Putting the arts into Veterinary Science (one for the English majors)

[Hollycozza]

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Helloooo,

I've seen a few of you are English majors, and I consider myself to be somewhat of a frustrated arts student. Anyhows, have you come up with ways to put your English / creativity to use within a scientific forum? I thought I would post this poem which I wrote for my first year anatomy exam (we were given the set question "discuss veterinary anatomical terms" so I thought it was as easy to write in verse and learn it). Hopefully someone might enjoy it, and it also contains much useful information about veterinary anatomical terms!
Cheers

Heather 🙂

(PS yes I know it is slightly crazy, and also I really have to stop procrastinating!)

(PPS: Paul was the lecturer)


Veterinary Anatomical Terms
(A discussion in verse, of dubious literary merit.)

Dear Paul, I hope it shall not make you terse,
that I shall answer this in verse.
With Anatomy’s origins I shall start
from “Temnein”- cut, and “Ana”- apart,
within the science of anatomy
are many fields of speciality,
from embryology to neurology,
to funnier names as we shall see,
to fields such as splanchnology,
(a name that fills myself with glee),
but is the study of viscera, simply

To accurately make a description
requires the use of direction,
such as the median plane which carves,
the body into similar halves,
and parallel to the median plane,
we can describe paramedian planes.
A plane passing at right angles to
the body that it passes through
is described as a transverse plane,
while should you wish to look again,
at a plane that’s perpendicular to
the median and the transverse too,
the frontal plane’s the one for you!

In naming terms of anatomy
we refer to a learned committee,
which is by name the ICVGAN
and follows its cardinal rules seven:
1. Each anatomical concept should have, you’ll find
a single term for it defined,
(as in all things there are, its true
some exceptions, but we hope few)
2. On the official list, the name must be in Latin,
and though we know we must follow this pattern,
of Latin the official tongue, it will be
fine to use other languages locally,
3. Three is a rule easy to report,
terms shall be simple and shall be short
4. and easy for us to remember,
with instructive and descriptive value,
5. Structures closely related topographically
shall be named similarly
6. and if differentiating adjectives you shall use,
opposites shall least confuse,
7. and finally the seventh rule,
terms from proper names shan’t be used, aren’t cool

The official terms can all be found
in a fascinating book that’s bound
to be of interest in every area
the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria

Cranial is towards the head
towards the tail “Caudal”s said,
towards the back is dorsal
while to the belly ventral
and to the side lateral
and once you are upon the head,
towards the nose you’re “Rostral” led,
and now a few that end with ‘ial’,
away from the axis “Abaxial”
towards the axis “Axial”
towards the midline “Medial”

Proximal is towards the trunk
away from there you’re Distal slunk
(I hope this slunk does not confuse
but rhyming wise I’m short of muse)

To turn face upwards “Supinate”
and turn face down “Pronate”
To describe the surface of a cone?
“Circumduct” is how it’s known
“Flex” away from 180 degrees,
“Extend” returns you there with ease,
To move away from the median plane,
we say “Abduct” to make it plain,
while “Adduct” takes us back again

If moving round an axis is a part’s fate
we say it is going to “Rotate”
if drawing forward is the act,
then that we say is to “Protract”
while pulling back is to “Retract”

It is also important to know,
the regions of the body, so
we see the head is the “Caput”
with Face and Cranium, but
if you’re looking for the neck,
the “Collum” is what you’ll get
the “Truncus” can for Trunk be said
within this region may be read
of back and pelvis, thorax too
and abdomen as well, its true
the tail we may describe as “Cauda”
but what on earth would be a “Membra”?
why it would be a limb, in which
are manifold descriptive bits:
axilla, cubitus, manus too
here I’ll name but these few
and move along finally
to mention specific terminology

Directional terms sometimes may change!
In different regions, there’s a range
such as looking underneath the foot,
in forepaw there, “Palmar” will suit,
but not in hindpaw where we say
“Plantar” is what’s down that way

Within the language of anatomy
are many other aspects but unfortunately
I have not time to discuss them here,
as this is an exam, I fear
and thus there isn’t time to list
the prefixes, suffixes I have missed
but I hope I’ve writ enough
of the most fundamental stuff
and thus this much will have to do
and so for now I say Adieu!

 

[VelcroSky]

That's funny!

I have a degree in music. While this did make the list of pre-reqs that I've had to go back for robust, I don't think it will be a complete waste. It's a different way of using your brain. I think that the more ways of thinking your brain is trained in the better. I believe that Darwin said something to the effect that his biggest regret in life was that he allowed the creative/artistic side of his brain wither away.

 

[twosoakers]

nice!

the perks of being an english student in the veterinary school:

the grad students who t.a. my class send me their research proposals for editing.

the vet students love that i can type 91 wpm, taking class dictation and emailing it to everyone like nobody's business.

the old, white, male, institutional ad com heads bend their eyebrows whenever you speak.

one of my vet profs at purdue keeps telling me, because of my advanced english degree, i should go on npr to say that radiated plants are indeed safe to eat (which would be damned cool).
EAT RADIATED PLANTS, PEOPLE!!

i'm sending those lyrics to my prof.

 

[Emio]

i saw the title of this thread and thought that i wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. but Heather, that was awesome, made my day! 👍

i'm a boring bio major (though i took a couple music theory courses!), so i don't have anything else to add to this thread.

 

[KittenKiller]

I love it Hollycozza! You could be the next Dr Seuss 😉

I was a history major. Im really hoping to work some history of vet med and history of domestication type stuff into my vet school education. Go humanities!

Jessica

 

[JIKJen124]

I was a history major.
Jessica

👍 Me too! I, however think that the humanities will come in my life as reading before bed, winning games of Trivial Pursuit, and otherwise engaging in interesting conversation. 😳

 

[wildfocus]

thanks hollycoz - love the sonnet! as an english major, i was more into feminist critical theory (how has the male establishment defined anatomy, how you see anatomy, how you speak of anatomy, and how you are oppressed by anatomy). 🙂

kittenkiller - history major at harvard, eh? you totally rock in my book!

 

[hoodle]

I, however think that the humanities will come in my life as reading before bed, winning games of Trivial Pursuit, and otherwise engaging in interesting conversation. 😳

Me too - I'm double major, english lit and bio, and I think that in the end, the english lit part of my life will just be a perpetually unfinished list of books I desperately want to read...

 

[kate_g]

I'm a pretty standard bio nerd in most ways, but I've always done hands-on art as a hobby - drawing, painting, sculpture, pottery... whatever. Anything big and preferably dirty.

Turns out this gives me a deeply ingrained appreciation for (and skill at) dissection and surgery.

So in certain ways, I'm going into veterinary medicine specifically because it is at the intersection of science and art. Not to mention big and dirty.

 

[Moonpaw]

Likewise, I am a boring bio major, but I do love my arts and literature. I started a book club in my residence hall and I've taken music lessons through my university's art school when I can.

I actually got into an argument with my friend about a topic slightly related to this. He said that he would refuse to have anyone who wasn't a science major in undergrad poking around his body trying to figure out what was wrong. I told him that med school (and vet school, along with all other health schools) pretty much equalize most people, and that some med schools (maybe not vet schools) actually prefer non-science majors because it shows diversity of interest and creativity.

Thoughts, anyone?

 

[alliecat44]

Loving this thread. Holly, I am so impressed and bow down before your skill! I sent a copy to a friend of mine at Murdoch (hope you don't mind). 🙂

Personally, I think it's wonderful that vet/med schools embrace people of varied backgrounds and interests. After all, being able to think flexibly is what gets a good clinician around a particularly sticky problem (as anyone who has seen Saran Wrap used as first aid for a traumatic pneumothorax for the first time will attest). Creative thinkers are our innovators.

I'm inspired by the creative backgrounds of all of those on here, and the additional schooling each of you undertook. I double-majored in biology and philosophy, and I think it really helps my critical thinking skills (as well as my bioethics!). Wouldn't have changed it for the world. The four years I spent completing a professional acting program taught me much about communicating with clients, and the year I spent performing stand-up comedy as a hobby taught me how injecting (no pun intended) humor in the right situations can lead to increased client compliance/understanding, as well as defusing some managerial tensions at the workplace.

 

[twosoakers]

He said that he would refuse to have anyone who wasn't a science major in undergrad poking around his body trying to figure out what was wrong. ?

i've known undergrad science majors to cheat their way through classes. going to the 'bathroom' in the middle of exams. writing on their hands in huge lecture halls where it's impossible to see everyone. most undergrad biology is strictly memorization. the only class that really checks you is o-chem, which sucks even if you know what you're doing.

i had an indiana vet say to me that he didn't want anyone operating on his animal that 'didn't practice with terminal surgeries.' guess that leaves most of us out. refusal to progress and question old institutions is a sign of a stagnant system (e.g. the vet schools using computer weeding programs and only admitting students with 3.7 GPAs from 17 years old and on and GREs in the 801s).

 

[Hollycozza]

Loving this thread. Holly, I am so impressed and bow down before your skill! I sent a copy to a friend of mine at Murdoch (hope you don't mind). 🙂

Glad you liked it 😀 Absolutely fine to send it on, nice to think people are reading it.

I actually got into an argument with my friend about a topic slightly related to this. He said that he would refuse to have anyone who wasn't a science major in undergrad poking around his body trying to figure out what was wrong. I told him that med school (and vet school, along with all other health schools) pretty much equalize most people, and that some med schools (maybe not vet schools) actually prefer non-science majors because it shows diversity of interest and creativity.

Thoughts, anyone?

Sydney university is VERY keen to get diverse students into the medicine degree, and has even started a combined music-medicine course! You do music for undergrad and get a guaranteed place in med 🙂

 

[TheDuck]

nice!

the perks of being an english student in the veterinary school:

the grad students who t.a. my class send me their research proposals for editing.

the vet students love that i can type 91 wpm, taking class dictation and emailing it to everyone like nobody's business.

the old, white, male, institutional ad com heads bend their eyebrows whenever you speak.

one of my vet profs at purdue keeps telling me, because of my advanced english degree, i should go on npr to say that radiated plants are indeed safe to eat (which would be damned cool).
EAT RADIATED PLANTS, PEOPLE!!

i'm sending those lyrics to my prof.

Good to know. I'll have to remember to offer those services when (if) I get into vet school. 😀 My g/f tells me I should be a stenographer, since I can type 132 wpm.

 

[smhrd]

I can actually one-up some of you, as I was not only an English major, I am also an English teacher. 😎

Personally, I think anyone who has written papers for a literary criticism class, with all of the dubious links and connections (read: BS) that we English majors find, will be successful when it comes to making connections between things that actually do correlate...like symptoms of illness. Those "critical thinking" skills that humanities majors love to talk about, and all that.

I can think of dozens of ways my teaching background will be an asset when I make the leap to the vet world. (And in some ways, I think being a vet might actually be easier than teaching middle school...no one lets me twitch my students!😀 )

Just for a different commentary, this is what my vet told me when he found out I was an English teacher: "A what? We don't need English teachers. Everyone already speaks English anyway! Be something useful. Like a vet."

 

[jnt179]

I have struggled with all of the Humanities courses. I know it isn't very diverse, but I love my animal science degree. I am one of those that took all of my electives first and now I am stuck doing gen ed and prereqs. The humanities just does not interest me. I have came to the conclusion...this was the reason summer classes were invented. If I am not interested in the class, I have a hard time with it.

 

[TheDuck]

My girlfriend's father is an English teacher, and so is a good friend of mine. I thought about being an English teacher early on in school, but I know I'd get bored fairly quickly.

As far as putting the arts into sciences, although it wasn't veterinary science, I took a creative writing approach to a few papers on both biology and law. A few were published in a small science journal, and my law article was published with Boston College, so it is possible to be creative in scientific/professional writing.

 

[pressmom]

I was editor of an arts and entertainment magazine in college, so I hope I can bring some of this to vet med!

 

[hoodle]

(And in some ways, I think being a vet might actually be easier than teaching middle school...no one lets me twitch my students!😀 )

Teeheeheheheeheee. well said.😆