Vet Candy: Mindfulness with paced breathing and lowering blood pressure

According to the American Stroke Association (ASA) and the American Heart Association (AHA), more than 100 million Americans have high blood pressure. Elevated blood pressure is a major avoidable cause of premature morbidity and mortality in the United States and worldwide due primarily to increased risks of stroke and heart attacks. Elevated blood pressure is the most important major and modifiable risk factor to reduce stroke. In fact, small but sustained reductions in blood pressure reduce risks of stroke and heart attacks. Therapeutic lifestyle changes of weight loss and salt reduction as well as adjunctive drug therapies are beneficial to treat and prevent high blood pressure. 

Mindfulness is increasingly practiced as a technique to reduce stress through mind and body interactions. In some instances, mindfulness includes paced breathing defined as deep and diaphragmatic with slow rates typically about five to seven per minute compared with the usual rate of 12 to 14. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Schmidt College of Medicine and collaborators have published a paper in the journal Medical Hypotheses, exploring the possibility that mindfulness with paced breathing reduces blood pressure.

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Vet Candy: Tufts University Veterinary School Aims to Increase Diversity

Tufts University’s veterinary school aims to increase diversity

By Angela Nelson

Damian Clarke, is a Black veterinary student who does not often see himself represented in veterinary medicine — a field which is about 89 percent white. Originally from Barbados, Clarke moved to the United States in high school and received his undergraduate degree in Florida before landing on the Grafton campus of Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.

“While I haven’t had one specific role model who looks like me, I’m able to find bits and pieces from different people who I aspire to be like. And that, for me, has been just as good,” Clarke said.

Cora Evans, a second-year veterinary student at Cummings School, grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she often visited the Duke University Lemur Center with her mother. She knew from a young age that she wanted to work with animals, but she had met only one Black veterinarian in her life. That changed in her undergraduate years when she attended Spelman College, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) for women, and completed a study abroad program focused on wildlife conservation in the East African nation of Tanzania.

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Life Lessons Learned While Growing up on a Farm

Sometimes, moving away from home makes us realize what we appreciate most in life.  Take a look at what Katelyn Reist had to say about her transition from her hometown in Pennsylvania to veterinary school life in California! Thank you so much for sharing your perspective with us, Katelyn!

Life Lessons Learned While Growing up on a Farm

While attending elementary, middle, and high school, my classmates always asked, “What is it like to live on a farm?” I never really knew what to say because I have lived on a farm my entire life and never knew what it was like not to live on a farm. Living on a farm was just a part of my life and something that I learned to cherish. I have come to realize these past few years how grateful I am to grow up on a farm because it has instilled in me many valuable lessons and life experiences. These experiences will always be a part of me and have shaped me to become who I am today. 

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Vet Candy: The Science of Staying Motivated

Growing tired of Veterinary School: COVID Edition?  Having trouble with the end-of-the-semester slump?  Take a look at this article brought to you by Vet Candy about staying motivated.  We hope it will provide you with a post-holiday push to work hard right through the finish line!

The science of staying motivated

There is no question that motivation is one of the hardest and yet important factors in life. It's the difference between success and failure, goal-setting and aimlessness, well-being and unhappiness. And yet, why is it so hard to get motivated - or even if we do, to keep it up?

That is the question that scientists led by Professor Carmen Sandi at EPFL and Dr Gedi Luksys at the University of Edinburgh have sought to answer. The researchers worked off previous knowledge that told them two things: First, that people differ a lot in their capacity to engage in motivated behavior and that motivational problems like apathy are common in neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. Second, to target an area of the brain called the "nucleus accumbens".

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Virtual Student Halloween Party Hosted by The Bridge Club and IDEXX

COVID-19 putting a damper on your halloween plans this year?  Then we have something for you!  The Bridge Club and IDEXX are graciously hosting a VIRTUAL halloween party, just for veterinary students!  Read below for more details!

About this Event

Students, we know you miss seeing and engaging your fellow students ​in this year like no other. Come join us for a free night of fun!  This Halloween, connect for an evening of relating and new relationships with peers near and far. Dress in your best costume and be prepared for an incredible night of networking and laughter.

For this special event, we ask you turn on your camera, dress in costume and clear a path around your computer. In one of our haunted rooms, you will be participating in a virtual scavenger hunt, in another a costume party and finally a networking event you won't forget. So register now for FREE.

This night is built only for veterinary students and is brought to you by those who support your journey in veterinary medicine: The Bridge Club and IDEXX.

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/halloween-virtual-costume-party-for-veterinary-students-tickets-125252645033