I had an amazing summer.
During my first summer at New Bolton Center, I spent most of my time trying to stay out of the way of the students that were on clinics. Although I mostly observed from afar, I certainly had my fair share of hands-on experience. However, what I mainly took out of that summer was a better understanding of the way equine veterinary medicine works.
I entered my second year ready to apply what I had learned on clinics as a “fourth year student” to the classroom, and it proved to be worth it. My GPA that fall semester soared and I felt like I really had a grasp on the material. While the second semester of second year is notoriously the hardest at Penn, I managed to survive and make it to another incredible summer at New Bolton Center.
Since the classes during second year are much more clinically applicable, I felt that I actually had good understanding of the cases of which I was a part that following summer. For example, I was able to apply my little knowledge of orthopedics and surgical principles while on the surgery rotation. One of the surgeons quizzed me on different suture patterns and the advantages of certain types of suture during a laceration repair. Another reiterated the principles of fracture repair and the indications when one would use a certain type of hardware over another. It was all-in-all a great review of the classes I had taken in the past year.
If nothing else, being at New Bolton Center reminded me why I chose to come to this veterinary school in the first place. From it’s picturesque location to the diversity of equine disciplines in the surrounding area, New Bolton Center was (and is) the perfect home for me.
