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| Fushimi Inari-taisha - my brother went to pray for a success in business |
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Oriental escape
What a change of plan I had for Christmas and New Year! I'm having a last minute family trip to Japan, after I sat a supplementary exam for Horses. My itinerary so far is to eat my way through, and taste all the weird and wonderful food. However, it looks like I won't be able to keep my promise of doing more posts this holiday. I won't be back in Melbourne til after the New Year. So I wish you all for a very Merry Christmas :)
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
It's about bloody time!
I have been extremely busy, and my calendar is damn packed. So it seems like I won't be able to keep the promise of being more active on the blog this December.
Anyway, I found this amazing video. It's rather quite touching and eye-watering.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Green, the (2011) and Morals
Over the months, I have downloaded a fair amount of films, and I finally have time to watch them all. So the first to go on the hit list is Green, the (2011). Despite an average review, I really like it, since I can relate to some of the characters in the film. Apart from the obvious GLBT theme, there is a subtle moral massage that I picked up.
*Spoiler warning*
It's about litigation and motive behind it. Sometimes, I really think that it's pretty dogs eat dogs in the cruel world, sometimes not. A character in the film saw an opportunity to sue the protagonist despite the lack of evidence, due to the exploitable nature of the protagonist. In the end, I have to say the protagonist is too naive, and even dropped the legal counter-attack, despite his reputation being ruined. For me, it would be an eye for an eye (to be exact ten eyes back, haha). By the way, the protagonist's partner is hunky, and seems to be a cook. A hunky cook - what more can one ask?
*Spoiler warning*
It's about litigation and motive behind it. Sometimes, I really think that it's pretty dogs eat dogs in the cruel world, sometimes not. A character in the film saw an opportunity to sue the protagonist despite the lack of evidence, due to the exploitable nature of the protagonist. In the end, I have to say the protagonist is too naive, and even dropped the legal counter-attack, despite his reputation being ruined. For me, it would be an eye for an eye (to be exact ten eyes back, haha). By the way, the protagonist's partner is hunky, and seems to be a cook. A hunky cook - what more can one ask?
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| I love it when men show intimacy |
When I entered vet school, I first thought money is not an issue for me. Guess what, I have become more financial-oriented after all. Greed, one of the seven deadly sins, huh? I wouldn't be surprised if I end up in hell considering this sin alone, but I don't think I believe in heaven and hell, haha. Anyway, money often does the wonder in general, even for veterinary practices. I vaguely recollect a saying of "The rich does no wrong". In the service industry, you could say no money, no service, yah? Same is for vet med, and to be exact you could say no money, a jab of lethabarb then.
Imaging a poor old but really nice lady came in with a sick dog in need of a surgical emergency intervention, for an example, GDV ie. Gastric dilation volvulus (stomach enlargement and torsion). Without a prompt and appropriate intervention, it's gonna be one hell of agonising death. Veterinarians are obliged by our Oath and law to intervene animal suffering, but we also need gain our feet in the world of business. It's a bit like what my American mates told me how people are left to dead if they don't have health insurance or money to pay for treatment. Jobs in medical field are tricky, as we are speaking about life of our patient.
I'm quite glad that I decided to study vet rather than med. My religious belief is indeed twisted, and I have to admit that part of me is somewhat amoral, though I adhere strongly to professional ethics (I guess my religious belief and moral stance deserves a proper post sometime later). So sometimes, it's basically "No money? Ok, let's not the patient pointlessly suffer any further. It's lethabarb time!" in my head, despite my dispassionate temperament, I say that in a much more considerate and compassionate tone to clients. Well…vet consult is a service-based business, isn't it? People are paying for a good service, so my Dexter mask is well paid after all.
A considerable number of vets are anthropologist though, in comparison to our medico counterparts according to my med friends. There is a lot of shelter medicine veterinarians out there. They are really quite something, working with abandoned animals. It isn't much cashflow in field, and the pay is depressingly minimal. However, many shelter vets are fulfilled with their job, and happy with what they got. These guys are the saints and angels of our profession, indeed. I respect their skill of making the best out of limited resources, and utilise everything that they have.
Back on the topic of litigation, there is a well-known Australian eye specialist, who actually taught us. A while ago, he warned his GP colleague not to perform a certain eye procedure. Despite the warning, the surgical procedure was performed, and inadvertently the optic nerve was damaged, then the patient came out of the surgery blind. The owner sued the vet, and also the specialist for lack thereof due diligence, because the owner believed that it's also the specialist's fault. What a pestering call! Guess what, specialists being specialists, they are generally on the more wealthy end of the profession (not to mention he owns a well established practice). In addition to that, he loves flying a plane, so his customised comprehensive insurance is quite something. I have to say he struck back pretty hard: hiring the best available barrister in the country was easy with the insurance money. Funningly enough, his barrister was on a totally different plane of level to that of the owner's, and the barrister managed to take over the negotiation and legal proceeding. The winner was clear, and the barrister managed to talk the other party into believing that the specialist was so angelically kind that they didn't take the matter further, and sue the owner back, lol.
Morals learnt; dogs eat dogs, but beware of getting eaten back; know thy enemy before thou strike, know not, thy head shall be rolling; insurance may save my ass. After all, we don't live in an ideal world, and nothing is free. There is a lot of funny people out there that are monetarily motivated.
Hello Freedom!
After weeks of agony, I'm now free (only until the first of January). I have a habit of shutting contact with friends during the nightmarish exam period. Well...It's nice to come back from the alternate world, and get to see them again. I decided to be a little snobbish foodie, and eat my way through this epic, so last Friday was quite epic!
The last exam was Pigs. Yes, that's the subject name seriously. Since it was the last exam, I went ballistic even before entering the Royal Execution Building - that's what uni students call it. Nice interior, but no time for appreciation though, as we are mentally fighting for our life. Somehow I finished the paper early, and I knew that I already pass, so I kept my promise to the vetties - writing down one of my signature pork dish on the answer script book. Anyone feel like having Old-styled English pork with saute'd green apple?
Outside the exam hall, people just went nuts, me included. Some of us decided to pop some Champagne and sparkling wine right in front of the building. Sitting down chatting and drinking could not get better with a perfect sunny clear sky. Not so long later, vet kids were dipping into the water fountain - see the photo above, yes that fountain. If you saw about 10 big kids, playing with the water fountain last Friday, that's us. After a bit of shenanigans, I rushed off to meet my non-vetties friends for lunch at De Clieu. We were chatting and catching up on what is going on in life. One of the topic I remember was the current anti-Monarchy movement in Thailand. I rarely follow what is going on over there, but it is quite a hot issue at the moment, so hot that I saw a lot of comments on Facebook. The social media is one of the only few platforms, that does not get censored, and shut of by the IT ministry due to the current Draconian law. Well... I'm an anti-Monarchy myself, since I believe in equality, and that no one is above anyone else. Funnily enough saying this out loud would get me branded a traitor and my head chopped off in Thailand. So that was nice to speak about the issue freely here.
After lunch, we made your way for some afternoon snack at La Belle Miette. They have one of the best macarons in Melbourne, as their macarons are not overly sweet like those found anywhere else. We walked down the CBD main street with a box of colourful snacks. It was quite lovely to sit along side Bourke Street, CBD munching macarons, and watching the street performances.
Then I ditched my mates for a moment to see a film with the vetties. When we were buying tickets, we got as for a photo ID, I went "WTF lol?" as one of us was over 30yo and got a PhD. It was highly amusing that my friend had to show her ID. Anyway, I didn't have a clue what we were seeing, but I just told them to make sure it suited after-the-exam-mood. Also watching a film without any alcohol would be so wrong that day, so I sneaked in a can of 0.65L Sapporo beer. Once we were in the cinema, there were so many high school kids, perhaps that was why we got asked for ID. Apparently the film my mates picked was Inbetweeners, the. The beer was gone slightly too quick, and I was watching the film a tad high. In the end, the film was average for me, but at least it got rid off the post-exam syndrome, and made me feel like it's finally holiday.
After the film, I met up with my non-vet friends again for dinner at Marios Cafe - one of my favourites. This is the only few places that serve awesome pastas, especially pesto fettucine. I usually don't manage to finish a pasta by myself, since it feel to fat-tingly sickening. This place is an exception, and the wait staff also wear a classic black vest with tie, boxes ticked! To seal the deal, there is also trans waitress, overseeing a good drink list. Double ticks for supporting GLBT and diversity :) Anyway, I went for a hearty dish, since I was heading for clubbing that night. Medium rare Scotch fillet and a glass of red with good companions were a perfect Friday dinner. My mates and I talked about food, culture, and plans after finishing undergrad. Interestingly enough, we all wanted to stay in Australia to work for a year or so, before leaving it for good to travel the world, and study further either in UK or US. A while later, we trammed back to the CBD, and I left to meet vetties for clubbing. Well.. after a wild night, I finally got home the next day afternoon - totally knackered.
Friday just couldn't get better :)
The last exam was Pigs. Yes, that's the subject name seriously. Since it was the last exam, I went ballistic even before entering the Royal Execution Building - that's what uni students call it. Nice interior, but no time for appreciation though, as we are mentally fighting for our life. Somehow I finished the paper early, and I knew that I already pass, so I kept my promise to the vetties - writing down one of my signature pork dish on the answer script book. Anyone feel like having Old-styled English pork with saute'd green apple?
 |
| Imaging 10 grown-ups dipping and playing in the water :) |
Outside the exam hall, people just went nuts, me included. Some of us decided to pop some Champagne and sparkling wine right in front of the building. Sitting down chatting and drinking could not get better with a perfect sunny clear sky. Not so long later, vet kids were dipping into the water fountain - see the photo above, yes that fountain. If you saw about 10 big kids, playing with the water fountain last Friday, that's us. After a bit of shenanigans, I rushed off to meet my non-vetties friends for lunch at De Clieu. We were chatting and catching up on what is going on in life. One of the topic I remember was the current anti-Monarchy movement in Thailand. I rarely follow what is going on over there, but it is quite a hot issue at the moment, so hot that I saw a lot of comments on Facebook. The social media is one of the only few platforms, that does not get censored, and shut of by the IT ministry due to the current Draconian law. Well... I'm an anti-Monarchy myself, since I believe in equality, and that no one is above anyone else. Funnily enough saying this out loud would get me branded a traitor and my head chopped off in Thailand. So that was nice to speak about the issue freely here.
 |
| Pork neck roti to cure my hunger |
After lunch, we made your way for some afternoon snack at La Belle Miette. They have one of the best macarons in Melbourne, as their macarons are not overly sweet like those found anywhere else. We walked down the CBD main street with a box of colourful snacks. It was quite lovely to sit along side Bourke Street, CBD munching macarons, and watching the street performances.
 |
| GLBT much? |
Then I ditched my mates for a moment to see a film with the vetties. When we were buying tickets, we got as for a photo ID, I went "WTF lol?" as one of us was over 30yo and got a PhD. It was highly amusing that my friend had to show her ID. Anyway, I didn't have a clue what we were seeing, but I just told them to make sure it suited after-the-exam-mood. Also watching a film without any alcohol would be so wrong that day, so I sneaked in a can of 0.65L Sapporo beer. Once we were in the cinema, there were so many high school kids, perhaps that was why we got asked for ID. Apparently the film my mates picked was Inbetweeners, the. The beer was gone slightly too quick, and I was watching the film a tad high. In the end, the film was average for me, but at least it got rid off the post-exam syndrome, and made me feel like it's finally holiday.
After the film, I met up with my non-vet friends again for dinner at Marios Cafe - one of my favourites. This is the only few places that serve awesome pastas, especially pesto fettucine. I usually don't manage to finish a pasta by myself, since it feel to fat-tingly sickening. This place is an exception, and the wait staff also wear a classic black vest with tie, boxes ticked! To seal the deal, there is also trans waitress, overseeing a good drink list. Double ticks for supporting GLBT and diversity :) Anyway, I went for a hearty dish, since I was heading for clubbing that night. Medium rare Scotch fillet and a glass of red with good companions were a perfect Friday dinner. My mates and I talked about food, culture, and plans after finishing undergrad. Interestingly enough, we all wanted to stay in Australia to work for a year or so, before leaving it for good to travel the world, and study further either in UK or US. A while later, we trammed back to the CBD, and I left to meet vetties for clubbing. Well.. after a wild night, I finally got home the next day afternoon - totally knackered.
Friday just couldn't get better :)
Monday, November 21, 2011
Getting acquainted
I stumbled across this Welcome to the 2008 edition of Getting to Know Your Friends recently. Even though the edition is slightly old, but still worth giving it a go, I guess:
1. What time did you get up today? 4:27AM to be exact
2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Hangover part II, the
4. What is your favorite tv show? Dexter (deja vu?), and How I met Your Mother
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Eggs and toast if time allows, otherwise Weet-Bix and soy milk
6. What is your middle name? I don't have one.
7. What food do you dislike? Not that I can think of at the moment.
8. What is your favorite cd? Don't remember the last time I bought one; how much I love uTorrent.
9. What kind of car do you drive? A grey Nissan Tiida hatchback
10. Favorite sandwich? Pork belly and green apples, oh wholegrain bread please!
11. What characteristic do you despise? Ignorance.
12. Favorite item of clothing? My brown trusty worn-out rainproof jacket.
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Bhutan, Japan, England, and Switzerland
14. What color is your bathroom? I'm renting currently. It's almost black, which I really like.
15. Favorite brand of clothing? Currently Uniqlo
16. Where would you retire to? Thinking England, California, and Thailand right now.
17. What was your most memorable birthday? 21st birthday - a relaxed and chatty long dinner with family
18. Favorite sport to watch? Rarely watch one.
19. Furthest place you are sending this? Hmmm?
20. Favorite saying? This fucking shite!
21. When is your birthday? June 8th.
22. Are you a morning or night person? Definitely a morning person, but turns nocturnal during exams.
23. What is your shoe size? 10 US
24. Pets? Does a collection of histopathology and blood sample slides from animals count?
25. Any new and exciting news you would like to share with us? Nothing exciting at the moment
26. What did you want to be when you were little? A physician
29. How are you today? Great!
30. What is your favorite candy? Very dark chocolate, thanks.
31. Your favorite flower? White roses.
32. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? New Year Day.
33. What is your full name? Gay Vet Pathologist
34. What are you listening to right now? I will just copy and past from my iTunes then - Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto #2 in C minor, Op.18 - 1st Movement
35. What was the last thing you ate? Seafood risotto
36. Do you wish on stars? I think of people important to me, but don't really make any wish.
37. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Blue.
38. How is the weather right now? 23.5 Celcius and clear sky.
39. Favorite soft drink? Does iced coffee with vanilla ice cream count?
40. Favorite restaurant? The Basil (in Thailand) and Marios Cafe (yes, for waiters/waitresses in classic black vest)
41. Siblings? One older brother and one younger sister.
42. Favorite day of the year? I love any day in December, since it's usually uni holiday.
43. What was your favorite toy as a child? Fire, candles, and fireworks.
44. Summer or winter? Definitely summer!
45. Hugs or kisses? Both - hugs followed by kisses, thanks.
46. Coffee or tea? Long macchiato!
47. Chocolate or vanilla? Vanilla
48. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? I'm not sending out to my friends.
49. When was the last time you cried? April this year.
50. What is under your bed? Lab coat, stethoscope, lub, and socks.
51. Who are the friends you have had the longest? A bunch of high school friends.
52. What did you do last night? Crammed for my exam
53. Favorite smell? Freshly ground coffee beans.
54. What are you afraid of? Cockroaches.
55. Salty or sweet? Salty
56. How many keys on your ring? 4
57. How many years at your current job? 4 years as a college student
58. Favorite day of the week? Saturday
59. How many towns have you lived in? 5
60. Do you make friends easily? Usually, yeah
I hope you all know me better now :)
I hope you all know me better now :)
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Cold hard truth
All I am thinking lately has been about exams, so I should not be bragging about it except the fact that I am half way there. E (my lab partner) and I decided to go out for some munchies, after having sat an exam. We trotted around the city of Melbourne indecisively, before leisurely settled down at Journal Canteen (one of the places I used to study for exams). Our topics of conservation again revolved around life and other deep-thought issues. At one point, we talked about the nature of the truth.
One of the pathologists (we both respect) apparently made her neighbour cry, after telling the truth about the fate of the little bird her neighbour brought in. As many of us have progressed through veterinary studies, we have touched on the topic of wildlife, and learnt that a small baby bird abandoned by its parents generally doesn't stand much chance in this cruel wild world. The poor subject often either starves to death once it is abandoned, or gets picked up by kind-hearted people, then gets dropped off at a vet clinic/animal shelter.
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| Truth calling? |
Well...what happens behind the clinic door/shelter is then unknownst to the general public. The bird is often given a highly-overdosed shot of sodium pentobarbital either by intravenous (into a vein) or intraperitoneal (into the abdomen), for the purpose of euthanasia on humane ground. For many in the veterinary profession, the action is adequately and reasonably justified, as the bird is very likely to die, unless it is close the fledgling stage, or able to fend for itself. This would prevent pointless suffering. Another aspect is that if the animal is non-native, which means it may post threats to the local species, it is by law that the animal must be destroyed.
So the poor neighbour was given the synopsis, and she did not take it well. It might have been courteous to withdraw the truth, and only provide part of it. But upon retrospection, I would certainly have trouble putting an acting mask on for the purpose of deception, so I could understand why the pathologist decided to do as such.
E and I agreed that that the truth should be provided if possible, and only if the recipient seems capable of taking it. However, this is because we have become dispassionate while dealing with issues like this. I have heard of parents telling their kid that the family dog is going to a farm, and will never come back. Then the kid goes heartbroken, and asks if the dog will miss him/her.
Certainly, there is a moral dilemma. Is it worth to tell the truth to people, even though it may hurt them even more?
Certainly, there is a moral dilemma. Is it worth to tell the truth to people, even though it may hurt them even more?
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Too much fun with Squash?
I decided to play squash and get some sweat the other day, after a long day of studies. It seemed that I was too intense, and somehow I accidentally smacked my knee. Exercise is always good, but playing for 2 hours alone and smashing the knee weren't ideal. I woke up this morning to feel the thigh muscle twitching. Physiology kicked in my head - cytokines, immunomediator etc. leading to nerve stimulation (?). Funningly enough, I just finished studying equine lameness, but what I learnt was not helpful for treating myself.
Any medico out there know what's happening here?
Monday, November 7, 2011
Nice Saturday
Ahh... how much I hate getting stuck to a desk! Saturday was a perfect excuse to make a little outdoor escape, so I decided to take my bike for a long spin from Sanctuary Lake to Williamstown, part of the Hobsons Bay Coastal Trail. The smell of sea salt, sunshine, some nice eyecandies on the beaches, Westlife playlist on my iPod, and not to forget a big hearty breakfast.
The last time I cycled this route, I got a really bad cramp and could barely cycled back home. This time was a different story, and the one way cycling route was completed in 2 hours. After strolling around with my coffee snob antennae, I decided to settle down at Ticktok Cafe. Their menu, baked good and decor ticked the boxes. A long macchiatto was served, and sadly it was a tad too hot and diluted, nevertheless their big breakfast was outstanding. Coffee is not their forte yet, perhaps. Sitting outside, synthesising vitamin D, letting the stomach do the job, and reading news was just simply peaceful. Cycling really gave me time to think through and sort things out in my head. After another 3 hours, I got back to my studies BAR (Term used to describe patient's condition - bright, alert, and responsive).
This is why I love weekend so much. Only if we only have 4 weekdays instead?
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| Perfect weather with Melbourne city on the horizontal. |
The last time I cycled this route, I got a really bad cramp and could barely cycled back home. This time was a different story, and the one way cycling route was completed in 2 hours. After strolling around with my coffee snob antennae, I decided to settle down at Ticktok Cafe. Their menu, baked good and decor ticked the boxes. A long macchiatto was served, and sadly it was a tad too hot and diluted, nevertheless their big breakfast was outstanding. Coffee is not their forte yet, perhaps. Sitting outside, synthesising vitamin D, letting the stomach do the job, and reading news was just simply peaceful. Cycling really gave me time to think through and sort things out in my head. After another 3 hours, I got back to my studies BAR (Term used to describe patient's condition - bright, alert, and responsive).
This is why I love weekend so much. Only if we only have 4 weekdays instead?
Sunday, November 6, 2011
My Christmas and New Year 2011
A tad of procrastination wouldn't hurt, since my brain is totally fried up, and needs some time to cool down. After having made a list of what to do in December, I realised that I would have a really busy month. At first, I thought I would have a quiet relaxed December for once, but this was proven wrong, as there are so many things lined up for me to do. These include a meeting with the Dean and teaching staff for academic issues (not mine, but the whole year level in general: I will need to prepare some docs, and deal with some politics - I had dealt a lot with, but not my cup of tea), getting a flight to Japan and meet my family there for a trip, moving house (to inner Melbourne suburb) , taking a temporary post as an assistant veterinary anatomical pathologist between Christmas and New Year (This seems extremely workaholic, but I don't see doing pathology stuff as work, because I enjoy it :D), organising a placement at DPI Attwood, staying outdoor and do some surfing for a week, getting some massage, having a quiet day to retrospect and reflect on oneself etc.
Obviously, I won't have much time to chill out, and this makes me realise that this year I have gradually shifted from my introvert Type B ego to Type A personality slightly. So I really need to learn to prioritise things properly: all vetties seem to have an imbalance study and social life. My personal life has been compromised, since entering the vet school, but I have been getting better than doing the balancing act.
Some of my Canuck mates are staying over the summer, since our uni will be starting on Monday 2nd January 2012. Lovely, isn't it? We have decided to patronise one of our favourite contemporary pub-restaurants, which is along Yarra River for the New Year Eve. This will be a perfect cooling spot for the Australian summer, as we all will feel like constantly being in an medium-heat oven. There are bound to be lots of vetties pranks and inappropriate shenanigans, though I won't be overly drunk but will stay high throughout the night for sure.
Since I will be most likely be spending Christmas Day at uni, doing some yucky work and the faculty can get really quiet, I downloaded the new Michael Buble Christmas Album 2011. I will be singing his songs, while making a Christmas pudding for the first time, then singing and sharing the pudding with pathologists on duty, before heading to the PM room, butchering ex-animals to bits and pieces.
So what is your plan this December? And anyone have advice on balancing life?
Obviously, I won't have much time to chill out, and this makes me realise that this year I have gradually shifted from my introvert Type B ego to Type A personality slightly. So I really need to learn to prioritise things properly: all vetties seem to have an imbalance study and social life. My personal life has been compromised, since entering the vet school, but I have been getting better than doing the balancing act.
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| OMG! Are they all for me? |
Some of my Canuck mates are staying over the summer, since our uni will be starting on Monday 2nd January 2012. Lovely, isn't it? We have decided to patronise one of our favourite contemporary pub-restaurants, which is along Yarra River for the New Year Eve. This will be a perfect cooling spot for the Australian summer, as we all will feel like constantly being in an medium-heat oven. There are bound to be lots of vetties pranks and inappropriate shenanigans, though I won't be overly drunk but will stay high throughout the night for sure.
Since I will be most likely be spending Christmas Day at uni, doing some yucky work and the faculty can get really quiet, I downloaded the new Michael Buble Christmas Album 2011. I will be singing his songs, while making a Christmas pudding for the first time, then singing and sharing the pudding with pathologists on duty, before heading to the PM room, butchering ex-animals to bits and pieces.
So what is your plan this December? And anyone have advice on balancing life?
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Homosexual rams
Today is Melbourne Cup Day, and it is a public holiday for Melbournians to gamble - to be exact it was yesterday by the time I finish this post. Even though I'm stuck in the vet library, I had a gambling draw with the vetties. My horse was Modun, and she/he seemed to do ok, since I got $5 from the draw somehow :)
With 6 exams lining up, for me to study (cram) through. Unfortunately, that won't leave much time for me to blog. I have decided to settle down in one of the private cubes in the vet libraly, as my second home for now until the end of this month. The cubes are very old, and look pretty much like a prison cell. What a perfect place to confine myself! Many of my mates now know that I have entered the alternative world, and won't be in contact for a while (also the phone reception in my cube is pretty poor).
There are severeal subjects that I need to go through. One of them being Small ruminants, in which I have to study about reproductive diseases in rams. In one lecture, we were told how groups of rams have their boy parties in a paddock, and engage in homosexual behaviours. Who say gay is un-natural, huh? I vaguely recall someone saying "In order to reduce the degree of orgies in rams, they are separated into smaller group, usually 3 to 4 per group. Then we can just let them go wild within their group, without having to worry about the disease spreading everywhere".
So I will now disappear into another dimension for a little while. Until then, take care.
Added 02/11/11
I just found out today that Modun actually came last, so I got a price for being the slowest horse in the race, lol. Not sure if I can say it's lucky/unlucky.
With 6 exams lining up, for me to study (cram) through. Unfortunately, that won't leave much time for me to blog. I have decided to settle down in one of the private cubes in the vet libraly, as my second home for now until the end of this month. The cubes are very old, and look pretty much like a prison cell. What a perfect place to confine myself! Many of my mates now know that I have entered the alternative world, and won't be in contact for a while (also the phone reception in my cube is pretty poor).
 |
| Brucella ovis is trasmitted between rams by anal sex, lol |
There are severeal subjects that I need to go through. One of them being Small ruminants, in which I have to study about reproductive diseases in rams. In one lecture, we were told how groups of rams have their boy parties in a paddock, and engage in homosexual behaviours. Who say gay is un-natural, huh? I vaguely recall someone saying "In order to reduce the degree of orgies in rams, they are separated into smaller group, usually 3 to 4 per group. Then we can just let them go wild within their group, without having to worry about the disease spreading everywhere".
So I will now disappear into another dimension for a little while. Until then, take care.
Added 02/11/11
I just found out today that Modun actually came last, so I got a price for being the slowest horse in the race, lol. Not sure if I can say it's lucky/unlucky.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Colleague and criticism
Over one lunchtime, me and two of my clinical lab groupmates, E and Z, had an interesting albeit short conservation about criticism. As we know that we all will be working together, and seeing each other almost 24/7 next year. We will really get to know each other through and through, and it will be similar to having intensive orgies relationships with an expiry date as of Dec 2012. There are bound to be some degree of interpersonal conflicts, if we don't communicate properly. Our group consisted of six people, equal number of guys and girls, but only one straight guy, lol. L is my lab partner, and we often have cafe hunts together. She is also my philosophy conversee. Z is the poor straight guy, who frequently answers a lot of my questions regarding treatment. Before I digress any further, how can we provide criticisms due to good intentions, without upsetting someone?
Me: Let's start with bad breath. If you start talking to someone and notice the smell, how would you deal with it?
E: Hmm.. that's hard. But if I know that person well enough, I would tell that person outright though not out loud. Otherwise, I will hand out some chewy or mints.
Z: What if you don't have any of those with you? What if that person is a lecturer/teaching clinician, whom we will be spending a lot of time with?
Me: I guess for that case the prognosis is hopeless. Well... better start training holding your breath then?
E: Oh.... for your information, please let me know if I have a bad breath. I don't wanna be talking to clients while they try not to breath. Hey... GVP, you're quite lucky then. Don't you get use to all the bad smell, since you spend so much time in the PM room?
Me: You're right. So far I can even put my face near rotten horse guts, and it seems that I have instinctively learnt to shut off my nose, but I can still smell farts and bad breaths somehow. Another thing, this year I have morped into a little grumpy beeping bomb. I know that I swear too much, but I can't help for now.
Z: That's alright. We are quite stressed right now, so everyone swears and used to it. Remember the surgery lectures, how many times did we hear vagina, penis, testes?
E: There were so many vaginas, penises and testes. That was more than enough.
Me: One thing that we won't have enough of next year rotations will be sleep. I will definitely get moody, and swear a tad more than usually. So tell me to f!@# off and get some coffee, if I'm acting like a dick.
Z: Only if you promise, you won't treat me as your PM customer after I tell you so.
In the end, we also talked about dandruff, dress code, low jeans exposing ass crack, etc. We all agree that we prefer honesty, and don't mind being told off if there is something odd. Feeling upset is inevitable at first, but as long as there is a good motive behind, everything will be alright. One point that we took, before rushing to our prac class was that all of us are not perfect, but at the very least we strive to improve. Being optimistic as I am, I often think that if someone criticise me, it's only because they care about me. What is your approach to this?
 |
| Halitosis (bad breath) |
Me: Let's start with bad breath. If you start talking to someone and notice the smell, how would you deal with it?
E: Hmm.. that's hard. But if I know that person well enough, I would tell that person outright though not out loud. Otherwise, I will hand out some chewy or mints.
Z: What if you don't have any of those with you? What if that person is a lecturer/teaching clinician, whom we will be spending a lot of time with?
Me: I guess for that case the prognosis is hopeless. Well... better start training holding your breath then?
E: Oh.... for your information, please let me know if I have a bad breath. I don't wanna be talking to clients while they try not to breath. Hey... GVP, you're quite lucky then. Don't you get use to all the bad smell, since you spend so much time in the PM room?
Me: You're right. So far I can even put my face near rotten horse guts, and it seems that I have instinctively learnt to shut off my nose, but I can still smell farts and bad breaths somehow. Another thing, this year I have morped into a little grumpy beeping bomb. I know that I swear too much, but I can't help for now.
Z: That's alright. We are quite stressed right now, so everyone swears and used to it. Remember the surgery lectures, how many times did we hear vagina, penis, testes?
E: There were so many vaginas, penises and testes. That was more than enough.
Me: One thing that we won't have enough of next year rotations will be sleep. I will definitely get moody, and swear a tad more than usually. So tell me to f!@# off and get some coffee, if I'm acting like a dick.
Z: Only if you promise, you won't treat me as your PM customer after I tell you so.
In the end, we also talked about dandruff, dress code, low jeans exposing ass crack, etc. We all agree that we prefer honesty, and don't mind being told off if there is something odd. Feeling upset is inevitable at first, but as long as there is a good motive behind, everything will be alright. One point that we took, before rushing to our prac class was that all of us are not perfect, but at the very least we strive to improve. Being optimistic as I am, I often think that if someone criticise me, it's only because they care about me. What is your approach to this?
Sunday, October 23, 2011
A long macchiato
When I started this blog, food was definitely on the topic list. So this shall be the first post about my eating habit!
Several of my vet friends and I have been locking myself up in the college libraly, trying hard to stay focused on studies. It is not uncommon to be hearing us swear and scream for no reason, as our sanity is certainly questionable. One thing, that stops me from crossing over to the other side completely, is unarguably having gourmand moments and getting decent coffees.
Over the weekend, I had my usual cafe hunt/ritual, and found a nice little cafe, called Fix espresso. After having been caffeinating here and there over a few years, I seem to have developed invisible antennas, which somewhat detect decent-caffeine outlets. The smell, ambience, sound of milk foaming, and barista (wearing a classic grey vest) ticked the boxes. So I proceeded to settle down with study notes, and called for a long macchiato as well as their big breakfast. I couldn't help but smiling when my coffee was served. The latte art was just so adorable, in addition to strong coffee as I expected. The breakie was an average Joe, on the other hand, but the coffee won the merit.
My habit has me wondering what is going to happen when I move to another city with less renown coffee culture. I already have a little stovetop, which is used daily if not twice, but the experience is not the same. And before long I will start craving and showing withdrawal symptoms. One thing that I have promised to do over this Christmas holiday is stop having coffee for a month. It will be interesting to see how I deal with my addiction, in the near future.
Several of my vet friends and I have been locking myself up in the college libraly, trying hard to stay focused on studies. It is not uncommon to be hearing us swear and scream for no reason, as our sanity is certainly questionable. One thing, that stops me from crossing over to the other side completely, is unarguably having gourmand moments and getting decent coffees.
 |
| Smiley alien :) |
My habit has me wondering what is going to happen when I move to another city with less renown coffee culture. I already have a little stovetop, which is used daily if not twice, but the experience is not the same. And before long I will start craving and showing withdrawal symptoms. One thing that I have promised to do over this Christmas holiday is stop having coffee for a month. It will be interesting to see how I deal with my addiction, in the near future.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Veterinary consult
As always life has been busy, but it got out of control recently in my case. The uni workload has increased as we approached to the end of the year. I seemed have hit my mental burnout, and felt quite depressed, but it appeared to be a common and "normal" thing among students in my year. After rejuvenating over one weekend with decent coffees and food, I felt much better once more. I really live on good food mentally and physiologically, ain't I? Hopefully, I will have more time for social life and this blog after my exams in late November.
Right, back to the topic. Veterinary consultation - hmm, I have little experiences with consults to be frank. The whole thing isn't very appealing for me personally, though some owners are quite sweet and lovely to chat to. Much like any other jobs dealing with people, servicepersons are bound have something to gossip about behind scene at the end of the day. In our case, it is behind the consult door and far away from the ears and eyes teaching staff/clinicians. Certainly, doing such deed is un-professional, and it is a breach of confidentiality, but we can't help being humans. Of course, no name or anything specific that may identify the clients is mentioned.
How often you know that people aren't be honest outright. Well, that occurs frequently in veterinary consults. Owners sometimes tell us what they think we want to hear, but not the truth. Figuring out what is wrong with our little furry mates is much like doing jigsaw puzzles and detective work - integrating relevant information to make some sense or list differential diagnoses ie. likely causes/underlying pathology. When the truth is not given, our life is much harder and it's our friend who suffers consequently - well, our friend will then have an increaesd chance of becoming my customer on a PM table as a wrong diagnose can be proven fatal.
We were told of a case of a Labrador, responsible by the ER/critical care head vet. The dog was presented with pollakiuria (increased frequency of urination), hypersensitive sound (very hysterical even to being called its name) and hallucinated (it seemed to be chasing invisible flies in the consult). As usual, interesting and exciting things happen on Friday night. There was a little wine party at the owner's, and the dog became like so after the party. She sedated the dog, did a thorough physical exmaination, checked the mouth and found bits of chocolate brownies. First thing cholcolate is toxic to animals, but they don't show neurological signs like these (chocolate toxicity will be posted at a later time). Second thing is the brownies were no mere baked goods in this case. With her experience, common thing occurs commonly. She had seen way too many marijuana toxicities, and she believed that the dog munched on hash/weed brownies. She asked the owner explicitly to confirm if there is anything special in the brownies, and the owner did not say anything about the recreation drug. She then proceeded to explain the clinical picture and most appropriate treatments. The dog was induced to vomit, and she found some grass like materials with partially digested brownies. Thinking about probability the dog could have been poisoned from other source, but given the clincial signs and history of party, ingestion of brownies, it is most likely that special brownies were made for the gathering, and the dog (being a Labrador) managed to get some bites. I would say that vets with less experience and knowledge in critical care and toxicology, would not have figured that out right, and the patient's health could have been compromised as appropriate treatment was not provided promptly.
Like I said before, veterinarians are not in the consult to judge. We just want to do our jobs quickly and finish the session within the time limit (usually, 15 minutes). But, some owners just love talking on and on about their life, sometimes including private detail that we don't want to know. Consult charge is per 15 minutes, and some do not realise that they pay for us to listen to them talking. I guess it's better if they see a psychologist for this purpose.
An ideal consult would be a client come in with a calm and relaxed patient, facts provided, quick exmination, diagnostic process/work-up/tests, confirm the diagnosis, advise about the disease, management and treatment options. Fitting all of these in 15 minutes is challenging. Even though this is what majority of the profession are doing, sometimes it is not ideal since proper discussion of the disease and management are often left out. Many vets just reach for treatments eg. corticosteriods, antibiotics or NSAID, and tell owners to give the drug(s) to their pet without telling why. Consults are pretty much the balance between medicine and business. With the skills and experience I have right now, I would take ages to do a proper consult. Practice makes perfection, I guess.
Right, back to the topic. Veterinary consultation - hmm, I have little experiences with consults to be frank. The whole thing isn't very appealing for me personally, though some owners are quite sweet and lovely to chat to. Much like any other jobs dealing with people, servicepersons are bound have something to gossip about behind scene at the end of the day. In our case, it is behind the consult door and far away from the ears and eyes teaching staff/clinicians. Certainly, doing such deed is un-professional, and it is a breach of confidentiality, but we can't help being humans. Of course, no name or anything specific that may identify the clients is mentioned.
 |
| Anything in there? |
How often you know that people aren't be honest outright. Well, that occurs frequently in veterinary consults. Owners sometimes tell us what they think we want to hear, but not the truth. Figuring out what is wrong with our little furry mates is much like doing jigsaw puzzles and detective work - integrating relevant information to make some sense or list differential diagnoses ie. likely causes/underlying pathology. When the truth is not given, our life is much harder and it's our friend who suffers consequently - well, our friend will then have an increaesd chance of becoming my customer on a PM table as a wrong diagnose can be proven fatal.
We were told of a case of a Labrador, responsible by the ER/critical care head vet. The dog was presented with pollakiuria (increased frequency of urination), hypersensitive sound (very hysterical even to being called its name) and hallucinated (it seemed to be chasing invisible flies in the consult). As usual, interesting and exciting things happen on Friday night. There was a little wine party at the owner's, and the dog became like so after the party. She sedated the dog, did a thorough physical exmaination, checked the mouth and found bits of chocolate brownies. First thing cholcolate is toxic to animals, but they don't show neurological signs like these (chocolate toxicity will be posted at a later time). Second thing is the brownies were no mere baked goods in this case. With her experience, common thing occurs commonly. She had seen way too many marijuana toxicities, and she believed that the dog munched on hash/weed brownies. She asked the owner explicitly to confirm if there is anything special in the brownies, and the owner did not say anything about the recreation drug. She then proceeded to explain the clinical picture and most appropriate treatments. The dog was induced to vomit, and she found some grass like materials with partially digested brownies. Thinking about probability the dog could have been poisoned from other source, but given the clincial signs and history of party, ingestion of brownies, it is most likely that special brownies were made for the gathering, and the dog (being a Labrador) managed to get some bites. I would say that vets with less experience and knowledge in critical care and toxicology, would not have figured that out right, and the patient's health could have been compromised as appropriate treatment was not provided promptly.
Like I said before, veterinarians are not in the consult to judge. We just want to do our jobs quickly and finish the session within the time limit (usually, 15 minutes). But, some owners just love talking on and on about their life, sometimes including private detail that we don't want to know. Consult charge is per 15 minutes, and some do not realise that they pay for us to listen to them talking. I guess it's better if they see a psychologist for this purpose.
An ideal consult would be a client come in with a calm and relaxed patient, facts provided, quick exmination, diagnostic process/work-up/tests, confirm the diagnosis, advise about the disease, management and treatment options. Fitting all of these in 15 minutes is challenging. Even though this is what majority of the profession are doing, sometimes it is not ideal since proper discussion of the disease and management are often left out. Many vets just reach for treatments eg. corticosteriods, antibiotics or NSAID, and tell owners to give the drug(s) to their pet without telling why. Consults are pretty much the balance between medicine and business. With the skills and experience I have right now, I would take ages to do a proper consult. Practice makes perfection, I guess.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Horse racing industry and horse vets
I have to admit I have never had a good impression of the Victoria racing horse industry. The industry is no doubt lucrative, and there is a lot of money talk involved as well as liability issues.
In the past weeks, a racehorse unexpectedly died on the racing track. There was a lot of public concern in term of animal welfare and jockey's safety. The field pre-emptive diagnosis for the cause of death was heart attack, which left me puzzled because I had never heard horse vets mentioning the condition before. So it left me to think that the racing industry must be trying to avoid negative public response, since there has been a fair number of accidents on race tracks. Animal welfare and right groups have been grilling and putting the racing industry on a hot seat.
Having confirmed the cause of death with the pathologist who performed the necropsy, the diagnosis was severe acute pulmonary (lung) haemorrhage, which was EIPH (exercise induced pulmonary haemorrhage). This condition is well known in racing horses doing strenous exercises though the severity of the condition is variable. The degree of bleeding the horse suffered was so severe that its chest was filled with blood. Oh poor horse! If this was to be known, there is no doubt the industry would suffer.
Anyway, there was case in pathology weekly round, which was likely to involve a lawsuit. We were looking down a histology slide of a horse's vein and told that the horse received IV (intravenous ie. into a vein) jugular (neck) injection of phenylbutazone, commonly used NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug eg. paracetamol) amoung horse vets. And apparently the horse got sick then progressively deteriorated over a period of 6 weeks before it died despite appropriate treatments. At the request of the owner, a necropsy was performed and samples of several tissues were collected for histology. Histopathology - evidence of endothelial (cell lining the vessel) damage, necrosis (cell death), adhered thrombi (blood clots) and recanalisation of the vessel. There was septic thromboembolism (spreading of blood clots) due right vegetative (growing) endocarditis (inflammation of the heart valve) and embolic suppurative pneumonia (pus-sy inflammation of the lungs). In a nutshell, the injection led to sick neck vein, heart valve and lungs. It appeared that the vet mistakenly and injected the drug into the mural (wall) component of the vessel.
Why do we bother describe all those tissue changes (what I put up above is summarised version, by the way). During the round, there was an empathic row of laughters among us when the finanical value of the horse was known. The horse was worth AUD$3millions, for god's sake! And the legitation is now therefore worth the same amount, for the defendant's sake ie. veterinarian's! I do hope that the vet has some sort of work insurance otherwise he/she is screwed.
In general, horse vets are somewhat intimidating. They are quite uptight and strict but perhaps this is due to the nature of industry they work in. Of course, this is with a few exceptions. There is a male resident horse vet who was the topic of conservation among the girls (about of 80% the course are female, by the way) for a while when we first had a prac class with him - smiley, green eyes, hunk (albeit he is shorter than me) and sarcastic sense of humour. In many movies, people working with horses and the work environment are depicted as macho and masculine. This often leaves a train of lecherous thought in one's mind; how much one fancy about doing XXX and enjoy having YYY in a horse barn!
In the past weeks, a racehorse unexpectedly died on the racing track. There was a lot of public concern in term of animal welfare and jockey's safety. The field pre-emptive diagnosis for the cause of death was heart attack, which left me puzzled because I had never heard horse vets mentioning the condition before. So it left me to think that the racing industry must be trying to avoid negative public response, since there has been a fair number of accidents on race tracks. Animal welfare and right groups have been grilling and putting the racing industry on a hot seat.
Having confirmed the cause of death with the pathologist who performed the necropsy, the diagnosis was severe acute pulmonary (lung) haemorrhage, which was EIPH (exercise induced pulmonary haemorrhage). This condition is well known in racing horses doing strenous exercises though the severity of the condition is variable. The degree of bleeding the horse suffered was so severe that its chest was filled with blood. Oh poor horse! If this was to be known, there is no doubt the industry would suffer.
Anyway, there was case in pathology weekly round, which was likely to involve a lawsuit. We were looking down a histology slide of a horse's vein and told that the horse received IV (intravenous ie. into a vein) jugular (neck) injection of phenylbutazone, commonly used NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug eg. paracetamol) amoung horse vets. And apparently the horse got sick then progressively deteriorated over a period of 6 weeks before it died despite appropriate treatments. At the request of the owner, a necropsy was performed and samples of several tissues were collected for histology. Histopathology - evidence of endothelial (cell lining the vessel) damage, necrosis (cell death), adhered thrombi (blood clots) and recanalisation of the vessel. There was septic thromboembolism (spreading of blood clots) due right vegetative (growing) endocarditis (inflammation of the heart valve) and embolic suppurative pneumonia (pus-sy inflammation of the lungs). In a nutshell, the injection led to sick neck vein, heart valve and lungs. It appeared that the vet mistakenly and injected the drug into the mural (wall) component of the vessel.
Why do we bother describe all those tissue changes (what I put up above is summarised version, by the way). During the round, there was an empathic row of laughters among us when the finanical value of the horse was known. The horse was worth AUD$3millions, for god's sake! And the legitation is now therefore worth the same amount, for the defendant's sake ie. veterinarian's! I do hope that the vet has some sort of work insurance otherwise he/she is screwed.
 |
| What a pity! They don't continue to make the calendar. |
In general, horse vets are somewhat intimidating. They are quite uptight and strict but perhaps this is due to the nature of industry they work in. Of course, this is with a few exceptions. There is a male resident horse vet who was the topic of conservation among the girls (about of 80% the course are female, by the way) for a while when we first had a prac class with him - smiley, green eyes, hunk (albeit he is shorter than me) and sarcastic sense of humour. In many movies, people working with horses and the work environment are depicted as macho and masculine. This often leaves a train of lecherous thought in one's mind; how much one fancy about doing XXX and enjoy having YYY in a horse barn!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Desensitised to the dead
A while back, I used to watch all those medical shows and wondered how doctors perform surgeries without feeling disgust. And now I understand since I has become desensitised, and I am able to perform necropsies while talking about lunch. It feeks like yesterday when a group of us vet students got excited for our first anatomy prac with dog bodies. But, we were warned that if we feel funny, just exit the prac room and get some fresh air. A fair amount of students, including me, felt light-headed and almost faint. It was the smell, sight and texture of cold muscles that almost made me puke. Well, I turned into a vegan and didn't touch any meat for a week. Then we had more anatomy classes, seeing images in lectures and touching the real stuff in pracs every fortnight. We gradually accustomised to the extent that we felt hungry during the prac, and talked about having steaks and beers after cutting a dog open. This is so wrong I know.
That only leaves one thing that a lof of people complain about while dealing with the deads - Smell! Well, some ex-patients are not so fresh and presented to us at a temperature lower than ideal ie. from a fridge. I think I'm somewhat more lucky than my peers that I have learnt to shut off my sense of smell while perfoming necropsies. One of the pathologists I know mentions about pathologists just get used to the smell, and our nose just doesn't smell anything malodouraous after a necropsy. Once she and her colleague had to do a necropsy of a baby hippo who disappeared for a few day during a period of warm Melbourne weather, and then appeared to float atop of the enclosure pond. The body was so emphysematous (bubbly like balloons) and the odour was ranked 10/10 in the degree of intolerability. After several hours their job was done, they returned back to the faculty, sitting in a staff tea room completely oblivious that they both had this obnoxious un-holy aura, which could be sensed several blocks away. The whole faculty became alert of the smell, and believed there was a gas leak hence commenced buidling evacuation unbeknownst to the offenders still in the tea room enjoying the sun and English afternoon tea.
Obviously, I have to be more careful from now, and take cautions about the scent. It would be horrid to others around me if I pop into a cafe for coffees after my heavy duties.
That only leaves one thing that a lof of people complain about while dealing with the deads - Smell! Well, some ex-patients are not so fresh and presented to us at a temperature lower than ideal ie. from a fridge. I think I'm somewhat more lucky than my peers that I have learnt to shut off my sense of smell while perfoming necropsies. One of the pathologists I know mentions about pathologists just get used to the smell, and our nose just doesn't smell anything malodouraous after a necropsy. Once she and her colleague had to do a necropsy of a baby hippo who disappeared for a few day during a period of warm Melbourne weather, and then appeared to float atop of the enclosure pond. The body was so emphysematous (bubbly like balloons) and the odour was ranked 10/10 in the degree of intolerability. After several hours their job was done, they returned back to the faculty, sitting in a staff tea room completely oblivious that they both had this obnoxious un-holy aura, which could be sensed several blocks away. The whole faculty became alert of the smell, and believed there was a gas leak hence commenced buidling evacuation unbeknownst to the offenders still in the tea room enjoying the sun and English afternoon tea.
Obviously, I have to be more careful from now, and take cautions about the scent. It would be horrid to others around me if I pop into a cafe for coffees after my heavy duties.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Human vs veterinary pathology
The topics of conversations, that my medico friend, P and I talk about, can be quite taboo in the ears of general public. The topic may involve saying vagina and penis out load, as we talk about reproductive medicine. Other includes how to open the skull, amputate a limb etc, and cases that we have. During one of our Sunday cuppa ritual, we ended up talking about two distraught cases she just had.
NOTE: This synopsis may be very distressing since it mentions an abused baby and body parts after an automobile accident.
GVP: Guess what, I got accepted as an extern in veterinary pathology to a few uni in US and UK !
P: Awesome, I know you love path, and for sure you're gonna enjoy it. The subject is quite interesting, but sometimes the pracs and work can be very depressing for us, as a lot of human pathology cases is related to forensic.
GVP: Hmm, like what?
P: Err, human pathologists deals with too many murders and accidents. I tell you about a case that we had the other day in our tute. There was a baby came through with oedema and congestion (basically, the head looks swollen and purple-red) from the neck upwards, and there were two faint lines around the neck. We were asked what is the cause of death, and no one got it right despite being told that it was very obvious. The tutor told us that the an electric cord fits rather too well with the lines on the neck, and make the exact impression if you try wrapping one around your neck, in which she/he demonstrated so. At this point, there was an ominious cloud floating in the room, and you could tell what everyone was like what the F!@#$~~~~~~!
P: Then, a few people started hyperventilating (breathing fast) and you could tell people were having tears in their eyes, and my eyes were watery.
Then she told me about a gruesome case of a car accident. In essence, the body came in several pieces, and the forensic officers had difficulties collecting all the parts at the scene: brain materials, eyes, visceral organs here and there. I had an impression that the body trunk got crushed like a garlic in a press. The impact was so sever that the garlic was sent flying and splattered - also not to mention obvious mutilple opened bone fractures (fractures with bones poking out of the skin for us to see)
Lesson learnt, especially to male audiences out there: stick to the speed limit, drive slower won't kill yah!
At the end, we both usually thought that we're not desentisied about this sort of things in general, but that whole thing was just sickening. There is too many funny people on this world.
NOTE: This synopsis may be very distressing since it mentions an abused baby and body parts after an automobile accident.
GVP: Guess what, I got accepted as an extern in veterinary pathology to a few uni in US and UK !
P: Awesome, I know you love path, and for sure you're gonna enjoy it. The subject is quite interesting, but sometimes the pracs and work can be very depressing for us, as a lot of human pathology cases is related to forensic.
GVP: Hmm, like what?
P: Err, human pathologists deals with too many murders and accidents. I tell you about a case that we had the other day in our tute. There was a baby came through with oedema and congestion (basically, the head looks swollen and purple-red) from the neck upwards, and there were two faint lines around the neck. We were asked what is the cause of death, and no one got it right despite being told that it was very obvious. The tutor told us that the an electric cord fits rather too well with the lines on the neck, and make the exact impression if you try wrapping one around your neck, in which she/he demonstrated so. At this point, there was an ominious cloud floating in the room, and you could tell what everyone was like what the F!@#$~~~~~~!
P: Then, a few people started hyperventilating (breathing fast) and you could tell people were having tears in their eyes, and my eyes were watery.
Then she told me about a gruesome case of a car accident. In essence, the body came in several pieces, and the forensic officers had difficulties collecting all the parts at the scene: brain materials, eyes, visceral organs here and there. I had an impression that the body trunk got crushed like a garlic in a press. The impact was so sever that the garlic was sent flying and splattered - also not to mention obvious mutilple opened bone fractures (fractures with bones poking out of the skin for us to see)
Lesson learnt, especially to male audiences out there: stick to the speed limit, drive slower won't kill yah!
At the end, we both usually thought that we're not desentisied about this sort of things in general, but that whole thing was just sickening. There is too many funny people on this world.
Monday, October 3, 2011
After exam resolutions
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| Shhhh... a customer coming. |
- Go camping for 5 days and complete the latter half of 104km Great Ocean Hike with other vet kids
- Go surfing and enjoy the sun for a week
- Try a hand cooking quails, perfect crispy skin pork, lobsters and making macarons - black seasame and passionfruit
- Leisurely read Pathologic Basis of Veterinary Disease, The Beginner's Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize: Advice for Young Scientists by Prof Doherty whom I have seen in real life, and those long overdue books which are supposed to be read by all veterinarians, written by James Herriot
- Watch movies and go to art galleries
- Bike around the city and hunt down decent caffeine outlets
- Pamper at Daylesford
- Last but not least, enjoy mind wondering, have epistemological moments, and do more blogging
Without having anything to look forward to, I would have gone nutbag and adopted Dexter's hobbies as ways of coping. I can't wait any longer for this summer break, rejuvenate and get ready for a lecture-free clinical year starting early January next year.
A necropsy and animal welfare breach
I poked into the pathology department at the other day, to see if there was anything interesting ex-animal coming in, so that I could excuse myself from studying and get some action. Fortunately for me, there was a 9 yo female dog with maxillary mass extending towards the level of the eye and ventral (towards the abdomen ie. lower) aspect of the maxilla, infiltrating the gum and extending caudally two third of the oral maxilla. The mass height was 10cm, so basically, the head just looked grossly abnormal that even kids can tell.
History: the animal was seized by an animal welfare organisation, and was euthanised on humane ground. A full post-mortem/PM (after death) examination is requested.
Every now and then, there is a case related to animal cruelty comes through the department. A full necropsy (exmination of corpse, in particular non-human bodies: I tend to use PM and necropsy interchangeably, while refer an autopsy to human bodies) is required for the purpose of lawsuit against the suspected offender, therefore professional opinion and comments from a veterinary pathologist is sought in regard to the nature, manner of lesions (abnormal tissue, change of tissue) and/or death.
In general sense, a mass lesion could be anything ranging from a cyst, abscess, naevus to neoplasm (abonormal growth eg tumour). However, some sort of a tumour was very likely given the extension and distribution of the mass. Soft tissue sarcoma (cancer of connective tissue) came to my head as I palpated the structure, so the differentials goes a long way as there are several types, but I had fibrosarcoma (malignant tumour of collagen-producing cell) on the top of differentials.
We did a fine needle aspirate/FNA which is sticking a needle into the mass and retrieving a sample for microscopic examinations. When the sample staining was done a few hours later, I was quite content that I am right. The cells on the slide looked crazy, which is a typical appearance of neoplastic (abnormal and out of control) fibrocytes. It is now likely that the dog was neglected, and left to suffer from the tumour. A necropsy report is written to be provided to court as evidence and a source of expert opinion.
And I was left thinking: how and why on earth people can be be so retarded and ignorant, and leave animals to suffer? The cost of euthania is definitely not a valid excuse, since it will only cost like AUD$20 in animal welfare hospitals and some even put animals down without cost. Or even just surrender them to any animal shelter.
 |
| Let's see what is there. |
Every now and then, there is a case related to animal cruelty comes through the department. A full necropsy (exmination of corpse, in particular non-human bodies: I tend to use PM and necropsy interchangeably, while refer an autopsy to human bodies) is required for the purpose of lawsuit against the suspected offender, therefore professional opinion and comments from a veterinary pathologist is sought in regard to the nature, manner of lesions (abnormal tissue, change of tissue) and/or death.
In general sense, a mass lesion could be anything ranging from a cyst, abscess, naevus to neoplasm (abonormal growth eg tumour). However, some sort of a tumour was very likely given the extension and distribution of the mass. Soft tissue sarcoma (cancer of connective tissue) came to my head as I palpated the structure, so the differentials goes a long way as there are several types, but I had fibrosarcoma (malignant tumour of collagen-producing cell) on the top of differentials.
We did a fine needle aspirate/FNA which is sticking a needle into the mass and retrieving a sample for microscopic examinations. When the sample staining was done a few hours later, I was quite content that I am right. The cells on the slide looked crazy, which is a typical appearance of neoplastic (abnormal and out of control) fibrocytes. It is now likely that the dog was neglected, and left to suffer from the tumour. A necropsy report is written to be provided to court as evidence and a source of expert opinion.
And I was left thinking: how and why on earth people can be be so retarded and ignorant, and leave animals to suffer? The cost of euthania is definitely not a valid excuse, since it will only cost like AUD$20 in animal welfare hospitals and some even put animals down without cost. Or even just surrender them to any animal shelter.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Let's have a look at some art
At the moment I'm digging through my overworked little laptop, searching for notes on tumours, for the purpose of exam preparation. These are interesting images from lecture materials that I come across. During high school, I did IB Fine Arts HL, and learnt to critic artworks. Guess what, that is what I like to do while looking down a microscope.
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| This is why we Ozzies carry sunscreens around - malignant melanoma (nasty melanin-pigment producing tumour). |
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| Malignant osteoblastic osteosarcoma (nasty bone producing tumour of a bone cell lineage) |
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| Plasma cell myeloma aka. Multiple myeloma (nasty antibody-producing white blood cell tumour) |
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| Mast cell tumour (nasty tumour of white blood cells with histamine granules) |
The purpose of microscopic examinations is to determine the type of tumour, which we are fighting against, and to grade whether the tumour so that we can decide what is the best treatment option. Some of you may have realised that I put nasty in all of the description. Yes, we usually say "O'oh" when we see this since they are likely to have seeded to several body system, hence the prognosis is usually poor.
Personality test
I don't think I ever mention here that GB's blog is actually the aspiration for this blog, and I have been reading his blog for ages. There is a post about a persionaliy test; these sort of tests are quite interesting as it can give another perspective of looking at myself. A few years ago, there was a personal development workshop, and everyone got to take a similar test at uni. The whole point was to raise an awareness that each of us has strengths and weaknesses, we need to work together as a team to bring out all the strengths. Advanced Global Personality Test can assessed here if you want to take it.My result is as followed:
| Extraversion | |||||||||||||| | 56% |
| Stability | |||||||||||||||||| | 76% |
| Orderliness | |||||||||||||||||| | 76% |
| Accommodation | |||| | 16% |
| Intellectual | |||||||||||||||| | 70% |
| Interdependence | |||||||||||||||||||| | 90% |
| Mystical | |||| | 20% |
| Materialism | |||||||||||||||| | 70% |
| Narcissism | |||||||||| | 40% |
| Adventurousness | |||||||||||||||||| | 80% |
| Work ethic | |||||||||||||| | 60% |
| Conflict seeking | || | 10% |
| Need to dominate | |||||||||||||| | 60% |
| Romantic | |||||||||||||| | 60% |
| Avoidant | |||| | 20% |
| Anti-authority | |||||||||| | 40% |
| Wealth | |||||||||||||||||| | 80% |
| Dependency | |||||||||| | 40% |
| Change averse | || | 10% |
| Cautiousness | |||||||||||||||||||| | 90% |
| Individuality | |||||||||||||||| | 70% |
| Sexuality | |||||||||||||||||||| | 90% |
| Peter pan complex | || | 10% |
| Histrionic | || | 10% |
| Vanity | |||||||||||||| | 60% |
| Artistic | |||||||||||||||| | 70% |
| Hedonism | |||||||||| | 40% |
| Physical fitness | |||||||||||||||||||| | 90% |
| Religious | || | 10% |
| Paranoia | || | 10% |
| Hypersensitivity | |||||||||||||||||| | 76% |
| Indie | |||||||||||| | 50% |
Stability results were high which suggests you are very relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic.
Orderliness results were high which suggests you are overly organized, reliable, neat, and hard working at the expense too often of flexibility, efficiency, spontaneity, and fun.
Extraversion results were moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity.
Trait snapshot:
clean, organized, regular, self reliant, tough, positive, high self control, very good at saving money, dislikes chaos, resolute, realist, trusting, hard working, dislikes unpredictability, prefers a technical specialized career, not worrying, respects authority, enjoys leadership, finisher, normal, optimistic, controlling, prudent, modest, adventurous, does not like to be alone, intellectual, likes the unknown, very practical, high self esteem, assertive, perfectionist, busy, altruistic
clean, organized, regular, self reliant, tough, positive, high self control, very good at saving money, dislikes chaos, resolute, realist, trusting, hard working, dislikes unpredictability, prefers a technical specialized career, not worrying, respects authority, enjoys leadership, finisher, normal, optimistic, controlling, prudent, modest, adventurous, does not like to be alone, intellectual, likes the unknown, very practical, high self esteem, assertive, perfectionist, busy, altruistic
But there is one more trait to add - like to procrastinate studies towards exams. That's why I'm blogging right now!
Dream = goal with deadline
While I was having my weekend jog this morning, my mind seemed to drift and think about where I stand in my life, where I want to go and what are my current goals. When this happened, I usually just kept jogging until my train of though comes to a conclusion, which in this case took 2 hours of light-pace jogging. I have a habit of putting things boxes since there are often too many things happening in my head all the time. There seems to be three boxes so far, and the number in blanket is the deadline from now.
Intellectual
Pass all of my 13 exams: 7 in a few weeks and 6 at the end of this year
Acquire a residency post and sit a board exam, and proudly call myself a veterinary pathologist (5 years)
Try a hand on teaching and tutoring at uni (5 years)
Publish articles in respected journals and present at international conferences (6 years)
Decide whether to pursue my career in academic, private practice, or government sector etc. (6 years)
Complete a MPhil and PhD (10 years) - possibly they will be something related to tumours, ocular diseases, and/or tissue graft rejection
Have a peek at the Nobel award ceremony (15 years)
Self
Get abs like this (2 months)
Try a hand on rugby (1 year)
Complete an advanced course in scuba diving (2 years)
Compete in a marathon (3 years)
Take a basic cooking course here (5 years)
Take on a spiritual journey and spend time meditate for a month (5 years)
Decide where to settle down and have a family (6 years)
Learn German and French, and hold a basic conversation (6 years)
Snowboard in Switzerland, Japan, New Zealand, and Canada (15 years)
Travel to Bhutan and Dubai (not set)
Interpersonal
Come out to my family (2 years)
Maintain to stay out in workplace (2 years)
Have fun with a British guy (not set)
Of course, there are several goals that appear quite impossible, but I never know unless I try. For me, it's ok to take a bit of detours, extend the deadline further, and change them. I'm looking forwards to one year from now, reflect back, and review what will be crossed off and what will be added :)
Intellectual
Pass all of my 13 exams: 7 in a few weeks and 6 at the end of this year
Acquire a residency post and sit a board exam, and proudly call myself a veterinary pathologist (5 years)
Try a hand on teaching and tutoring at uni (5 years)
Publish articles in respected journals and present at international conferences (6 years)
Decide whether to pursue my career in academic, private practice, or government sector etc. (6 years)
Complete a MPhil and PhD (10 years) - possibly they will be something related to tumours, ocular diseases, and/or tissue graft rejection
Have a peek at the Nobel award ceremony (15 years)
Self
Get abs like this (2 months)
Try a hand on rugby (1 year)
Complete an advanced course in scuba diving (2 years)
Compete in a marathon (3 years)
Take a basic cooking course here (5 years)
Take on a spiritual journey and spend time meditate for a month (5 years)
Decide where to settle down and have a family (6 years)
Learn German and French, and hold a basic conversation (6 years)
Snowboard in Switzerland, Japan, New Zealand, and Canada (15 years)
Travel to Bhutan and Dubai (not set)
Interpersonal
Come out to my family (2 years)
Maintain to stay out in workplace (2 years)
Have fun with a British guy (not set)
Of course, there are several goals that appear quite impossible, but I never know unless I try. For me, it's ok to take a bit of detours, extend the deadline further, and change them. I'm looking forwards to one year from now, reflect back, and review what will be crossed off and what will be added :)
Pathologists' dark sense of humour
A lot of my mates perceive veterinary pathologists as being laid back in general, which I think it's quite true after having spent some time with many. But, I have to add our humour is rather odd and morbid as well. It may be due having to deal with cardinal humours on a day basis, perhaps? There is a few examples (of many) that I have in my head:
You all must have heard people saying "Do as I said, not as I do", and many veterinary pathologists are like that (I'm included even though not a pathologist just yet). We preach veterinary students not to use food to describe lesions. But then, we describe a suppurative (pus-sy) lesion as cottage cheese or compare chylothorax (white fluid in the chest) to a thick milkshake. Worse than that, with a bit of blood contamination, the milkshake is said to have a strawberry flavour. Ewwwwww~
I was helping out a pathologist and a lab technician with a necropsy then we started chatting about cold Melbourne weather and somehow animal body cremation - turning 20kg mass into less than half a kg ash. The pathologist mentioned how her partner is having a holiday, and enjoying summer overseas while she is working and suffering this cold miserable weather. The technician asked if her partner was being naughty and she needs to use the cremation facility. She responded laughingly that she will let him know if her partner is planning to travel without her again. I can see a perfect crime there, nah?
Once we were looking at a tissue slide of a feline kidney during one of the weekly histopathology round. After looking down a microscope, I proceeded to ask about these big bubbles in the tissue, and I was told that they were fat. "Well, you are what you eat, isn't it?" quickly added someone in the room.
This last one really got me laughing; there was a dog skull transceted in halves. One of the senior pathologists looked the skull and said "Hmm, I'm amused that the cranial cavity (hole in the skull that the brain sits in) is tiny. Look at the dog, it's massive! The brain is also tiny. I really to see the owner of this dog". Comparing people and their pet for similarities is always a good fun, don't you think?
Laughter is always good, isn't it?
You all must have heard people saying "Do as I said, not as I do", and many veterinary pathologists are like that (I'm included even though not a pathologist just yet). We preach veterinary students not to use food to describe lesions. But then, we describe a suppurative (pus-sy) lesion as cottage cheese or compare chylothorax (white fluid in the chest) to a thick milkshake. Worse than that, with a bit of blood contamination, the milkshake is said to have a strawberry flavour. Ewwwwww~
I was helping out a pathologist and a lab technician with a necropsy then we started chatting about cold Melbourne weather and somehow animal body cremation - turning 20kg mass into less than half a kg ash. The pathologist mentioned how her partner is having a holiday, and enjoying summer overseas while she is working and suffering this cold miserable weather. The technician asked if her partner was being naughty and she needs to use the cremation facility. She responded laughingly that she will let him know if her partner is planning to travel without her again. I can see a perfect crime there, nah?
Once we were looking at a tissue slide of a feline kidney during one of the weekly histopathology round. After looking down a microscope, I proceeded to ask about these big bubbles in the tissue, and I was told that they were fat. "Well, you are what you eat, isn't it?" quickly added someone in the room.
This last one really got me laughing; there was a dog skull transceted in halves. One of the senior pathologists looked the skull and said "Hmm, I'm amused that the cranial cavity (hole in the skull that the brain sits in) is tiny. Look at the dog, it's massive! The brain is also tiny. I really to see the owner of this dog". Comparing people and their pet for similarities is always a good fun, don't you think?
Laughter is always good, isn't it?
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