Spring 2013 Semester

I had every intention of getting on my soapbox and going on a rant but I decided I need to cool off before I write about it because I honestly don't want to offend people. 

So, instead I'm gonna fill ya in on what my life looks like this semester. I have class at 8 every morning until spring break and then I get 2 days every week that I get to sleep in a bit and have class at 9. Plus I don't have near as much lab time as last semester so I'm pretty excited about that. Lab can really zap my studying energy. I was thinking about how much time I spent in lab last semester and I was just amazed. Every afternoon, way to much! And often it was kind of a waste of time. Anyway, without further ado... my classes for the spring 2013 semester. 

Epidemiology, Food Safety, and Public Health- I'm not sure how I fell about this class. Doesn't seem to difficult yet but it is starting out pretty slow. For the first 6 weeks we are talking about evidence based medicine and as the teacher says "this part of the class is to make you skeptical about everything your teachers tell you, go do your research." I'm kind of a "just tell me how to fix it" person so this can get a bit frustrating. haha

Infectious Diseases II (Virology)- I have a love-hate relationship with this class. I actually enjoy the material and feel like I have already learned so much (second week of class ha) but we already had a quiz and I was reminded why I do not like the professor that teaches it. I had him last spring for immunology... all the feelings came back. I knew that material forwards and backwards and he goes and asks something totally off the wall. So annoying! It's going to be another frustrating fight for a good grade but I do like the material.

Pharmacology II- This class is just... okay. This semester we are learning about antibiotics mainly, along with a few other things in. I think it will be much better than last semester just because the teacher is a little better and more organized. 

Anesthesiology- Not my favorite. I don't feel like it is something I'm going to do a lot of when I get out into practice but I know it is good to learn just in case. Just not my favorite thing. I don't plan on doing a lot of surgery that needs to put a patient completely under. 

Diagnostic Imaging- I don't know how I feel about this class. I think it is really neat but sometimes I feel like you have to have a good imagination to find the problem. haha I will have to get back to you after we have a test. It also comes with a pointless lab so that automatically docks a few points in my book. 

Hemolymphatics/Oncology- I'm a little bit confused about this class so far. It just seems like it should go in third year when we have all our systems courses. So far it has pretty much just been review so not to bad. Plus it only lasts until spring break so that is nice!

Intro to Beef Production- this is an elective that seems like it is going to be pretty interesting. Probably a lot of information I already know but I don't really care. I like cows. :) Plus it's nice to have an easy class.

Small Ruminants- This is also an elective with a really long name. I just call it small ruminants but it basically encompasses everything you need to know about sheep, goats, and llamas. Plus the teacher is a retired veterinarian with all kinds of fun stories! It should be a pretty fun, informative, easy class. 

Zoonotic Diseases- This elective is going to be a lot of review but it will focus more on which diseases are zoonotic and what problems they cause in the human population. We don't really talk about this part in our other courses. I think I will get a lot of good info out of it.

Food Animal Techniques- This elective is only for 5 weeks of the semester but it is basically all lab. We are going to get some hands on experience with cows. I'm super excited about this one! It doesn't start until mid February though. 

That's a total of 21 hours folks... I think I might be crazy. I could knock out an elective but that would just mean I would have to take more next year when we are busy with surgery and such. I think it should be okay though. None of the electives are to terrible and all seem interesting. Plus the core classes seem a bit easier this semester and I'm really working on not getting so behind. :) Plus if this semester goes as fast as the last one, it will be over before I know it! And then.... it's summertime!!