The Edinburgh Experience: The Halfway(ish) Ball

Well, I am four and a half weeks into the new semester. We have already completed our muscles and bones unit, our gastrointestinal system unit, our urinary unit, half of soft tissue surgery, hematology and we start ophthalmology tomorrow.

We have also had a couple practicals including bandaging and wrapping a horse leg. It involves multiple layers of four different types of bandaging material. I got complimented that my bandage looked like it would stay on and that you could actually see the shape of the horse leg through the bandage, meaning I applied pressure evenly throughout. Considering my serious lack of equine experience compared to a lot of my classmates I was petty pleased!

We had a small animal practical which involved skills you might need in an emergency. We did things like CPR on a dummy dog and cat, put an IV catheter in a fake vein, put an endotracheal tube in a dummy dog, and put in a urinary catheter in a male dog, using a hole punched in a hot dog as a model.

A few weekends ago was the Halfway Ball. For the people in the four year program like myself, our halfway point of vet school will be the end of this semester. But since most of our class is in the five year program, the Christmas break was their official halfway point. The night was about getting all dressed up and celebrating surviving vet school so far. The night was comprised of a nice three course dinner (complimented by half a bottle of wine per person, they certainly love their drink here!) and a traditional ceilidh. A ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee) is a type of group Scottish dancing led by a live band. Before each dance they give you a super brief instruction on the dance and then send you on your way! It was an all around fantastic night.

Two weekends ago a friend and I went for a hike in the Pentlands. The Pentland Hills are 10 hills just outside Edinburgh. The vet campus is actually nestled into the hills. My friend and I chose to hike the hill closest to the city so we could have a view of the city and the Firth of Forth. The view from the hill was spectacular, albeit very very windy! On the way down we came across a herd of Highland cattle. So, being the vet student and animal lover that I am and my friend who is also a huge animal fan, we probably spent more time with the cows than on the hills.

View of the city

Made it to the top!

You can see Arthur's Seat in the background

My new favourite cow picture. So glad I took my new camera with me!

Lastly, unfortunately last week my cat who was 19 years old passed away. When my parents phoned to say our cat was sick, it never occurred to me it would be Tache. I just assumed it was our other cat Kitty who has been looking his age for quite some time now. Just this Christmas, Tache was ripping ribbons off the presents, stealing food off plates and showing the dogs who was in charge. But I guess her old age finally caught up with her. When I decided to go to Scotland for university I knew that there was a chance that I would miss important family and life events at home. Now I am not saying I regret my decision one bit to come here, I just wish I could have been at home to properly say goodbye. So in tribute to Tache, here are a few pictures of the cat that ruled the house.