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

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

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

So its the middle of June. That means its graduation time for University kids all over. And just like that, another batch of DVM students reach the end of their time at the OVC. This week, the OVC Class of 2012, the Silver Foxes gathered with their family, friends, mentors, teachers, and peers to go up on stage, smile and shake hands with the President of the University to finally get the chance to say the Veterinarians' Oath and declare, "Now I'm a real doctor!"

It was an amazing thing to watch. 4 years from now, it will be us Stags up there. It will be our turn so soon. By that time, I hope we manage to cram all that knowledge and skill into us, to be able to proudly stand and recite that oath with confidence and honour. I look forward to that day, and at the same time feel rather terrified. It makes me realize just how sheltered we become in school and university. But someday, we gotta go out there into the "real" world- with real patients and real owners, where we are truly put to the test.

I know we'll all make great vets in 4 yrs, but we gotta take things one step at a time, learn everything we can and work hard at achieving our goals. Second year and the dreaded POD (Principles of Disease) looms over the horizon, like storm clouds off in the distance. Horror stories are whispered in the halls of the OVC of the brutality and enormity of that tempest...

But looking at the optimistic faces of the Silver Foxes as they head off into the sunset reminds me that like so many before us, the Scarlet Stags will weather the coming storm and push on to that shining light far off in 2015- where we too will recite the oath, and join the hallowed halls of OVC grads!

Keep yer pencils sharp!
Cheers!
-Vishal