Challenges in Veterinary Medicine

Technology.-

Today, people have so many tools in order to make good works, and to improve their lives too, but sometimes, this tools aren't very easy to use. For example, we, as future veterinaries, have to know how to make an excel sheet, in order to make calculations, or just to have a list of things, or that kind of stuff. We have to know how to search for scientifical papers in the internet, thus, we have to know how to use searchers, and so on.

We also may have to know how to use some technological instruments, as X-Ray machines, or gaseous anesthesia, or vital-signs monitors.

Social matters.-

The veterinary medician has to know how to deal with reluctant owners, whom believe that they know everything about their pets, and in the end, they end up (sorry for the redundance) messing up the things... all because they thought that their kitty would feel better if they give it a paracetamol, without knowing that it is toxic for them! So, the veterinary medician has some kind of "teacher" role, because they have to teach the owners how to take care better of their pets, and making them know that we are not trying to compete with them in knowledge, but trying to make their pets to feel better.

Also, there is a complicated point when we talk about the euthanasia. Some pets don't have a cure for their diseases, and by lengthening their lives we are only lengthening their pain. So, it comes to the veterinarian to put an end to the suffering. Talking to the owners, explaining them CLEARLY ENOUGH the things in order to make them understand the situation, and telling them what would become of their pet if they decide to make it stay alive, becomes the main task of us.

Education.-

Taking only one look to the streets of Santa Rosa it's enough to be acknowledged with the 'stray dogs' problem. It becomes a task too, to teach about the responsible pet possession. This, by means of making neutering campaings, showing the people how much do the puppies suffer several kinds of diseases when noone takes care of them, like parvovirus, distemper, mange and so on, and how much has this becoming a bigger problem that we thought.

Another challenges today.-

Being a veterinary medician it's not only taking care of the animals, and making sure they're healthy enough, but it's also about being useful in another areas. The best example for this is the zootherapy. Some animals have special qualities that make them ideal to be 'hired' in therapies with humans. We have dogs (some breeds only), dolphins, pigs, ewes, horses, and even marine turtles! Specifically, in our faculty, we have an zootherapy program with horses, and it helps with 'down syndrome' children. In other cases the zootherapy can be used to help autist people, blind people, people with alzheimer, and so on.

Also, investigation becomes another territory to explore, and out faculty does indeed have a good reputation at this point, becoming an incentive for the doubtful ones who don't know what kind of area would they like to go in depth.

Faculty's facilities

Actually, the faculty's facilities aren't good enough to support the number of students that study here. First of all, we may have an suitable number of computers, but they aren't working very well. The cafeteria's service isn't too well, too. And if we talk about infrastructure, our lovely faculty may have some weak points too.

Going on deeper, first I'll refer to the computers. As I said, sometimes the number of computers can support the student's demand, but when 2 different years have to do some computer working, usually both computers room and the library are full! And you practically have to do queues to use one, once it is available! And if this isn't bad enough, I should refer to the internet speed too! Because it is so slow that sometimes you have to wait 30 minutes, just to download a little Word document! And if your document has some pictures on it, don't you dare trying to download it, because it is almost impossible!

About the cafeteria, the food it's not so bad, it's only a little bit greasy sometimes...but that's not the main trouble, the food's too expensive! You have to pay $1800 for a normal lunch, and if you don't like it, then you can eat chicken and rice, or a vegetarian lunch, but it costs $2000! We are not rich to spend $10000 a week only in lunching! And the juice and the dessert isn't too good. So the money isn't worthy. Besides, in Agronomy's cafeteria, the lunch is much more cheaper and more varied, so, if they have a cheap and good lunch, why can't we? And the cafeteria-seller is a little grumpy!

And, we have the infrastructure too. I have to recognize that our faculty is very beautiful, with so much green here and there, and the trees and the flowers! It's a gift in the middle of the cement jungle, and besides, not all of the other faculties have such big green areas. BUT (yes, there is a but, don't blame me, I'm here to criticize and make some consciousness) this is a pleasure in summer... because in the winter it chills you to the bones! Our faculty is too cold! Being so open, it allows the wind to blow freely here and there! And when it's raining, the wind it's not the only problem, because you end up all chilled and soaked! What a nice thing, uh?

Well, I'll stop the complaining and start the searching for solutions. I think that the first step is to pose the main problems to the student's center, so they can pose it to the superior organisms, like Dr. Raggi or the university's Dean. Then, if they need money, we can do some things in order to collect some extra money. AND, if the things don't go well and the superior one's don't care about this troubles, we can take it by our own hands, and start working! But that's kinda utopian I think...

I think the real benefits are:

1.- The improvement of the computers would allow the students to make better works at the university, and it would allow the students that don't have a computer in home, to work freely at the faculty.

2.- The improvement of the cafeteria service will allows us all to have better and cheaper food, and this will indirectly improve the people's health, because the food would be more nutritious, and it'd be a wallet boost too!

3.- The improvement of some infrastructures would decrease the number of colds and flues in the winter! And so, it'd help to save the money that you'd use in doctor appointments and medicines!

Transantiago

Well, I didn't leave in Santiago when the Transantiago started, so I wasn't acquainted with the "old" system. I kind of went acknowledged with that when I started University, and by that time, some of my friends and classmates told me that the system had indeed improved, even though it still isn't very well...

My mother worked in Santiago before Transantiago's plan was implemented, and she prefered that system, because she worked here until about two months after Transantiago was implemented, so she was able to compare.

By the way, based on my mother's experience, and the user's opinion, the old system was better, since the buses did their routes and they could stop whenever the passenger wanted.

The bad thing with the old system was, basically the payment way and the bad attitudes of some drivers. First of all, when people didn't had coins to pay the ticket (as we say in Chile "sencillo"), usually the driver didn't let you take his bus, because he neither had enough money to give change ("vuelto") nor he wanted to make such a delayable transaction.

Point for Transantiago for Bip's card set up.

It allows you to charge it with any amount of money that you want (up to $800 in BIP, and up to $300 in TNE), and because of this, you don't have to worry for the payment!

Second, people says that now, the students and elders are less discriminated. I can't say yes or no, because I don't have friends in school in Santiago who have tested both systems, and neither do I have my grandparents in there.

What do I have to criticize, it's the people's attitude when they run out of money in their BIP's. This is most frequently in our University's area, i think. People usually don't even show their cards! They just pass under the metallic bars, and even take a seat! I get very upset when this happens, but I have to bite my tongue if I want to have a safe and "nice" trip to home.

I don't know if the government could hire some inspectors, in order to stop this practices, but I also think that, that would be even more risky, because maybe some people wouldn't accept it, and it could end in some kind of fight or nasty argument.

What I know for sure is that, Transantiago could've been a very clever plan, but they hurried up it too much, and Santiago wasn't ready to resist it.

A country I'd like to visit...

Here it is!! The beautiful Australia!!!

I've been interested in this country since I read a book (a novel, ok a romantic one, go on, laugh on me), and it was setted on Australia, mainly Adelaide.

How could I resist the beauty of their prairies? I think it's a very interesting country and usually, people (like me, for example) doesn't know very much about it. I know it is placed in Oceania, and it's capital it's Canberra. Besides, I think it's a very varied country, because it has attractions for many kinds of people. For instance, if I like music, or if I'm interested on architectural designs, I should be going to Sydney's Opera House, which it's a beautiful place (even though I've seen it only in photographs). If you like swimming or diving, you can go to Adelaide, and enjoy the dolphin’s company! You can even ride camels and check out dinosaur prints on western Australia (Broome)! I'd like to travel there in an exchanging program and have a degree there. But meanwhile I hope I'll be enjoying myself in one beautiful beach, and learning many things about too many interesting cultures, like Anangus, or knowing the oldest rainforest in the world: the Daintree Rainforest.

So I hope I'm going to this wonderful country sooner or later.

Regards.

A.

Hey Pilot people!

So!... we start with this blog "stuff". I have to recognize that this is a little bit new for me, but here we go!

Well, first semester was a little bit difficult for me, since I had a little problem with anatomy, but thank God I could made it through it! But I'm going to miss it, because at the end, when I got deeper into the subjects, I realized that I liked it... but I won't have any time to miss it too much, because next year we're supposed to start another anatomy course, but this time, it'll be more general.

I'm glad I could find time to please my family seeing them every weekend, and of course, to be with my five lovely dogs!! Their name's are Gala, Bali, Bronco, Taz and the littlest of them: Monita. She's a lab puppy, and she (I can't call her "it", don't blame me!) has no tail! This, because her brothers bitted her tail because she was the weakest of the litter, and at the end, we have to operate her, but above all that, she's a really happy puppy, and she's my little spoiled one.

In sports, I wasn't very productive at all, jajaja. The only sport I practiced was the Gym Dance classes, that we had every Wednesday in the faculty's pergola. Even though it was only one day per week, it was so tiring! And it ended being a little stressful for us, because when we had the evaluations, we had the anatomy's tests too! It was like, "oh no, please, no more!".

For this semester, I'm going to give all of myself in order to have good marks, keep my Rancagua's friends fine and not abandoned (jaja), spend time with my family...and who knows, maybe my knight-on-shiny-armor will make his main appearance jajaja!!

Kisses

A.Acuña