Archive for October, 2009

Get out there and speak up!

Friday, October 30th, 2009

Last week, during the AVMA Legislative Advisory Committee and Political Action Committee meetings here in DC, I was asked what an extern does.  I think you would get a different answer to this question from every student that has participated in this externship.  And interesting enough, this question is extremely difficult to answer in a [...]

What is your carbon footprint?

Monday, October 19th, 2009

Don’t let yourself think that my lack of blogging over the past week has been due to a lack of things to blog about.  The truth is that I have been so busy that I haven’t had a chance to blog.  One thing I would like to share is a round table discussion on climate [...]

Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

As a future veterinarian with plans to specialize in laboratory animal medicine, I was excited about my visit with the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) yesterday.  OLAW ensures that all laboratory animals housed in facilities that receive government funding from the National Institutes of Health for their research are properly managed and cared for.  [...]

Check shyness at the door

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Day 3 brought me back to Capitol Hill for a busy day of meetings with the GRD staff.  Just like in Indiana, we like to ease into a conversation with a little small talk about agriculture in our respective states. Unlike Indiana, conversation takes an abrupt shift and you get right down to business.  This shift [...]

Take it all in stride…

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

Flying into DC for the first time 2 days ago, I looked down over the monuments as my plane made its approach into Reagan National Airport and I began to feel very overwhelmed. As previously mentioned by the wise externs that have come before me, I realized that vet school had sucked the knowledge of [...]