POD can't be THAT bad, can it? :)

Enjoy these last warm days of the hazy lazy crazy days of Summer 2012. I cannot wait to catch up with everyone Orientation week and meet our newbies! Also attend all of the epic Frat events that are already planned!

Jeez, we sure do keep busy!

Cheers! 
Kay

Orientation Handbooks, maps and more!

The fresh blood....uh, I mean, incoming class, is bound to have a lot of questions as they embark on the next leg of their journey to becoming veterinarians. And to help them out, we created a handbook outlining the different resources available on campus, details on all the courses, extracurricular activities, etc. And we're even making maps to help them navigate the labyrinth that is the OVC.
http://www.ovc.uoguelph.ca/orientation/handbook/

I've had a lot of fun illustrating the handbook, from the cover image above to the inner illustrations like below.

 Vet school may involve a lot of hard work and studying, but we party just as hard at the end of the day!

Keep yer pencils sharp!

Cheers!

-Vishal

Purple Platypi and what not

The Class of 2016 is busy brainstorming  ideas for their class mascot. I remember a couple of the biggest worries my class had, come finals. We weren't so afraid of having to redo the year if we failed- we were more worried that it would mean having to get all new merch and the fear of having a silly mascot....

Purple Platypuses/Platypi anyone?

Its interesting to see how much our class has rallied around being "Scarlet Stags". We have developed an identity as a class, we take pride in being Stags. We happily raise our hands up and make antlers on our heads in all our hockey photos... It means something different to each of us, yet it brings us all together as a class!

I'm excited to see what the new Phase Ones pick. We are all watching with bated breath, amazed at all the wonderful ideas that we have seen so far. What will they pick? How will it come to define them? Only time will tell...

Keep yer pencils sharp!
Cheers!
-Vishal

Congratulations to the OVC Class of 2016 on your admission! Certainly looking forward to meeting everyone in September!

I can't believe its been a whole year since we were in their place... Stags are on to Second Year of Vet school, the Elephants are on to their Third, and the Phoenixes are almost done!

I'm curious to see what mascot the Class of 2016 picks!

More to come!

Keep yer pencils sharp!
Cheers!
-Vishal