Firstly I’d like to apologise for the complete lack of blogs over the past week, I just haven’t had a chance as revision is taking up nearly all of my time. I can’t remember having to work as hard as this last year, but then I don’t think I left it so late last year. First year nerves and worries got me motivated slightly earlier I think. Also, I blame it on IDSE, if it wasn’t for that being three weeks long I’d have started a bit earlier. It was only 2 weeks for the now 3rd years, which I doubt in any way reflected on the work they produced. To be fair I reckon they could give us a week and we’d still come up with the same stuff.
Well, anyway, revision isn’t going too bad, I had a manic day yesterday of Histology (sort of like anatomy at a cellular level). I managed to get through the entire 2nd Yr Histology course in a day, which was quite an achievement, and now means that I’m back on course with my revision timetable.
Every year I write myself out a timetable, everyone has there own revision method and mine is writing down everything in the timetable and religiously sticking to it. However for the last week I’ve been about half a day behind everyday till yesterday, so the exam stress has slacked a little now.
I’ve spent all my time over revision at either Hayley’s house or in the medical library, I was able to use one of Hayley’s friend’s rooms for about a week as she went home to revise, like a lot of people do. Though now she’s back and I’m stuck revising in the medical library, which is good as far as revision quantity is concerned but not as far as temperature. Its like a bloody green house, and a lot of students tend to get a bit slack as far as personal hygiene is concerned during revision i.e. The medical school smells of sweaty feet (unless it’s me and the smell just follows?!)
Today I’ve revised special sensors physiology and then written notes on bird and fish physiology, which leaves me forelimb muscles, blood vessels and innervation to do tonight, if I’m to stick to the timetable.

Well if any one is still reading after that revision rant there has been some fun stuff over the past couple of weeks.
The vet barn dance was a great night as it was last year. I reckon it’s because everyone is working that people just go on a mission to get themselves absolutely smashed! Tamsin got sent home in a taxi early, Mat couldn’t remember the 3women he pulled, John got tonsillitis, Hayley had a water fight a then almost got into a fight and my vet dad Gabe (3rd Yr) woke up with a bust lip, concussion and a cut arm. Thankfully my brother and his mates Tom, Ally and Stu managed to escape unharmed from the night, and even managed to acquire a watering can and a new potted plant for my house…how very generous?!…(In-case Rich reads this, I’ve got some very funny photos of all of us playing “touch the other side of the deer pen” game)

Couple of nights ago (can’t give any dates as I don’t know what day it is today) Hayley and I went out for a very socialable meal and drink. Hayley’s choice, so we went to Beijing Bistro. Very tasty and reasonably prices (sounds like an advert), definitely will have to go again sometime, the crispy seaweed starter was great. Also, I learnt how to use chopsticks, so I’m not going to look like a complete uncultured westerner in Tokyo in September.

On Friday I’m off home for a day. It’s my parent’s silver wedding anniversary so the whole family is going out for lunch on the Saturday, then I’m coming back to Bristol in the evening.

That’s about all I can think of for now (unless I write some more work-orientated stuff, but they’ll be plenty of that after each exam… The first one of which is next Thursday (Physiology) then Anatomy on the Friday after).

Tonight I’m off to Sainsburys to get supplies.

It came as quite a surprise to me when I found an e-mail from Kieran asking me to carry on my blog for the last term. To be honest this term is the worst time of the year every year and apart from exams there isn’t really much going on, but I’ll let people know exactly what great/interesting/mind numbing subjects I’ve been revising any how.

The term started out great with a pharmacology exam. The best part of this exam is that the result does not contribute to this year, so if the mark is bad it’s only the pharmacology course next year that will suffer.
The exam went ok I think, I only answered 2/3 of the multiple choice questions as they were negatively marked and guessing can be lethal. The short answer question was alright to.

Over the last couple of weeks of this term timetable has just been IDSE (intergraded directed self education). This involves our DSE groups getting a topic and having to produce essays and talks on it. Mat, Hayley, Claire, Ian, Hugo and I have got “The Bovine Udder” as our large topic, and then each of us has got a separate sub-topic to write a 3000 word essay on. The whole point is that between the essays we’ll cover all of pharmacology, anatomy, physiology, parastiology and animal health and husbandry in respect to the bovine mammary gland. My little topic is Bovine Somatotropin, a hormone that can be injected to massively increase milk production, which I found quite interesting. My essay is finished but I’ve still got to sort out a five minute talk on the topic, which I’ll do later today.

It hasn’t however been all work so far this term; I’ve been able to afford a couple of evenings of merriment. We had a big group kill bill volume one DVD watching session the other night and then I went off to see volume two with Hayley. An absolutely awesome film, must see!
Couple of nights ago 8 of us went round for a meal at Hugo’s house, it was meant to be just a quite one, but even so John still got sent to get more wine and left his car at hugo’s. I never understand why any of my friends drive to any gatherings we have, as it doesn’t save them any time. Yes they arrive with minimal effort, but then have to walk home after drinking and walk back the next day to retrieve the car, why not just walk in the first place.

I suppose you’re wondering what is so bad about this term… Bloody exams. Every year since GCSE this time of year gets harder and harder with the ever increasing work load. I’m starting revision tomorrow and it ain’t gonna be pretty. Four weeks till the first exam and massive amounts to learn, so don’t expect any interesting blogs off me!
The exams I’ve got are physiology, anatomy, parasitology and animal health and husbandry written, then a histology practical, an anatomy viva or two and an anatomy spot test.

However there are things to look forward to and the big picture is always essential to remember at this time of year. There’s the barn dance next week, which my brother and three of his mates are coming down from Derby to go to, and then there’s the summer and my multitude of holidays!! As long as all goes well with exams I’m going to go to Australia and Tokyo with John and I’ve also got a three night break to Barcelona booked with Hayley. This was a mega bargin, as we managed to get return flights, parking in Gatwick and 3 nights hostel accommodation for £110!!

Well think that’s enough for now, will let you know next week how amazingly well the revision better be going.

Right well term’s finally over and I’m back home. This last week has been chaotic, but at least it ended well with a mega wedge blow-out, so all is good.

Yesterday Dad came over at 10:30 so he could come to the union and listen to the last Levator Ani jam of the term. Unfortunately we played the worst we’ve ever done, even worse than before Xmas when we got together! I blame it on Long Island Ice Tea John bought me. Where as I think Ian and his mate blame it on the three bottles of wine they started the night with at Claire’s 21st birthday dinner. However after 2 hours of going through new stuff we did our half hour set list ok and Ian’s mate Dazza recorded us for our web site www.levatorani.co.uk. He’s setting this up for us over Easter. It’s looking amazing and should be awesome when complete!

Over the last week unfortunately I’ve done pretty much nothing else but work. I’ve known about the Anatomy DSE/exam scheduled for the last date of term for ages but have not really had a chance to get any work done for it, so I had a lot to catch up on. Thankfully I didn’t have much on last weekend except hockey and so was able to knuckle down for it a bit then. The task is to learn soft tissue, bony structures, vasculature and innervation by a multitude of species (some of them a bit pointless I thought, but you never know when I’ll have to do hindlimb surgery on a llama?!).
Hockey on Sunday was eventful. We’ve entered two centaur teams into the intramural championship (as we have so many players). One of the teams had already made it through to the final, but we still had to get through the semis to achieve a centaur vs centaur final, how cool would that be!! (no sarcasm intended). We were playing “Chaos” (the physics squad) and though we put up a great effort though we lost 2-1. Being so close we thought our A-team, made up of mostly uni players including a couple of 1st and 2nd team veterans, would be able to slaughter them. However 2 goals down after twelve minutes showed things weren’t going too great, then a 1st year performed a crunching challenge on a computer scientist (why the hell she was playing for the physics I don’t know) and broke her ankle in three places (the game was very heated). By the time the ambulance came it was almost dark and so the match was abandoned. A re-match is scheduled next term.

For the majority of last week I’ve been revising with Hayley. It didn’t take long to learn the hindlimb for the horse and dog. Therefore cat, ruminant and pig followed relatively easily. However bloody crow, llama and rat were far from ideal. Plus we didn’t get asked a single question on them. Why set us to learn these dam animals and not ask a single thing on them…Where’s the frickin logic in that?!
I did however have a nice break from revision on Tuesday with a well needed trip to Langford. It was canine behaviour all day and though I didn’t go expecting much it was actually an interesting day. Lectures in the morning, followed by a practical where we got to see real life animals and real life owners(not so exciting). Our case was with an Irish Wolfhound and its nervousness and aggressive problems. Not really ideal with a dog that size.

Well that brings me up to the exam on Friday. It was 2.5hrs long and really only needed to be 1.5hrs, but I stayed for most of it anyway. I always feel that I should never leave an exam early, it’s always worth checking it through as many times as possible.
I think it went ok. By that I mean I think I should have passed. I don’t really set my sites high when it comes to Anatomy (or any other subject come to thing of it, as long as I pass I’m not going to complain).

I suppose you’re all eager to know what Joe Blog vet does over the Easter break, well it’s dam exciting…wait for it…3.5wks of night lambing. Every night starting tomorrow I’m off to Townend farm (20mins away) to sit by myself (that’s if you don’t include sheep as company) and watch for lambs popping out of ewes. I’m actually quite looking forward to going back. I need the money so John and I can fund our trip to down under during the end of summer.

The Easter break isn’t all about sheep though. I’m taking one evening off to go to Hugo’s (IIyr) house party. It’s a joint 21st party with one of his friends, should be a massive occasion. Me, John and Mat have got our costumes sorted, it’s characters from Shrek as the dress code, so we’re all going as merry men. John’s Mum is being great and making us all our costumes, including green tights apparently, we could get some funny looks if we stop of at any service stations on the way!!
Also Hayley is hopefully going to come down to visit me and spend a couple of evenings lambing with me. Being an adept lamber hopefully I’ll just be able to leave her to it, but I doubt I’ll get away with that. Presently she’s in Dublin (one of her flat mate’s 21st birthday).

Well that’s it for now then folks, if I don’t get the privilege of writing for you again then I hope my blogs have given an in-depth insight into the chaotic, hardworking, tiring but awesome fun time that I have on my course and at uni.

Thanks, Pete.

Sorry for the long break in entries, have been very busy over the past week and half with band practice and work. However now it’s all over and it’s just a case of anatomy revision for the exam next Friday (last day of term).

Biggest news over the past week is Levator Ani’s great success at the vet panto. Obviously all our practice effort paid off, as the crowd loved us. Pritchard even got a thong and bra thrown at him (the muppets sent out an e-mail to try and recover the owner).
The panto was also a great success, a very funny script written by Honor and Hugo (2nd Yrs) and some great acting from members from all three pre-clinical years. The story this year was sort of a twisted mess up of aladin+lord of the rings “Aladin and the magic lamp of firedoor”.

Right well what have I been up to since I last wrote: Last weekend the vets made it the through to the final for the inter-mural hockey cup!! This weekend it’s to be settled. We’re up against a team called chaos, though I’m not sure which department they are.
Apart from exotic anatomy work there hasn’t been a great deal of work in vet school. We’ve finished lectures on avian physiology and only have a revision histology session left next week.
I think most of my time has been spent trying to organise Levator’s interval panto slot. We don’t own any drums or PA equipment and so have had to find/hire the lot. Thankfully majid in our year leant us part of a drum kit, so that considerably reduced the hire cost.

Today I’ve only had two lectures, however before hand I had my physiology DSE talk, which counts for 5%, so quite a big deal (enough so I couldn’t go out drinking after the panto last night dam it). It went pretty well I think, we get the results some time next term, but I know I passed the essay which counts for 10% so all is good.

Tonight I’m off to the vet hockey social! Always a great laugh and guaranteed mass drunkenness!! It’s a 7:00 start in the union in hockey shirts for lads and shirts and skirts for girls. Then off to the Indian Ocean curry house, and possibly on to the Wedge.

The half marathon is finally over! I made it round on Sunday in 1:35:01 which I am very happy with (I was aiming for under 2hours). Obviously all the training paid off!
Mat is now talking about going for the London next year. I suppose it’s something to aim for.

Saturday night was the vet ball. This year it was in a couple of good size Marquees on the other side of Clifton. The evening was very glam, everyone puts on their best ball gowns and djs then proceeds to set about ruining them by consuming as much alcohol as possible. Though I’m surprised it was achieved so well this year as the bar prices were ridiculous. Not that it mattered to me though as I wasn’t drinking (running the day after). I just enjoyed the very tasty meal and even did a little dancing towards the end, crazy I know! During the evening I had a little chat with Kieran. Interesting to hear what the poor forth years are getting up to, stuck all the way out in very lively Langford.

Monday I had only one lecture, which I had to let be as Levator needed some quality practice time. Don’t worry though Mum, it got copied up in the afternoon before we finally finished off Parasitology DSE!!
Levator practice is going well, and I thing we’re going to be ready to play next week at the panto. We sorted out hire of a PA system and now just need to get some drums together for Wednesday.

Yesterday was a full day of glorious work. I attended some very exciting lectures on nutrition in Langford and in return got presented with some more DSE. This now means that I have to spend almost an hour watching a horse called Patsy eat, whilst tallying up how many times she chews, spits and pulls hay. Don’t worry it is a video so I can watch it in the comfort of my own home with a couple of brew-skies.
In the evening I finished physiology DSE.

Today I’ve had some histology on fish and birds and I’ve just spent a couple of hours doing nutrition DSE on the tinternet. I now feel much uplifted as I’ve finally removed the heavy burden that is DSE.

Tonight I’m off to the Nice Fridge football social at a comedy club for much celebrating!

It’s been a very busy few days. I don’t seem to have got much work done, but I’ve been up to a lot.

Tuesday I spent all day in Bath with Hayley. Langford was a free day so I took her as a sort of post valentines day out (I was in centre parks on 14th). Had a good wander around the centre and spent three hours in the roman baths. I think we listened to everything possible on the way round…was relatively interesting.

Wednesday we had mammary gland histology and then a lecture on milk. In the afternoon I got some of my Parasitology essay done and then joined up with Mat to sort out our campaign for vet news.
Once a year there is a Centaur election night in lecture theatre 1. People going for the different positions come to the front to give a little speech, and then they leave the room to be voted for. Positions include ents reps, fresh reps, book rep!!, president, vet news editors and many more. Me and Mat were up against one other team standing for vet news, so we needed some sort of campaign to try to edge the votes. We made a very amusing handout and got Big Fat Paulie (II) to dress up in a chicken costume with a for sale sign covered in posters.
The actual election was last night. Unfortunately we didn’t get vet news, but then to be fair the other team did put 16 pages of their stuff into the last vet news and we only put in 3. I think the vet ball tomorrow night will help me drown my sorrows. However I can’t drink as I’m doing the half marathon (weather permitting) the day after, so looks likes it’s going to be coke all night for me.

Today I’ve had two lectures. One on Pharmokinetics (very dull, and the lecturer goes at an amazingly slow pace) and another on mammary gland development, not so dull.
This afternoon I’m going to finish my Parasitology essay at last! Then hopefully I’ll make it to Ian’s house for a curry with the vet footy lads.

It’s Monday lunch and I’ve just finished a marathon 4hour Levator Ani band practice. It went really well and we’ve decided we’re going to be ready to play in the interval of the vet pantomime on the 10th and 11th of March.

Since I wrote last Wednesday I’ve been pretty dam busy. Been keeping up with the exercise routine and gave the weekend away to a Lake District trip for a friends birthday. This was a very amusing weekend. Eight of us stayed in a barn near Windermere. We spent Friday night playing drinking games and then Saturday we did a good size trek around the surrounding hills and again played drinking games. Consequences was hysterical, I think I managed to pull a jaw muscle from laughing so hard. Sunday we got a train to Ben’s house (2nd yr BVSc) and then he drove us all back to Bristol, as the girls were staying another night.

As for the rest of today I’ve got a Parasites of Cats and Dogs practical to attend and then I’m going to get some more of my Parasitology DSE done. All my research is finally complete now, so hopefully I’ll be able to finish it off before Tamsin’s meal/house party tonight.

Firstly I think should apologise for the lack of entry last Friday. I like to write two entries a week but unfortunately/fortunately I had a mini-vacation to Centre Parks last weekend with my family (will explain all).

Last Monday night was the medic Glitterball, a fairly inconsistent night to be honest. Had a good time in the bar before hand with Hayley’s house, but the actual ball wasn’t ideal. The venue was rather nice but the damn medics sold too many tickets, making the night a bit of a shambles-typical medic organisation! Hopefully plenty of money was made for charity though!

Tuesday was Langford day. We finished off the nutrition practicals/lectures that we’ve been doing for the past couple of weeks. The most interesting part of this being guess the animal feeds. The lecturer threw in some pure urea as one of the samples and told us we could use our taste buds to guess the sample. However Paul had already had the same class in the morning and told me what the mystery sample was. I don’t think Steve was best impressed when we tricked him into trying some!

Wednesday we had Placental Histology. Not really a lot to be said about this, except that it’s definitely not the subject I find most interesting.
In the afternoon I got a bit of my physiology DSE essay done and went on a massive 11mile beast of a run with Mat. Managed it in quite a good time, so all looks ok for the half marathon next weekend.

Thursday was the last day of Locomotor anatomy work for the term. Therefore in theory I should now know the comparative anatomy for the fore and hind limbs of the domestic species… nb. in theory!!
In the evening I went out for Louise’s 21st birthday (a flat mate of Hayley’s) to a very Raa club that I’ve never been to before and to be honest have absolutely no inclination to go again. I think Louise had a good night though, except for the fact that one her flat mates, Radders, left early without telling her. This also annoyed me as I was asleep in Hayley’s house (was very tired after my big run the day before) when Radders came in hammered. She spent the next half hour using me as a mute agony uncle, while eating her takeaway from the health food van. People don’t half talk some crap when there drunk…though it’s damn funny to listen to when you’re sober!

Friday I had next to no lectures, but we did have a trip to Langford organised in the afternoon to watch a horse on a tread-mill. Unfortunately I couldn’t attend this as my family had already booked Centre Parks last year. Though I’ve heard it was very interesting.
In the afternoon I got a train to meet some family friends, and then we went to Longleat Centre Parks to meet my family. The journey there was quite an experience. Was sat in-between two kids (Charlotte age 8 and James age 5) listening to kiddies travelling tunes. The worst thing is that I bought them the tape for Christmas. I think Nigel decided that he’d give me a taste of the great tunes he’s had to endure after I bought him the tape of kids songs from hell (“she’ll be coming round the mountain” and the “wheels on the bus” being two of the classics that were played on route). I even gave Mat a ring while he was on his date so he could join me in the mental scarring that is “we’re all going to the zoo tomorrow”.
The weekend was great fun. We got in loads of activities and it was great to see my family, as I haven’t made it home yet this term. Activities I did include; swimming, table tennis, archery, badminton, squash, roller-skating, snooker and running.

I made it back to Bristol at 5:30 on Monday and was in the union at 7:30 for band practice. This didn’t go too bad, we introduced two new songs; teenage dirtbag and year 2000, which hopefully will be up to scratch by the time of the vet pantomime so we can play in the interval.

Yesterday wasn’t very exciting. A trip to Langford to learn about behaviour and the dairy industry then home to research into my Parasitology DSE topic (different methods of controlling Toxoplasmosis in sheep).

Today we’ve had a couple of hours of vaginal cytology (looking at vaginal scrapings to decide which stage of the oestrus cycle bitches or rats are in).
As for the rest of today I’m going to go for a 7mile run with Mat, then I’ve got band practice this evening. Hopefully I’ll also have time to copy up the couple of lectures I missed by going to Centre Parks.

I regret to say I’m not going to be able to write again until next Monday as this weekend I’m off to the lake district for Julia’s 20th birthday (2nd Yr BVSc). I think we’re staying in a youth hostel and do lots of walking. Definitely looking forward to it!

As far as work is concerned for the rest of this week, we are starting Exotic Anatomy tomorrow with rodents and rabbits in the Caribbean. Plus I’ve really got to get moving on with my DSE work. Hopefully by the end of next week I can have finished both my Physiology and Parasitology DSE task.

Right just a quickie (as not much has happened in the whole 2days since my last entry).

Saturday I stayed in bed lots then played some computer and did some Anatomy work. I’ve almost finished going through the forelimb stuff (but then as we started hind-limb a few weeks ago I’m a little behind). In the evening I went to the cinema with Hayley and her house mate Steph. The film was Big Fish and I’d definitely recommend it; a refreshing change from either bad films or action/fantasy films which is all I’ve really seen recently.

Sunday I got a bit more work done and had an early night. I needed to get up early this morning to book the band practice room out for next week. The bookings go ridiculously quickly so you have to get to the union at 8:45 to ensure a good slot for the following week.

Today we’ve had two lectures on Placenta physiology and this afternoon I’ve got a Parasitology practical on protozoa. Then I’m off to do some swimming in the union (it’s not flooded or anything, there’s a swimming pool underneath it).

Tonight I’m off to the medic glitter ball. A random ball set up by the medics to raise money for charity. Loads of vets are going. Will report back on Friday.

Well it’s Friday evening and I want to go home! Just finished a tutorial on the Horse hind-limb and I’m feeling very tired. Today has been quite a drag; we had a physiology tutorial this morning followed by our 2nd pregnancy lecture and pharmacology on the sympathetic nervous system. This afternoon we had one interesting lecture for Anatomy though. The lecturer showed us a video on horse gait. There’s a treadmill at Langford which was used to show the gait of an ordinary horse so lameness can be identified. Did you know that a horse walks at 4mph and gallops at 26mph, if you didn’t you do now, and when you get into Bristol you’ll be able to dazzle Dr Tortonese?!
We actually haven’t had many lectures this week at all. Tuesday we did some bovine nutrition questions in Langford and Wednesday we had a couple of reproduction lectures and watched a video on gamete motility. However Ian and I have been working hard on our physiology DSE essay and talk. Our topic is “In what ways do reproductive processes place demands on Calcium. What are the clinical implications?” I think we’ve got enough info now to write our separate essays. Then we can get our 25min talk on the subject sorted. It counts for 10% of physiology so I need to pull my finger out on this one!

I think that’s enough about work, I wouldn’t want to bore my readers too much. The only other interesting thing I can think of that’s not socially related is a talk I had with my personal tutor Dr Silver. I’ve decided that with the money I get from 3weeks of night lambing over Easter I’m going to try to go somewhere unusual to do my cattle EMS work. Hopefully Dr Silver is going to get some contacts for me in either Australia or New Zealand.

The most important social event of the week by far was the Vet vs Layer vs Medic evening on Tuesday. Everyone made an effort with fancy dress, as the vets always do. I didn’t have time to get any country wear and so had to settle with my boiler suit with shirt and tie. I had planned on wearing my waterproofs, but without thinking I put them on the radiator to dry after washing. The radiator wasn’t on at the time (I’m not that stupid!) but unfortunately someone turned it on later and my poor top melted quite severely… whoops!!
Can’t say who won the evening as the results haven’t come through yet, but I’m sure the vets will have pulled through! My group of friends spent most of the night in one of the bars as Hayley was marshalling there, but we made to the big gathering at the end in walk-about. Bit of a nightmare in there to be honest, so many dirty sweaty medics wasn’t best pleasant.
Last night we had another vet meal. It was Hayley’s turn this week and she made a very tasty beef stroganoff. Everyone was well behaved and there were no people who went OTT (that’s if you don’t include Mat, who I think enjoyed the meal but am not sure if his rug and scarf appreciated the half digested version of it when he got home that night. What a Muppet!!).

Well anyway that’s plenty enough said I think for today. I’m off to a surprise 21st birthday party tonight. Though it’s not really a surprise as the birthday girl knows her boyfriend Stu is putting on the party, but he doesn’t know that she knows, but all the flat mates know that Stu doesn’t know that she knows, and there’s only a few vets including me who know that the house mates know that Stu doesn’t know that she knows… Should be interesting!!

This weekend I’m going to get down to some hardcore work!! I want to finish going through the forelimb and get a 1st draft done on my physiology essay.

By the way training is going well for the half marathon. Managed a 6mile yesterday with no problems and we’re doing a 9mile on Saturday.

The day is over already! Just one physiology lecture on pregnancy and a Parasitology discussion. For this we got into groups of 7 and were given a point of view to discuss on the topic of worm resistance in sheep.

The weekend wasn’t too bad, unfortunately I didn’t manage to get any work done, but I did run an 8mile nightmare of a run in the gales.
Friday night I went out to the Wedge after spending all day ensuring everyone that I wasn’t going out (quite typical).
Saturday evening Hayley cooked me a great meal which went down very well after the run. I returned the favour last night by cooking an even better meal. I even made a dessert, Bread and butter pudding. Was well impressed with myself!

This afternoon I’m off to get some country wear from the local charity shops for tomorrow night. It’s a Vet vs Medic vs Layer drinking competition, going to have severe consequences for my head on Wednesday I think.

Good news I passed all my Christmas exams and even managed a C in Anatomy (a grand achievement believe me!).
Apart from that the week has been pretty uneventful. Training for the half marathon is taking up a lot of my free time. Though Tuesday night I did manage to get out to go to the Nutcracker ballet at the Hippodrome. I’ve never seen one before and if I’m completely honest it wasn’t to my liking. The first half dragged on so much it hurt, but to be fair the second half wasn’t all that bad. I would consider seeing another but perhaps not this century.

As far as work is concerned the timetable has shrunk down a little, but DSE (directed self education) has increased loads. I’ve now got a physiology essay and talk to prepare for, plus the ongoing Parasitology DSE to get to grips with.
Today is Pharmacology on the Parasympathetic nervous system followed by more Locomotor Anatomy. We started the hind limb yesterday, which I didn’t find too bad. I think learning the structures of the forelimb well has helped speed up learning process of the hind limb, as many structures can be related.

Tonight I’m not having a late one. I think a few drinks at a little house party and then a relatively early night. I’ve got band practice tomorrow at 9:00 and an 8mile run to do in the afternoon, can’t wait!?

Just a quickie as I’m pushed for time.

Weekend was dull, got some good training and some work done though. Went for a 5mile run on Saturday and then had hockey training followed by a match on Sunday. The first time I’ve ever played centre-mid for the vets and I played the full match, was completely knacked afterwards!
As for work I caught up on receptor theory pharmacology and nailed some Anatomy (joints of the forelimb).

Today we have had only two lectures of protozoa parasitology and there’s a 20min practical later. Not the most taxing day ever.

Tonight I’m looking round some more houses with 5 other vets (Mat, Hayley, Steve, Big Fat Paulie and Pitchfork). We’ve seen one so far which was too small and in a shocking area. Hopefully this one will be ideal and we can stop looking.

Tomorrow is looking like a great day (we have a Langford free day). Levator Ani is having its first practice of the term, and in the evening I’m off to see the Nutcracker with my missus and her house mates (Sophie, Pete, Louise and RADDERS).

It’s Friday lunch and I’ve got 30mins to tell you about the exciting veterinary news and related social events of the week…

…Monday was pretty dull. Lots of new Protozoa (single celled) parasites to learn and identify over the three lectures and one practical that we had.

Tuesday was excellent. Finally they’ve let us back out to Langford, after an entire term without the luxury. Though I don’t really see why we need to go on the half hour drive out there as we’re not doing anything practical this year. It’s just nutrition and behaviour, though the nutrition lectures are pretty fun. The lecturer plays a short silly animal clip or tells a funny story every 20mins to keep our attention…genius. These include people getting kicked by horses and sheep running full-pelt into walls.
The other great thing about Langford is the food (the best meal of the week by far). In-fact I don’t see how I remained nutritionally sound without Langford last term!
Good news of the day was that I passed physiology! Was only a D, but as long as I didn’t fail I wasn’t too fussed on what grade I got.
Tuesday evening was the heaviest drinking night since new years! The vet hockey social. I can’t really remember much, but I think it was a good night. Unfortunately I was 30mins late so was greeted by a three shot penalty before the night began.
I’m sure the curry we had was good.

Wednesday I had severe CRAT (can’t remember a thing) and alcoholoitis. I was therefore unfortunately unable to attend male reproductive histology that morning, but when I got up I spent 3hrs going through it, and with the histology bible that is Wheatus I think I probably learnt more than if I had attended.
Wednesday evening I went for a massive run with Mat and Julia (2 2nd Yr Vets) who are doing the Bristol half marathon with me. Hopefully I’ll be fit and ready for it in 5weeks to raise some money for Alzheimer’s. My Granddad has been diagnosed with the condition.

Thursday is the nightmare day of the week! An entire day of Locomotor Anatomy is not great. We started the equine forelimb and are scheduled to finish it today. I don’t find it to bad at the moment, but then I have actually been doing some anatomy out of lectures (I’m trying to make more of an effort this term after realising over Christmas that I new nothing of last terms Anatomy).
Last night we (10 vets) had a Mexican night at Clare’s house. This was very sociable and the food was great. However some people got a bit too drunk on the tequila and had to be put to bed early (Clare was sick in her bed, Hayley passed out and Tamsin had to be carried home… Thankfully the lads were completely sober and in total control?!)

Today is not too bad. Only an afternoon of Locomotor to deal with, then tonight I’m going to go for a run and chill out in the flat (well at least that’s the plan at the moment).

This weekend I haven’t got anything exciting lined up. My list of things to do are:
• Tidy room.
• Wash cloths.
• Go for run.
• Play vet hockey.
• Sort out EMS stuff (need to organise a pig placement and cattle placement for the summer. I fancy doing milking abroad).

It’s Monday morning and I’m surprisingly tired for the quantity of stimulating stuff I’ve got done this weekend…

Saturday got up (that’s an achievement believe me), went out for a very spicy noodle meal with Hayley (2nd Yr vet/girlfriend) and two of her flat mates and then in the evening we had a great fun game of Cranium. If you’ve played this game you’ll know how awesome it is. Sort of a cross between pictionary, charades, trivial pursuits and a crazy spelling test. Well we all though it was worth staying up till 2:00 to play. It was then time for film and bed (perhaps the most unproductive day ever, but then I have had four weeks of revision and three exams).
Yesterday I tidied the flat and did some work! Managed to cover the scabula, humerus and antebrachium (forearm) last night and their species differences (not as much of an accomplishment as it sounds to be honest).

Today is not a bad day at all, in-fact I’m almost looking forward to my Parasitology lectures. Theoretically there should be very few new parasite names to learn this term after the hundreds of mental Latin words last term.

Tonight I’m off into town to buy some shiny new trainers and then carry on with the fitness regime for the Bristol half marathon.

Yep unlucky I’m back… After just sieving my way through over 60 e-mails I found one from Kieran asking me to carry on this apparently very useful and insightful diary??! Don’t know about that but will do my best.

Christmas was very not ideal. Apart from an excellent Christmas day with all the family and a very hazy new year I pretty much had to revise the whole 4 weeks through. The vet school kindly created us with four exams on our return. These were Physiology on Monday, Anatomy exam and spot test on Tuesday and then Parasitology on Wednesday. In case your wondering what the spot test is, we go to dissection in third of the year groups then move around the DR in silence from one station to the next. A buzzer goes off every minute for about 30-40 minutes, giving us one minute to identify some random anatomical part that usually is completely alien unless you pull your finger out in Anatomy.
The exams didn’t go too bad I think (will get the results next week). The revision over Xmas must have paid off as if I’d sat them at the end of last term I would have been doomed!
Anatomy theory was good. We got tested on the horse larynx, some neurone pathways and the upper (dorsal) region of the nose. The Anatomy spot wasn’t so good…perhaps they’ll balance out?!
Physiology was the worst as I gave an appalling answer for my essay on posture. Though data interpretation went well on the thyroid glands. Hopefully that will have made up for it. Also the negative marking true or false section went pretty good.
Best by far was Parasitology. Everything I had revised game up! “Back of the net!!”
(Toxocara canis, parasitic gastroenteritis in cattle and liver fluke…exciting stuff I assure you!)
Anyway, hope you found that insightful, I’m not sure how convinced I am about people actually wanting to read about my exam stresses but it’s there.
As for work this term things aren’t looking great. We started the Locomotor section in Anatomy yesterday with a bang. The new lecturer is mental; no doubt a genius but frickin mental… He lectures in the most unique way. He just brings up photos and talks about them very frequently asking the year questions as he goes (you can’t switch off for a second). Though it’s intense it seems very effective and we’ve only had two lectures!
Physiology this term has much less material to cover. We started the male reproductive system today which wasn’t too bad. I think all we actually do this term reproductive physiology but don’t quote me on that.
We still continue with the great fun Parasitology, lectures commencing next Monday and we also start Pharmacology. Will report back when lectures start.

I think that’s more than enough academic mumbo jumbo. Social stuff so far hasn’t been amazing due to exams. I made out on Wednesday to Wedgies but was soooo tired it wasn’t great. Hopefully tonight will be better! We’re having a lads night betting on the Wacky Racers video, playing some poker and getting fat on beer and take away…nice! Might go for a run first though if I can be bothered.

I don’t have anything planned for the weekend; I think a big exam stress wind down is in order!

It’s the last day of term!! and I’ve only got a couple of hours of dissection to do before I can kick back and relax/go out and get drunk. My bro will be here in a few hours and I’m taking him to another vet Xmas dinner before a very big Xmas Wedge, should be awesome.

This week has been chaos! It began with nothing on but, excluding last night, there’s been something every night:

Monday was the clinical Pantom in Langford, very funny! and I actually got most of the jokes. Though I think the first years will have struggled as they don’t know many of the lecturers to whom the jokes were directed towards. Afterwards we went out to Poo Raa Raa for Fi’s (2nd Yr BVSc) 20th birthday. Not my favourite club but still had a good night. John, Lexy and Me managed to polish off a bottle of Barcardi in 10mins before hand (drinks arn’t cheap in Raa Raa), and after that the night went swimmingly.

Tuesday we had the whole day off!! As the one lecture we had on statistics was moved. I spent four hours of the morning practising with Levator Ani. We’ve now got five songs sorted and are working on another few. Hopefully next term we may get a slot somewhere (perhaps the medic bar, they’ll accept anyone… for their course). Then Tuesday evening I had a Xmas dinner with my flat mates. Was very tasty except for the occasional strange taste. My Bangladeshi house mate seems to use either garlic or soya sauce in everything!

Wednesday I had Histology all morning on the female reproductive system. This means I had to spend three hours looking at various slides of the ovaries and endometrium (uterus wall) and filling in a table on them. I promise you it’s not the best way to kill three hours!!!
In the afternoon I played badly for Nice Fridge FC (vet footy team). We lost 4-1! I think we need some training sessions...badly!
In the evening I went out for Tamsin’s birthday (2nd Yr BVSc) meal and then on to the Lizard Lounge. Reminds me of a small, raa version of the Wedge.

Yesterday work was shocking. I cannot keep awake through embryology (developmental biology). It sort of puts you in a perpetual day-dream that you need either slapping out of or less painfully the lecturer asking you a question.
In the evening I had an early night and read vet news which was published yesterday. My 2nd Yr top trumps made it in and went down pretty well (by that I mean I don’t think I offended too many people).

Well that’s it for now. I’ve got to finish off posting some Parasitology DSE stuff with my group and get some lunch.

Just finished a morning on Reproductive Physiology and Parasitology. Two lectures on female reproduction was no problem but Parasitology wasn’t the best. Tapeworms really don’t hold my interest very well! If I do decide to intercalate there’s not the greatest chance that it’ll be in Parasitology.

The weekend was fun, but probably didn’t make the best use of my time (unless watching films is productive).
Friday night six of us tried to go bowling but when we got there we couldn’t get a lane. So there was only one thing for it, to Sainsburys for some mulled wine then on to the Wedge. Was a bit dubious carrying six of us in Tamsin’s little three door, but Steve drew the short straw and went in the boot! Five bottles of Inti £2.74 Sainsburys mega wine and a bottle of brandy later we were all in the appropriate state to attend the Xmas Eve Wedge (Wedge before the Xmas Wedge).
Saturday I watched some films with my good friend Hayley and then in the evening we went to a house party. The party was for a 1st year’s 21st birthday so there was lots of free booze. Tom (2nd Yr BVSc) got pretty steamed and unfortunately managed to upset a few house mates!.. He walked in on/charged in on an unlucky couple with some party poppers, bangers and hooters. Don’t think that particularly impressed the quite naked couple. Then after he tried to climb the house and took a swan dive into a privet hedge… what a legend!!
Sunday I played Hockey for the vets. The score was 0-0 but I don’t think I played too bad. Then in the evening I cleaned out Lemmywinks my rat and had an early night (Films watched over the weekend = A Fish Called Wonda, The Crow, The Two Towers and four episodes of Red Dwarf… well it is the last week of term!)

Tonight it’s off to the clinical pantomime in Langford and then quickly back to Bristol and out for my vet sister’s 20th birthday in Poo Raa Raa (my favourite night club??!).
Tomorrow I’ve the full day off! Got to love the last week of term! To kill the time Levator Ani are having another much needed practice (Our lead singer has learnt Slade so should be fun).

Better mention that my little bro is coming down on Friday for the last day of term or he won’t be impressed. I just hope that he’s going to be able to keep up the vet drinking pace. But then I know him and his mates are no light weights (perhaps except for Crofer that is…unlucky mate).

Am feeling very good today!
I had a great time last night at John’s Xmas dinner. Him and Claire cooked Xmas dinner for eleven of us with all the trimmings inc. mulled wine to start and those awesome sausages wrapped in bacon (got to be the best thing about Christmas, unless your vegetarian I suppose).
I’ve had the whole morning off today as well, useful to get over the wine abuse from last night. Then this afternoon it’s Anatomy, almost finished the head and neck course now though. Unfortunately however it’ll soon be time to learn the head and neck course for proper and not just attend the lectures, as we’ve got mid-sessional exams at the start of the 2nd term. These exams weren’t too bad last year as they only counted for 10%. That doesn’t mean that they were easy though! I managed to fail two out of the four exams last year. Though at that point I hadn’t a clue of the level of detail needed or how much work one has to do to pass Veterinary exams.
This time round there’s only three exams but they count for 25% each of Anatomy, Physiology and Parasitology. Physiology shouldn’t be too bad, but I’ve got a lot to sieve through for Parasitology and Anatomy. Hopefully the four weeks holiday should be enough to revise/learn the material. Plus I’m not going to get a job this Xmas, unlike last when I worked in a pub.

This week has been eventful! Monday night I went to support Ian (Vet mate) doing Singing for Sex (raising money for charity) and then went on to evolution afterwards with the flat mates and some Vets.
Tuesday night I got my head down and finished off my Epidemiology DSE. Then Wednesday I finished off what I needed to do for my Parasitology DSE. This was just thinking up some possible projects/essays for our work on T.Gondii.
In the evening I had an excellent night at the Vet Xmas party. Seven of us dressed up as our good friend Steve (a guy with an afro and a goatee). This costume did have a Xmas twist (believe it or not) as we all had unique decorations in our afros. These included my red flashing snowmen, Matt’s Xmas nest, Paul’s ceramic snowman and Pitchforks ridiculous amount of little red baubles. The effect was topped off by gold highlighting spray to get the full Steve crazy hair effect… The pictures are hilarious!

Now that I’ve got no outstanding work, just ongoing Anatomy troubles, this weekend will no doubt be a continuation of a very fun week! Tonight a few of us are out bowling then on to the Wedge! And on Sunday it’s Vet Hockey (oh yeah forgot to mention that last Wednesday I played for the Vet Football team, “NICE FRIDGE FC”, and had a crucial assist to my name for a great goal, looks like a might be playing more regularly!).

Better get off now, the Vet Christian Union is giving out free mince pies in the common room, and as I’ve got a distinct lack of food in the flat I better cash in!

It’s Monday lunch and I’ve just finished a frustrating morning on Endocrinology and Parasitology. Our lecturer for Endocrinology goes too fast for me, or maybe it’s just that my interest doesn’t hold well for Thyroid Hormones. Parasitology wasn’t so bad though. The lecture was on Liver Flukes today.

The weekend was good. No big nights except for a brief outing to the Academy on Friday with my house mates.
Levator Ani’s first practice went really well!! We managed to polish off a few tracks including some Oasis, Beetles and Busted?! (Ian decided we should learn Yr3000, frighteningly it’s our best “track”). Presently we’re practising Avril Lavigne and Puddle of Mudd for next weeks practice. How I’m meant to learn the drumming for them without a kit I don’t know though, could be interesting (have to get the pots and pans out).
Leavotr Ani’s first groupie contacted me today (my Grandmother). She sent me an E-mail to let me know what she thought of this great diary and that she knows what the Levator Ani muscle is. The rest of the band is very impressed!
Yesterday I attended the vet hockey training before our match (bit of a crazy way round I thought). We lost the match, but got the points as they didn’t have enough girls. However the match was great fun, two players got carded. One of them for a shocking challenge against me and the other our captain for dissent (don’t think the ref was best impressed with Andy’s stick flying across the pitch).
In the evening I finished off my article for the vet news (second year top trumps) then got some of my Epidemiology DSE work done.

Tonight I’m off out for a run with Matt then it’s nose to the grind stone?! to get my Epidemiology DSE finished.

As for the rest of this week there’s a big Vet night out on Wednesday; the traditional Vet Xmas party with compulsory fancy dress. Think my group of mates are going as Xmas variations on our good friend Steve (he’s got a highlighted fro, a goatee and wear’s glasses). Should be funny! Think I’m gonna bagsy the Rudolf variation. Will report back on Friday on the success of the evening.