Time seems to be moving at a rate that is impossible to characterize. The rest of my dermatology rotation blew by me and before I knew it, I had started my rotation through small animal internal medicine. I *really* enjoy medicine. It’s exhilarating and exciting and it always reinforces that I’ve chosen the correct profession. Medicine is like a puzzle. The patient walks through the door with a problem that may or may not be obvious from the outside. I love talking to the owners to try to get them to mention some critical point that can point me in the right direction or at spark the wheels in my head to start turning. Then comes the physical examination where the animal may or may not be doing its best to hide its symptoms. After that, it’s time to start the heavy lifting; it’s time to decide which tests need to be done. You go down the list until something stands out or until you notice something new that may not have been present in the beginning of the search. And then you have to see if you can fix it. Sometimes the “fixing it” part goes really well, and sometimes there is nothing you can do. Either way, there is a chance to learn something (though I much prefer getting to fix things than the alternative).
After spending more time at school during my 2 week medicine rotation than I did at home, I was hoping that my cardiology rotation would give me a bit more time to study for my national boards. One week from Monday, I will sit for the most important examination of my life. This is the exam that decides if I’ve learned enough in veterinary school to actually become a veterinarian. I’ve been having nightmares for weeks. I don’t know how I’m going to sleep as the day gets closer. I planned my testing date very carefully. It’s the Monday before Thanksgiving and I have the whole week off (I scheduled vacation time for this very reason). I will take the exam on Monday, recharge on Tuesday (and sleep off the celebratory bottle of wine that will have been consumed Monday night), and go to my future in-laws house on Wednesday through the weekend. I haven’t seen the Captain or his family since August and right now, they are the light at the end of the tunnel. This is going to be a really special Thanksgiving break because it will include meeting our priest, wedding band shopping, and bridesmaid dress picking with my future sisters-in-law. So many good things to come!
For now, I’m going to put my head down and keep pushing through. I have over 1000 practice questions left to go through before the big day and an awful lot of information to learn about poultry diseases. Oh, and I have to learn a bit more about cardiology before Monday. What happened to relaxing weekends?!
