First Exam in Vet School ✅
At the University of Georgia, our first exam was on a Monday in late August at 8am. Our foundations course threw us into the depths of histology (which was a completely new topic for me), radiology, and medical terminology. Even though everyone in the classes above us said we would be fine and needed to relax, we were all still very stressed because who wouldn't be when we've never seen what a vet school exam looks like.
The first two weeks of vet school were overwhelming because I was not yet used to the sheer amount of content that was being thrown our way. I felt like I was always behind, and most of my classmates I spoke to said the same thing. So, naturally, I over prepared for the first test. I got to it, and it was a lot better than I was expecting, which was great. However, over-preparing for the first exam led me to leave the material of other courses (specifically my IMSK course) on the back-burner, which I am quickly learning is not at all a good idea. This led to me feeling behind on the material and made for an even more overwhelming week after the test was over.
Now, I have learned that I should keep reviewing the material for both classes even while preparing for the next upcoming exam. I have finally (mostly) caught up on the course material for IMSK, so going into the weekend, I am going to have to force myself to study materials for both of my major classes, even though the IMSK test is this coming Tuesday.
Those were my takeaways/reflection from the exam and the study process I used up until the exam. Now, let's get into the interesting stuff - what I learned!
I won't bore you with the nitty gritty details, but here are the highlights and big takeaways I got from our Foundations Ia course here at UGA.
1) I learned how to properly adjust the contrast/image quality when taking radiographs.
I had always wondered what the values on the reference sheets for what to set the mA and kVp on the X-ray machine for different-sized animals/different locations on the body at my clinics were all about. In this course, I was able to learn the basics of it, which was awesome.
mA adjusts the quantity of electrons and therefore the quantity of x-ray beams hitting the patient. So, if you want to get a more detailed image and avoid quantum mottle, you need to raise the mA.
kVp adjusts the energy of the electrons that are hitting the patient; it affects the quality of an image. So, if your image has too high of contrast, you just need to raise the kVp.
2) I learned about collimation and how to take a clearer image of the area of interest. I also learned how to determine if a chest X-ray was taken from the right or left side.
Collimating the X-ray beam as tightly as you can makes taking the images safer because it reduces scatter of ionizing radiation.
It is important to center on your area of interest and have the object of interest closest to the X-ray plate.
Pictures of my dog's chest X-rays are shown above. We can tell the difference between the right and left radiographs because of the heart shape and the position of the diaphragmatic crura.
In the left lateral thoracic radiograph, the diaphragmatic crura go in different directions dorsally, and the heart is more rounded.
In the right lateral thoracic radiograph, the diaphragmatic crura are parallel, and the heart is more oval-shaped.
Another thing to note about taking thoracic radiographs is to make sure the images are taken at the peak of inspiration.
3) I learned about border effacement and summation of structures in radiographs.
Border effacement = two structures of same radiopacity are in contact, so that makes them appear to be the same object/lose their individual margins.
Summation = two structures are not in contact, but are superimposed over one another, causing the opacities of the two to be added, distorting the image a bit.
4) I learned how to differentiate between different types of connective tissue and the cells within them.
Connective tissue proper - loose irregular (LI), dense irregular (DI), dense regular (DR), adipose tissue
within these tissues, we learned how to determine if the collagen fibers that make up the LI, DI, DR connective tissues are type I, II, III, or IV.
type I is coarse - makes up most tissues
type II is fine - makes up hyaline cartilage
type III (reticular fibers) is fibril forming - looks like "cobwebs" and makes up lots of immune system tissues like in lymph nodes
type IV is network forming - in the basement membrane
Cartilage - made of ground substance and fibers (either collagenous or elastic)
the types of cartilage include hyaline, elastic, and fibrocartilage
Bone - only grows from the outside once mineralized, osteoid (organic component of bone, provides tensile strength) is made by osteoblasts and is then mineralized with hydroxyapatite crystals (inorganic component of bone, provides compressive strength)
There are two types of microscopic architecture in bone - lamellar (mature bone, has osteons) and woven (immature bone, lacks osteons).
Bone has 3 different cell types: osteoblasts (bone forming), osteoclasts (bone remodeling), and osteocytes (osteoblasts that were trapped in the matrix).
Blood
5) We learned how to differentiate between muscle types.
Skeletal muscle is voluntary muscle that has striations and each cell has multiple nuclei that tend to be on the outer circumference of the cells.
Cardiac muscle is involuntary and also has striations, but has centrally located nuclei and intercalated discs.
Smooth muscle is involuntary and does NOT have striations. It has a single nuclei that is centrally located and looks like it takes up most of the cell in transverse section. In lateral section, the fibers are elongated and spindle-shaped.
6) We learned the basics of nervous tissue.
Glial cells support the nervous tissue.
A nerve (also called is a bundle of axons in the PNS; a tract is a bundle of axons in the CNS.
A nuclei is a bundle of nerve cell bodies in the CNS; a ganglia is a bundle of nerve cell bodies in the PNS.
There are three types of neurons: unipolar, bipolar, multipolar.
Neurons that send signals up to the CNS are afferent sensory neurons.
Neurons that send out signals from the CNS to PNS are efferent motor neurons.
7) We learned the role of the Schwann cells in myelinating axons.
Schwann cells (neurolemmocytes/neurokeratin) wrap around the axon, myelinating it. Myelinated axons look like they have a foamy substance surrounding them.
8) We learned directional terms.
Distal - away from body
Proximal - closer to body
Abduction - move a limb away from body
Adduction - move a limb towards body
9) We learned root words of medical terms.
Things like:
Brady = slow
Tachy = fast
Colo = large intestine
Enter = small intestine
-ectomy = surgical removal
-otomy = surgical incision
-ostomy = surgically created opening (can be permanent or semi-permanent)
10) We reviewed the mechanisms of homeostasis.
Receptors monitor the regulated variable, and send a stimulus to the control center when something is off. Then, the control center determines a good response, and the effector produces that response.
Oh, and my friends and I celebrated finishing our first exam by eating at Taste of India that night! It was so much fun and much needed!
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