What am I doing this summer

I am officially one month into the summer break now. Honestly, time flies when you are having fun, and I trully enjoy what has been happening since the beginning of the break.

I spent couple weeks shadowing the cardiology department here with the small animal clinic, and learned a great deal from the knowledgable (and most wonderful) clinicians and staff about heart. Not mentioning made great friends with the 4th year students during that rotation. Since I just finished first year, there's not a whole lot that that are clinically practical for me to use during this rotation, but I think the most beneficial thing about this rotation for me is that I finally understand what a "heart murmur" sounds like!!! I am very very VERY excited about that. They also offer weekly ECG rounds on Wednesday mornings for students to attend. My grand plan is if I continue going to this thing, may be one day, just ONE DAY...I will be able to read those squeekly lines...

Following that, I started to work at the small animal clinic front desk. I used to work here before I entered vet school. It is later on that I find out my boss didn't really think this job can get me into vet school(we joke about it now). But I filter emergency phone calls and taking payments. It is not that exciting, but I got a lot of free time, where else can you find a job where you get paid by doing your homework? Besides, it exposes me to the business side of the practice, and I get to deal with clients. I am up front when they have financial difficulties or complains or complements for our services, it is definitely very eye opening and a good practice to have (before I enter the real world).

This summer, I am also working for a professor at the large animal clinic. He IS SOOOOOOOO nice. Even though he knows that I have "ZERO" (or close to zero" horse handling experience), he still hired me for work for his horse lab. His philosphy is that being in the university teaching setting, we should never turn away students who wants to learn. So he tries his best to get me some horse handling experience and introduces me to as many other professors as possible during this summer, and also encourages me to work in the lab and be exposed to research side of the studies. I am already learning a great deal from him and his lab staff and I am loving it! Also since it is a student worker position, my schedule is so flexable that I can come in whenever is convinient for my schedule, so that gives me more time to go find other working opportunites~~

AS of today, I also arranged shadowing opportunites with the school ER room on Saturday's afternoons. Oh, and with another equine hospital (not the A&M one, this one is out of town) on Tuesday mornings. I mean just by standing there listening to them is a great opportunity for me to learn. My classmate also offers me the opportunity to stay in the OR room whenever possible to observe small animal surgeries...!!! I am soooo grateful that these people are part of my life and help me alone the way. SO GRATEFUL.


So far, on a regular base, I am going to Wed morning's ECG rounds from Cardio, Saturday afternoon is with ER, Tuesday mornings are with the Equine hospital, and then MW evening for the Japanese classes, and T and Th working at small animal front desk, and here and there I fit in to work with the professor's lab...It might sounds busy, but believe me, I am fully enjoy what I am doing this summer, which is learning! I mean while I am in vet school where all the frontfield technologies and knowledges are avaialable, I want to take full advantage of this!! After I get out, I don't think I will ever find a place where these much information will be concentrated at one single place, and so easy for me to grasp and collect. Call me crazy...:D