Time is flying by so quickly - I know it's so cliche to say, but I really can't believe it's already July 1st. I feel like I just got home from school a couple of weeks ago! (Which may or may not have to do with the fact that my crap is all over my parents house still. Oops.)
Anyway, today I want to tell you about the amazing experience I had at a very prominent local university on Friday.
First, you should know that I originally emailed them in the hope that they would offer me some sort of summer opportunity after my incredible-sounding summer gig at Fort Detrick with the army fell through. I desperately wanted to do something lab animal related because a) I freaking love lab animal and b) it would be good to show continued interest for my residency applications. (I also asked about information on their externship program since I want to do my external rotations close to home.) I got an email back from one of their administrative assistants saying they had one day they could fit me in to shadow. Was it what I was hoping for? No. But shortly thereafter I got a job offer with my current place and so it all worked out.
This particular university offers a lab animal residency program, and since it's the closest to home I could possibly get, it would be so awesome if I go there for my residency. So I went into the experience hoping to both experience a larger facility than I've worked in and to learn about the program at this particular school. Both of these goals were met and exceeded.
The people in the lab animal program were so kind, welcoming, accommodating and informative. (I'm trying not to gush here...) I really got the sense that they're all like a super-prestigious family there, which is the sort of environment that I'm in now (at my summer job) that I love. The day started off a bit rocky, as I had to navigate downtown Baltimore and numerous one-way streets (whose purpose I may have changed a couple of times. Ahem.) but I got there in time. Then, the woman who was my point of contact there...wasn't there. Cue freak out. But once I got plugged into the right place, it was fine.
I got to sit in on pathology rounds (which included lab animal people), lab animal rounds and a pig surgery. Around 11am I went with a current resident to check up on a rabbit, who allowed me to palpate it (a.k.a: prod gently around near its abdomen with a concentrated look on my face.) Then I went to "slide conference" which was basically a re-enactment of my histology course; the focus of that particular day was renal stuff. After that I got to speak to the program director (!!!) about their program and applications. The last hurrah of my day was following the enrichment coordinator tech around and dishing out the weekend's enrichment. (Enrichment is pretty well summarized as "food and toys" and it's a big deal in lab animal. It's a big deal to me too, actually: I'd really like to focus my first authorship paper required for certification on enrichment, should I be so lucky to be in that position!) so I was really excited to see what they did and see some more animals.
All in all it was a very information-dense day but I feel great having made some connections there. I get all bubbly just thinking about being in that position one day!
Edit: Lest you think I forgot, I will have July's mini-resolution posted soon. I just didn't want to ruin the continuity of this post.
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