Class of 2021 . . . how ya doin?

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vetmedhead said:
I love the kitty kitty meow meows! I think oftentimes people's first instinct is to manhandle them because they don't like/aren't familiar with cats and/or know that a poorly controlled cat can wreak a lot of havoc (and thusly try to control the cat at all costs). I don't really think the scruff first ask questions later approach is the most thoughtful one, though. Most cats I've worked with do amazingly well with a C hold (or a modified version of it where you get a hold on their zygomatic arches rather than under their jaw - I don't know why, but many cats I've worked with seem to prefer this over a regular C hold and as a bonus you get very good control of their head with very little effort and without complaints from the kitty) and very light restraint. The ones who "need" the death grip scruff to even remotely be handle-able are cats that really shouldn't be handled by force alone anyway (and where chemical restraint becomes important both for the welfare of the patient and the safety of the staff).

I think a being able to be creative with towels and having a good working knowledge of making kitty burritos, kitty tacos, and holding kitties like footballs takes you a long way with most kitty kitty meow meows.

Like most things in life, if you have to force it to make it work, then it's probably a bad idea and you're going to break something.
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C-hold? Any good resources for what you are talking about as well as the modification? I am interested.
 
ResoluteMike said:
C-hold? Any good resources for what you are talking about as well as the modification? I am interested.
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I'm having a hard time finding a video specifically outlining this hold (I believe I learned it from a combination of training at work, the book Low Stress Handling, Restraint, and Behavior Modification in Dogs and Cats by Dr. Sofia Yin, and some dog/cat handling units we had in class), but the AAFP has excellent posted guidelines about low stress handling of cats that they have posted on their website, along with links to a lot of videos they made about making your veterinary practice more feline friendly. They do modified versions of the hold in many of these videos - basically look for any time when it looks like they could scruff the cat and they're doing something else instead.

The basic idea is that you use your hand to control the cat's head rather than their neck. It's a little difficult to explain without pictures (which I can't seem to find right now :rage:), but I'll try. Palm roughly goes against the back of the head (with your wrist/arm braced against the cat's neck for support), thumb grasping the mandible on one side, 1-2 fingers on the cat's forehead, and remaining finger(s) grasping the mandible on the other side. Some cats like this hold and others don't, so obviously you adjust how you handle for the patient (in my experience many cats don't require much if any actual head restraint at all). The modified version I was also taught was to grasp higher up on the cat's head, so rather than grabbing mandible on either side you would grab zygomatic arch on either side (in my experience in order to do this you may have to move your palm a little further up the back of the cat's head to do this - depends on how big your hands are, though). While it sounds like it would be more annoying to the cat, weirdly they seem to resent it less than the normal C hold on average and really don't seem to mind at all when you use it to move/adjust their head. It's weird.

This is a hold you would usually be doing while restraining the animal for someone else to perform a procedure on the animal, so you'll often also be holding the animal against your side when doing this.

Also, the nice thing about the 1-2 fingers on the cat's forehead is that you can use these to pet or gently tap the cat on the head while you restrain them, which is often a great distraction from things like blood draws or other procedures they wouldn't necessarily find pleasant.
 
giphy.gif

One more exam, three more quizzes, and I think a neuro case before I can take a break from the week from hell (that started last week lol).

Did you all know that there are actual things you have to know in order to understand pathology? I know, took me completely by surprise too. I'm pretty sure I just invented street genetics for that exam, though.
 
vetmedhead said:
giphy.gif

One more exam, three more quizzes, and I think a neuro case before I can take a break from the week from hell (that started last week lol).

Did you all know that there are actual things you have to know in order to understand pathology? I know, took me completely by surprise too. I'm pretty sure I just invented street genetics for that exam, though.
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70% of my pathology exam last week, I learned from Grey’s Anatomy and Scrubs.

I have no shame. :laugh:
 
cdoconn said:
70% of my pathology exam last week, I learned from Grey’s Anatomy and Scrubs.

I have no shame. :laugh:
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True story I was explaining the shunt that goes into people with hydrocephalus and my friend was like "Wow you're so smart!" and I was like "Nah, I saw that on Grey's Anatomy" She laughed for a looong time.
 
Coopah said:
True story I was explaining the shunt that goes into people with hydrocephalus and my friend was like "Wow you're so smart!" and I was like "Nah, I saw that on Grey's Anatomy" She laughed for a looong time.
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Last year during repro phys, we were talking about that genetic or whatever hypothermia and the professor asked how I knew about it (only, like, three of us raised our hands). I said it was an episode of Greys Anatomy. Highlight of my vet med career.
 
batsenecal said:
Last year during repro phys, we were talking about that genetic or whatever hypothermia and the professor asked how I knew about it (only, like, three of us raised our hands). I said it was an episode of Greys Anatomy. Highlight of my vet med career.
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Is it bad that I know exactly what episode you’re talking about with the rare autosomal dominant malignant hyperthermia, but I can’t remember the immunology for tomorrow’s test?

I’m gonna say yes. and go study more
 
Ill the week before finals. The timing is horrendous.
 
Once upon a time I liked cows...and then I was forced to learn the arteries and nerves of their thoracic limb...the fact that the “palmer proper abaxial digital nerve IV” is even a thing...:bang:
 
mmmdreamerz said:
Once upon a time I liked cows...and then I was forced to learn the arteries and nerves of their thoracic limb...the fact that the “palmer proper abaxial digital nerve IV” is even a thing...:bang:
Click to expand...

Our last exam on cows is Friday. I am not at all upset that I am on the team that has to dispose of all of our study materials.
 
So last week my grandpa had a heart attack (doing fine now, but he did more to raise me than my father and I can't visit because family issues are in the way and aghhhh) and I took an exam where I'm not sure whether I passed or failed.

Today I decided to figure out my summer, and now I have a plane ticket to go do a Spanish immersion program for three weeks in the middle of my summer (because screw the summer research I need for residency apps, I need spanish language skills to actually practice medicine).

Also today I got brought on as a co-investigator on some cool research that I'll likely be working on over the next year or longer (minus the time learning spanish)?

Weird times, y'all.
 
strider144 said:
So last week my grandpa had a heart attack (doing fine now, but he did more to raise me than my father and I can't visit because family issues are in the way and aghhhh) and I took an exam where I'm not sure whether I passed or failed.

Today I decided to figure out my summer, and now I have a plane ticket to go do a Spanish immersion program for three weeks in the middle of my summer (because screw the summer research I need for residency apps, I need spanish language skills to actually practice medicine).

Also today I got brought on as a co-investigator on some cool research that I'll likely be working on over the next year or longer (minus the time learning spanish)?

Weird times, y'all.
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I’m sorry about your grandpa 🙁 glad he’s doing better now though 😍

My sister did one of those in Costa Rica last summer! Where are you doing your immersion program? And yes, screw summer research. Especially since you now get to do cool research over the next year.
 
SkiOtter said:
I’m sorry about your grandpa 🙁 glad he’s doing better now though 😍

My sister did one of those in Costa Rica last summer! Where are you doing your immersion program? And yes, screw summer research. Especially since you now get to do cool research over the next year.
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Me too! He was apparently super grumpy about being in the hospital (retired doctor, so par for the course) and spent the night pulling his leads off every time he woke up. I think everyone was happy for him to go home.

The program's in Guatemala. My friend did it in med school and gave this particular place good reviews, but we also had a disturbing number of questions set in Guatemala for our infectious diseases exam last week, so...

Nah, it'll be fun, and hopefully no tropical diseases will be acquired.
 
strider144 said:
Me too! He was apparently super grumpy about being in the hospital (retired doctor, so par for the course) and spent the night pulling his leads off every time he woke up. I think everyone was happy for him to go home.

The program's in Guatemala. My friend did it in med school and gave this particular place good reviews, but we also had a disturbing number of questions set in Guatemala for our infectious diseases exam last week, so...

Nah, it'll be fun, and hopefully no tropical diseases will be acquired.
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I’m looking into doing a veterinary mission trips to Guatemala this summer!! It should be exciting to say the least!
 
strider144 said:
Me too! He was apparently super grumpy about being in the hospital (retired doctor, so par for the course) and spent the night pulling his leads off every time he woke up. I think everyone was happy for him to go home.

The program's in Guatemala. My friend did it in med school and gave this particular place good reviews, but we also had a disturbing number of questions set in Guatemala for our infectious diseases exam last week, so...

Nah, it'll be fun, and hopefully no tropical diseases will be acquired.
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My great grandma and her best friend in their nursing home used to unbelt each other from their wheelchairs (my great grandma wasn’t supposed to be walking, I think she had a hip replacement at like 98, which btw who does a total hip replacement on a 98 year old????) and get into all kinds of trouble. Your grandpa pulling his leads off reminds me of that story haha

ITLL BE FIIIIINNNNEEEEEEEEE as a med student you’re impervious to those infectious diseases (right? Right?)
 
vetmedhead said:
giphy.gif

One more exam, three more quizzes, and I think a neuro case before I can take a break from the week from hell (that started last week lol).

Did you all know that there are actual things you have to know in order to understand pathology? I know, took me completely by surprise too. I'm pretty sure I just invented street genetics for that exam, though.
Click to expand...
knowsomethings.gif
 
Welp. I woke up at 7am for my 9 am class, accidentally fell back asleep and woke up at 9:30 with only one more class to go. :laugh:

Looks like I’m gonna go to lab at 1 and watch the other lecture videos online tonight. The bright side is that it was anatomy and phys- the two classes I benefit the least from actually being in class. Thank goodness for video recording systems. :roflcopter:
 
Coopah said:
I took my first Neuro test today. Turns out there is such a thing a knowing a negative amount information. +pissed+
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How I feel about pharm

"ok brain, tell me everything you know about prednisone"
"Steroid"
"Alright, anything else?"
"..."
"Hello? Brain?"
"..."
"You there?"
"..."
"God dammit"
 
WildZoo said:
How I feel about pharm

"ok brain, tell me everything you know about prednisone"
"Steroid"
"Alright, anything else?"
"..."
"Hello? Brain?"
"..."
"You there?"
"..."
"God dammit"
Click to expand...
That’s literally I feel about the digestive system phys. right now. Food goes in, poop goes out. Sometimes very watery.
 
cdoconn said:
That’s literally I feel about the digestive system phys. right now. Food goes in, poop goes out. Sometimes very watery.
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Wow. That test was TERRIBLE.


66 days to go. 43 in class days. I need serious motivation to keep going because I feel like I just got kicked hard in the gut.
 
cdoconn said:
Wow. That test was TERRIBLE.


66 days to go. 43 in class days. I need serious motivation to keep going because I feel like I just got kicked hard in the gut.
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I’m glad (but not glad) you felt the same way because man was I pulling answers from thin air.

Me: Well, this sounds scientific. *writes down random string of intestiney sounding words*
 
WildZoo said:
How I feel about pharm

"ok brain, tell me everything you know about prednisone"
"Steroid"
"Alright, anything else?"
"..."
"Hello? Brain?"
"..."
"You there?"
"..."
"God dammit"
Click to expand...
Yup, there's a pharm component to our Neuro block right now and the prof always asks if we have any questions but waits .02 seconds before saying great and moving on. I don't even have the time to understand what I don't know let alone form a question about it.
 
Coopah said:
Yup, there's a pharm component to our Neuro block right now and the prof always asks if we have any questions but waits .02 seconds before saying great and moving on. I don't even have the time to understand what I don't know let alone form a question about it.
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I hate pharm :grumpy:
 
I had a practice oral exam today-after our real multiple choice exam. It’s so much harder to look at the professor who taught you the information and say you don’t know than it is to get a question wrong on paper! Plus the dog was less than cooperative and was not interested in me tracing her cranial nerves and muscles. But at least I got to pet the live dog instead of working with cadavers!
 
One more test tomorrow stands between me and spring break. Now to actually make myself study for it. Lol
 
Really irritated. We had a take home exam that was due February 12th that still hasn’t been graded. And there was an assignment due on January 29th that still hasn’t been graded.


And we have another take home exam due Monday. Soooo...?
 
cdoconn said:
Really irritated. We had a take home exam that was due February 12th that still hasn’t been graded. And there was an assignment due on January 29th that still hasn’t been graded.


And we have another take home exam due Monday. Soooo...?
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oh but rest assured, he told us that we will know our grades by the end of the semester
 
Final is worth 43% of our grade. I just need a 66% for the quarter to stay above passing. Where did all my motivation to super excel go?!?! lol.
 
We did a forelimb amputation on our specimens in anatomy today 😍 and now (ok after these last 2 lectures) it is SPRING BREAK. :soexcited:
 
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