Yes, the cries of the first year vet student when she finally finds something on her dog cadaver. It's a bit like a baby when they learn to balance on two feet. Oh, they're so proud of themselves! (Whether the baby in it's stinky diaper or the vet student smelling of formalin smells worse is still up for debate...)
Classes officially started today. The first two hours were a bit dull - hospital safety stuff. Important, but dry and I was thankful to finally get to physiology. Loved physiology! The professor is quick and funny and so far, the material is fairly basic (don't worry, I expect that to change...).
Then came anatomy. Every vet student DREADS anatomy. It's a ton of information in not a lot of time. On went the scrubs and the boots and gloves and into the lab we went. All the dogs seemed to be freaking huge - I think my group ended up with some sort of German Shepherd mix type dog. Over the course of the three hour lab I learned:
Various muscles of the thoracic limb (which I'm now going over, and over, and over some more)
Dog preserved in formaldehyde has the same consistency as well done steak
Fingers are often a far better dissection tool then scalpels
Dead dogs aren't very cooperative
But every now and then you'd manage to match up what you saw on the dog to the perfect illustration in the textbook and get a little tiny shining moment of "Hey, maybe I can do this!"
Note: The author would like to remind everyone to keep their dogs lean and healthy. Because one day, a vet student may have to dissect it, and extra fat is a real pain in the ass to clean off the muscle.
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