Got a chance to head out with the mixed animal vet on her large animal calls on Wed.
It is great to get out of the clinic and touch some horses!
Started with equine vaccinations.
We vaccinated for Rabies, West Nile, WEEV/EEEV, Rhinotrachietis, Influenza, and something else that I can't for the life of me remember.
Most horses will tolerate vaccines well, we used a 20 gauge needle so it is small, but 1 1/2" long. It is common to use the nice meaty part of the neck but semimembranosus/semitendinosus or pectorals are also good spots. This vet picked one on the left, one rostral on the right and then another right but more caudal to spread out the injection points. All are intramuscular vaccines.
We did 3 vaccine calls, getting a chance to meet different clients and talk about daily horse care. It is amazing that anyone can just buy a horse, even without knowing anything about them. I guess that is why we are here, to educate!
Then saw a wound that was previously as deep as a pinky finger, now only a cm deep! Great progress to such a major wound. The owner has been changing the bandage every 3 days and keeping the horse on stall rest. He should be able to have individual dirt turn out in a week or so. I'm sure he'll love to be able to walk around and get some fresh air! (But really, he lives on a farm, there is nothing BUT fresh air!)
Then a lame pony. Xrays showed no bony changes or issues. This is hard to show clients. They want to know why their horse is lame and when you take $300 of xrays of the whole leg, and all you can say is, "well nothing is broken but your animal is still lame" they get upset. I feel the same way when we do bloodwork and everything is normal. I like being able to relieve some of their worry by giving them a diagnosis. This is something I just have to accept. Anyway, the vet offered to ultrasound the tendons, but she warned that even if they narrowed it down to a tendon, she would not change her treatment protocol so the owner opted out. So the owner will have to wrap the both front legs everyday and keep him on strict stall rest for 6 - 9 months. Bute for 5 days for pain, but then he will start to feel better. Plus we don't like giving bute for much longer than that because it has some dangerous side effects.
For those not familiar with bute it is called Phenylbutazone and is an NSAID.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenylbutazone
SO ulcers, kidney issues, clotting disorders, and others are risks of being treated for too long. And because it is so popular and works so well in horses, we recommend keeping its use to a minimum so that when the horse really needs it, we can bring it in without too much risk. It is a fine line, between therapeutic and toxic. But all drugs have a line.
Then saw an alpaca for some vaccines. I guess they are VERY susceptible to clostridial diseases so get an 8-way clostridial vaccine and rabies.
And then ended with another lame horse but it looked like an abscess so hopefully with some days of stall rest and poulticing, it will pop and the horse will be right as rain!
It was lovely to tour the country side with her. She was so insightful and accepting. I asked lots of silly questions and never did I feel intimidated or stupid. I love feeling like an equal, it makes me more confident! I also got to ask questions about the lifestyle of a mixed vet, and talk about how she keeps her work-life balance stable.
All around a great day, and I can't wait to get back out there!
Friday 21 June 2013
Sunday 16 June 2013
New comic
New comic. Posted at http://vetsintraining.blogspot.ca/2013/06/stress-relief.html
I do not want to post every comic here, but I think this one really hits home. Sometimes you just need to remember why you are here... :)
Thursday 6 June 2013
Summer Stand By
Hello.
Successfully finished Phase Two. No rewrites even! So proud of myself.
Now that phase two of OVC is finished what is next?
Well here at OVC we have to do a 8 week externship between third and fourth year. But that is a year away?! Yes. But I have to FIND a clinic that is WILLING to set me lose on their patients! That is no easy feat.
Issues of finding and Externship placement:
#1: Mixed
The clinic MUST be a mixed animal practice with both BOVINE AND EQUINE patients. How we divide our time is up to our veterinarian guardians and us, but you have to touch a dog, cat, horse, and cow in the 8 weeks you are there.
#2: Money, money, money, moneeeeeeeeyyyyy!
We get a stipend for our time. It is minimal, but gives us a bit of money to live during the 8 weeks (We only get a 16 week summer so this cuts our work time in HALF!) This is funded by OMAFRA - Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Rural Affairs. So if you go outside of Ontario, you have to have a REALLLLLY good reason to if you want the stipend. My friend went out to New Zealand, and got approved because she was able to prove that her experience there would benefit the veterinary field here in Ontario. Gotta be able to back yourself up. Now, if you go up to Northern Ontario where they are in need of veterinarians, you get an extra bonus! Yay Timmins! Then when your amazing hands on experience is over you are left with two choices; get lucky enough to get an 8 week job placement, or try and get some of your fourth year rotations started so the end of the summer is not a complete waste but slowly starve cause all you can afford is Kraft Dinner!!!
#3: Location, location, location
I live here in Guelph, I pay rent 12 months a year. I DO NOT want to pay extra rent and/or gas to get to a clinic that is far away. Meaning I have to compete for the few clinics that are a 45 min drive from Guelph. There are honestly, not enough for this to be the case for my whole class. I am banking on the Americans, Ottawains, Out of Provincers, to head home so that it creates a bit more room here for the kids that only have family in South Western Ontario. Plus I hate commuting in the mornings. It makes me want to punch babies.
#4: Quality vs Quantity
The clinics that we get accepted to have to have enough "stuff" for us to watch/do. We have a form that we have to fill out with our experience and we HAVE to see/do certain things or else the whole experience is a waste of time. Vet med is a hands on career. I have to be comfortable performing procedures as well as understand why we are doing it and what the result will tell us and why this is helping the patient. It is one thing to say "Yes, this cat has pyometria because it got an infection after it's last litter!" and ANOTHER to actually safely remove a small cats pus filled uterus!!!! This is a bit extreme but you get what I am saying. Blood, urine, feces, semen, embryo, etc collection is something WE HAVE TO ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO DO, not just talk about. Yes, technicians are amazing, but in the field, you won't always have one and you need to be able to do these things. If your clinic doesn't service any breeding farms, then you get NO therio experience.... And how will you make babies then?! HMMMM?!?!?!??! :)
#5: "Working" Interviews
So you send your resume and cover letter out to clinics, you get some call backs, you are asked to come in and do a working interview. These are not just 8 hour shifts, we are talking about 7:00 am on the farm to 8:00 pm emergency LDAs or all morning assisting surgery then an afternoon of double booked appointments! And of course there is an emergency in the parking lot at 15 to close!!! These require a full day of commitment. As much as I love it, that is a full day away from my house or job. At multiple clinics. And for those that do not have cars, that is rental cars, or borrowing form friends/parents, ga, and not eating/drinking/peeing for 6 hours because you want to look good for your potential boss. I know vet med is like this in the real world. WE have all experienced this in our volunteering/working but this is an interview! It is just stressful to plan around. Especially if you are interviewing at a rival clinic to the one you work for!!
Anyway, all complaining aside, I am honoured that I get the opportunity to be in vet school and will happily play along so long as I get to be a Doctor in two years!! :)
Successfully finished Phase Two. No rewrites even! So proud of myself.
Now that phase two of OVC is finished what is next?
Well here at OVC we have to do a 8 week externship between third and fourth year. But that is a year away?! Yes. But I have to FIND a clinic that is WILLING to set me lose on their patients! That is no easy feat.
Issues of finding and Externship placement:
#1: Mixed
The clinic MUST be a mixed animal practice with both BOVINE AND EQUINE patients. How we divide our time is up to our veterinarian guardians and us, but you have to touch a dog, cat, horse, and cow in the 8 weeks you are there.
#2: Money, money, money, moneeeeeeeeyyyyy!
We get a stipend for our time. It is minimal, but gives us a bit of money to live during the 8 weeks (We only get a 16 week summer so this cuts our work time in HALF!) This is funded by OMAFRA - Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Rural Affairs. So if you go outside of Ontario, you have to have a REALLLLLY good reason to if you want the stipend. My friend went out to New Zealand, and got approved because she was able to prove that her experience there would benefit the veterinary field here in Ontario. Gotta be able to back yourself up. Now, if you go up to Northern Ontario where they are in need of veterinarians, you get an extra bonus! Yay Timmins! Then when your amazing hands on experience is over you are left with two choices; get lucky enough to get an 8 week job placement, or try and get some of your fourth year rotations started so the end of the summer is not a complete waste but slowly starve cause all you can afford is Kraft Dinner!!!
#3: Location, location, location
I live here in Guelph, I pay rent 12 months a year. I DO NOT want to pay extra rent and/or gas to get to a clinic that is far away. Meaning I have to compete for the few clinics that are a 45 min drive from Guelph. There are honestly, not enough for this to be the case for my whole class. I am banking on the Americans, Ottawains, Out of Provincers, to head home so that it creates a bit more room here for the kids that only have family in South Western Ontario. Plus I hate commuting in the mornings. It makes me want to punch babies.
#4: Quality vs Quantity
The clinics that we get accepted to have to have enough "stuff" for us to watch/do. We have a form that we have to fill out with our experience and we HAVE to see/do certain things or else the whole experience is a waste of time. Vet med is a hands on career. I have to be comfortable performing procedures as well as understand why we are doing it and what the result will tell us and why this is helping the patient. It is one thing to say "Yes, this cat has pyometria because it got an infection after it's last litter!" and ANOTHER to actually safely remove a small cats pus filled uterus!!!! This is a bit extreme but you get what I am saying. Blood, urine, feces, semen, embryo, etc collection is something WE HAVE TO ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO DO, not just talk about. Yes, technicians are amazing, but in the field, you won't always have one and you need to be able to do these things. If your clinic doesn't service any breeding farms, then you get NO therio experience.... And how will you make babies then?! HMMMM?!?!?!??! :)
#5: "Working" Interviews
So you send your resume and cover letter out to clinics, you get some call backs, you are asked to come in and do a working interview. These are not just 8 hour shifts, we are talking about 7:00 am on the farm to 8:00 pm emergency LDAs or all morning assisting surgery then an afternoon of double booked appointments! And of course there is an emergency in the parking lot at 15 to close!!! These require a full day of commitment. As much as I love it, that is a full day away from my house or job. At multiple clinics. And for those that do not have cars, that is rental cars, or borrowing form friends/parents, ga, and not eating/drinking/peeing for 6 hours because you want to look good for your potential boss. I know vet med is like this in the real world. WE have all experienced this in our volunteering/working but this is an interview! It is just stressful to plan around. Especially if you are interviewing at a rival clinic to the one you work for!!
Anyway, all complaining aside, I am honoured that I get the opportunity to be in vet school and will happily play along so long as I get to be a Doctor in two years!! :)
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