Things to accomplish before summer break:
Ophthalmology final examCanine Massage wetlabClient simulations on the Minneapolis campusCardiopulmonary Disorders final examUrinary Systems Disorders final examAssist in our last surgery (probably a feline spay)Surgery, Anesthesia, and Critical Care final examSurgery, Anesthesia, and Critical Care lab examObstetrics lab- Avian Core
- Integrative Medicine Core
- Finish clerk duty checkoff list
We also have to register for our third year classes soon... which means we have to make an official decision about what we're going to track. Tracking means choosing an area to specialize in during your third and fourth year studies and rotations. You can choose production animal, equine, small animal, mixed track (a little bit of everything), or interdisciplinary (for things that don't really fit in the other categories, like public health or research). I've been entertaining the idea of tracking mixed for a while, since vets are supposed to graduate feeling somewhat comfortable working on any species presented to them (except for humans, of course). Mixed track is also supposed to prepare you well for board exams, as you'll have had recent experience with all species, so there's less cramming to do.
But alas, I really can't convince myself that I'll ever enjoy working with farm animals- at least, not like I enjoy working with companion animals (and their humans). Besides, while the U of MN has nice equine and production animal programs, it's really renowned for its small animal work. We have the busiest small animal teaching hospital in the country, and it would be a shame to miss out on some of the awesome small animal specialty rotations for the sake of not having to cram for boards. The small animal track also leaves enough room for electives and rotations to squeeze in some small ruminant work (sheep, goats, alpacas, and llamas), which is really the fun part of production animal medicine anyway :)
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