Last Friday, I went into the clinic at my usual time and expected to go through the usual routine of back-to-back appointments. I have come to learn that the best thing about this career is that even though your day consists of the same schedule, the things you handle are always different.
In my 2 hour shift I got the chance to witness and "help" draw a urine sample, look for kidney stones, and actually see ear mites.
I have heard Dr. D ask the Vet Techs to get urine samples from different patients quite a few times and I always wondered how they did that. Well, on Friday I got to see! Basically, they lift up the patient (in this case it was a dog) onto a table and flip it on its back. They then use an ultrasound to locate the bladder and then they draw out the urine using a needle. It is much harder than it sounds.. Especially when the dog we had to do this on was a dog that had been rescued from being a Mama at a puppy mill.. so she had some trust issues. But she trusted us more than her son did and he was the one we were checking for kidney stones. Looking for kidney stones had the same routine as getting a urine sample, minus the needle. So all we did was flip him on his back, and look at the ultrasound to see if we spotted any stones. Luckily, we didn't find any. But, he did empty his anal gland during the process.For those of you who don't know what that is.. It is the thing dogs use to "mark their territory" and identify other dogs. It is common for the dog to empty it during super stressful times leaving you with a very stinky dog. But, you get used to it.
The next thing I got to see was actual, live ear mites.. under a microscope. It was very detailed and and moving and kinda gross but it was really cool to see.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
My Goal for this Week
Going into iQuest, I knew my main and overall goal was to learn as much as I could about veterinary medicine and the day to day life of a veterinarian. I believe going in once a week to work with and shadow Dr. Dowd is achievable and very helpful when it comes to being able to meet my goal.
This week, I plan on getting better at remembering where things are so I can start helping out more with appointments. I also hope to get another chance at preparing vaccines so I can really learn how to do it by myself.
This week, I plan on getting better at remembering where things are so I can start helping out more with appointments. I also hope to get another chance at preparing vaccines so I can really learn how to do it by myself.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Meet Molly!
I believe I've mentioned before that as a hobby I foster puppies and dogs for ARF. Even though it isn't exactly a part of my iQuest experience, it does relate to my love for animals so I thought I'd share my current foster pup, Molly, who I get to take care of for the next 5 weeks!
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
6 Hour Shift
I now have a set schedule to go to the clinic every Friday and last Friday we didn't have school. This gave me a great oppurtunity to go in and be able to observe a surgery since the clinic only does it from 11-2. I checked with Dr. Dowd and there was a "lump removal" surgery scheduled for that Friday at 10:30 am.
When I got there, everything was a bit chaotic being as everyone was running behind. So instead of having the surgery at 10:30, I didn't end up watching it until about 12:30. But I was still kept busy.
I shadowed appointments for the first hour or so and then watched prep for the surgery. The dog was already under so they had time to give it a nice teeth cleaning, then shaved where the surgery was to be done, and then moved him into the surgery room.
They gave me a mask and hair net and I put that on as I watched Dr. Dowd prepare herself for surgery. I was pretty proud of myself for not passing out or getting disgusted by my mentor pulling and cutting out a lump which was basically a big ball of fat. Once that was done the techs cleaned up and Dr. D and I weighed the lump which came to be about 11 1/2 ounces.
After that was done, we went on more appointments and I ended up learning how to prepare vaccines. On the last appointment which was with a adorable puppy, Dr. D asked me to go get and prepare a puppy parvo vaccine for the puppy. I however had no idea how to do that so I went on got help from a vet tech that I had been working with all day. She showed me how to do it so I was prepared to accomplish it by myself next time.
I ended up being at the clinic for just about 6 hours but I had a lot of fun and ended up leaning a whole lot.
When I got there, everything was a bit chaotic being as everyone was running behind. So instead of having the surgery at 10:30, I didn't end up watching it until about 12:30. But I was still kept busy.
I shadowed appointments for the first hour or so and then watched prep for the surgery. The dog was already under so they had time to give it a nice teeth cleaning, then shaved where the surgery was to be done, and then moved him into the surgery room.
They gave me a mask and hair net and I put that on as I watched Dr. Dowd prepare herself for surgery. I was pretty proud of myself for not passing out or getting disgusted by my mentor pulling and cutting out a lump which was basically a big ball of fat. Once that was done the techs cleaned up and Dr. D and I weighed the lump which came to be about 11 1/2 ounces.
After that was done, we went on more appointments and I ended up learning how to prepare vaccines. On the last appointment which was with a adorable puppy, Dr. D asked me to go get and prepare a puppy parvo vaccine for the puppy. I however had no idea how to do that so I went on got help from a vet tech that I had been working with all day. She showed me how to do it so I was prepared to accomplish it by myself next time.
I ended up being at the clinic for just about 6 hours but I had a lot of fun and ended up leaning a whole lot.
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