My abusive relationship with Veterinary Comparative Anatomy.
When I say ‘abusive relationship’, the image I am trying to convey to the reader is that of a vet student, pouring out her heart and soul to a rather intimidating beast lacking in compassion. The fore mentioned student tries to appease the beast by bringing it everything she has to offer; sleep, thought, speech and time. The beast finds this all rather amusing...especially when it sees the vet student looking pleased, as if the student had grasped some fundamental concept and in response takes in its hand and dumps as much complicated mess on the student as possible and watches the student wade to the surface...
Yes, I am feeling fairly dramatic this afternoon. But as my final anatomy test draws near I find myself recalling my small triumphs through the year and realizing that the beast that is anatomy shall never truly be appeased... and I am okay with that! I have beaten myself up about this subject, called myself an idiot and basically have felt fairly useless the entire year, especially when comparing myself to the other students who seem to grasp everything so easily! But at the end of the day, I made it through and I have learned that it is very important to grasp the fundamental concepts and not get too lost in all the complicated details that anatomy has to offer.
I have also learned not to get too excited when mastering the nerves, muscles or arteries of one species....because the next species will be so different that I may as well just relearn everything. I have come to accept the fact that I cannot learn everything...it is impossible (there are some people in my class who have somehow managed to master everything, but I am not them). My time management skill are not always fantastic and as a result anatomy sometimes gets the upper hand, but I have got through using one simple piece of advice a friend gave me, “If you don't think you can get through everything, don't even try, just make sure that whatever you do get through you know well. Then hope that it will be enough”. It has been enough...
Another very harsh lesson I have learned - NOTHING LOOKS LIKE IT DOES IN THE PICTURES! I find my most successful study sessions have occurred over my cadaver or in the anatomy museum with the specimens.
I find myself looking at the beast that is anatomy and realizing that the best way to get through is to get enough sleep, have a balanced life (yes you should go have coffee with your friend and eat the whole cake!) and spend time mastering the simple stuff before you over complicate it with all the yucky details AND DRAW THE MOST PICTURES!!! It has legitimately taken an entire year, but I think i’v got this... or maybe that is just what VCA wants met to think before it ambushes me!
