Module 2 Completed!

Today is officially our last day of Module 2, which means we are now a third the way through our first year of vet school!

We finally found the coos yesterday!

This module was a big change from the first, which we covered a very broad range of topics to get a good foundation in everything. Module 2 was on Natural Defences, in which we focused on blood, anaemia, body fluids, and the immune system.

The first week was primarily focused on blood and the different types of blood cells, as well as the basic biochemistry of blood proteins and enzymes. Personally, this week was mostly review from previous anatomy and biochemistry classes I had taken. For our lab we learned about blood sampling and tubes. We got to practice on models how to draw blood from the jugular vein and the cephalic vein, as well as how to use vacutainers for large animal blood draws.

The second week was primarily on anaemia (had to get to used to the different spellings of everything!). This is where a lot more new information came up for me, which I was very excited about! We learned about different causative forms of anaemia, as well as how to diagnose them. Our lab this week was creating blood smears and hematocrit. We got to practice making blood smears on slides for examination and manual cell counts, as well as making hematocrit tubes for analysis of hematocrit level. Creating blood smears is actually quite tricky, but I was able to get a few really nice ones towards the end of our practical. they are tricky to perform as you have to have the spreader slide at the right angle and pressure in order to disperse the blood to be exactly one cell thick at the body of the slide, also called the monolayer. The hematocrit tubes are fairly easy to create, you just have to make sure you get enough blood up into the capillary tube. Hematocrit, also called packed cell volume (PCV), is used to determine the amount of erythrocytes (red blood cells) in the blood, usually expressed as a percentage. It also allows for diagnosis of some disease, including differentiation between types of anaemia, as it also consists of the plasma and the Buffy coat (which contains all the white blood cells and platelets). Diagnosis's can be made from the color of the plasma, the volume of erythrocytes, and the volume of the Buffy coat.

In week three we focused on immunology, which was very intense! We learned about different types of immunoglobulins (antibodies), innate vs adaptive immunity, how immune responses are generated, different diseases of the immune system, and the lymphatic system. We didn't have in person labs this week, but we did 2 online labs where we got to practice examining blood samples and using them to diagnose a patient.

This last week was our consolidation week, so we did not have any lectures with new material. Rather, we had a lot of live zooms that focused on different professional aspects of being a vet, as well as tutorials on how to set up our foundation phase portfolio, which we will later submit to be graded at the end of our second year, and will act as our dissertation when submitted in final year. We also had two in person labs this week, which unfortunately were our last in person labs until January. On Monday we had equine handling, which was just very basic (putting on a halter, tying, leading, and cleaning out feet). On Thursday we had our injections practical, in which we practiced giving subcutaneous and intramuscular injections in different locations on the cadavers (which included cats, dogs, and rabbits).

It wasn't all just school though! Along with getting out and exploring hikes and castles (check out my other posts!), I also did a little bit of local exploring. One day we went out to brunch and took a tour of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, which hosts a variety of renowned artists, as well as natural history and local history exhibits.

We also took a walk around Kelvingrove park one day when there was a nice break in the rain.

I also made some new furry friends! Bella the cat lives in our neighbor building, and has greeted me a couple of morning this week. I've been getting to ride with the team every Wednesday, and get to ride a different horse each time, which has been great for my riding. And finally we took a walk in Dawsholm park and found the highland coos, who were very excited to see us once they realized we brought snacks for them!

Now onto our next module: The Digestive System! Hope everyone is still staying safe and healthy!