Welcome To Vet School: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You

I'm studying for my final exams on Wednesday and Thursday. The way I have been studying is a combination of reviewing notes and also working through vet cases, an online compendium of veterinary cases put together by our wonderful professors where they give us pertinent facts and then pose questions. When you submit your answer, you are then shown the model answer, pretty neat, huh?

So I'm working on this case that involves a mare who is anemic. And on page 3 (yes, page 3, as first one has to generate a problem list and all that good stuff before you actually get down to diagnostics) we're given the CBC. I characterize the anemia as a severe, normocytic, normochromic, heterogenous regenerative anemia. Regenerative? Well, that's where it got a bit confusing. There was no information for reticulocytes on the CBC. I thought anytime there was an anemia there is a reticulocyte count done, right? So I assume if there is no reticulocyte count then the anemia just has to be regenerative or they'd say otherwise. It's not till I go on to the next page (electronically of course) and look at the blood smear that it hits me-- horses don't release reticulocytes into circulation practically ever! They are, as is often the case, an exception to the rule.
Horses do, however, produce normochromic macrocytes, which are young erythrocytes. Do not ask me the subtle points on distinguishing an old reticulocyte from a young erythrocyte. Don't get me wrong, I love clinical pathology, I just don't know that much.

People always say veterinary school is extra hard because of all the species. It's really true. There's just so many species specific idiosyncracies to remember!

For a more eloquent and lengthy post on vet school being hard, I refer you to the blog My Vet School Days, "Wow, vet school IS hard." Despite vet school being hard, the author of that blog just successfully graduated. It can be done.