Dentistry is not for me.

We 3rd years finished our Alimentary module this week (scary how fast this year is going already), and our last action for it was a tooth extraction. We've had a few lectures on small animal dentistry (and one on equine), but nothing can really prepare you for actually going into a dog's mouth (don't worry, we practiced on ones that were no longer alive) and pulling out a tooth. Of course, it's not that simple. We had about 15 minutes to take one tooth out and I just about managed with the help of the lecturer.

All in all, I'm set with small animal dentistry. I'm sure I'll have to, at some point in my clinical years, have to perform a dental on an animal, and I will do that with enthusiasm, but there is no possibility of me specializing in small animal dentistry. Just not my cup of tea.

I prefer the teeth that I work on to be larger, hypsodont, and inside a horse's mouth. But that's just me.

My new toy, the iPad.

I bought myself an iPad in July as a "congratulations, you passed first year!" present to myself. At first, I was worried that it would just be an expensive toy that I could play Angry Birds on. I also didn't really use it for the first few weeks of school because I just couldn't find any apps that seemed helpful (or useful, or convenient).

Then a couple of friends (former G&T's as well) got their own iPads and managed to find an amazing app called iAnnotate pdf, which let's you add notes and sound bytes and other things to pdfs that you download from the internet. Brilliant, because most of our notes are pdf files! So lately, I've been googling other cool apps that might be helpful. I've found a few really amazing ones.

1. Equine Advances : These developers create apps for equine vets and veterinary students. So far, they have three; Equine Drugs, Equine Techniques, and Equine Lab. Haven't bought any of these yet, but I might just have to.

2. A Vet Tool : This one's pretty neat; it has common drugs and their uses, a calculator for conversions, x-ray comparisons, and more all rolled into one app.

3. Saunders Vet Terminology Flashcards : Must-have for reviewing terms. I haven't bought this one yet, but I'm sorely tempted to.

4. Veterinary Board Exam Review : Bought this last year after a friend recommended it. I seriously love this one. The questions are designed to help prepare you for the NAVLE, but I use it as a little review whenever I have a few minutes to spare.

5. Last but not least, Kindle. Get it. There are a bunch of veterinary textbooks available through the Kindle store, and they're cheaper than buying the hard copy (and easier on your back). It has a highlighting tool, a bookmark tool, etc etc. I've already started buying textbooks on it, and it's so nice to have them at hand whenever I want.

I'm sure there are more, but that's all I've really had time to find/search for. At least now I feel like I've bought a real educational tool and not just a really expensive toy.

All in a day's work.

9-11am: Lectures.

11am-4pm: Boatload of nuthin.

4-5pm: Directed learning session.

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While I do appreciate having time to do things during long breaks like this, I tend to want to fall asleep about 3 hours in due to complete boredom. The cloudy and cool weather isn't exactly helping things, either.

I have gotten a leg-up on my AHEMs evaluative essay (fancy name for a research report). But really, that means I managed to print off some of the relevant articles I've found and highlighting the important bits. So really, I've done a whole load of nothing today.

Heat Wave

It is currently a whopping 81 degrees Fahrenheit in London right now (technically I'm not in London...but it's still hella hot here in Welham Green), which is the hottest it has ever been in October here. Needless to say, my brain is not in my work.

Sundress? Check.

Flip flops? Check.

Beer and Cider festival in St. Albans? Check.

School work? ...maybe later.