I GOT ACCEPTED TO THE DVM/PHD PROGRAM!!!!
WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*pant*pant*pant*
It's official, and the whole trajectory of my life changes. I know it was likely after I got into the DVM program, but still.....you never know until you've got it on paper, and now I've got it on paper :-)
Tonight, hubby and I are celebrating at Duner's and I'm just going to revel in it. Tomorrow I'll think about the fact that I'm celebrating getting to work my a$$ off for the next 7-8 yrs. Celebrating getting to take many more extremely hard classes, board exams, qualifying exams and thesises.....oh, I have so much to look forward to!
Showing posts with label vet school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vet school. Show all posts
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Illness, waiting, and physics. Ugh.
So the lovely cold the hubby shared with me has followed the same path his did. I thought I was feeling better on Monday so went to work....had long day at work....had physics homework kick my butt that evening....low and behold I was in worse shape Tuesday, stayed up half the night coughing and finally decided to drag my pitiful butt into the doctors yesterday. So it's on the antibiotics and codeine syrup train now *sigh*. And my voice has blown out from all the coughing so I sound ridiculous. At least this didn't happen during my Tech interview, right?!? SILVER LININGS, DAMNIT!!
Unfortunately the cold happened just when I was supposed to be catching up on the physics reading and studying I had blown off while prepping for my interview....so now I feel doubly behind. Not just feel, but am. I am hereby taking control of the situation NOW. From now on, I am cut off from TV during week nights - it's either reading/studying/working on physics, or doing dishes, or bed. (You all might find me going to bed at 8:30pm from now on...).
Seriously though, one of my biggest problems is that after a long day working in lab, bouncing to and from class and what ever else, I'm POOPED in the evenings and find myself too often staring blandly at the TV until 10pm. When I'm already kinda tired, all will power to shut off that soul-sucking electronic devil is washed away. I realize that I still need to devote the majority of each weekend to physics studying and practice, but even if I get two pages read on the weeknights, that's something!! Plus TV shows just make me wish I was thinner, witty-er and better dressed *sigh*
This actually leads into my hypothesis that TV is the root of all societal discontent....but that's for another post.
In other school news, I found out letters for the combined degree from Tech should have been mailed *today*. I haven't gotten an email, and I don't know if they'll send one, but regardless I should get the letter pretty quickly. Like tomorrow or Saturday. Will keep ya posted!
I also found out that I should hear from UCDavis between the 14th and 18th...again, not holding my breath for this at all, but a decision one way or the other will just help solidify plans. I mean, in the very far off chance I did get an interview at Davis, it would really complicate the decision making process. The details are neither interesting nor pertinent until I find out, so I will spare you all.
Wish I had creature news, but don't. All the furries are stable, and totally bored with Brian and I for being couch potatoes for so long. I have a few pics I should probably get up but...yeah...been too busy coughing. Dearest H. (H is for hubby) is getting much better, so hopefully life will return to happy normalcy soon. Off to do a post-physics-lab quiz and split some cells. Good times.
Unfortunately the cold happened just when I was supposed to be catching up on the physics reading and studying I had blown off while prepping for my interview....so now I feel doubly behind. Not just feel, but am. I am hereby taking control of the situation NOW. From now on, I am cut off from TV during week nights - it's either reading/studying/working on physics, or doing dishes, or bed. (You all might find me going to bed at 8:30pm from now on...).
Seriously though, one of my biggest problems is that after a long day working in lab, bouncing to and from class and what ever else, I'm POOPED in the evenings and find myself too often staring blandly at the TV until 10pm. When I'm already kinda tired, all will power to shut off that soul-sucking electronic devil is washed away. I realize that I still need to devote the majority of each weekend to physics studying and practice, but even if I get two pages read on the weeknights, that's something!! Plus TV shows just make me wish I was thinner, witty-er and better dressed *sigh*
This actually leads into my hypothesis that TV is the root of all societal discontent....but that's for another post.
In other school news, I found out letters for the combined degree from Tech should have been mailed *today*. I haven't gotten an email, and I don't know if they'll send one, but regardless I should get the letter pretty quickly. Like tomorrow or Saturday. Will keep ya posted!
I also found out that I should hear from UCDavis between the 14th and 18th...again, not holding my breath for this at all, but a decision one way or the other will just help solidify plans. I mean, in the very far off chance I did get an interview at Davis, it would really complicate the decision making process. The details are neither interesting nor pertinent until I find out, so I will spare you all.
Wish I had creature news, but don't. All the furries are stable, and totally bored with Brian and I for being couch potatoes for so long. I have a few pics I should probably get up but...yeah...been too busy coughing. Dearest H. (H is for hubby) is getting much better, so hopefully life will return to happy normalcy soon. Off to do a post-physics-lab quiz and split some cells. Good times.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
BIG update...and a few smaller ones
Well, most folks have already heard, but I did receive an acceptance letter from VaTech's DVM program Tuesday evening.
WOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!
Honestly, I wish I could say that I jumped around and shrieked so loud the entire 7 floors of my building heard me, but my biggest response was simply relief. After 8 years of saying "I'm going to go to vet school" I actually AM going to vet school :-) But I'm still waiting to hear from the combined degree committee about an official offer from them - I should hear either way sometime in the next 10 days.
I did celebrate that evening with a few friends, some of which I hadn't seen in a while but we were all very adult and I was home to my sick hubby by 9:30pm.
Speaking of which, it was a huge bummer that he was too sick to celebrate with me. I don't think I've seen him hit by a cold/virus this hard since we've been together! He went to the doctor without me suggesting it!! Poor guy felt that bad. They gave him a Z-pack (kick-butt antibiotics) on Wednesday, and he's STILL sick :-( It's pretty clear he's had a virus, but definitely developed sinus/chest secondary infections.
Considering how sick he is, it probably comes as no surprise to anyone that I've caught it and am currently on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, nursing a ginger ale. I started feeling crummy Thursday evening and woke up at 3am running a fever. I was totally wiped out yesterday and woke up this morning to a raging sinus headache, but as of this evening (Saturday evening) I'm actually feeling a bit better. I hope laying low tomorrow means I'll be alright by Monday....but the hubby's cold has been dragging on for 6 days now, so we'll see. I'm gobbling vit C, eating carefully and keeping fluids up so I can't do much else!!
Of course being sick doesn't mean I get off horse poo-patrol. Ah the joys of having pony-butt at home! All I get is a slightly more frantic neigh in the morning as I walk too slowly to the shelter with her breakfast. Dax has managed to eat all the old grass in her pen area, so she's gotten more attentive to breakfast and dinner. I actually let her out in the 90acre pasture yesterday - she had two incidences of galloping, but they were pretty much short-ish spooks and otherwise she was eating very peacefully. I realize the running around is NOT good for her stifle, but it was kept to the very minimum. I haven't tried to trot her out carefully to asses the lameness, but she'll sometimes take a funny step that makes it clear to me it's still sensitive/sore. As it was, she was SOOOOO happy being out in the bigger field and eating all afternoon....I wasn't worried about the eating since all she's getting is last year's dead/dormant grass. I kept her in the pen today because of the two running instances....if she hadn't run at all, I probably would have let her out again. Speaking of this reminds me to bring up my rehab ideas.
Dax's Rehab Plan
All the instruction I got from the vet for rehab was "Wait sixty days, then put her back into light work and see how she feels". Riiiiiiight. Seems to me that the definition of "light work" is pretty variable. In addition to this, after a recent backpacking excursion I realized how much extra weight can stress/strain muscles and connective tissue. I just don't feel like it's a great idea to take Dax from layup pen to being ridden, even lightly. Also, I'll be so out of riding shape that I wouldn't be much help!! So here's my plan:
1. Turn her out for 2 weeks in the full 90 acres. If she come up lame just doing her normal stuff on her own, then I definitely know she's not ready for more work.
2. Assuming she passes #1, I'll start taking her on conditioning "walks". Literally, like a dog on a leash, I'll start taking her for walk/jogs at the park across the street with some nice hills for strength building/cardio. This solves both my and her problems :-) This is also a good way to introduce trotting without stressing things too much (hopefully). Again do this work for a good 2-3 weeks, depending on her response. Any signs of soreness takes us back to another 30 days off.
3. If all else goes well, now I will introduce gentle trail riding, just walking and some easy hills will still doing work in hand. Maybe add in some lunging to have her work in a smaller circle and work on flexibility. I'll probably also re-introduce some easy dressage flexion, bending and easy stuff. I'm thinking riding just 2x a week to start, working up from there.
4. Ultimately work back into a solid 4x week of dressage and trail conditioning for 3 months.
5. I'll consider her completely recovered if she can manage all that without soreness, and we'll get back into jumping.
If everything goes along smoothly (HA!!) that will probably take us into moving time....end of July or so. Of course it never goes smoothly, there will be set backs and we might not even get past step 1. The inevitable move will pretty much force a riding "vacation". Depending on where I go (remember, still waiting to hear from UCDavis) will dictate how long that is. Regardless of where Dax is in work, I think a couple weeks off won't hurt her in the least.
The whole rehab process is going to be a daily re-evaluation process. At the slightest hint of soreness, I'll have to back track and keep a close eye on her. It's pretty frustrating that I have no way of evaluating Dax's recovery other than by her level of discomfort. This is especially problematic b/c she's not terribly sensitive.....she's always had a high pain tolerance (no prob w/ shots!!). That just means more attentiveness on my part, but I have a tendency to second guess myself :-P THIS IS WHY I NEED TO GET TO VET SCHOOL ASAP!!!
Meanwhile, I'm investing in some clicker training books and clickers and I'm going to see if I can teach her to lay down....I've got to do something horsey to keep me sane!! Besides picking up poo. That doesn't count.
WOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!
Honestly, I wish I could say that I jumped around and shrieked so loud the entire 7 floors of my building heard me, but my biggest response was simply relief. After 8 years of saying "I'm going to go to vet school" I actually AM going to vet school :-) But I'm still waiting to hear from the combined degree committee about an official offer from them - I should hear either way sometime in the next 10 days.
I did celebrate that evening with a few friends, some of which I hadn't seen in a while but we were all very adult and I was home to my sick hubby by 9:30pm.
Speaking of which, it was a huge bummer that he was too sick to celebrate with me. I don't think I've seen him hit by a cold/virus this hard since we've been together! He went to the doctor without me suggesting it!! Poor guy felt that bad. They gave him a Z-pack (kick-butt antibiotics) on Wednesday, and he's STILL sick :-( It's pretty clear he's had a virus, but definitely developed sinus/chest secondary infections.
Considering how sick he is, it probably comes as no surprise to anyone that I've caught it and am currently on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, nursing a ginger ale. I started feeling crummy Thursday evening and woke up at 3am running a fever. I was totally wiped out yesterday and woke up this morning to a raging sinus headache, but as of this evening (Saturday evening) I'm actually feeling a bit better. I hope laying low tomorrow means I'll be alright by Monday....but the hubby's cold has been dragging on for 6 days now, so we'll see. I'm gobbling vit C, eating carefully and keeping fluids up so I can't do much else!!
Of course being sick doesn't mean I get off horse poo-patrol. Ah the joys of having pony-butt at home! All I get is a slightly more frantic neigh in the morning as I walk too slowly to the shelter with her breakfast. Dax has managed to eat all the old grass in her pen area, so she's gotten more attentive to breakfast and dinner. I actually let her out in the 90acre pasture yesterday - she had two incidences of galloping, but they were pretty much short-ish spooks and otherwise she was eating very peacefully. I realize the running around is NOT good for her stifle, but it was kept to the very minimum. I haven't tried to trot her out carefully to asses the lameness, but she'll sometimes take a funny step that makes it clear to me it's still sensitive/sore. As it was, she was SOOOOO happy being out in the bigger field and eating all afternoon....I wasn't worried about the eating since all she's getting is last year's dead/dormant grass. I kept her in the pen today because of the two running instances....if she hadn't run at all, I probably would have let her out again. Speaking of this reminds me to bring up my rehab ideas.
Dax's Rehab Plan
All the instruction I got from the vet for rehab was "Wait sixty days, then put her back into light work and see how she feels". Riiiiiiight. Seems to me that the definition of "light work" is pretty variable. In addition to this, after a recent backpacking excursion I realized how much extra weight can stress/strain muscles and connective tissue. I just don't feel like it's a great idea to take Dax from layup pen to being ridden, even lightly. Also, I'll be so out of riding shape that I wouldn't be much help!! So here's my plan:
1. Turn her out for 2 weeks in the full 90 acres. If she come up lame just doing her normal stuff on her own, then I definitely know she's not ready for more work.
2. Assuming she passes #1, I'll start taking her on conditioning "walks". Literally, like a dog on a leash, I'll start taking her for walk/jogs at the park across the street with some nice hills for strength building/cardio. This solves both my and her problems :-) This is also a good way to introduce trotting without stressing things too much (hopefully). Again do this work for a good 2-3 weeks, depending on her response. Any signs of soreness takes us back to another 30 days off.
3. If all else goes well, now I will introduce gentle trail riding, just walking and some easy hills will still doing work in hand. Maybe add in some lunging to have her work in a smaller circle and work on flexibility. I'll probably also re-introduce some easy dressage flexion, bending and easy stuff. I'm thinking riding just 2x a week to start, working up from there.
4. Ultimately work back into a solid 4x week of dressage and trail conditioning for 3 months.
5. I'll consider her completely recovered if she can manage all that without soreness, and we'll get back into jumping.
If everything goes along smoothly (HA!!) that will probably take us into moving time....end of July or so. Of course it never goes smoothly, there will be set backs and we might not even get past step 1. The inevitable move will pretty much force a riding "vacation". Depending on where I go (remember, still waiting to hear from UCDavis) will dictate how long that is. Regardless of where Dax is in work, I think a couple weeks off won't hurt her in the least.
The whole rehab process is going to be a daily re-evaluation process. At the slightest hint of soreness, I'll have to back track and keep a close eye on her. It's pretty frustrating that I have no way of evaluating Dax's recovery other than by her level of discomfort. This is especially problematic b/c she's not terribly sensitive.....she's always had a high pain tolerance (no prob w/ shots!!). That just means more attentiveness on my part, but I have a tendency to second guess myself :-P THIS IS WHY I NEED TO GET TO VET SCHOOL ASAP!!!
Meanwhile, I'm investing in some clicker training books and clickers and I'm going to see if I can teach her to lay down....I've got to do something horsey to keep me sane!! Besides picking up poo. That doesn't count.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
No updates at the moment
So after announcing to lots of people (or at least my sister and Judi :-) that I would hear from Tech today, of course I didn't. Actually, I did get an email around 8pm stating that there had been a scoring issue which had delayed sending out the offers until tomorrow around 5pm. The email did apologize for any stress which was caused.
I appreciated that because I WAS FREAKING STRESSED!!! Seriously, I checked my email spastically as often as I could all day. Trying to focus in physics class on electrical potential and U = EA was really challenging. C'mon, a single email is going to dictate whether or not a major move happens in about 7months, not to mention my career path for the rest of my life!!!
So as much psychic crap as I'm piling up on this decision, I should probably let everybody know that there are some good back-up plans/alternatives that still take me in the career direction I want to go (career direction => furries).
First off, I also applied to UC Davis' DVM/PhD program (although they refer to it as the VSTP - Veterinary Scientist Training Program. Spiffy!) I won't hear ANYTHING from them until closer to the middle of Feb. As in I don't know if I'll get an interview, much less an offer. Being out of state, the chances are much worse than the chances of wining the 164 million jackpot. Seriously worse. It was probably a waste of money to apply......I applied to NC State's and Colorado State's combined degree programs but didn't get interviews.
Now the other possibilities are to do a PhD only, first. I've applied to Colorado State's Micro program in the veterinary college, and I've applied to UVa. Yeah, I know0 UVa doesn't have a vet pro52gra.......ok, that was the Sam. He's decided he needs0.111111111111111 Get off!!!! Ugh, he's decided he needs love so bad that typing is unacceptable. He's swatting my hands as we speak. Er, as I type. Whatever!
Maybe he's letting me know I'm running on? Anyway, long story short I'll do a PhD first if I have to, then reapply to vet programs. And UVa is a viable option because 1) It's a great program with really good faculty and research 2) I've already completed 99% of the course work 3) I do like having easy access to Gearhart's chocolates, at least 6 wineries and 3 breweries all in 20 mile radius. Crozet rocks :-)
All those are decisions to be made after I get more information (as in an offer or rejection!!) and I'm not worrying about it now. Off to bed and hopefully some sleep......*sigh*
ps- came home to a sick hubby. He'd been off at a conference and brought back a present!! Yippee!! I'd rather he not share this particular present......poor guy :-(
I appreciated that because I WAS FREAKING STRESSED!!! Seriously, I checked my email spastically as often as I could all day. Trying to focus in physics class on electrical potential and U = EA was really challenging. C'mon, a single email is going to dictate whether or not a major move happens in about 7months, not to mention my career path for the rest of my life!!!
So as much psychic crap as I'm piling up on this decision, I should probably let everybody know that there are some good back-up plans/alternatives that still take me in the career direction I want to go (career direction => furries).
First off, I also applied to UC Davis' DVM/PhD program (although they refer to it as the VSTP - Veterinary Scientist Training Program. Spiffy!) I won't hear ANYTHING from them until closer to the middle of Feb. As in I don't know if I'll get an interview, much less an offer. Being out of state, the chances are much worse than the chances of wining the 164 million jackpot. Seriously worse. It was probably a waste of money to apply......I applied to NC State's and Colorado State's combined degree programs but didn't get interviews.
Now the other possibilities are to do a PhD only, first. I've applied to Colorado State's Micro program in the veterinary college, and I've applied to UVa. Yeah, I know0 UVa doesn't have a vet pro52gra.......ok, that was the Sam. He's decided he needs0.111111111111111 Get off!!!! Ugh, he's decided he needs love so bad that typing is unacceptable. He's swatting my hands as we speak. Er, as I type. Whatever!
Maybe he's letting me know I'm running on? Anyway, long story short I'll do a PhD first if I have to, then reapply to vet programs. And UVa is a viable option because 1) It's a great program with really good faculty and research 2) I've already completed 99% of the course work 3) I do like having easy access to Gearhart's chocolates, at least 6 wineries and 3 breweries all in 20 mile radius. Crozet rocks :-)
All those are decisions to be made after I get more information (as in an offer or rejection!!) and I'm not worrying about it now. Off to bed and hopefully some sleep......*sigh*
ps- came home to a sick hubby. He'd been off at a conference and brought back a present!! Yippee!! I'd rather he not share this particular present......poor guy :-(
Monday, January 10, 2011
Quick update on Dax and Vet school
So Dax is getting the bone cyst injected this Friday!! I'm really excited about this because I view it as the first step towards recovery and possibly riding again (which I'm going a bit stir crazy for lack of :-( That also means she'll officially be moving home Friday, and I've got to get my arse in gear to get things together. Hay is the biggest question at the moment....I've got a few folks to call but it is slightly last minute. Plus clearing out the old water tub, moving pallets, buying grain....um, yeah, a bit to do.
Also found out I should hear from VaTech about my application for the combined DVM/PhD program this week. I already found out I've gotten an interview invitation for the DVM. Apparently they review the DVM side of things for everyone first. Once they make decisions on DVM interviews, then they review the people who want to do the combined degree. If I'm chosen as a candidate for the combo, I'll do additional interviews on the same day as my already scheduled DVM interview. It's all pretty complicated, and each school handles it differently.....the application process has been a learning experience!! (an EXPENSIVE learning experience). I think my next post will the about the application saga and to fill in folks on exactly why I would even dream of going back to school for 8...count em...8 YEARS. It's a long story.....
Also found out I should hear from VaTech about my application for the combined DVM/PhD program this week. I already found out I've gotten an interview invitation for the DVM. Apparently they review the DVM side of things for everyone first. Once they make decisions on DVM interviews, then they review the people who want to do the combined degree. If I'm chosen as a candidate for the combo, I'll do additional interviews on the same day as my already scheduled DVM interview. It's all pretty complicated, and each school handles it differently.....the application process has been a learning experience!! (an EXPENSIVE learning experience). I think my next post will the about the application saga and to fill in folks on exactly why I would even dream of going back to school for 8...count em...8 YEARS. It's a long story.....
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