First rotation down!

Only 51 more weeks to go! Cardiology was a great first rotation. I learned a ton, but I wasn't so overwhelmed that I was stressing all the time, and I even got home at a decent hour every night. Not all of my classmates have been so lucky. Some highlights of the past two weeks: a surgical heartworm extraction on a chihuahua, a patent ductus arteriosus occlusion, a pulmonic stenosis balloon valvuloplasty, a cat with an endocardial cushion defect, a cardiac ultrasound on a horse, a couple of belly taps, several pacemaker rechecks, and lots more. I learned how to drive the echo machine (sweetness!) and delved into the cloudy world of ecg interpretation (still very cloudy, but better). I can take blood pressure with a doppler like a pro, put in a venous catheter on a good day, and determine a vertebral heart score on radiographs. And I had such a fear of cardiology two weeks ago because it's always been a shaky subject for me. I've contacted the head prof of my next rotation, and he's got a great schedule lined up for me at the lab animal building. So far, 4th year is rockin'.