If you refer back to early blogs that I wrote you will see that I was at the beginning of my final (clinical) year at Vets' School.
The final semester was the best of the lot. December was a whirlwind. But an enjoyable one, I spent it writing up my final project, the Trabalho de Conclusão do Curso. It was on the physical parameters of wildlife. I carried out 46 physical examinations, The most spectacular species I examined was a Jaguar cub and two Ocelots. The rarest species was an Azara's Owl Monkey, All of which I wrote about on this blog. I didn't write about the physiological parameters of these species, but other matters which excited me, like if the species was rare or endangered or cute.
You can imagine my anxiety on this course. Previously I had studied biology and I can tell you there is no comparison. Veterinary medicine is far more in-depth. I came out of it definitely feeling that I had been taught in order to pass exams. I must have had to live with the nail-biting pressure of hundreds of exams over the years. Add to that the pressure of studying in a foreign langauge, and nursing a chronically ill son and having to live with the uncertainty of not knowing whether he would recover, along with a tumultuous marriage and you have a recipe for the need for tranquilisers.
The hardest part of the course was having to check and recheck instructions with professors to make sure I had understood homework tasks. I could never be quite certain I had understood everything. Right to the end I never submitted essas with the house-style front page. This uncertainty continued right until the end.
On 15th December I went in for the second to last time. This was to give a presentation and since I love public speaking and have given many talks I enjoyed the experience, Several friends had turned up to watch - this event was open to the public. Then I was asked if I wanted them present for the panel interview when I would be asked questions about the content of my TCC. Though I didn't mind - I am a compassionate person, I thought they would find it boring and - because I am a compassionate person, said they could leave. Later one of my friends said he could not belive that I had been in there for an hour. I answered questions and eventually lapsed into paroxysms of coughing. It was a stressful hour. Then I had to step outside for a few minutes while the panel decided whether or not I had qualified as a vet. A few minutes later I was called back in and congratulated on qualifying.
I had to go home and correct my TCC - a simple task supposedly, but then my tutor said he wanted to see it again before I handed it in. I sent it to him, the final copy, with a sense of trepidation - would this never end? I later submitted the final copy at the Veterinary Hospital on CD as per instructions. And walked away on Thursday 17th December a qualified veterinarian. And the only British veterinárian in Brazil, to my knowledge.
No comments:
Post a Comment